RIP Topaz :(

The name might be unfamiliar to most of you reading this, but I'll write about it anyway </3. Last week, a horse I used to own, Topaz de Plata, passed away. I truly don't have the emotional bandwidth to really get into this, so I'll copy over what I wrote about her on Facebook and some of the photos I shared there. 

I got Topaz in 2010 as a barely handled 3 y/o. She was huge, opinionated, and smarter than everyone in the room -- and she knew it, and wanted YOU to know it 🤣 She wasn't a horse I intended to buy, or keep, and yet she was the horse I needed at that period in my life. For six years, she taught me priceless lessons, and gave me so many "firsts" - first professional photoshoot, first dressage test, first blue ribbon, first year-end award, first clinic, first costume class in an old prom dress. Lest you think they were all good "firsts", there was also first sub-50 dressage score (🥴 thanks ulcers), first time crying in my horse trailer tack room after an awful show, first time getting bucked off at a clinic, first experience with the lameness locator at MU, first time the vet had seen a mast cell tumor on a horse, and she seemed determined to give me a crash course in equine first aid by any means necessary. She taught me so many lessons ♥️

In 2016, Topaz moved on to a new home to give someone else their chance to create their very own firsts with her, but we kept in touch and I loved getting to follow along on Topaz's journey as she continued to be that once in a lifetime horse for someone else. She was loved and cherished every single day of her life, and I take comfort in knowing she'll be laid to rest next to her best buddy Tres.

When I shared the news on IG, I used the hashtag the horse that built me, and it's so true. I wouldn't be 1/10 the horsewoman I am today without having had Topaz into my life. She's the one who started me down this crazy dressage road, and I'll always be grateful for the people and situations she helped bring into my life.