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Posted by June
on 2/25/2008, 8:55 pm
72.72.118.182
It is with deep sadness and tear filled eyes that I am writing this message.
Tonight at 6:00 pm after 24 wonderful years together we lost our beloved "Georgia".
She was a remarkable 34 years old.
It all started back On August 4th, 1984 (a Saturday that I remember like it was yesterday) when I was 11 years old my father took me to a farm in Whitman, Mass (called Spivick farm) to try horses.
It was a dream come true. I had been taking lessons for a couple of years at a little barn on my street. My best friends Angela and Caroline rode there too and the farm owners daughter (Jenny) still my best friend had ponies as well.
We all grew up riding together. Angela and Caroline first owned a horse named Peaches and then later bought Bolo) who just passed away this past June.
He and Georgia loved each other, she squealed everytime she saw him!... in any event my dad agreed to let me have a horse. She cost $620. That was alot of money 24 years ago....
So on the big "shopping day" The first horse I tried was named "Trouble" it was a beautiful black horse with a long thick tail and a beautiful face.
It seemed like the perfcet horse for me and the people at the farm didnt even want to show me the next horse but I insisted.
A few minutes later they led out the saddest horse I had ever seen. She was skin and bones with scratches and rope burns on her legs from who knows what. She was so dehydrated and underweight. She had the saddest eyes I had ever seen and I knew right away she was supposed to be mine. Everyone thought I was crazy including my father picking her over the beautiful black horse.
Something told me she was the one. And she was...When she first arrived the barn owner and instructor were horrified. She was so badly beaten and abused and starved that she nearly died twice with in the first two weeks of owning her. The vet said if she had colic one more time she would have to be put to sleep. I prayed everyday and she got better and stronger...
We nursed her back to health with the help of everyone at the farm (WindyHill) in Sharon. The farm owner was amazing and she still to this day knows more about horses in her pinky finger than most will know in a lifetime.
She pulled through and after several months with her new found health came an abundance of energy that we werent expecting. I was getting run off with, stepped on when leading her and bucked off on a regular basis.
I know it is hard to believe but back in those days we rode unsupervised in the ring, on the trails it was anything but ideal but it was the norm...so I wouldnt tell my parents about the falls for fear of them making me get ride of her.
She was my greatest teacher and my very best friend. We trail rode all of the time. I showed her too. It wasnt anything fancy but I loved to show her. She was unique looking lets just say... She was a blue roan appaloosa with no tail and no mane. I remember one day at a 4H show we won 4 blue ribbons and a HUGE Champion trophy. I was so proud of her. My favorite classes to do on her were equitation, she had the most comfortable sitting trot and her canter was so smooth too. She loved to jump (ok the truth is she loved to jump when she felt like it) sometimes she would stop and boy did she teach me how to stay back and keep my eyes up and my legs on.... My barn friends and I would make jumps out of anything we could find...and I do mean anything!
Her least favorite classes were trail obstacles (those were very popular when I was younger). She spooked at the rain coat and she hated backing up through the "L"She also hated the "mailbox" obstacle and would try and eat grass ad pull me over her head if the class was held on grass. I spent an entire summer working on trail and we then started winning all of those classes. She taught my patience...
When I was 13 I went to sleep away summer camp with Georgia @ The 4H camp in Spencer, the camp was stingy about shavings so i would sneak out of the dorm at night and get her extra shavings so she could have a nice fluffy bed!!!
We also competed at the Big E in Springfield in the big indoor arena and got a 6th place ribbon over fences out of 50 entries.
We were also on a drill team for 4 years, she had sparkly red polo wraps and a glittery red saddle pad (don't get any ideas Katie & Nikki)...
I rode her bareback and even "double" bareback with my friends (again don't get any ideas Katie & Nikki)... all of the time.
She loved to graze and she loved banana's they were her favorite food of all times. When I started Victory Stables Georgia stepped in to be the very best teacher and school horse I have ever had. My office is filled with pictures of students learning to ride on her and in every picture her ears are forward and the riders are all smiling. She was truly a kind sole.
Several years after we bought our farm (back in 1999) we made the decision to retire Georgia (2002). She was having trouble with her eye sight and we brought her to my parents farm to let her live out her days and that she did for the past 6 years she has had a wonderful paddock with other retired horses and ponies.
My mom cared for her and loved her as much as anyone could possibly love anyone or anything. Of course Georgia aged but she aged graciously and we thought she would outlive us all.
Sadly and suddenly this past weekend she came down with almost stroke like symptoms and was unable to keep her balance and the prognosis given her age was not good so today we made the hardest decision of all and had her put to sleep. My mom and I were there with her up until the end. It was the hardest decision of my life. She was my best friend. And although she was not the fanciest horse, best mover or jumper she was my VERY best friend.
I will never forget her and will love her always. Thankyou to everyone that was a part of Georgia's long and amazing life. So many people loved her. She knew it too! I groomed her for hours today her coat was shedding out and a beautiful shiny coat was starting to come in. It is so hard to imagine her not sun bathing our being with us to enjoy this Spring and Summer... We shared a huge bag of carrots and I reminded her of all our great adventures. I hugged her and she hugged me back... Without Georgia there would be no victory Stables....
May you run and graze in beautiful fields forever.
I love you girl....
Love,
June
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