Mary Schrader

Mary Schrader (third from right) with some of the Juniors and Young Riders at the 2011 Northern Junior Championships.

                                            Photo courtesy of Sheri Scott Photography, sponsor of the Northern Junior Championships.

We think of Mary as a Californian, but she came to us from Michigan, after brief stints in Indiana for college and Washington, DC for a job.  Mary's "real world" employment – as compared to "horse world" – included teaching algebra and biology on the high school level, working as a medical tech, and five years with the horse program at San Domenico school.  During her own high school vacations, like many of us, she worked in retail but I cannot imagine she enjoyed that because she doesn't have much of a shopping gene.  (That's compared to some of the CDS mega-shoppers, of course.) It was while living and working in San Francisco that she met Chuck, an architect also from Michigan, at a party. Mary and Chuck married and began their life in the Bay area.  They lived briefly in Greenwich, Connecticut – job connected – an interlude that seems to have cemented her desire to remove herself from all of those winter elements.  She had made the discovery that life without a snow shovel, plow or blower is possible, and Connecticut reminded her of the agony of dealing with miserable winters. When they were transferred back to California, Mary and Chuck looked around and settled on Marin County, where they have been for almost 40 years and have not once had to wait for the snow plow to clear the streets.  Michigan's loss…California's gain.  Or, as Mary sez, leaving the snow and cold was an enlightened move.

Mary's start with horses sounds like the normal teenage girl thing.  Her horse was a mare named "Nipper" (Quick Nip) and I forgot to ask if that name was predictive.  She participated on Junior Olympic teams, meeting such luminaries as General Burton and Vi Hopkins.  In California, she rode with Angela Littlefield, Lilo Fore and Gwen Stockebrand.  She joined CDS in the mid-70's.  Being one of the world's more gullible volunteers, she soon found herself in the middle of the local Chapter, Marin/Sonoma before the split.  In addition to managing the Marin Chapter shows, Mary has held, at one time or the other, every one of the Chapter positions and is currently serving as Treasurer. 

I first met Mary at the CDS Annual Show at Santa Rosa, during the era when the show was operated by volunteers.  At the time, several chapters were asked to provide workers and management for the arenas for the duration of the show.  Mary dutifully stepped up to accept the management of the Marin Chapter's arena; I don't know who talked her into it but it was always a relief when her name appeared on the volunteer list.  She ran her arena from dawn until day's end, for four days and coddled her volunteers as much as one could at that fairgrounds.  For example, because Mary was a local, she was able to find better food for them than the fairgrounds swill that pretty much poisoned the rest of us.  Thinking back, we were doing what we had to do but out of that experience came the recognition of the talent and dedication, such as Mary's, that fueled the growth of CDS.

Mary's experiences led her to apply for and receive one of the earlier USEF (then AHSA) Technical Delegate cards.  She has since given the card up but during the time that she officiated, she applied her basic common sense to the interpretation of the rules. 

At an early CDS Judge Forum, that wonderful spotter of talent, Peter Lert approached Mary to ask her to run for the CDS Board.  At the time, with little children at home, Mary declined but several years later when a Director's spot became vacant, she did accept that appointment.  She served a total of 13 years on the CDS Board, several times as Vice President.  She focused on By-Laws, the Junior Programs and the Budget.  After leaving the Board, Mary's experience has been utilized by the CDS Scholarship Committee, both as Treasurer and as a Committee member.  Appropriately, she has been awarded the Eleanor Langlois Volunteer Trophy, in acknowledgement of her outstanding service to CDS, both on the chapter and state level.

What Mary is most known for is, of course, the CDS Northern Junior Championships.  She was roped into this in 1989 by the late Trip Harting , the organizer of the Southern Junior shows.  The first Northern show was at Gail McGuffey's "The Dressage Arena" and there were seven horses, several of them ridden by Chelsey Sibley.  The show soon attracted more competitors and moved to the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa.  When that facility could no longer handle the number of arenas needed, Mary moved the show to the Murieta Equestrian Center.   The level of competition has always been exemplary, with many of California's Junior and Young Rider stars testing the waters at this show.  For example, current Junior National Champion Jamie Pestana first showed in the Stick Horse class at  "the Juniors."  Mary says that it has been fun to watch so many of them grow up and continue to develop.  She also solidified the financial backing of the show by founding Club 100, an effort that came out of Mary's investigation of fund raising techniques utilized by non-profits.

Why, you may be asking yourself, would anyone for more than 22 years volunteer to devote oneself to the development of this Junior show?  It is endless hours of work both in the planning and execution – it is grueling and awash with details. Asking her for a reason was rather like trying to milk a fly; best I could determine is that Mary remembers people helping her when she lived in Michigan.  This is her way of paying back the horse community that supported her. 

Mary has two children, Kristen and Mark, neither of whom share their Mom's interest in horses.  Husband Chuck, the architect, is known to us as the occasional travel companion when the USDF Convention was held in an area that piqued his interest.  While Mary was in meetings, Chuck prowled around the convention cities, studying and absorbing local building projects and architectural details.  He and Mary have also traveled in Europe where she speaks fondly of the scenery and he, I suppose, of the buildings.

Mary is also known as part of the "Zorn" group.  For those of you who were not into dressage in the 1980's, Zorn was the wonderful black Swedish stallion that, with Dennis Callin as rider, dazzled people all over the country.  Zorn participated in the Insilco Championships, competed at Gladstone and ended his US career in Colorado.  The Zorn group consisted of six women who shared ownership of the horse and who managed his competitive and breeding career.  When asked if she enjoyed the experience, Mary replied, somewhat laconically, "for the most part - I liked the babies."  She estimates that she had 20 foals of her own.  They were born and cared for at a farm that she owned with the late Ellie Langlois, another one of the Zorn six.  Zorn was eventually sold back to Sweden.

Nothing about Mary surprises me after 30 plus years, but there are some things about Mary that YOU may not know:

-          she is an excellent cook and she will share recipes.  Since I shrug off anything with more than five ingredients, I am not a good judge of this, but others attest to this.

-          she has an absolutely wicked sense of humor and, when especially tickled by something, can laugh so hard she snorts.

-          she loves Golden Retrievers…and they love her.  To be truthful, all dogs go straight to her.

-          she is loyal to those who are fair in their dealings.

-          she is always ready to say what she thinks.  This translates into not having a political bone in her body.

-          she is a comfort to friends in time of need, with a phone call, card, thoughts.

-          she is an excellent roommate when traveling.  Neat, doesn't hog the bathroom, quiet, good taste in TV.

-          she is a Mac, not an IBM person.

-          she will NOT stay in a motor home on the showgrounds.

-          she can pack for a week in a carry-on and still have a different outfit for each day. 

-          she allows people to do their jobs without micro-management.

-          she does not follow sports, but sends her husband off to spring training (Detroit Tigers) every year.

-          white, not red.