By Isabella Rodwig
It’s rather serendipitous how I got the opportunity to ride Bugzy (aka, Cat on Fire, Bigtime Bugzy, Bug, Mr. Bigtime). My first ride on him was in late 2022, when he was five years old. His mom, Rebecca Stewart, is an old friend. She’s a pilot and has very limited riding time, and my trainer at the time had just had a baby (which I think made her a little hesitant to ride out his patented “trick” of dropping his shoulder and spinning). I, on the other hand, was fresh out of college, and working part-time while applying for medical school, so I had the time and was desperate for more saddle time while my personal upper-level horse recovered from an illness. Plus, I’m young and bendy, and don’t mind riding out silly, green horse moments. It seemed like a no-brainer.
From the first ride, I knew Bugzy was something special. Yes, he tried to spin me off within the first ten minutes, but after that, I quickly realized that he was just a little scared and lacking education. As an FEI dressage rider, I’ve ridden a lot of different equines, from ponies and mules to Thoroughbreds and warmbloods. He was the first Saddlebred I ever sat on, and I’ve had the opportunity to ride many others since; it’s safe to say I’m a bit of a convert!
From that point on, I basically stole him as my own, spending over a year methodically and patiently working with him at home. He’s wicked smart and a quick learner, so I definitely had to get creative with my training at times to keep him interested. We took him to a local schooling show in late 2023, just to have a little off-property experience, and he was perfect. So, that winter, we very gently made a plan for his debut as a show horse, with the understanding that we would do whatever it’d take to make his first experiences happy and confidence-building.
To our pride and joy, Bugzy knocked it out of the park at his first show (recognized to boot), doing some opportunity classes at First Level. From that moment on, we knew he was going to shine in the show ring. We qualified for the Great American Insurance Group (GAIG)/USDF Regional Championships at First and Second Level, and broke 70% several times over.
Our experience at his first regionals (the 2024 GAIG/USDF Region 3 Dressage Championships) was a little crazy. The last final exam of my first block of medical school was at 8 AM on Thursday in north Louisiana, but thanks to a LOT of help from my friends and family, I was in Ocala by 10 PM to prepare for our First Level championship class on Friday! He placed eleventh in a packed class where less than 1% separated sixth from twelfth, and I came out of the ring beside myself knowing Bugzy had given me everything he had.
Bugzy was the Adequan®/USDF All-Breeds Awards champion at First and Second Levels the same year, and in 2025, the ASHBA announced him as their Emerging Sport Horse of the Year.
This spring, we qualified for regionals at Third Level his first time out, and he’s proving to be hard to beat with lots of scores in the upper 60s. Now, we’ve started playing with the pirouettes and half-steps, and he steps up to the plate every time I ask him to, never failing to exceed my wildest expectations.
So much hard work has gone into getting him to where he is now. I’m a full-time medical student – just finished up my first year – and he isn’t in a program with a trainer, so I drive almost 200 miles one-way to come home every weekend and continue riding him. It’s certainly not the ideal situation, and it can be a little exhausting at times, but the payoff is so worth it. Every time I sit on Bug, it feels like coming home.
He is also the most willing partner. Every new challenge or skill test I throw at him, he’s ready to give it his best try. The flying changes have taken some time for him to understand, especially with how balanced his counter canter is, but now, he pops them out like a machine. I’m starting to teach him half pirouettes, and even though he isn’t completely sure of them, he tries so hard to please me. He’s so light and soft in the bridle, and quite comfortable to sit on, too, thanks to that lovely, long Saddlebred back.
Bugzy is a little quirky. His opinions on what goes in his feed bucket are strong, and he isn’t afraid to make his feelings known! He has this funny little thing where, when he wants a snack, he’ll stare daggers at you through the window that looks into his stall from the feed room. He only eats carrots, never apples. He loves being braided – literally falls asleep while I’m doing it. He can’t resist the lure of rolling in fresh shavings in a clean stall, so I have to be quick to remove my saddle after a ride before he rolls with it! He’s also huge, at nearly 17.3 hands, and it doesn’t seem like he’s going to stop growing anytime soon.
I think it’s really special to have a horse with whom you can have such a high level of mutual trust. Bugzy would walk through fire for me, and I’d do the same for him, which I know is a huge reason we’ve had so much success. Nearly every test I’ve ever ridden on him has comments on our confident and well-matched partnership. He’s not the bravest, but over the last few years, he’s really started looking to me for comfort in the scary moments and letting me be his bravery. It’s been a catalyst for me to become a more correct and tactful rider, and be better about listening to what my horses are telling me. He’s a true testament to the idea that dressage is for EVERY horse, and that so-called “off-breed” horses have a place in the dressage ring.
So, if you’re looking for a horse with uphill balance, movement to die for, and a trot that doesn’t feel like it’s compressing all of the discs in your spine, consider a Saddlebred. You certainly won’t regret it.
