Susan Robinson Farmer

Richard, “Dick” Farmer, was born in Carthage, Missouri and grew up in Pueblo, CO. He was the younger child of J. Martin Farmer and Mildred A. Wheeler. While he had a modest upbringing, he was a very intelligent man; Valedictorian of his High School class and received an appointment to West Point. At West Point he excelled and ended up being 3rd in his class while being the youngest of them. He joined the Army where he spent time in Korea and Germany building bridges and other structures. Dick was one of the youngest to reach the rank of Major when he retired from service.

After his Army career he continued his education at M.I.T. where he received 2 Masters Degrees in Civil and Nuclear Engineering. In 1969 he received his Doctorate Degree in Aerospace Engineering from M.I.T. and taught there. In 1969 his wife of 15 years passed away after battling Hodgkins Disease. Dick moved to Colorado with his 3 children to Abbe Ranch in Larkspur, CO where he worked for Martin Marietta (now known as Lockheed Martin) where he worked on various projects. Susan Robinson of Maine and older daughter of Donald Lysander Robinson and Millicent Kaiser, transported the family’s horses to the ranch where she met Dick. Susan’s background was a traveling riding instructor receiving certification from Margaret Self’s New Canaan School of Horsemanship.

Dick and Susan were married in 1970 at Abbe Ranch. Susan was instrumental in working with and developing Plum Creek Pony Club (part of the United States Pony Club) along with Tetrathalons, Pair Pace events, Dressage shows and Clinics at Abbe Ranch. Dick used his engineering background to design and build numerous cross-country jumps used for all the events. In June of 1976 they held their first recognized USEA horse trials. In August of 1981 they hosted and ran the USPC National Eventing Championship West. Abbe Ranch was also the host of the USEA Area IX Championships three times. After many years of organizing events Dick stepped up and served as the Area IX Chair for USEA. Dick and Susan put on events for many years and held one of the longest running event centers west of the Mississippi working well into their 80’s!

You can read more about Abbe Ranch on the www.useventing.com website…search for Abbe Ranch.

Dick and Susan were married for over 54 years and had a true love affair with Dick calling Susan his “bride”. They were a true team even to the end….as they departed this earth days apart.