The Windurra driveway
Back in June I said I wasn’t going to write about the True Prospect fire anymore, but a happier occasion calls for me to break that promise. By now you all know about the fire that killed six horses and injured five others and the year of ups and downs True Prospect and Windurra have both had. Luckily as of late there have been more of the ups; Boyd moved his business to his beautiful new farm in July and since then not much has stopped anyone at Windurra from going forward. Neville and Otis, both severely injured in the fire, were recently named to the USEF High Performance Training A List, a feat no one thought possible. Caitlin Silliman’s Advanced mare, Catch A Star, is happily recuperating in the field looking as beautiful as always, Lillian Heard is tearing it up in Ireland, and a couple weeks ago the Windurra driveway got a new look: six bradford pear trees.
I’m struggling to find the words to do this post justice, because the image Boyd sent me that heads this post is so perfect and peaceful, the lighting just right. I can’t think of a better memorial to the horses that died that night, one that seems to cancel out the chaos of their deaths. Each tree is footed by a plaque with their name (all kindly donated by Smart Pak) and in the spring the trees will bloom and you will probably have to endure me posting a photo of them every time I write the News and Notes. That’s an exaggeration. Maybe.
Boyd asked me to share these photos with you all, and in doing so I cannot forget the help that all of our fellow eventers gave to us in the days after the fire, when many of us nearly lost our way in the dismal landscape of grief. So, for the hundredth time and certainly not the last, thank you all for your support, thoughts, and kind words, they did and still do mean more than you could ever know. And here’s one last photo, for your viewing pleasure. Go Eventing.
