It was love at first sight. While attending a meeting at Tempel Farms, the manager introduced some of us to the horses in the barn. As he turned a big, broad five-year-old in his stall, I was totally smitten. When he took him out and trotted him a few steps, I nearly swooned.

This was not a happy horse though. I kept returning to look at him and he was always at the back of his stall, sullen and sour. I started picking apples from the trees beside the barn every time I came and went, offering them to him through the side bars of his stall. By the time the meeting was over, he was coming to the front of his stall, eyes shining, looking for his treat.

For nearly a year, I begged, pleaded and virtually harrassed them to sell him to me. Though they didn't especially like him, he was of an age group that had yielded few stallions and they didn't want to part with him. Finally I received a call that he had been put on the sales list. I flew to Chicago the next day. I took only my riding clothes, a down jacket and a bag of apples.

He had been moved to a less palatial stall, and was still at the back looking unhappy. I entered quietly, holding an apple out to the side. As he looked at me, his eyes lit up and he came right to me. I am sure he remembered.

I didn't care if he was sound (he was), I didn't care if he was sane (he was) or if he had three good gaits (he did). I knew I had to have this horse. I don't recommend approaching a purchase this way but this was totally heart over head. I saw him lunged and rode him a little, finding him spooky, cautious and very unsure of himself. I felt I could deal with anything as long as he could be mine.

When Marc arrived in Florida, I expected to spend a lot of time helping him acclimatize to new surroundings. I took him to his stall. He looked around, stuck his head out the open upper stall door, smiled and said, "This will do fine." Soon I took him to a paddock where I expected him to run and run. He took three steps and dropped his head to graze. I had to chase him to get him to show off his incredible trot. All his uncertainty and unhappiness disappeared when he arrived at Pegasus.

I took Marc to his first show near home within a few months and knew right away he was a true competitor. He traveled well, settled right in to the stabling, ate and drank, went like the champion he would become. He started to travel with Sandi and Duce to the big shows.

< 1987

If Marc's trot was to die for at the lower levels, his piaffe and passage were (are) legendary at higher levels, said by many to be among the best in the world. 

Though we no longer compete (been there -- done that), Marc gets cut no slack. His work includes everything of which he is capable, and several movements actually continue to improve. At age 27, he is completely sound and in great health.

The Kid and Marc, Christmas 2007 >