“I knew he was gone before she told me. I don’t know when exactly he passed, but I’ve just known he was gone. I just had a connection with him,” Sandra Lines expresses about her beloved youth and amateur horse, GM Elegant Mac. Lines found out on Monday that her once-in-a-lifetime horse, lovingly known as JR, recently passed away from laminitis at the age of 26.
JR was a multiple AQHA World and Congress Champion out of thoroughbred mare, Majorette Bonita, and by Mac Nificent. Having amassed over 3,000 AQHA points in open, youth and amateur events during his entire career, JR was a well-known and respected force in the show pen for numerous years.
When seeking a horse to finish out her final youth years, Lines looked at the big, beautiful and talented gray gelding she had fawned over since his three year-old year. At the time he was owned by Erin Shapiro and was in training with Rick and Heidi Cecil.
“JR was my dream horse,” Lines reminisces, “He was very famous before I got him. I never thought I’d ever own him. I recall the first time I sat on JR’s back to try him out at the 1998/99 Gold Coast show in Florida. I turned to my Mom and Dad and said. ‘I can’t believe I’m sitting on GM Elegant Mac!’ I was totally star struck.”
Together, Lines and JR earned 1,432.5 in youth and amateur events. In addition to winning the 2003 AQHA Amateur World Show in Hunt Seat Equitation, they had numerous AQHA World and Congress top placings, AQHA High Point awards and many other prestigious winnings. JR was also a two-time World Champion in the youth and open Hunter Under Saddle at the 1996 AQHA World Show. Throughout his career, GM Elegant Mac earned over $10,000 at the AQHA World Championship Show and over $16,000 through the National Snaffle Bit Association.
According to Lines, her trainer, Cindy Reddish (pictured in main image), had a special place in her heart for the talented horse. JR had a reputation of being a difficult horse, and he made sure each rider worked for every single accomplishment.
“My trainer, Cindy Reddish, loved him, too. Still to this day she says he was one of her toughest but most talented horses she ever showed, and her favorite,” says Lines. Although JR made her Lines work for every ribbon, trophy and point, she knows that he had made her the rider she is today and when they won, she knew they had worked hard to get there.
After a long and success
ful career, Lines decided to retire JR after the 2003 World Show. He had begun to develop ringbone and it had become hard to keep him sound. After three unhappy years of being a pasture pony, Lines knew that JR hated being retired and was destined to go back to being a show horse. She leased him to Jessica Mitchell to show for a few years before Lines’ mother ultimately ended up selling him.
“I was away at college which is why she sold him. I hated that she did that because I wanted him to always be with me,” states Lines, “But on the other hand, I know why she did. She thought he’d be happier with a little girl to show him rather than be a retiree in our barn.”
That was about seven years ago. Life moved on for Lines as she finished college, moved to England and then back to Florida and Texas. Always in the back of her mind, she knew th
at she wanted JR to retire with her.
“When I moved back to South Florida two years ago, I wanted to find him, so he could live out his final days with me, but I wasn’t successful,” Lines recalls. When a Facebook memory popped up last week of Lines’ favorite jumping photograph of JR, she was bombarded by messages about what a great team they were. When a friend asked if she knew where he was now, Lines responded that she wasn’t sure, but that she had a feeling that he had passed.
On Monday, Lines received confirmation that her feeling was true and that JR had moved on to greener pastures. “We just loved each other,” Lines reminisces, “He was my horse and I was his person. It really does break my heart that I never got to see him again or tell him goodbye.”
Their connection could be seen by everyone close to them. When Lines left for college, her mother told her that JR would get depressed when she would be gone. When she returned home from college, he knew she was there. As soon as she pulled in the driveway, she could hear him calling for her. She would always go say hello to him before she would see her family.
GM Elegant Mac left a lasting impression on many people in the industry. Many friends posted condolences and memories of the beloved horse on Lines’ Facebook after learning of his passing this week.
“I’ve always loved that horse from the moment I saw him as a black three year old, and I always will. He was and will always be my favorite horse,” Lines reveals, “I know he will be in my barn in Heaven and he will be the first one I take out to ride when I get there too.”
