August 13, 2005 – East Dorset, Vermont – Local equestrian Susan Wheeler has been competing at the Vermont Summer Festival for the past five years. Held for five weeks each year at the Harold Bebee Farm in East Dorset, the equestrian competition is a short drive from Wheeler’s home in Manchester.

With a full-time job in Manchester, having the Vermont Summer Festival Horse Show in Wheeler’s backyard gives her access to top-level competition, an opportunity that she might not otherwise have.

“I am able to see trainers and competitors from all over the world,” notes Wheeler, who has spent the last 19 years working as Director of the Avanyu Spa at the Equinox Resort & Spa. “Being a working equestrian competitor, the Vermont Summer Festival allows me to have access to one of the top ‘AA’ rated horse shows in the country for five weeks. I wouldn’t have that opportunity if the horse show wasn’t here; the logistics simply wouldn’t allow me to take five weeks off from work to travel somewhere else to compete.”

Wheeler competes in the adult amateur hunter divisions where the style of the horse and rider are judged. On her final day of competition alone, Wheeler placed in the top five in all four classes that she entered. Wheeler’s equine superstar for the past four years has been Lancelot, an 11-year-old chestnut Oldenburg gelding that she bought in Vermont.

“He’s got so much personality, he has more personality than any horse I have ever known, and that is coming from someone who grew up on a horse farm in Millbrook, New York,” laughs Wheeler. “He loves to show, and he loves having all of the other horses around. It is like he is at a horse resort, staying with all the other guests. He loves all of the attention that he gets at a show. The show horses really are treated so special and he just loves it.”

Although the pair is competitive in the show ring during the Vermont Summer Festival, Wheeler finds the quiet times spent with Lancelot at the stable to be therapeutic.

“He teaches me ultimate patience and forgiveness,” says Wheeler who trains at Windward Farm in Bondville with coach Lucia B. Wing. “And animals do give you unconditional love.”

Wheeler enjoys great support from her husband, Paul, as well as their four children. And her only grandchild, 17-month-old Lars, has already been in the saddle in his native Montana and will perhaps, one day, follow in Wheeler’s footsteps by becoming a competitive rider.

The 2005 Vermont Summer Festival features five weeks of exciting equestrian competition running July 13 to August 14 at Harold Beebe Farm in East Dorset, VT. In addition to being New England’s largest ‘AA’ rated hunter-jumper horse show, it is also the largest sporting event in the State of Vermont, awarding a total of $.6 million in prize money. The Vermont Summer Festival culminates with the $50,000 Vermont Summer Celebration Grand Prix on Sunday, August 14. For more information on the Vermont Summer Festival, please visit www.vt-summerfestival.com or call (802) 362-7548.