Up Close and Personal with Julie Harnish

Trainer, Breeder, and Equestrian Extraordinaire Julie Harnish shocked the industry this fall by announcing she had been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).

As her sister, Joan Ames, states, the diagnosis was a shocker and a gut punch as she has been pretty healthy all her life. “She does not know the “why” or “how” of getting this disease. It can just happen as a person ages. She just happened to draw the short straw. Currently she is undergoing infusion and oral chemotherapy and will need a bone marrow transplant in early 2026 at Loyola Hospital in Chicago.”

But anyone who knows of Julie and her husband, Brent Harnish, also knows the owners of the late leading sire and PtHA Hall of Fame Sire Gentlemen Send Roses are educators and horse lovers at heart. Their South Bend, Indiana, training and breeding programs are renowned for being built around amateur and youth friendly competition.

So naturally, when we asked Julie if we could share a glimpse of her unexpected experience so far, she said, “Share away. I want people to get some education out of my journey.”

Read on for a Q & A with Julie, followed by her latest thoughts on how to be prepared for this kind of news and journey – a club no one wants to be part of, but also one that will leave its participants stronger and wiser. (The Go Fund Me link is at the bottom.)

Q. How long have you held a passion in your heart for horses?

Our farm is what used to be my grandfather’s horse boarding facility. He moved here in 1942. I do not know a life without horses in it as even as a toddler he would take me to the barn to enjoy the animals.  So my passion was cultivated over my lifetime.

Q. How long have you and Brent operated Harnish Performance Horses?

While it may not have been official as a business name Brent and I met at a horse show. We did 4-H before we became Paint/Pinto trainers. So 33 years.

Q. What are 2-3 top highlights you’d add to your horseman resume’?

The biggest highlight of my professional horse career is probably Gentlemen Send Roses becoming a leading sire and going into the Pinto Hall Of Fame. It was a true journey with blood, sweat and tears but equally as many smiles, and awards. He was a once in a lifetime horse and helped put us on the map as breeders.

The second highlight is a journey with my sister, Joan Ames.  She was my first riding student as we did with what we could afford for her to show.  That was many years ago.  In 2022, she was the High Point Amateur All Around for Pinto on a Gentlemen Send Roses gelding.  I have been proud of all our clients along the way, and they all have done some great wins, but seeing her strive for and win the saddle is truly a highlight of my personal and professional career.

Q. What would you say are the most significant lessons you’ve learned about horses, the industry, and life over the years?

Be flexible. You can have your horse the most prepared to go in and lay down the performance of their life and someone rattles a door and ruins your ride. Sometimes life isn’t fair and an injury or illness will take a plan and throw it out the window.  Hard work and continual learning is the stuff wins are made of.  Sometimes it’s not about the win; it’s about the memory.  I may not remember what color ribbon they had as they exited the area, but I will remember the look on their faces forever.

Finally always lend a hand– your help may be just what they needed, so don’t withhold your help.

Q. What else should we include?

As I comment on the significant lessons I’ve learned with horses it made me think that maybe it has prepared me better for this journey than I thought.

Be flexible is an everyday thing for me now and no matter how prepared I may be for something a new curve is met.  Hard work can sometimes not be rewarded, and you can feel that way in this journey.  Why did I even get this diagnosis in the beginning.  Finally if I didn’t believe that God always has something to teach us long ago I sure do now.  That’s why I’m sharing the story.  People need to know it’s ok to be afraid, it’s ok to question, it’s ok to be angry, but ultimately much of what we do in life is held by a bigger power and no amount of anger will take that away.  Think about that before you go to yelling about something that happened to you in the show pen.

Julie’s Blog as she awaited chemo this past week:

I have said that I won’t lose my sense of humor over this and it became apparent as in my department meeting I chuckled with them about “I’ve been wanting to do a bone marrow transplant for a few years, so I just bit the bullet and I’m doing it now.” We all found a bit of humor in now knowing how long the process will take, what I will feel like doing as far as work and how we best support our clients.

