Skeptics of the supernatural, spirits and the afterlife may give pause when we tell you the story of 16-year-old Emily Bohnsack of Durant, Iowa. During the first snowfall of the winter of 2010, Emily was headed to volleyball practice when she was tragically killed in a car accident. The Durant High School sophomore was on a gravel road when she was headed toward a stop sign and started to slide on the slick roads. Unable to stop, Bohnsack slid onto the pavement and was broadsided by a utility truck on the driver’s side. The other driver sustained minor injuries, however, the beloved daughter of Rob and Susan Bohnsack was killed instantly.
“Emily was such an unforgettable girl,” says Jill Voss, who is a close friend of the family and shows on the AQHA circuit. “She had the funniest sense of humor of any kid I’ve come across. She would do anything for you if you needed it and was extremely talented in her showing. She was also very active in sports, and she had tons of friends at school. Anytime you saw her at a horse show she was always smiling and laughing.”
Emily’s father adds, “We didn’t realize just how many friends she had made through all her interests until the night of her Visitation when there was a line nine hours long of people waiting to go through the line, and so many kids came up to us crying and hugging us.”
Before her passing, Bohnsack showed a sorrel gelding named, Terms Look Radical, (Buddy) in showmanship, trail, western pleasure and horsemanship. She was active in 4-H, Muscatine Saddle Club, Midwest Horseman’s Association and the Iowa Quarter Horse Association.
“Buddy was Emily’s friend, since she got him as a two-year-old, and he trusted her–that was the reason she could do things with him that seemed pretty advanced for her age,” Emily’s father, Rob recalls.
Abby Nash, who is now a trainer for JR Reichert, was close friends with Emily, and many close to Emily said that Abby and Emily were inseparable. Nash met Emily when she was sixteen-years-old.
“I wanted to be a positive role model for her, but little did I know that Emily would be the one to show me what it means to be an incredible person, inside and out. As she grew up, I watched her mature into a fun loving, loyal, and truly good-hearted person,” Abby remembers. “She was competitive and worked hard to do well with her gelding, but was always a gracious competitor and happy for whoever was winning. Working with her was truly a blessing and if it hadn’t been for our time together I would not be where I am today. She not only helped me to realize how passionate I am about horses but also that life is too short to do anything less than what you love.”
Even after the accident, Emily’s father decided to stay involved with the horse industry and started showing Buddy in more events.
“Rob had dabbled in a few walk trot classes here and there while Emily was still showing, but after her passing, he started to really get into it,” Voss explains. “I think it was his way of building a connection with his daughter even after she had passed. He ended up qualifying for both the Select and Amateur World Show in Performance Halter Geldings, and he also shows in the Select Amateur Pleasure.”
Rob said that Emily loved her horses and loved to show. “I always thought she may have loved the shows as much for the friends she made at them as the competition,” he recalls. Emily was so social. She could be sweet, fun, very funny, witty and bullheaded all in the same conversation. It could be fun with not many dull moments.”
Rob started showing Buddy last summer, and Rob said that he is doing pretty well when “I get my stuff together.” The Select competitor says, “I feel Emily helping and talking to me every time I go to a show—it helps.”
Even before her untimely death, Emily’s father had wanted to buy the dam of Emily’s trusted horse, Buddy. Her name is Unchecked Terms and she belonged to long-time friend Bob Menke who also lives in Durant. Unfortunately, Menke did not want to sell her. However, in December of 2011, a year after Emily’s death, Menke changed his mind and Rob purchased the mare who was in foal to a son of Invitation Only.
“We had never had a colt born at our place, so it was all new to me. I think I bugged Bob and worried so much about the mare, he got sick of me stopping by his place,” Rob says and laughs.
Despite Emily’s dad being a novice in broodmares and foals, one can only think that Emily must have approved of the purchase. When the foal was born, it was a huge sorrel colt with a wild two-part blaze, four tall white socks and a spot to make him a double registered APHA/AQHA. What was the most striking was the blaze—there is a perfectly shaped, “E” on his forehead. It left many wondering if this was more than just an odd coincidence?
“That was Emily giving her dad a huge high five,” Voss says. “It warmed my heart and brought tears to my eyes. I miss her so much and that is classic Emily. She probably snickered from heaven.”
As far as plans for the colt? Emily’s father says, “He’s the only one, besides Buddy, that I doubt I could part with–he seems hooked up with Emily, and I believe she created that special sign for us.”
