March 19, 2008
Katie Corson & Bugsy have traveled the country together
By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist
Most sports fans in Ocean City know OCHS senior Katie Corson as either an all-conference field hockey player or an
all-conference runner in track.
Around the country, she is known as one of the best in her age group at showing palomino horses.
Corson and her 15-year old horse, Don't Bug Me Doc (she calls him "Bugsy"), will spend the second weekend in April in
South Carolina competing in a horse show. There are more shows coming during the spring and summer in places like New
York, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma.
"Competing in horse shows is a completely different feeling that field hockey or track," said Corson. "In field hockey
it is all about the team. Track is more an individual sport. When I am showing Bugsy, I have to rely on this living
creature that I can't really control. We train. We prepare. But I can never be completely sure what he will do."
One example happened last year in the World Championship Show in Tulsa, OK. Bugsy stumbled on some uneven ground and
fell over onto Corson. "He rolled on top of me," Corson said, "and it was scary. But it was funny. When Bugsy got back
on his feet he wasn't sure what to do. It was the first time I'd ever fallen off him. He looked at me, almost with a
guilty look, and then turned away." Corson suffered a mild concussion but was able to show the next day and won her
second world championship.
"Bugsy doesn't get along with everybody," said Corson, "but I get along great with him. He loves to show. In fact, it is
almost like he is smiling when we're out there."
Corson has been riding since she was three years old and showing palominos since she was 11. Her previous horse, a
part-thoroughbred named Cruiser, had a different personality. "He lives in Petersburg now," she said. "He was very
clever. If he didn't feel like working or showing, as soon as you put the saddle on him he would begin to limp."
Corson and Busgy train with Beth Boyle of Tuckahoe. In addition to her success showing her horse, the OCHS senior has
also become an officer. She is vice president of the Palomino Horse Breeders of America Youth Association.
Working her horse shows into the rest of her schedule can sometimes be tricky. Last spring, for example, Corson left the
Cape May County track meet in Cape May Court House as soon as her events ended and raced to a show in North Jersey.
"During my first few years I missed some field hockey because of shows," she said, "but this year, as a senior, I
skipped some shows and concentrated more on field hockey."
Corson will attend Bloomsburg University and become part of the 2007 NCAA Division II field hockey champions. "This will
be a tough summer for horse shows," she said. "I need to be at Bloomsburg in early August for our pre-season camp. But,
after this year, I'll be finishing classes about six weeks earlier than we do at Ocean City, so I'll have more
opportunities in the spring and summer to show."
When she gets out of college, Corson wants to teach the deaf and hard of hearing. And she'd like to work her experience
with Bugsy into those lessons. "I'd like to see how those with hearing problems relate to the horse," she said. "I'd
like to see if it is a different type of experience for them."
Juggling her schedule has been a real challenge for Corson, whose mother also shows horses. "I could not have made it
work without the support of my family," she said, "and people like my friend, Jaime Hartley." Also a senior at OCHS,
Hartley has had success showing her horse, as well.
"It gets hectic sometimes," said Corson, "but I love horses and I have made friends all over the country."
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