It seems impossible to lose a man whose very presence and lifetime work became part of the fabric that wove us together as an industry. But we did lose Don Trout on July 26, 2017, after a long battle with cancer.

Every once in awhile, a family will have an outlier, a kid who has a passion that no one can explain. For those of us who come from non-horsey families, the passion to ride, care for, and compete with horses can often be viewed as curious, a bit odd, and from the perspective of the bill-paying parent, somewhat horrifying with a fervent wish for a short duration