True Grit – Marylyn Caliendo

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198 – August/September, 2016

by Delores Kuhlwein

There are times in your life when you meet people you know you’ll never forget. Deep down inside, you realize you’ve come out better on the other side just for meeting them. They might motivate you, help you, or they simply leave you with a feeling your life has been enriched.

Moments like these are few and far between, yet Marylyn Caliendo, of Lake Oswego, Oregon, inspires those feelings in whoever she greets, smiling and warmly welcoming others as dear friends.

“When I was a little girl, my father always told me, ‘When you meet someone, believe that they are the nicest people in the world, then let them prove you wrong. A lot of them will be just who you believe they are.’ He was right; most people I meet for the first time are just nice, fun, loving people,” Marylyn says.

In the same way, Marylyn is one of those people who claps for you when you win, even if you’re in her class. Marylyn’s friend and fellow competitor, Bell Crisp, describes their first meeting. “The first time I actually talked to her was two years ago at my first Paint World Show,” Bell says. “We had just finished with the Masters Western Pleasure and were in the lineup. She looked at me, smiled, and asked, ‘Did you have a good go?’ I said, ‘I did! Did you?’ She said, ‘Yes, he was very good.’ If memory serves me right- she won. In my opinion, APHA should crown her as an ambassador for our industry, as her sportsmanship is unparalleled.”

Marylyn explains, “I love to watch my friends compete, even if they are in a class that I am in. Everyone can’t ride in the same barn, and everyone can’t win the same class on the same day. When you see someone have a great go in their class, you should be happy for them. They have worked just as hard as I do; I would want people to be happy for me. I feel good sportsmanship makes the whole show a better place. Competition should be serious, but fun. At the end of the day, it is what it is.”

Her common sense and positive attitude is widely known, yet there’s more to Marylyn than simply being one of the nicest ladies at the horse show.

Click here to read the complete article
198 – August/September, 2016