Our featured adult rider of the month is Roetka Gradstein!

Roetka has only been riding at lancers since 2019, although she has been “paying for riding much longer!” Roetkas daughters Ami and Subira have both been riding at Lancers for a number of years and they convinced their mom to start riding so they could prove to her they weren’t just ‘sitting on a horse’. Since she began riding, Roetka has learned that you definitely dont just sit there and she has been working hard for the last 4 years improving her skills in the saddle.

Riding and horses have always been an important part of Roetkas life because of the impact it has had on her kids. “The magic of Lancers is what it has done for my girls. They’re both too tired and broke to get into any trouble… haha. Seriously, the confidence, empathy, and maturity they learn at Lancers is priceless. Ami gets to share her love of all things horse as an instructor at Lancers. Subira fell in love with horses when she was in a therapeutic riding program at age 4 and she has never looked back! There was a magical moment when Sophia became Subira’s instructor and challenged her well outside of her comfort zone (and possibly Sophia’s comfort zone!!) and it has made all the difference in building her skills!”

Roetka has always taken part in many aspects of Lancer life as a parent and rider. “Driving kids, paying for kids, paying for tack, paying for clothes, paying for Cory… and being the biggest fan and cheerleader of everyone!” Roetka has volunteered in the Therapeutic Riding program, our used clothing sale, and as a medic at training shows. You will often find Roetka at horse shows helping out the team, with her two pugs Ted and Olive, who are great entertainment for everyone at the barn.

Roetkas favourite horse is Cory; they both love riding rectangles together “Its fun learning to ride rectangles on an animal that is not the shape of a rectangle.”

Learning to ride horses later in life is a humbling process and can be quite difficult. Roetka approaches it with a lot of hard work and a great sense of humour that everyone around her appreciates.