Those of you in the Patreon group already know this, but a couple weeks ago Bobby lost his long-time partner and super OTTB, Halo.

If you’ve been reader here from the early days, you probably remember Halo featuring pretty prominently in Henry’s early days of eventing. Back then Bobby and I boarded at the same barn outside of Austin, rode with the same trainer, and Halo was kind of Henry’s “big brother” who showed him the ropes of this event horse stuff.

Here’s what Bobby had to say about Halo and what he meant to him, in his words:

Halo’s sweet soul is the reason I started riding competitively again – I was in a very bad car accident and while recovering, I knew I wanted to ride again. When I was mostly healed, I began my search, fortunately I didn’t have to look far. He got me back into eventing and brought us up through levels I’d never thought I’d do again… because I loved him and trusted him with my whole heart and knew trusted and loved me and that he would take care of me – and that he did, so many times. Halo went on to win the National Eventing Championships in 2015. Halo developed navicular in his later years so I switched him to dressage, as an OTTB, he needs a job. And he LOVED his job. Jenna said it best, I picture him like a school kid skipping off to school with lunch box in hand so excited to go to work. Halo, although not bred or made for dressage, proceeded to take us to the US Dressage Finals our first year – we were not competitive but we had the most special time. Anyone who’s met Halo knows what a special kind sweet gentle soul he is. Further shown by the friends that came to be here with him in his final moments. Halo left this earth literally surrounded by love, my friends, I will never have the words to express what your actions today meant to me. After 16 years together, it’s going to be really hard to picture it without you, Halo. The memories, the joy and the tears, you’ve left a hole in quite a few people’s hearts, but I know you are running around above me pneumonia free and begging for treats from the angels. RIP my sweet my boy, my first heart horse, my first best friend.

When I heard that Halo passed away, I was devastated for Bobby. Although he’s got another heart horse now in his boy Carlson, the first one always holds a special place. There are parallels to our stories in the Halo/Henry capacity, so I can really empathize with what he’s going through.

With a loss like this I knew I wanted to do something to memorialize Halo, but all the usual things just didn’t seem quite right. Either it didn’t fit THEM, or it just wasn’t enough to full encapsulate all that horse was and did for so many people. When I thought about Halo and what he really meant to Bobby, the thing that stuck out to me most was opportunity. That horse took him to his first AEC’s and his first US Dressage Finals. He showed Bobby what it’s like to have dreams come true, and then be able to build even bigger ones in their place.

So, I had an idea: The Halo Project.

What I’d like to do is crowdfund an annual scholarship fund called The Halo Project that gives X amount of money (however much we get, which I think could be a pretty decent chunk) to a rider on an OTTB to go toward the costs of participation at US Dressage Finals, AECs, or TIP Championships. Riders would apply with a short essay and photo, and Bobby/The Board would pick who the money goes to. It would be a way to honor Halo’s memory and the remarkable impact he had on Bobby’s life, while “paying it forward” to help give someone else the same experience.

In talking to my accountant friend, she suggested to try to partner with an existing 501c to do this, to make everything easier and more “above board” with the gub’ment. Plus it would be mutually beneficial, using our platforms to help bring attention the partnering charity. The reach is potentially pretty big, I think.

What I need from you guys is help finding a good match for who to partner with on this. A couple of charities have expressed interest but none have followed up, and I’m hot to trot. We’ve got people waiting to give money to the cause, and we’re ready to rock and roll and get this off the ground. I’d really prefer it to be an OTTB-centric charity since that makes the most sense with what we’re doing. Suggestions and connections strongly appreciated!