If you know Lindsey, you know she takes great pride in making sure all of our horses have excellent ground manners. None of them nip or crowd your space, and they understand not to drag people around on the lead rope - they follow instead. But the horse of her lifetime, her “heart horse” was just horrid - atrocious really, on the ground.
Joey’s Legacy
Geronimo was his show name, and it fit perfectly, but he went by Joey, for short. He would spin circles around her while she tried to tack him up, he’d always be pushing up against her, and turning him out was downright dangerous - for anyone in the vicinity. But that little horse taught her how to ride, what this sport meant to her, and showed her how hard she was willing to work to give a horse what it needed to succeed.
Joey is the horse that made Lindsey the person she is, took her from a horse-crazy little girl, in skater jeans and too-big full chaps, wearing just about the biggest and ugliest helmet you’ve ever seen, to a professional horsewoman determined to create a professional training program of the highest integrity.
Auspicious Beginnings
When Lindsey first met Joey, she was 13 years old and coming off a little 15hh mare with which she had competed in the children's hunters and equitation. Though that mare had a modest bag of tricks, by comparison Joey was a beast. He was 6 years old, 16 hands, and thought he was king of the world. When Lindsey first tried Joey, it was love at first jump:
“The day I went to try him, I rode up to a big green box on an angle. It was set a good two holes above anything I had jumped before and, on top of that, he took the long spot. I latched onto as much mane as my little fingers could grasp, and before I knew it, we were flying. That feeling was indescribable, it was magical. From that first moment of white-knuckled bliss to our very last ride together, bareback with just a makeshift halter and lead rope, I trusted that horse with my whole heart and never looked back.”
He was 100% a jumper, and Lindsey’s trainers at the time made sure he was never ridden without drawreins in an attempt to keep the green, fire-breathing horse under control in an always-busy Chicago lesson ring.
Lindsey could barely pilot him safely, and jumping was always exciting - and nerve-wracking. But from the start, the horse and rider had a bond. Lindsey always showed up, and worked diligently through the lesson, undeterred by mistakes, scares, or falls. In time, the two earned each other’s trust, and Lindsey could ride Joey pleasantly on the flat, and competently guide him around a course at speed.
Sudden Tragedy on the Heels of Success
After Lindsey had owned Joey for two years, Lindsey’s trainer was tragically killed in a car accident. In fact, he had just spent the previous afternoon coaching Lindsey to her first ever win in a jumper classic, before rushing to catch his flight out to The Pennsylvania National Show. Devastated, Lindsey and Joey were forced to find a new way forward in a new program. In doing so, Lindsey was determined to continue to find a way to live up to the standards of her late mentor, Jeff, and keep him in her heart.
Rebuilding and Gaining Momentum
Though it was a heartbreaking event, and it did throw an emotional and logistical wrench into progress for a bit, they did find a new trainer, and in a little time, were quite successful. In the new program, Lindsey had a chance to earn extra practice rides on other horses, which helped her to be that much better on Joey. She even had an opportunity to show a second horse for another barn client. On both horses, Lindsey started winning regularly at local A and AA shows in the High Children’s Jumper division, culminating in qualifying for finals at the Washington International Horse Show. They had success in a lot of big classes at big shows in Chicago by the time they got there, but there is no hesitation when Lindsey is asked to name her proudest moment with Joey:
“If I had to pick just one, I would say that placing 2nd in the 2002 WIHS Children's Jumper Finals was without equal competitively. I had left for college that August, and flew back home early to fit in two quick schooling sessions, before flying on to D.C.
And even though we had been apart for nearly three months, Joey trusted me completely and gave me his whole heart. He put every ounce of himself into those rounds, and I will forever be grateful for and humbled by that experience.”
Joey’s Post-Show Life
After that, Joey first stayed in IL, and then moved to stay with Lindsey in Arizona, and eventually Texas. She continued to ride him and jump him, which they both loved, but he retired from showing. She moved on to other horses, including professionally riding and showing for Aaron Vale in Ocala, FL. Later, Lindsey ended up teaching some of her first beginner lessons as a professional on Joey … the horse that had once been a fire-breathing dragon. Now, he was her tame, sweet, most trusted companion.
Joey saw her through moving across the country, though the beginning and end of relationships, and was the first family member to meet the man who would become her husband, Austin. Through understanding her bond with Joey, he came to understand what drove her as a person. It was Austin who was there for Lindsey when Joey’s time finally came, in October of 2013.
“Joey’s time ended as it was meant to from the moment we met. With his head in my lap and my repeating the same phrase that I had recited at the end of every day spent together: ‘Goodbye Joey Joey, I'll see you soon. Until then, I love you very, very much, and you're a very good boy.’ ”
Joey’s memory is with Lindsey still, every day. She’s always a little sad each year around October, missing him more than usual. But it is he that she thinks of when a horse is a little complicated, or needs a little extra time, or creative thinking. It’s their bond she remembers when she sees one of her students work extra hard and push to excel. And it’s the hard-won accomplishments on that horse that drive her to push through the most challenging moments of owning her own farm and building her program to her unflinching standards. She is detail-oriented, fiercely determined, and in everything, always puts the horse first, just as she did, unfailingly, with Joey.
