Staying strong through a tough time
Shannon LeClair
Times Reporter
Determination and a strong spirit is what is helping a Strathmore teenager get through a tough time in her life. Rebecca Richardson, 13, has been riding and showing horses for a number of years now.
“She had had this horse for about a year and a half. She was a big Dutch Warmblood X Thoroughbred that we got from B.C.,” said Paula Richardson, Rebecca’s mom.
“We invested a great deal of money into this horse, this was supposed to be the horse that would take Rebecca right through to Spruce Meadows, this is the horse that had that kind of ability.”
She said her daughter and Lexi, the horse, were doing awesome together, and were working really hard.
Richardson said the vet was out to see Lexi because she was showing some soreness in her right front leg, off and on, for a few weeks. While the vet was working to figure out what was wrong, the horse overreached with her back leg. Horses like Lexi are bred to overreach a bit, due to all of the jumping they do, but when she came forward with her back leg on the left side, she shattered her pastern. The pastern is the part of the horse located between the fetlock joint and the hoof.
“I got a phone call here at work, (Strathmore High School) that said, you guys have 15 minutes to get out here and say goodbye to Lexi. So I had to go grab my daughter and my husband, and we hurried out there,” said Richardson.
“The vet had already sedated her a bit, so she was in the arena and she was sort of munching, we said our goodbyes and that was it. My daughter was devastated, this horse was her best friend.”
News anchor Gil Tucker, from Global Television, came out this way and did a segment on Rebecca and Lexi called ‘Horse Help.’ Richardson said the horse community was amazing, once word had gotten out about what had happened to Lexi, they rallied behind Rebecca. Richardson said they sent money, condolences, and there were offers of horses for Rebecca to ride.
“The horse community is amazing, but this just proved how wonderful it really was,” said Richardson.
They had a few options on what they could do. After talking to Rebecca’s coach Danielle Pennacchietti, the Richardsons found out Frank Selinger, whom Pennacchietti trains with, had an idea. Selinger knew of a couple who had a horse that may be a benefit to Rebecca in terms of the work, and would benefit the owner who had talked about getting it into shape and selling it. Rebecca has been showing the pony at Andersons Ranch said Richardson.
“She has been working with this horse for three months. It was out in a pasture for six months. It’s seven years old, so it’s fairly young,” said Richardson.
“The last three months she’s ridden it pretty much consistently five times a week to get it in shape so she could show it for these people at the horse show and try to find a buyer.”
Once the horse sells, Rebecca will get a small commission on the sale.
Not only is she continuing in her sport, but she is also training and working in it. In her first showing with Jewels of Jade, Rebecca ribboned, which means she was in the top eight in every class except one. Eventually the Richardsons plan to buy a new horse, but for now they have to wait and build up the finances to be able to do so.