s Laine and Independence.
▼ (L-R) Unique,Laine, and her mom, Carey.
Dutch Warmblood of Michelle’s named Independence (Carla x Roemer), a.k.a. Indy, after Michelle sold him to Shauna Moore. “Laine rode Indy extremely well,” says Michelle. Indy, who is now 21, was supposed to be a dressage horse but Michelle says, “One day he literally jumped over a sunbeam in the indoor and looked like he had fun.” So from that time forward he became a jumper. “Laine rode Indy and jumped with him. She is such a good little rider,” says Michelle. “I feel very fortunate to have found her.” Michelle
never realized
how fortunate she was until last winter when she was presented with the opportunity to buy Unique, a 2001 Dutch mare by No Limit out of Nicolien. “I know the breeder and the breeding,” says Michelle referring to Beth Dzaueis of Stockbridge, Massachusetts. “Beth has really nice horses. When I saw Unique I really liked her.” Michelle earmarked Unique for dressage. Interestingly, Unique’s
sire, No Limit, is a Grand Prix jumper in the Netherlands. Michelle notes that Unique “is a big girl with jumper legs.” As luck, or fate, would have it, just two weeks after Michelle bought Unique, she slipped
on the ice and broke her foot. “Here I am 28 July/August 2011
with a new horse,” recalls Michelle, “and I fall. Now I have concerns that I’m going to be off the horse a long time. I needed someone to ride her.” In the meantime, Indy’s owner allowed Laine to continue to ride Indy, but Indy, nearing 21, did not like going from one rider to another. Michelle didn’t have too far to look for a rider and offered a lease to Laine. “It was a good match,” says trainer Merri, who co-leases Unique and competes on her as well since her own horse is recuperating from an injury. Her broken foot is certainly not the first challenge Michelle has faced in recent years. First her father died then her marriage ended in divorce. Her husband was not fond of horses and that became a bone of contention in their relationship. She had as many as five horses at one time. “So I sold my horses thinking that was going to save my marriage,” she says. “Of course it didn’t. It never does.” In 2010 she was diagnosed with uterine
cancer and had to undergo surgery. Instead of being gripped with fear, the plucky 53-year-old remained optimistic and the news was good. The cancer was contained and had not spread to other organs. “I was fortunate,” says Michelle. “They found it in time and I did not need chemotherapy. The cancer hadn’t gone into the lymph glands but just to be sure the doctors took everything.” Despite the challenges she’s faced,
Michelle feels she is truly blessed. She has survived cancer, and looking back she had parents who supported her dreams, helping her keep horses in her life.
PARENTAL SUPPORT
Oddly enough neither one of Michelle’s parents nor her three other siblings were into horses. But her father’s uncles, all seven of them, owned and raced trotters at Suffolk Downs in East Boston. As a youngster, Michelle remembers going to the barn and spending hours brushing and caring for her uncles’ horses. “You couldn’t ride them of course,” she says, “since they were trotters. But I didn’t care. I just wanted to be around them.” Her parents saw that love develop and
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