FEBRUARY 2019 THE RIDER /3 Pat Carter Continued from Page 1.


One special horse for Pat was Leo Sands, known affectionately as ‘Sandy’, a Quarter Horse that took AQHA Honor Roll Trail Horse status in 1983 with 1100 points. Other prominent horses in- cluded AQHA Champi- ons Secret Desire, Miss Hot Shot, Miss Otoe Charge, and Happy End- ing. Wonder Seeker achieved


Supreme Champion #35 in 1975 with over 250 points in that year. Cow- boy’s Dream 4 earned Honor Roll Trail Horse in 1972; and Peppy Otoe earned that same title in 1973. Copperhill Otoe was named World Cham- pion in Jr. Trail in 1974, owned by Peter and Iris Emick, the first Cana-


bond with that mare, as she did with many others to follow, and would use Winnie May to pull cars out of ditches or what- ever needed to be done. In one trail class, show- ing her attachment to her beloved rider, the mare attacked a bear skin ob- stacle to protect her. But it didn’t matter


AQHA


what kind of horse you had. For Pat, they all held their own promise but that meant that the rider had to learn to be the best they could be for the sake of the horse. Her reputa- tion as a no-nonsense coach was legendary, seemingly with eyes in the back of her head, so to speak. She had the in- nate ability to know ex- actly what a rider was doing by how the horse was performing. It wasn’t unusual for a rider to be


the coach of the Hamil- ton Mounted Police Unit, finishing Top 3 at the North American Police Equestrian Competition. "Three of her students have gone on to become AQHA judges and she also coached Blaine Nichols to an American Paint Horse World Champion Amateur Trail Horse title in 2000.” Pat presented nu-


merous clinics through- out the US and Canada and worked tirelessly as an organizer for the On- tario QHA Quarterama clinics, speciality classes and general daily opera- tions during the show’s lifetime. Pat and Leo


Pat was the instructor for the Western Equine Stud- ies program offered through Humber College in Toronto. She was also the Master Course Conduc- tor of the West- ern Coaching Program for the Canadian Eques- trian Federation for 20 years. In her later years, Pat didn’t ride anymore. She used a golf cart to get her around the farm and give her a plat- form from which to teach, usually accompanied by a beloved dog, but she never stopped teach- ing. “She would


dian-owned Quarter Horse to have won at the AQHA World Show. Pat was the first Canadian World Champion. There’s a photo of


Pat with an orphan foal named Winnie May, her first horse, dated 1959. Pat discovered a special


taking a lesson while Pat was surrounded by peo- ple trying to see what she saw instinctively, trying to develop their eye while the rider found their seat or whatever body part wasn’t appar- ently working correctly. From 1983 to 1993,


kick your butt but she had your back,” said for- mer Humber stu- dent Gillian Ros s -Erasmi . Over the years,


Pat converted Gillian to Western riding. She was patient as long as you were working hard, re- membered Gillian, and if you didn’t get it, Pat would find another way to explain it. If she was after you it was because


she knew you could do better. But always, it was about the horse. Gillian went on to earn her west- ern coaching certifica- tion, noting that


program hasn’t changed much since its inception, demonstrating the time- lessness of the content. It was at Humber


that Pat met a young horseman named Troy Donaldson. She could see his potential, just like a young colt. In his words, when he was “fixin’ to get expelled for skateboarding through the stable”, Pat found him a job starting colts for Jim McKay, who would soon become his father-in-law. Thirty-four years later, Troy was proud to say that he and Pat and Pat’s husband of 55 years, Joe, were still close


friends, with


Grandma Pat being the first one his kids would call when wanted to share news of


their


achievements in the show pen. “She could inspire you to try,” said Troy, “a solid rock that people could cling to when they needed a friend.” Pat and Joe’s daugh-


ter, Patti, is also a re- spected rider, trainer and coach. Patti now serves as the Senior Director of Judges with the AQHA in Amarillo, Texas. Pat’s love of trail led


her to form the Pat Carter All-Breed Trail Chal- lenge, a program to pro- mote high level trail across all breed associa- tions in Ontario. “I think Trail was so important to her because it separates good horseman from the rest,” explained Pat’s granddaughter, an ac- complished horsewoman in her own right, Paige Carter Fleetwood. “Trail requires you to put strong fundamentals on a horse,


which she would develop through dressage and lots of patience and time. She would spend hours in the backup every day until she felt it was a point earning movement. It doesn’t matter what your background is or how fancy your show clothes are, the good horseman will always prevail when it comes to Trail and I think that’s what she liked about the class.” Her lifelong career


included over 20 years as a fully accredited West- ern Horse Association of Ontario and Canadian Equine Federation Judge. Most recently, she was


Sand were inducted into the Ontario Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Carter Fam- ily was presented the Can-Am Equine Expo Icon Award in 2014. Pat received the AQHA Life- time Achievement Award in 2015. As Troy Donaldson


said fondly in her eulogy, “Now she is riding Sandy again…Grandma


Pat


made Heaven a better place this week.”


Photos: supplied by Paige Carter-Fleetwood


the


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48