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It was education and baptism by fire
because in those days I was about sixteen showing against all the major
trainers in the one division (Open Division) because that’s all there
was. Showing a top-contender against mostly men, you need to have
a confidence about yourself because they were not always very supportive
about having a young female in the midst of everything.
Fortunately, with Fancy’s help, we changed that.
I showed Fancy and rode Bronze
Spirit a little bit until Julie demonstrated she could ride her
better. I then went off to college. As it happens to a lot
of people at that age, I began to find interest other than those
involving horses. Mom and Julie decided that they needed to get a
new horse ready for me in order to re-kindle my interest in the horses.
Prior to that, mom’s mare, J’s Cricket was bred to Zane’s
Charming Lad. Again, mother was expecting a beautiful gray.
Instead, one May evening, there was born the funniest colored horse we
had ever seen. She wasn’t gray or palomino; she was kind of a
dusty, dirty, grayish, palomino-ish color with a black and white mane
and tail and black rings around her eyes. Mom looked at her
somewhat disappointed and gave her to me as a high school graduation
present. I named her Lad’s Special Promise. (Mom no
longer gives away new foals of any color.) (Zane’s Charming Lad
had died the previous August, so she was part of his last foal-crop.)
We started Special Promise when
she was two, but she didn’t seem to have her act together so we backed
off on her. While I was away at college in the fall of that year
(1979), mom and Julie started to work on her again. When I saw her
originally, I wasn’t all that impressed. As the fall and winter
progressed, however, they kept telling me, "Jan, you need to see
your mare. Why don’t you come home and see your mare?"
Finally that following spring, I slowed
down at college long enough to go to see my mare, Promise.
"Wow!" Mom and Julie had really been doing a lot of good work.
She was an amazing beautiful gray mare. Promise had a style
about her that was almost arrogant. She carried herself the same
way as her sire, Charming Lad, and was a fire-breathing machine
when she went to work.
Julie and mom put in all the hard work
getting her ready for the first Three Year Old Futurity at Ava in 1980.
My only claim to fame was that I came home two weeks before the show,
just long enough to learn to ride her. In those days, the entries
in the Three Year Old Futurity were shown in all three gaits and they
rode them, I believe, 30 minutes straight. Promise put on
quite a show, being crowned the first Three-Year-Old Futurity Champion.
She came up to the gate, hesitated and looked at the crowd like,
"Are you ready?" and then came in like a freight train.
She had a special powerful presence about her in the show ring.
The ultimate "show horse" look. She has, I am proud to
say, passed that on to her sons and daughters.
We went on to show her successfully when
she was three, four and five. Late in the summer she was six, as
we were preparing her for the Celebration, it turned extremely hot and
humid. Several of the best show horses in this part of the
country, including Special Promise and (Playboy’s) Gallant
Red Fox became seriously ill with an undiagnosed illness. Red
Fox foundered and dies. Promise also seriously foundered and
would have died if Dr. Hamm at Fayetteville had not managed to save her.
Promise’s health forced her to retire from the show ring at
that time.
Special Promise became the best
cared for equine invalid you have ever seen. The same heart, power
and arrogance that made her a wonderful show horse also helped her
maintain a will to live and function with her new disabilities. We
kept her stall bedded very deep and maintained as careful an environment
as possible. She lived a good life and wasn’t in the stress and
the pain that you would normally associate with severe, chronic
laminitis. Most people seeing her standing there wouldn’t know
anything was wrong until she moved; then would realize how disabled she
was.
Dr. Hamm’s feeling was that it would be
fine to bred her and let her raise foals. We all believed that it
would keep her interested in life and maintain a positive attitude.
Luckily, she was easy to get in foal and managed to pass on her special
abilities to five wonderful foals.
It was difficult for Promise to
stand for long periods of time, her foals quickly learned to nurse with Promise
lying down. She nursed her foals like a dog. She would raise
her leg and the foal would lean down and nurse. This put less stress and
strain on her. Promise’s foals were much more disciplined
than most because she knew that she couldn’t chase them around.
Early on, in the stall, she would teach them to mind and come to her
when she called. As always, Promise was in charge.
Special Promise produced five
talented offspring by three different sires. Outlaw’s Gold
Strike, a gorgeous palomino stallion and Promises, Promises,
a beautiful gray mare are by Missouri Outlaw C. Her son, Traveler’s
Red Alert, the 1995 World Grand Champion was sired by Missouri
Traveler E. Special Pride, Promise’s palomino
daughter by Bronze Pride, was the 1995 Three Year Old Futurity
Amateur Champion and the 1997 Reserve World Senior Amateur Champion.
She also raised Crimson Pride (by Bronze Pride) who died
when he was three.
Mom and Julie get credit for producing Red
Alert. They had the bright idea to breed Promise to Missouri
Traveler E. I was not very keen on the idea. If you know
my mother and sister, you know they don’t give up on an idea easily.
Since I did not forbid them from breeding her, they went ahead and
thankfully, did it.
(Julie) Red Alert was born during
the week of the Three Year Old Futurity in 1989. Dad and I
delivered him while Jan and mom were gone to the show. Jan was
showing Outlaw’s Gold Strike in the Futurity. Promise
delivered a weak, sorrel stud colt with a bald spot on the top of his
head. I thought, "Oh my gosh, mom and I are in trouble".
Jan wanted a filly and here was a very unimpressive stud colt. I
thought we were in big trouble for awhile. Luckily, all that
changed as he grew up. He became an extremely talented World
Champion.
(Jan) There comes a time when even great
hearts and strong spirits wear out. Dr. Hamm always said that Promise
would tell me when it was time to quit and he was right. We put Special
Promise to sleep on December 23, 1993. We had used up all of
our precious time and the end was here. When she was laid to rest,
she was carrying a full sibling to Red Alert inside of her.
We had no other humane choice. It was the hardest decision that I have
ever had to make. To this day, we still cannot talk about this
without crying and feeling the pain of the time.
Article is taken from Fox Trot Trackings
Too
by Nadine Moeller, 417-732-2213
E-Mail: n-g.moeller@pcis.net
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