Just as with any “accident” you don’t plan for this. Have you ever stopped and thought about what would I do if I got “cancer”? And more importantly what type of cancer. It comes in so many shapes and forms and treatments. A few months ago I had no idea all the types of Leukemia there are and even within one type, the multiple variants that can arise.

I’m lucky the ones that decided to come in my leukemia diagnosis are pretty common and can be treated. Caroline Kennedy’s daughter isn’t as fortunate. But I never thought about it. Just as I’m sure no parent ever thinks about “what if my child gets cancer.”

Precursor to any of this stuff is the question “did you make the correct insurance choices?” I don’t ever need AFLAC, that’s for other people. Does the AFLAC you choose cover accidents and or illnesses? I don’t need short term disability (or long term).

You have heard of other people getting cancer, but you have lived a pretty clean life it won’t happen to you. And then it does!

All I can start with is take any ideas you have about what you would do or what will happen to you and throw them out the window. You have now been handed a clean piece of paper to which you will be adding dr appointments, blood draws, X-rays, biopsies, CT Scans, more new doctors and don’t even think you can plan a week out for trust me, these change rapidly. Even working from home comes with a new set of rules called FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) that set rules for what you can and can’t do. Be grateful if you have a job that you can do remotely, some are not as fortunate as me. You can’t lose your job but if you can’t work and you don’t have the right insurance you can be missing some paychecks.

Then the insurance. Strap on the big guns to try to manage authorizations, and new drugs, and co pays and limits on procedures. Companies who sell medical benefits should have someone who had a bad accident or cancer to explain specifically what some of those benefits you opt out of mean to you.

It can become a full time job just managing dr visits and meds. Then add that your procedures need to be done out of town and there will be travel, hotels, possible lengthy stays away from home. Can you leave your home for 100 days? Life still has to happen at home especially if you have kids or animals. I only have animals, but they must be cared for. You will be a bit helpless through some of the treatment, you are going to have to ask for help, for some, me especially, the asking for help is hard. A totally new experience. Don’t forget the caregivers. Be it a spouse, a sibling, a child, or a parent. Their lives are also turned upside down as they manage a new role to handle the demands of the patient. I watched an older man come in today for his chemo all alone, walking slow into the hospital. It’s overwhelming to know how blessed I am and how some may be struggling.

I am now finishing what should be my last round of chemo locally and in January my care will be moved to the doctors and staff at Loyola. For 100 days I will be a resident of the hospital and a place to stay for 100 days of follow up care. Being home is not an option for we live too far to get to the hospital if I need immediate care. Just a trip to Chicago with tolls and gas is $50. Then if your insurance requires it, January is new deductible limits and co pays. It’s easy to wrap up thousands of dollars quickly that you didn’t save for. This is not the vacation you always wanted to visit the West Coast. I am truly blessed. As hard as it was to ask for help, my sister made a GoFundMe account. The generosity of people to help through those 100 days of extra costs has been humbling. It truly is a case of “with many hands the work is made smaller.”

I have new thoughts on “pay it forward” now. So many people have helped, brought meals, checked on me, offered to give of their precious time to stay with me in Chicago so it’s not just one person’s duty. I can never repay the kindness, but I can know that going forward I will have a much different look at what might be going on in someone’s life.

This Christmas is so different then I am used to, lots of family parties and sharing of love. The love still stands the parties have to be on hold for 2025. I know all I am looking forward to is when this is a memory in my rear view mirror and I’m driving away from it at 100 MPH.

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and will have a great New Year. Keep checking on me and we will keep telling you the facts of where we are at. Look for a post early 2026 when I have a scheduled date for my “new beginning” know as my transplant.

Julie’s Go Fund Me Account:

Fundraiser for Julie Harnish by Joan Ames : Join Us in Julie’s Leukemia Battle