An unexpected friend and a heartwarming story

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not very sappy or emotional. So, when something touching happens, it really surprises me.

Spencer’s previous owner trailered him to my place last fall. She told me after doing all the paperwork that she was prepared to leave him on the trailer and take him back home if my place wasn’t to her standards – she was pretty attached to him and only wanted him to go to a good home. As she prepared to leave, she was visibly upset – she had a new horse to ride - but was going to miss Spencer. Usually I say the wrong thing to people or make a joke to lighten the tension, but this time I knew what to ask. I asked her if she wanted to stay in touch and receive updates on Spencer. She smiled at me with watery eyes and said “yes, please…”. She then hopped in her truck and drove away.

I sent her a couple of short emails with pictures over the next couple of months. She responded politely and sent me pictures of her new horse. I figured that would be the end of the exchange. When I started having trouble with Spencer in the late fall, I sent her another email, begging for advice/help. She told me to call her and we would talk. I think I spent a couple of hours over the next few days on the phone with her and her husband. They were so supportive and encouraging and that gave me the motivation to keep working with him. They even offered to buy him back if I got really stuck…

Fast forward to this winter – I hadn’t heard from her in a few weeks. I got an email to let me know that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was having surgery soon. She then sent me updates on her progress and treatment. The treatments were going well, but it would affect her show season. She was able to make it to a AQHA show very close to my house this past weekend. A week before the show, she told me more details about how she was diagnosed.

It turns out that last summer she was on a trail ride with friends and the horses stepped on some ground wasps. Spencer was stung multiple times in the face, neck and legs. He didn’t freak out, but was dancing around. She had to do an emergency dismount, but hit her chest/stomach on the saddle on the way down. She had a massive bruise for a few weeks and when the bruise finally went away, she was left with a lump. She is a nurse, so at first she thought the lump was just damaged tissue, but by January realized it was something much worse.

She had some tests and was quickly scheduled for surgery. She feels that Spencer saved her life, because in Canada, most women don’t start going for mammograms until they are 50. In her case, (she’s 47) if she had waited that long, it would have been too late. Due to her injury that day, it brought the issue to her attention.

It is a nice story, but it isn’t really the horse that did anything, it was the situation…but that is just me being a bit of a cynic. She asked in her email if she could come over and give Spencer a hug. I agreed of course, and we decided to work out a time during the show to pop over to my place. I’m only 10 minutes away from the fairgrounds, so it was easy to work out the details.

I spent the day with her and her husband at the show. She introduced me to a bunch of people from her barn who all knew Spencer. They were really friendly and were happy to hear that he was doing well.

During the lunch break at the show, I took her and her husband over to my place. I sent her into the barn alone first, to give her a few minutes. She then called me in – I found her in Spencer’s stall, crying and hugging him. It was so sweet, that it cracked my cold heart a bit… ;-) She and her husband were so happy to see him and we spent about an hour in the barn talking and laughing. I took a few pictures of the two of them and it was such a nice moment. She told my husband and I her story in great detail and it was really touching and special.

Who knew when I bought this horse that I would make a new friend and have such an experience with him and his previous owners?

Her prognosis is good, since the cancer was caught so early, so she and her husband are very optimistic. She is so positive and encouraging to me in my riding and it is so nice to have made another real connection in the horse world, when so many horse people seem to be dishonest, critical and clique-y...