Rest in Peace, Roxy

By Kitson

I feel like Stacy Westfall and I are old friends, even though we've only met by phone and email over the years. When I talked to her last month, she kept to her promise that she'd have time to do a quick interview for a story I was working on, even if it meant sitting in her car for 20 minutes after dark at the grocery store. She needed supplies to make lunches for her boys lunches in the morning. I tried to be brief.

We got to talking about her superstar mare, Roxy (the focus on the story I was working on), and why she is so special. Stacy told me how she and Roxy fit each other like a glove and how Roxy was sensitive and scared as a young horse, but overcame fear and learned to trust Stacy. "She looked to me for guidance instead of running away and that’s what has always given us such a special bond," she said. Click here to watch an amazing video of them together.

She also talked about the excitement of seeing Roxy become a mother this spring. Roxy had had other biological foals before, raised by surrogates. This time, however, Roxy would be carrying, nursing and nurturing the foal herself.

It is so heartbreaking to report that tragedy interrupted those plans. Roxy sustained fatal injuries after becoming cast in her stall earlier this week. In a blog post on Wednesday, Stacy said "don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." I have learned so much from Stacy, today the lesson is about strength in the face of pain and disappointment. Rest in peace, Roxy, you and the sorrel colt you carried will always be in our hearts.