2012 FEI World Para-Equestrian Driving Championship for Singles

Breda, The Netherlands August 30–September 2, 2012

2 2012 FEI World Para-Equestrian Driving Championship for Singles

The following drivers have been

named by the United States Equestrian

Federation to represent the U.S. in the

2012 FEI World Para-Equestrian Driving

Championship for Singles.

Cover Photo: USEF Archive

2012 FEI World Para-Equestrian Driving Championship for Singles 3

Karen GorhamTeam Member Born: January 11, 1946 Residence: Burnet, TXGrade II

Karen Gorham grew up riding horses at her childhood home

in Michigan. Both Gorham and her husband Bill enjoyed riding,

but when Bill was taught by Milo Measel to drive, it would be

the start of a future career with the driving discipline. After a

move in 1967, the couple settled in Texas. After witnessing Bill

Long, an elite driver, in the Four-in-Hand World Championships

and numerous other fantastic drivers, Karen and her hus-

band were hooked on the driving discipline. Gorham and her

husband spent most of the 80’s and 90’s driving horses, raising

their children, and traveling to Combined Driving Events where

Bill was a Technical Delegate.

In 2005, when Hurricane Rita came barreling towards Texas

it would not only be recorded as one of the most intense hur-

ricanes in weather history, but for Gorham and her husband it

would be a turning point for her future equestrian career as a

Para-Equestrian Driver. After a tragic incident involving a truck

and horse trailer, Gorham would live the rest of her life with a

prosthetic left arm.

It would be just after the Alltech FEI World Equestrian

Games in 2010 when Karen would see her first video of a Para-

Equestrian Dressage rider. As Bettina Eistel rode her horse

Fabuleax 5 with only her toes, Gorham was awestruck by the

athlete’s determination. She noted, “I thought that if she could

ride with her toes in Dressage, I can surely drive.” From that

moment, Gorham knew it was her turn to compete.

Gorham has traveled the country competing, training, and

learning from the top drivers in the world. Throughout the

week she is consistently training including daily drives with

her six-year-old Welsh pony O’Charley, conditioning to keep

her horse and herself in peak shape, and attending clinics and

horse shows.

4 2012 FEI World Para-Equestrian Driving Championship for Singles

Pam JohnsonTeam Member Born: June 1, 1957 Residence: Pleasant Hill, MOGrade II

Pam Johnson and her husband Kelly are the owners of K Bar

J Ranch in Pleasant Hill, MO, where they give horse-drawn hay

rides at various events. Johnson has been involved in an array

of different disciplines over her life, competing in everything

from Three-Day Eventing to Team Roping. Being diagnosed

with Multiple Sclerosis put an end to those days, but that didn’t

stop her. Johnson put a carriage and harness on her Christmas

list and began driving. After volunteering at a local CDE, she

was sure with her vast eventing experience that Combined

Driving was something she could do. Johnson felt Combined

Driving Events were just the ticket to keep her moving and

motivated. Driving fulfilled her desire to still be involved with

horses, allowing her to continue to be competitive. Now, fif-

teen years later, she is still going strong. Johnson competed as

an individual with Team USA in the 2004 IPEC World Champi-

onships for Carriage Drivers with Disabilities held in Scotland.

At the 2007 Iron Horse CDE, she finished fourth in the Training

Single Horse division against able-bodied drivers.

2012 FEI World Para-Equestrian Driving Championship for Singles 5

Diane KastamaTeam Member Born: June 15, 1967Residence: Arroyo Grande, CAGrade I

In 1991, a car crash left Diane Kastama paralyzed from the

waist down. Although a lifelong horse person and dressage

enthusiast, riding without the use of her legs was not much fun

and she soon turned to driven dressage and then the exciting

sport of combined driving. Her relatives and friends thought

she was crazy for taking on a sport that involves sitting atop a

tall carriage, pulled by a horse going “hell-bent” for speed.

Kastama started competing with her home bred Appaloosas

but now she competes with a pair of Section D Welsh Cobs,

Rupert and George. She drives them single, pair, and tandem.

Kastama competes against able-bodied drivers all over the

Western United States and occasionally on the East Coast

at the Intermediate and Advanced level. She has also dem-

onstrated her skills at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event

presented by Bridgestone in Lexington, KY, the Horse Expo

in Sacramento, CA, the “Night of the Horse” in Del Mar, CA,

and the Equine Affair and various therapeutic horse programs

throughout California. Kastama has also participated in the

closing ceremonies at the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games

in Aachen, Germany. She is always willing to share her skills and

knowledge and bring driving to the forefront of equine sports.

Kastama has been very successful in international Para-

Equestrian competition, coming home with an Individual Silver

and Team Bronze driving a borrowed Welsh Cob Stallion in

2002 in Greven, Germany. In 2004, she placed fifth with a

borrowed Welsh cob in Edinburgh, Scotland. Kastama won

Individual Gold driving her own Welsh cob gelding Jasper in

2006. In 2008, she earned Individual Bronze and Team Silver

driving Jasper once again.

In national competitions, Kastama has also found success

against able-bodied drivers. In 2007 at the CAI-B Shady Oaks,

she drove Jasper and Rupert to a third place finish in the FEI

Horse Pair division. Kastama had a big win in the 2008 Dr.

Henry Boyd CDE, driving Jasper and Rupert in the Advanced

Horse Pair division. In 2009 CAI-B Shady Oaks, Kastama part-

nered with Rupert in the Single Horse division to take second

place. She and Rupert again paired up in 2011 at the CAI-B

Shady Oaks in finish third in the Advanced Single Horse division.

6 2012 FEI World Para-Equestrian Driving Championship for Singles

Marie de RondeChef d’Equipe Born: April 18, 1965Residence: Zwartewaal, The Netherlands

Marie de Ronde has years of experience in the

sport of combined driving. She is the wife of Dutch

Four-in-Hand driver Koos de Ronde, with whom she

collaborates as a groom. From 1994 to 2007, she was

the Chef d’Equipe for the Dutch national pairs team.

In 2008, de Ronde took on the job of Show Secretary

for the 2008 FEI Four-in-Hand World Championship

in Beesd, The Netherlands. Her various experiences

in the world of driving will help her guide the U.S.

driving team to success.

Photos: USEF Archives

Elizabeth StallerTeam Leader Born: November 7, 1966Residence: Bedminster, NJElizabeth “Lizzy” Staller has been involved in equestrian sports

since the age of 10 when she began riding with Sally Graburn.

Although her chosen sport was eventing all of Graburn’s

students were taught to drive a pony. After completing school,

Staller rode and trained with noted Canadian eventer, Lorraine

Laframboise.

An equine radiology and endoscopy technician, Staller worked

at the University of Pennsylvania’s Large Animal School of

Veterinary Medicine New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, PA.

After moving to New Jersey in 1992, Staller spent several years

with well known Four-in-Hand driver James Fairclough and

had a formal introduction to driving. She was taken with the

sport and helped Fairclough with his team, grooming horses,

assisting at vet checks, and riding on the carriage. She went to

many combined driving events in the U.S. with the Fairclough

team, and in 1996 assisted him at the World Championships in

Waregem, Belgium.

Staller worked at the USET Foundation in 2004, fundraising for

the Olympics in Greece.

In the spring of 2009 she joined the USEF as the Director of

High Performance Driving Disciplines.

With her husband, Bill Denney, Staller keeps a home in Phila-

delphia as well as in Bedminster, NJ. Staller and Bill have three

children between them, Andrew, Will and Sophia.