I can think of no greater hero in my life than my life-partner of 20 years, Robert Ross. It’s not just because I know exactly what he’s had to deal with for the past two decades of being my beloved. Yes, the rumours that I am slightly high maintenance just might be true, but it is really everything else about Robert’s life that puts him in a class of his own.

Robert went to work in a restaurant and later found employment in a printing company where, at the ripe old age of 17, he was already managing the company. Life was not easy at all for Robert, but his amazing spirit and determination made people love him. Though he had left high school earlier in order to earn enough to get by, Robert passed his GED, and received his diploma at the age of 16. Many people would have gotten into trouble in his position, but Robert was in love with horses and, at the age of 22 had saved up enough money to fly out to New Jersey to train with the legendary George Morris. As fate would have it, I was also keeping my horses at George’s Hunterdon Farm and for me it was love at first sight.
OK, so maybe a little more lust than love at first sight, but I definitely knew Robert was very special and, after he left back for LA, I couldn’t get him out of my mind.

We stayed in touch and went on our first official date in the winter of 1989, and have been together ever since. And the last 20 years of being with Robert has truly been the most incredible I could ever have conceived.

Right away Robert saw that my business, Romance Farm Inc., was not running efficiently, and so he took over and made it one of the most successful in the Dressage industry. He was so good at what he did that, travelling along with the US Equestrian Team on our World Championship Tour in 1990, he was made our Team Manager and was the first to actually bring home a substantial profit to the organization after all expenses.

As his experience grew in the hunter/jumper industry, Robert began to work as a professional trainer of kids and adults and brought along several kids who are among the most successful in America today. But, all of this is really not why I think of him as my greatest hero.

Robert has an amazing heart! He is a person who is constantly trying to change the world for the better. Not having children of our own, Robert began sponsoring one child in India, and now we sponsor approximately 20 kids around the world, and he stays in constant touch with these children with letters and personal gifts beyond the money normally sent.

Along with myself and Mason Phelps, Robert founded the Equestrian AIDS Foundation in 1996. He had always worked to help those living with HIV, volunteering for AIDS benefits for Marianne Williamson’s out in LA, and later working for her Manhattan Centre For The Living. Robert has gone on to sit on the Executive, Applicant Review, and Finance Committees of the now “Equestrian Aid Foundation”, which two years ago began helping people in the horse world suffering from any life-threatening illness or catastrophic injury.

Robert has an amazing thirst for knowledge and has read biographies on every president as well as many other political icons. His desire to learn has brought him back to school, taking university classes online with the objective of getting his B.A. in business. At the same time Robert has gotten his real estate license and, even in these uncertain times, has become extremely successful. I believe this is due to his honesty and incredible work ethic. Besides my mother, Robert is the only person I know of whom I have never heard a disparaging word uttered. He is truly loved by all who know him.

For all these things and too many more I give you my inaugural Out For Good Hero, Robert Ross.

Posted: Wednesday, January 21st, 2009 at 10:51 am
Filed under: Everything Else, Out For Good, Robert Ross