Horsing Around

By Stephen Miller
Contributing Writer

Sondra Robertson’s two worlds
-- music and horses --
make for a winning combination

It is surprising how much work and sacrifice it can take to be a superb horse rider. Yet somehow Sondra Robertson, a music professor and accompanist at North Lake College, has managed for 8 years to raise a horse named Big D Vertigo, whom she bought when he was only 12 weeks old.

Robertson recently took him to a national competition and placed third, just one point away from a reserve championship. The win is a superb accomplishment for Robertson, who has been in the horse business for 16 years.

“She trains her horse every day,” said Francis Osentowski, another NLC music instructor. “She is very meticulous.”

Peers like Osentowski know Robertson as a superb musician and instructor. “She is unique… (and) versatile,” he said. “She can play a wide variety of styles.”

Her busy schedule posted on her office window illustrates just how active she is. But it is not just NLC or the competitions where she spends most of her time. She is also an active member of her church where she plays the piano for services.

Having no children, she said of her horse, “He is like the baby (of the family)…” Not only does she ride him frequently and show him in national events, but she has hired a trainer to keep his skill levels as high as possible. While this is not uncommon in the horse world, said Robertson, it is for those who are truly dedicated, as this is a significant sacrifice in time and money.

Bravery and persistence play a large part in competitions, she said. At one horse show, Robertson was riding a horse that she describes as being unruly, bucking and attempting to throw her off. To the amazement of her friends, she managed to stay seated; however, the event was somewhat embarrassing in the middle of a competition, she said.

Robertson also knows how tough horses can be. They are big animals that can overpower a human easily. They have strong, vibrant personalities and can be obstinate when they desire, she said. She recalled a time when a trainer became too intimate with a wild stallion and was almost killed when the stallion took it as a sign of aggression. Yet, like Robertson, that trainer was up and riding again in no time. But it is for these reasons that she said it’s necessary to build a strong relationship with one’s horse and to maintain respect for its strength.

Other close calls in her career as a horsewoman include teaching Big D Vertigo that her finger was not food. At one point in his youth, she tried to feed him a carrot and managed to get her finger caught up in his mouth. Not knowing that this wasn’t food, he continued to bite down. Robertson fears that she would have lost her finger if she had not quickly stuck her other hand behind his teeth to open his jaws.

The students of Robertson’s class are aware of her passion for horses, as well as music. They are regularly invited by Robertson to see her jump fences at the Las Colinas Equestrian Center.

Of the future, Robertson plans to continue showing her horse at events and is quite content with her music, too. Whatever she takes on, it is clear that she will do it well, as evidenced by her discipline with horse riding and the arts.

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