At the Horsemen’s Corral we’ve finally attended our last trade show for the season. We had a presence at more shows throughout the region than in past years, which means more exposure for our advertisers and clubs. Yes, trade shows are fun; especially meeting new people, but the long hours on sore feet and back to back weekends became exhausting. Was it worth the time and investment to do all these shows?
All of us at the Corral believe it was. Besides meeting so many new people from our region we passed on information to clubs and advertisers who were not familiar with the Corral. Our goal is to grow the Corral so we can continue to bring you content from our feature writers, news releases, health alerts, nutrition, safety and any other topics important to members of the equine community.
For those of you following our story about the search for a new horse for our daughter Kelsie; I have an update! My last editorial talked about the Michigan Stallion Expo and an inspiring set of circumstances and group of people that lead to Kelsie enjoying a ride on a beautiful Paso Fino. After three years of not wanting to get back on a horse, Kelsie finally experienced the pleasure of sitting in a saddle again.
Several people contacted me about Kelsie’s ride in Michigan, and I was moved to know that Kelsie’s story had touched their hearts. But I was unprepared for a call I received from a gentleman in the Cincinnati, Ohio area. I was sitting in the Corral office after hours doing some paper work when the phone rang. My first thought was, “Nope, I’m not answering it, the office is closed and I need to get this bookkeeping done”. But something made me pick up the phone. Jerry Cunningham, whom Joe or I had never met, wanted to discuss my article about Kelsie riding the Paso Fino. As he continued to talk he told me that after reading about our struggles to find a horse and the positive experience we had in Michigan, that he had a horse, a Paso Fino that he wanted to give to Kelsie. Honestly, I didn’t know what to say. Of course I was interested, but…I just didn’t know what to say! Then Jerry said something that made me realize that this was deeply personal to him even though he had never met us. “I want to do this, I need to do this”. We talked a little more about the horse, which sounded perfect for her, and I told him I would have Joe call him that night. A week later we were headed to Cincinnati with Kelsie to meet Jerry and his beautiful wife Lisa…and yes, we were pulling a horse trailer.
After spending some time with Jerry and Lisa we loaded up a stunning black Paso Fino gelding and headed home. As we drove the three hours north Joe asked Kelsie what she was going to name her new horse. Without any hesitation she said “Angel”. How fitting; through this journey we’ve had many angels enter our lives, first Jim and Lynn Bussell with their gift of Mr. Slick. Then Carlos Valadez, who put a sparkle back in Kelsie’s eyes when he helped her mount up on the magnificent Campechanco. And now, Jerry and Lisa Cunningham, who were so moved by Kelsie’s search for the perfect horse. And last but not least, Angel, who we have a feeling is Mr. Slick reincarnated; intelligent, gentle and kind, a guardian sent by God, and so appropriately named by a special little girl.
Until next month,
