Mack

 

Some months ago, I got a call from a young woman I’ve known for years. 10-12 years ago she would send me the $50 her parents gave her for a christmas present, for the benefit of Navigator, on whom she had taken lessons. This was her letter:

 

In 2001, I got a horse of my  very own, a thoroughbred named Mack. He's been such a great boy to me over the last nearly 12 years. He went to college with me at Cal Poly Pomona and travelled with me to Foxfield in the summers where I worked as a camp counselor. He's now 23 and will be 24 in just a couple of weeks. He has been working as a lesson horse at PBRC to help pay his board but his soundness is declining, and he is not currently sound enough to work in their lesson program. I'm looking to retire him this summer. I would love for him to end up in your care, as I've been able to see on your website over the years how well Navigator, Topper, Falcon, and several other familiar faces from PBRC have done with you.

This is Mack in action, through water, in earlier days.

She and her father have teamed up to sponsor Mack here at TGC, and today (September 29, 2013) he arrived.  Mack has ringbone as well as the usual arthritis, and has front shoes to help deal with that. And like a lot of little guys, he has a big personality - he stepped off that trailer and headed right out into the herd without shyness. He's already worked to put Jedi and Laddie in their place....  My heart was wrung as I saw the realization that she was leaving her old friend here strike home.  Steph said goodbye in true Golden Carrot form - you can see Mack is a carrothead like all of them!  But it's not really goodbye, as Dave and Steph have promised to visit as well as sponsor Mack in his new home....