Loretta’s Competitive History

Loretta has had a pretty darn good career! Much of her success is owed to the commitment of her owners, Kathy & Joe Devine, and their daughter, Tara Devine. Loretta’s family has shown the long-term patience to let a pony grow into a horse without rushing her into bigger demands before she was ready.

That commitment has given me, as her trainer, the latitude to develop Loretta from the ground up. Loretta, for her part, has been one of the most rewarding horses I’ve ever worked with. She’s absolutely full of personality and heart, one of those horses you can talk to as a true teammate.

We horse trainers often say, “There is no ‘there’ there,” when a student asks when they’ll finally get “there.” There is no final destination; it’s the journey that holds the reward. With Loretta and the Devines as teammates, this journey is the “there” that we all seek and it just keeps getting better.

On any journey, it’s good to look over your shoulder to appreciate where you’ve been, recognize where you are, and get energized for where you’re going. So I’ll share that look-back with you here.

About the Results

Combined driving normally has three phases: dressage, marathon, and cones. Some events also run a combined test (CT), which includes dressage and cones only.

In the results tables, a dash in the Marathon column means that competition was a CT.

If you’ve ever tried to look up combined driving results in the U.S., you’ll know it can feel like looking for hen’s teeth. We don’t have one unified reporting system, and the systems that do exist depend on overworked volunteers to populate them. I’ve pieced Loretta’s results together as accurately as possible using available archives and my own records.

Loretta’s Developing Years – 2020-2021

Loretta’s first competitive season was 2020, first with owner Kathy Devine at the reins and later with me driving, with Kathy taking up the navigator position. She came out strong in the Preliminary Single Pony division, scoring an impressive 34.54 in dressage at a combined test at Green Mountain Horse Association (GMHA) in Woodstock, Vermont.

In combined driving, scores are converted to penalties; lower is better. Under 40 is hard to do. In dressage terms, that score is roughly 78%, which means she did a lot right. That same weekend, Loretta won her first HDT (Horse Driving Trial) at GMHA.

We went on to Garden State CDE to score a second place finish at the preliminary level. Not a bad first season!

In 2021 we returned to GMHA to turn in a couple of wins in the spring combined test and ADT. At Elk Creek she continued to show her development with a second out of 7 in dressage. We elected not to compete on a blisteringly hot and humid marathon for her sake.

Loretta did her first intermediate level competition at GMHA in August, winning the best intermediate dressage scores in both the combined test and the CDE. Later that year she placed second at Garden State CDE in the Intermediate Pony division.

From Pony to Powerhouse – 2022

While her accomplishments were growing, so was Loretta!

By February 2022, she officially outgrew pony status, breaking the 152 cm height mark. She moved into the Intermediate Horse divisions and immediately proved she belonged there.

This was also the first year for Loretta and her buddy Buzz to go to Florida for winter. Sounds like a nice break from the winter blues, but they had their work cut out for them!

She made the top three at her first Florida event (Spring Fling CDE), then had a major breakthrough at Live Oak International 2022. In a class of nine competitors she got second in dressage, and won both the marathon and cones phases to secure a win at her first Live Oak International.

She finished the winter season by dominating the Intermediate division at Black Prong CDE, sweeping the top slots in all three phases. By the end of 2022, Loretta had stacked up an incredible season: 5 wins, 2 seconds, and 1 third at combined driving events from Florida to Vermont.

Momentum and Mileage – 2023

Loretta continued to command the Intermediate division through 2023, winning 4 of 5 CDEs as she started her FEI progression. Any doubts about a small horse competing with the big guys got put to bed the old-fashioned way: show up, do the work, and the wins kept stacking up.

We kicked off at Nature Coast with a win in the Advanced FEI 1★ combined test, then turned around and won the Intermediate CDE the same weekend. From there she won at Grand Oaks and Spring Fling, then moved on to Live Oak International.

Winning the marathon by just under 10 points wasn’t quite enough to make up for a tough dressage score early in the week. Still, coming out 3rd in a field of 10 at Live Oak is pretty respectable. We finished the year’s competition schedule with a win at Elk Creek HDT in Maryland, and a more respectable dressage score.

While June was an early end to the season, the final reward came in December when Loretta was named 2023 Intermediate Single Horse of the Year!

Taking It a Notch Up

With a long seven months away from competition, we started the season with one more Intermediate outing, finishing second at Grand Oaks. Confident in our footing, we then moved Loretta up to USEF Novice Advanced and FEI 2★ competition.

When building a horse into the next level, one generally expects at least a little step down in the results. Not so much for little Retta Roo. She won her first 2★ at Spring Fling, then followed that with a second at Live Oak, winning the marathon once again.

By the end of the season, she had won 3 out of 4 events at the Novice Advanced/FEI 2★ level. She topped it off by earning her second USEF Horse of the Year title, this time as Novice Advanced Single Horse.

The Big Step Up – 2025

2025 was the big step-up year for our little Retta Roo.

We started the winter by confirming her 2★ credentials with wins at Florida Horse Park and Terra Nova, along with combined test wins those same weekends. From there it was time to move up to FEI 3★, the top level of competition in combined driving.

She had a respectable start with the new challenge, finishing third at her first 3★ at Spring Fling. After that she moved up to second at both Live Oak and Grand Oaks, then went on to win at Katydid in Tryon, NC, and Bromont International in Quebec, Canada.

She capped the year off at the USEF National Championship for Single Horses, held in Tryon, NC in September. The National Championship is a head-to-head competition, unlike the accumulated points basis of the Horse of the Year awards. In her first year at 3★, she earned the Reserve National Championship.

On top of that, Loretta picked up two more USEF Horse of the Year awards: Champion HOTY for Novice Advanced Single Horse and Reserve HOTY for 3★ Single Horse.

Not bad for a “fun size” Dutch Harness Horse.

2026: Munich on the Horizon

2026 will be a big season. We’ll be making our bid to join the U.S. Equestrian Team and represent the United States at the FEI Single Horse World Championships in Munich, Germany this September.

This year somewhat represents a second step up in competition for Retta Roo. The field of competitors has deepened into the double digits, with veteran World Championship drivers joining the division. The judges are watching with an even more critical eye as our fellow competitors make their best effort to secure their positions.

Loretta showed up in Florida this year with tons of energy and enthusiasm. She knows and loves her job, and is willing to put everything she’s got into it. She may be small, but she’s mighty. This horse has all the heart to make it happen!

Join Team RettaRoo

If Loretta has ever made you smile, inspired you, or reminded you that grit comes in all sizes—welcome to the fan club.
Please join her supporters in cheering for our favorite “fun size” powerhouse. And if you see her at a competition, make it loud:

GO RETTA ROO!!!