To the Horse...my lingering addiction

For many years, I bred, trained and showed horses. My first breeding venture was called Court of Camelot Arabians, and my then husband Philip and I focused our breeding program on Egyptian Arabians. The first colt born on my farm which was in Anderson, South Carolina, was from a mare we bought in Canada in our short sojourn in Ontario months after we were married in England.


Then I discovered the Andalusian, those fairytale horses with crested necks and long flowing manes and tails. I saw an Andalusian at a show in Atlanta and fell in love. I proceeded to sell my Arabians and bought a 4-year-old stallion that had been imported from Costa Rica named Bonito. Bonito lived up to his name. He was a beautiful dappled gray with black mane and tale. His trot was high and airy, and people flocked to him. We had some rough times in those first years. I needed to be a lot better rider to manage a horse that knew more than I did about the finer points of equestrianism. But we made it and I showed him to two National Championships and a Reserve National Championship plus countless other wins for Camelot Act II (the fanciful name we gave our new breeding program).

The above photo is of my magnificent Bonito and me in Asheville, North Carolina, performing our Phantom of the Opera musical exhibition. The others of another stallion I owned named Alegre, another splendid stallion, and are from the Florida Renaissance Faire.

A couple of years after I moved to Miami, I realized I wasn’t spending the time with Bonito that a horse of his calibre deserved, and I sold my best friend. My heart still aches when I remember that day and when I look at my scores of show pictures.

I haven’t ridden in about 7 years, but I still go to Ebay and look at dressage saddles for sale and riding clothes. My favorite Google search is for a palomino Lusitano stallion. I can get lost in YouTube videos of these spectacular horses. The Lusitano is a Porgugese breed founded on the Spanish Andalusian.

I’m a city girl now, but my heart still yearns for the feel of a horse beneath me. I saw Warhorse last night, and I guess that is the inspiration for this personal little blog. I highly recommend this movie to horselovers and to everyone.