A Lenox woman made a wish come true by donating a pony to a five-year-old eastern Massachusetts girl with a life-threatening illness.
Judy Sprague, owner of the White Horse Hill boarding, English riding, and lesson facility in Richmond, donated a seven-year-old white pony with dark orange spots named Sunny as part of a wish coordinated by the Boston office of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Massachusetts. The Foundation "grants the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy," its mission statement states.
Transport and delivery of Sunny went well, said Barbara Breed, a horse specialist from the foundation's New Hampshire chapter. She and her husband picked up Sunny last Saturday morning, easily putting him in a horse trailer for the trip to his new family. "He walked right on the trailer," Sprague said.
Upon arriving at the girl's house, the Breeds and the girl's parents had a little party for her. "Everything went very well," said Breed. "It was a nice wish."
The girl's parents requested that the foundation not reveal their daughter's name and what her illness is, as well as where they live. Therefore that information is not included in this story.
How the wish came to be
Early in the summer the Make-A-Wish Foundation discovered Sprague's Internet advertisement for Sunny, whom she had owned since July 2001, she said. That was a long time for a horse to be at White Horse Hill, she said, where horses usually don't stay as long as a year before being sold.
Breed sent Sprague an e-mail inquiring about the pony. Sprague admits that she first thought the e-mail might possibly be a hoax, especially with a "Barbara Breed" inquiring about horses.
For the little girl, Breed was looking for a small, brown and white, spotted horse or pony that would stand still for periods of time, so the girl could love, pet, and brush and braid its mane and tail, Sprague said. In the original e-mail, Breed asked how suitable Sunny would be for a small child and how long does he stand still; Sprague said she told her that the pony would be very suitable for a small child and that "he'll just stand...forever," which is not the case with all horses.
As Breed investigated many other potential horses, she spoke to Sprague many times throughout the summer.
After sorting out a number of horses, Breed decided that Sunny was the most appropriate one. At the beginning of August, with a complete understanding of the ill girl's family and the Make-A-Wish resources that would accommodate Sunny, Sprague said she first agreed to go along with the wish. She called it a "suitable situation" and the family a "great placement" for the pony.
"It was an ideal situation for him and for her," said Sprague, who grew up in Pittsfield and has been involved with horses since she was 8-years-old.
Sprague had Sunny advertised for $6,000 on the Internet, a sum that the foundation said wasn't in their budget. Happy that Sunny could go to a family that would love and take care of him, Sprague decided to donate the pony. "I didn't want to haggle over price," she said.
His shots for the fall all taken care of, Sunny was all set to go to his new family.
The ill girl's parents had a horse facility built, even before it was known which horse would fulfill the wish, Sprague said.
Although she was happy that Sunny was going to have owners, she was sad to see the pony go, she said. So were her 4-year-old and 7-year-old daughters and horse lesson students. "Everyone understands it's a good thing," Sprague said.
Located on Swamp Road in Richmond, White Horse Hill has been open for one-and-one-half years. Lessons for two different kinds of English riding are given there, Sprague said. The facility houses 40 horses at a time, she said — 25 boarder horses and 15 of her own, for lessons and for sale. For boarder horses, the training facility offers "meticulous horse care and excellent instruction," she said.
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Winter Storm Warning Issued for Berkshires
Another snowstorm is expected to move through the region overnight on Friday, bringing 5 to 8 inches of snow. This is updated from Thursday's winter weather advisory.
The National Weather Service in Albany, N.Y., has posted a winter storm warning for all of Berkshire County and parts of eastern New York State beginning Friday at 4 p.m. through Saturday at 1 p.m.
The region could see heavy to moderate snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour overnight, tapering off Saturday morning to flurries.
Drivers should exercise caution on Friday night and Saturday morning, as travel conditions may be hazardous.
Saturday night should be clear and calm, but warming temperatures means freezing rain Sunday night and rain through Monday with highs in the 40s. The forecast isn't much better through the week as temperatures dip back into the teens with New Year's Eve looking cloudy and frigid.
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