Dancer - The Little Black Horse That Could

Dancer was a true OUEA icon and will be sadly missed on the East Zone and throughout the province. The OUEA has lost a number of wonderful horses already this year including Sonny, Hazel and Dottie from the west as well as Darwin, also from Kildare Stables. Our best wishes with all of those affected by these terrible losses.

"It is with great sadness that we announce the sudden passing of one of our amazing school horses. Dancer, or Aerospace as she was more formally known, taught many riders irreplaceable lessons. This amazing thoroughbred mare loved her job and the accolades and achievements that she earned prove just that. Some riders were lucky enough to learn from Dancer for an extended period of time, while others experienced her greatness for only a moment. But for each person the lesson learned is invaluable. The sassiest of Princesses would more than happily teach her riders to stay out of her way, no need to pull the reins, because less was always more with Dancer! She taught her riders to appreciate the use of LEGS to engage. Why it’s important to stay in the centre of the saddle for the correct leads. Always hold on tight for the LONG spots. And a soft hand would always be rewarded. She gave many riders confidence to enter or reenter the showring, because no matter what you did wrong she would get you out of the tight spot. The joke was made many times, that we could just show Dancer the course map because she would remember better then we would anyway! Dancer won many awards in her lifetime some almost surreal for a school horse to have achieved, including a Hunter Classic win over 50+horses. I don’t think any of us could thank this amazing horse enough for all that she has taught us, but we will carry those lessons forward in our riding careers. You brought so many new riders along and taught them to love the sport, may they have only your favourite mints across the rainbow bridge…. Always in our hearts."