Meet Sally
I started riding when I was five when my parents moved to
our farm in Oxford, PA, and soon joined the local Pony Club
and was introduced to the sport of eventing.  Additionally, I
showed ponies in the hunter divisions and also fox hunted;
both sports helped me develop as an all-around
horsewoman.

By my mid teens, I completed my first one-star three-day
event and continued to move up the levels. At 20, I traveled
to England to compete at the Badminton Horse Trials,
stayed in England that year, and completed the Burghley
Horse Trials in September.  

On Strike-A-Light, a horse I bought during my stay in
England, I completed the Badminton Horse Trials the
following spring.  When I returned home in 1986, I took a job
working as a stockbroker at Merrill Lynch, while continuing
to compete at the highest levels of the sport, including
numerous runs at the Rolex Kentucky four-star event.

In 1991, I won the Essex Three-Day with Castle Cay and
soon after, announced my engagement to Nat Cousins; we
were married on July 6th (needless to say there were no
competitions that weekend).  I continued to produce event
horses and started catch riding horses for other riders,
winning the Bromont Two-Star on Drizzle, and competing
him successfully in many three-star events.

After 16 years at Merrill Lynch, I decided to become a
professional and devote myself exclusively to my riding
career.  In 2005 I purchased property in Aiken, SC so I could
compete and provide instruction for the three months of
winter when Pennsylvania is covered in snow and ice.   
Thanks to a successful competition schedule and the depth
of experience I garnered as an amateur and a professional,
I have been ranked among the top 10 riders on the US
Eventing Leaderboard for the last six years.  

I have relished competing at the top levels but I have equally
enjoyed the time spent training and instructing students and
their horses. Quite often I draw from my own lessons with
Mike Plumb, Bruce Davidson and Torrance Watkins, and
because I believe in drawing on other disciplines’
strengths, I have also ridden with Frank Chapot, Anne
Kursinski, and George Morris. My dressage training has
been with Gunnar Ostergaard, Donnan Sharp, and Scott
Hassler.

In both 2007 and 2008 I finished the year ranked third
overall on the US Eventing Leaderboard and was the USEA
Lady Rider of the Year in 2008.  I have high expectations that
2009 will bring even better results!
Sally and Cheerie at their first horse trials
Robbie at Fair Hill 2008
Sally Cousins, Sarah Cousins, eventing, horse trials, dressage, show jumping, stadium jumping, cross country, XC, horses, horseback riding, Rolex
Kentucky, Badminton, Burghley, Oxford, West Grove, Aiken, three-day eventing, Pennsylvania, Area II, cross-country schooling, riding lessons