After raising her children, Sharon Sue Lyon takes her turn in the spotlight.

Susie Lyon gets ready to enter the horsemanship ring at the Redbud Spectacular.

Sharon Sue Lyon of Kansas drove five hours to the Redbud Spectacular. It’s not that long of a journey compared with the rest of her life.

“Susie” started riding at age 6, down a country lane with a sack lunch, but she didn’t start competing until her daughters graduated.

These days, you can find Susie aboard Radical Alibi, aka “Al.” He’s a 7-year-old gray gelding and Susie picked him because he’s cute.

“I bought him in Pueblo,” she says. “He was actually bred in Kansas, and I knew the guy who bred and raised him, so it was funny that I ended up finding him when he was at a show in Pueblo, Colorado.”

For most of her competitive career, Susie has been a western pleasure exhibitor, but she’s adding western riding to her repertoire.

“My goal is to have a good time,” she says. “I’ve shown for several years. It’s more about doing a new class –  western riding. I’ve done it four times, and I’ve got all my marks. And I’ve got my changes. I got an extra change one time. You’d think they’d give extra credit, but they didn’t.”

For more photos from the Redbud Spectacular, see the slide show below (click on each photo to see the caption).