I don't know how it happened that it has been so long since I posted on this blog. I will go back and give details of our last year of progress however I first wanted to say something about the people I have met along the way. There are a few people that I never would have met if it hadn't been for Sammy, and for this reason above all others, I am so very thankful I took a leap of blind faith and bred Lily to Escapade. A week ago, we lost one of those special people and it has left a huge hole in my life. I don't know how someone that I saw just a handful of times but "talked" to much more frequently electronically could come to be so special to both Allison and I, but Jinx Springer sure did. We first met her when Sammy was in Ocala because of the fracture he had to his sesamoid bone. She came to meet Sammy (and us too I'm sure) and there began a fast friendship. She was so encouraging and somehow managed to make us feel special, even though she was the special one. She could tell a great story and loved to laugh and cut up and as my mom would say, she was good people. We visited her several times and enjoyed meeting her horses and the babies as they came. I have taken some of my favorite pictures there visiting her. She had a beloved mare who was also named Lily. She was no bigger than my Lily and maybe a little rounder, but she was a beautiful Connemara/TB cross.
I think her Lily enjoyed a joke as much as Jinx did.
Lily had a beautiful colt by Rio Grande. He was not to be with her long but he was loved.
And probably one of my favorite pictures I have ever taken was of her Escudo II filly resting her head on the Rio Grande colt. It was just a lucky shot of a lovely moment.
Jinx also had a Pablo gelding that was the same age as Sammy. She loved him dearly.
Jinx and her family (both 2 and 4 legged) moved away and we didn't see her except for last year we met in Charleston. She had gone through a battle with breast cancer but had come out on the other side. The three of us talked and laughed through 2 days and got caught up on each others lives. What a great visit we had. Later that year, she found out the cancer had returned in unexpected ways. She fought hard and bravely but lost that fight last week. She will be missed by both Allison and I for a long time to come. We are thankful we had her in our lives and we are much better for having known her. We will miss her and think of her often and raise a toast in her honor. I choose to picture her galloping through fields riding again and jumping those fences off her eye with those horses she has loved and who have gone before her. I have no doubt they were there to meet her at the bridge. Godspeed Jinx, until we meet again. Would you give my Lily some extra kisses for me please? Thank you Sammy for introducing us.
