Abbott "Pete" Smith D.V.M.: June 16, 1938 - February 22, 2010 Virginia Joyann "Jody" Haley Smith: April 2, 1938 - May 9, 2021 |
Being friends with Jody was easy, but if you were a horse girl, the friendship was even sweeter. Jody's dear friend from Colorado State University, Nancy Sonneman Johnson, recently shared stories of their college days. Nancy writes...
"When Jody and I were at CSU we were members of Tri Delta Sorority. Jody was my 'mother' (also my guide and inspiration). We had our horses stabled at a nearby barn and each morning about 5:00am Jody drove us to the barn. One morning, as usual, we walked down the stairs from our rooms to the front door. The door had stained glass windows at the top and we could just see what looked like two canine feet dangling through the top panes. A 'frat' house was located directly across the street, housing normal frat guys. As soon as we saw the feet, we changed course and left from a separate exit and crept to the front of the house. There, hanging from the balcony, was a very dead coyote. The frat house across the street was pitch dark, those boys sound asleep. No cameras 60+ years ago to spy on us. We went back around to the kitchen, found a ladder and used it to cut the poor animal down. We took it to the barn with us and found a lovely burial site. Unfortunately, we never figured out how to humanely return the favor to our Neanderthal friends. But at least we spoiled their fun.
"As I
alluded to before, Jody and I had horses stabled in a nearby barn. I
think we loved our equine friends more than just about anything. Jody's 'Starboy', a small red sorrel youngster, and my big blue roan
Saddlebred "Blue", (Rex Blue A, once state parade horse of New Mexico)
shared many trails, Starboy pulling a cart and Blue engaging my seat. Jody and I learned little tricks in schooling from each other, but Jody's level
of patience was like none I'd encountered in my years of riding. And this
patience she shared with humans. When I decided I was really not sorority
material, I deactivated and became a dorm counselor. Jody never made me
feel guilty. She wanted me to be who I was, just the best I could be of
that person. When we left school, we both became engrossed in different
lives. But she lives in my heart today as she always has and now I have
the unbelievable privilege of getting to know her daughter Jessica, my God
Daughter. I pray I may finally do what a God Mother is supposed to
do. Be a Jody."
I asked Nancy if she has a photo of Blue, and she replied, "I'm sorry, but I don't have pictures of Blue and myself at the barn, in fact the pictures I have of all my riding years are in my scrapbooks. I never took a camera to the barn at school and just have pictures taken by my dad at horse shows or at the ranch in Granby where we had a good friend with both a dude ranch and a working cattle ranch. Blue was once the state parade horse of N.M. and when his owners went broke (have no idea why) they sold him to our rancher friend where I found him. He was an American. Saddlebred and high strung and was no good as a 'dude' horse, but I fell in love with him took him to a much happier place (thanks to my wonderful father!)."
Thank you, Nancy, for sharing your wonderful stories! We look forward to more and wish you the very best from Ohio!
See more of Jody's collegiate photos here.
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