Featured Rider:
Spotlight on Patty Dellas       [back]

Meet Patty Dellas and Poetry In Motion. Both are confident bay gals that you will see in the aisle at Mystic Valley. Patty works at Pfizer, is married, and has a lovely Golden Retriever named Alex. Poetry is a 16 year old ¾ Thoroughbred, ¼ Shire bay mare.

When asked what Patty likes most about Poetry, she states “Poetry’s confidence in herself. She has the best self esteem. She is big and beautiful and likes herself. Poetry has done it all; she is the most versatile horse. She has won at dressage, hunters and jumpers, and loves the trails and fields. Her gaits are smooth and big.  She is like riding a couch.”

 Patty rode a little as a child. Her first riding memory is being led on her pony Gypsy down Main Street in Westerly by her dad. Her life long dream was to ride in an English saddle, take lessons and to canter in a field.

She got back into riding at age 32. She was driving down the road and saw the sign for Mystic Valley. Driving in to visit, the first person that she met was Mary Pat, a very friendly boarder that was about her age. Patty felt comfortable to come to take a lesson. Her first one was on a large lesson pony named Carbon Copy. She told her instructor, Robin Vinson, that she only wanted to walk and trot, never canter and jump. Six months later, she bought her first horse, Midafternoon, who she had been taking lessons on.  Twenty two years later and many horses since, she is still at the barn enjoying horses and learning more and more. She states “Sally Hinkle Russell and Robin Vinson have both been my mentors all these years.  They have given me riding knowledge as well as emotional support all the way.” 

 Her most fun thing while riding was going on an impromptu hunter pace on Starburst. She said that this was a blast and a half.

 In riding outside of a lesson, she practices by having a plan. She either hacks or has a definite plan to achieve a certain goal.

Patty has surprised herself (but not her instructors) by winning in jumper classes and loving to canter in the fields. She has overcome many fears in riding in order to do what she loves to do.

She offers some advice for adults learning to ride later in life. She says to address certain things, such as fear. (She is lucky to never have been hurt.) She says that she needs to fit riding into her life. She advises to see what time you can devote to riding. Pick and chose what you can do. She also states that no matter how fit you are, riding uses different muscles than many other activities. She says to ride enough to use those muscles. She advises that pilates is also a wonderful way to help your core strength.

She leases Poetry 2 days a week to Pam McChesney, a woman who is part of what Patty calls “Team Poetry”. “ I love sharing Poetry with Pam.  We talk about her progress and we groom for each other at shows.”

MVHC is so lucky to have the girls in our stable. They are a winning combination, both in the performance and the personality department. Please say hello when you see them.   

Go Team Poetry!