Unlike many equestrian riders who come from wealth, Kathy Kusner started in the horse world as a stable hand and then became a groom. Kathy Kusner joined the U.S. Equestrian Team in 1962 and remained a member for many years. She competed at three Olympics, winning a silver medal in the team jumping event in 1972, with a best individual finish of 10th in 1972. She won a gold medal in the team event at the 1963 Pan American Games and a silver medal at the 1967 Pan American Games, finished as runner-up at the first World Championships in 1965 and, two years later, won the Ladies’ European Championship.
In the 1960s Kusner attempted to obtain her jockey license but was denied because of her gender, but she successfully sued in Maryland court in 1968, and rode in the US and South Africa. She also became the first woman to ride in the Maryland Hunt Cup, the world’s largest steeplechase. She was later a vice president of the Alpha Instrument Co. In 1999 she founded the Horses for the Hood, a Los Angeles program that works with “at risk” minority children by bringing them to a five-day horse and riding camp.
United States