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Women's History Month Saddlebred Strong Stories: Luckiest Person I Know

Mary & Heirgo

Horse ownership and equestrian sport are more than activities for the women who take part in them. Every horse has a purpose, a lesson to teach, or joy to give. Mary Malloy of Novato, California has experienced this in her lifetime of loving American Saddlebreds.

Mary caught a love for the breed in her teen years of the 1970’s, riding and showing horses of a friend. She recalls being hooked from the first time she hears an announcer call “Rack on!”

In her early adulthood she was pulled away from her passion for horses. American Saddlebreds came back into her life in her early fifties when she discovered a Saddlebred barn near her home in Northern California. First she took lessons on a chestnut mare who was kind and tolerant as Mary picked up her riding skills again.

One day a new horse was brought to the farm. He was a painted Saddlebred gelding named Lightning McQueen of Silver Oaks. Mary met him and found all she wanted in a horse. She was in love, so she bought him, proudly telling everyone “The faster he goes, the smoother the ride.”

In October of 2017 McQueen and his stablemates were evacuated from their home for three weeks due to the Santa Rosa fires. Shortly after returning home, McQueen was diagnosed with renal failure. He fought to live and stay with Mary as long as he could, but was sadly laid to rest with love and dignity in September of 2018.

The love McQueen brought into Mary’s life was more powerful than his death. In missing him she bought a Saddlebred mare, A Lotta Assets. Lotte was not a horse Mary would have typically chose: young, reactive, and small. However, her grandsire was McQueen’s sire, so Mary bought her. Still missing McQueen, she also later bought a gelding named Heirgo.

McQueen left behind with Mary a legacy of love for American Saddlebreds. She credits Lotte with causing her to face the difficult emotions of sadness and fear, and Heirgo with bringing back the confidence and joy she lost with McQueen’s death. These three exceptional Saddlebreds, and those in her earlier experiences, have led her to reflect, saying “Because of my relationship with the American Saddlebred breed, I am the luckiest person I know.”

A Lotta Assets