Scholarship Fund Receives A Very Special Gift

 

In the March issue of the newsletter I mentioned that the scholarship fund has received a bequest from a very special person. Robert H. Young, 56, Salina, died Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2007. Mr. Young was born Sept. 14, 1950, in Salina. He retired after 38 years employment with School Specialty Supply in shipping and packaging. He was a member of First United Methodist Church, Salina, and American Quarter Horse Association.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Julia Young, in 1981; and his father, W. Harold Young, in 2000. Survivors include four cousins, Marian Turner and husband Dwayne of Belleville, Jack Young of Chicago, Bill Young of Lawrence and Pat Powers of California; and guardians, Larry Kaiser and Bob Boden, both of Salina.

One of our members Kathy Green took the time to track down Ann Zimmerman, the co-owner of the E Bar Z Stables where Robert kept his beloved horse. Upon request Ann has provided us with the following information about Robert and some photos of him enjoying his favorite pastime.

"Hi, Peggy.

I'm writing to pass along information about Robert Young. Robert had mental retardation--we'd say he functioned at about a 4th or 5th grade level. He always loved horses, and he had one as a child, but when he turned 18, we've heard that his parents said he couldn't have one anymore, because he wouldn't be capable of taking care of it. Apparently all his adult life he spent every vacation at dude ranches in Wyoming and Arizona riding horses.

In 2001, his nearest relative, Marian Lee Turner from Belleville, saw our ad and called us about letting Robert ride our horses (a service we offered at that time). Robert began coming out to ride, at first with quite a bit of supervision and then with less and less. He wasn't good at putting in a bit, so eventually we got him a hackamore to use. He only rode at a walk, never trotted or galloped. But he came out to ride on almost every day possible, after work and on weekends. He rode in the rain, the snow, the heat of summer. It wasn't unusual for us to see Robert six days a week, except when his work schedule occasionally changed to evenings, which frustrated him.

As you can see in the Salina Journal obituary below, he worked for 38 years in the warehouse at School Specialty Supply. He rode one route around our 200 acres, making a trail in the grass that's now been visible for years. In December, 2001, we mentioned to his cousin Marian that Robert had bought Christmas presents for us. She told us she thought those were the first Christmas presents he had ever bought for anyone in his whole life.

Robert always wanted to buy a horse of his own and bugged his cousin, his guardian and others endlessly to let him do so. Everyone agreed that he wasn't quite responsible enough to care for a horse. But by 2004, he had enough of a relationship built up with us that we agreed that if he boarded a horse with us, we would keep an eye on it and arrange for shoeing, worming, vaccinations and such. He bought one of our horses, his favorite over the years, named Pudden. He rode Pudden as much as he could. In 2006, Pudden was seriously injured in the pasture. Robert kept visiting her as she recovered and began riding her again. In January 2007, Robert was riding Pudden after a long cold spell - she had a lot of energy. Robert fell off and broke his ankle. He was still recovering from ankle surgery in February 2007 when he had a heart attack and died at age 56. At his cousin's request, my husband gave a eulogy at his funeral and I sang "Happy Trails."

I'm attaching two pictures. One is of him riding one of our horses, Jake. The other is of him standing next to Pudden on the day he bought her in August of 2004."

--Ann Zimmerman
E Bar Z Stables
3904 N. Ohio
Salina, KS 67401-9259
785-825-7135
www.ebarz.com

Robert was an exceptional person who benefitted from his experiences with horses. His cousin Marian has been a longtime member of KQHA and AQHA and has been a fixture in the speed classes at the World Show. While Robert was not ever a member of KQHA he was a member of AQHA and was proud of his mare Pudden. KQHA is honored that the scholarship fund has been selected as a beneficiary of his estate. If you want proof that the disabled riding program has value and can provide benefits which last a lifetime you need look no further. A special thanks to Kathy Green and Ann Zimmerman for providing us with this information.