Holiday Stories Hallmark Style, continued...
Center in Glenwood. I was ecstatic! It’s an hour from my house to TRRC. A mil- lion memories were running through my mind on the drive. T e ribbons, the trail rides, beating a top trainer’s $150K horse in a show! How Phoenix would run to me in the pasture when called, reading books curled up next to him as he lay at night in his always-clean stall, and the hollow, gutted pain that day he got on the trailer because I felt that I had failed him fi nancially. What if he’s a big bag of bones? What if this is a bad idea? What if he doesn’t remember me? What if I cannot handle this? T is horse and that world were such a big part of my identity. Sell- ing him meant that life had disappeared. We arrive. I’m im-
pressed at this gorgeous facility that runs like clockwork. I see the in- door ring,
sponsored
by Susan Porter’s late parents, and am in awe of the army of staff and volunteers who really care about these kids and horses. I stand in front of Phoenix’s stall and un- lock the door. He puts his face in my hands and I come unglued. He remembered me. T e kind staff give me space, then come back and I show them the picture of us at a horse show from 2003. T ey get it. I was his mom for the longest stretch of any human in his life. One of the staff who works closely with
After years of service as a therapy horse, Phoenix has been retired back home with his fi rst owner Elizabeth Kovalak and her daughter Brooke (pictured).
Phoenix asks me about his earlier life. We talk about how he’d do anything for peppermints, how he’d survey the jumps in a ring and know exactly where to go - winning against the best, how there’s a spot on his belly if you rub with a curry comb he’ll fl ip his upper lip and drool. A sweet boy asks me if I’d like to feed Phoenix carrots. He saw that I was crying and wanted to share, saying it will make me feel better. It did. He’s the same quiet- cerebral, friendly,
tempered, thoughtful,
carrot-loving gentle 17HH giant Oldenburg he always was, just un- derstandably un-muscled and slightly sway-backed. I take him out for grass and watch the same hard S-shaped graze pattern I remember him methodi- cally following, and how he loves clover the most. I swear on my dad’s grave I see a four-leaf clover in front of us and never saw one before that day. And in that moment, something shifted. In that moment, I ad- justed my career plan. I am a real estate agent, and eff ective this past
July, $100 from every property that I sell will help to fund a grant for TRRC. T is year, thanks to my clients, TRRC will receive over $5,000, which they will use towards farm im- provements. TRRC relies on donations and volunteers to survive. Watching the kids learn to brush, tack
and ride in a safe place without judgment is heartwarming. Seeing them smile, knowing they have friends here, I can’t help but sense the wave of relief and acceptance parents feel, as here their kids are protected from a world that’s quite hard on individuals with special needs. My daughter Brooke is now taking riding les- sons every Saturday on Dude the wonder pony. Years ago doctors told us that our now seven- year-old daughter may never walk or talk, yet this summer she crossed a stream riding a pony on a trail ride - keeping her heels down and al- ways looking ahead - and I can’t help but mar- vel at the odds she has defi ed. Phoenix helped me through the fog of loss and the hard life lessons of my 20s and early 30s. He then helped wonderful kids fi nd their happy place when the outside world would sometimes forget them. But not a day went by that I didn’t think of Phoenix and wonder how he was doing. A week after I visited him at TRRC, he re- turned with me to his old barn in Poolesville as the cleanest, most expensive, and most spoiled lawn ornament in the U.S., but also the object of complete adoration by his own little girl. I’m honored to have this opportunity to be the change I want to see in the world. I’m ec- static to help kids who need us as a society to accept them and understand they have gifts to off er us too. And I’m thankful for all those on the yellow brick road of life who made this journey possible - from those living angels like Susan Porter who connected me to the past to make it the present, to Dr. Tuel and the TRRC staff and volunteers who took great care of this wonder horse who is my everything.
Happy Holidays from the staff at The Equiery!
ATTENTION FOXCHASERS! Interested in the Foxchaser Races?
Make sure your horse is “Fairly Hunted!” In order to qualify, your horse must have been hunted a minimum of 6 times during the 12 months preceding the race date. If in
current Master of Foxhounds or Field Secretary of each recognized or unrecognized hunt with which the entry hunts.
For more information, please view “Conditions” on
marylandsteeplechasing.org. 18 | THE EQUIERY | DECEMBER 2017
800-244-9580 |
www.equiery.com
171217-913271
912857-171117
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