 There's no coincidence with the name...Sharon Lewis is the daughter of SendonWay's owners Bob and Bernie and is Nancy Lewis-Stanton's sister. After a brief hiatus from the horse world, Sharon is looking forward to getting back into dressage with her baby Ghardener. She purchased him as a weanling in July 2005 from Rolling Stone Farm.
Sharon began riding horses when she was only 5 years old, and owned her first horse Illusion when she was 10. Sharon trained Illusion, a small Quarter Horse/Thoroughbred, through Third Level and even competed in a few cross country events.
In 1988, Sharon’s parents bought her a beautiful 5-year-old Hanoverian she named Wred Wrum. Sharon successfully trained Wred through Intermediare 1, and in early 1993, the two spent the winter competing in Florida and qualifying for Region 2’s Young Rider Team. This particular Young Rider Team was dubbed the “Dream Team” by trainer/clinician Conrad Schumacher, and Sharon and her teammates went on to win the Team Gold Medal. Over the years, Sharon and Wred won Regional Championships, year-end awards and were listed on the Albert E. Hart trophy for the highest-scoring Junior Young Rider in the U.S.
In 1991, before Wred was ready for Young Riders, Sharon qualified for her first Young Rider Team aboard Jerry Schwartz’s horse Piconne. All summer, Sharon worked at Schwartz’s Evergreen Farm, Beecher, Ill., in return for lessons. While it appeared uncertain whether Sharon and Piconne would receive the necessary scores to qualify, soon the pair “clicked” and they secured a seat on Region 2’s Young Rider Team. Sharon helped lead the team to victory -- Region 2 won the Team Gold Medal and Sharon and Piconne won the Individual Gold Medal.
Sharon has earned her USDF Bronze and Silver Medals, and has had the opportunity to learn from trainers, such as the late Bodo Hangen, Jeanne Dake, Beverly Rogers, Natalie Lamping, Sandi Chohaney, Julie Julian, Jerry Schwartz, Conrad Schumacher, Carole Grant and Col. Alfred Von Zigner.
She earned her BS in Journalism in 1995 from Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Ill. Like many people who are not independently wealthy, riding had to take a backseat when Sharon graduated from college and began working.
Sharon and Wred Wrum competed on two Young Rider Teams in the early 1990s.
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This photo was published in the book "In the Irons" by
Gary J. Benson. It was taken in 1992 at the Summer Dressage Fest in Grass Lake, Michigan. Sharon and Wred were completing an extended trot in a Fourth Level test. |
There was no denying it...Wred was definitely handsome! We always thought this photo looked like it could have been a postcard because he was posing so nicely. |
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