Our business is named after my wife’s first horse, whose show name was “Front Page”, and was affectionately known as “Son”.

Son had a rough start in life. At less than a year old he developed pneumonia, from which he almost died. He was cured with penicillin, but then he developed an allergy to penicillin, and the next time it was given to him, his throat closed up and he almost died (again).

When my wife was 11 years old, she had been taking riding lessons for over 2 years and was begging her parents for a horse of her own. They couldn’t afford much, but decided to try and buy her one anyway. Her trainer took them to a farm to look at a young horse that was in their price range. It turned out the horse was one the trainer knew well. He had raised him from a baby, gave him to the girl who nursed him back to health when he had pneumonia, and then lost track of him.

They weren’t ready for the site that met their eyes when they entered the stall. The horse was skin and bones, thick matted hair with rain rot all over his rump, chipped hooves with no shoes, and when the trainer picked up one of his feet, the horse was so weak he fell against the wall of the stall. But the horse greeted him with ears perked up, bright eyes, and a little whinny of recognition. Tears welled in the trainer’s eyes.

To say he was bought out of pity is an understatement. One of the other boarders at the farm was a vet and he took my wife’s dad aside and told him he should prepare his daughter for the fact that the horse might not make it through the winter.

Fortunately, Son not only made it through that winter, but lived a long and happy life – he died at the age of 28 years. He and my wife had many great adventures together. And he taught me all the basics of good horsemanship, including how to ride.

Our business is named in his honor. May his memory live on.

Thank you for reading his story.