From Superhorse to Mini Horse

By EC Intern Tierney Horton

“Every day on the right side of the grass is a good day.” These are the words that Jamee Golan-Bornstein lives by as she’s faced many challenges in her life.

Jamee is known for her many successes as a breeder through the Quarter Horse industry, producing many world champions and is among the top breeders of world champions. One of her most notable horses was Acadamosby Award by Mosby and out of Madcap Maggie.

Acadamosby Award, named by Jamee as he was born on the night of the Academy Awards in 1990, had numerous accomplishments – most notably three AQHA Superhorse titles. His sire, Mosby, was also a noteworthy stallion of Jamee’s breeding career.

Always being a horse lover throughout her life, Jamee was able to continue that love as she and her husband shared a passion for horses. She has bred Quarter Horses and raised world champions of all calibers, including hunters, pleasure horses, and all arounders. She showed throughout the Midwest, on the Gold

Coast Circuit, as well as at the Congress and the AQHA World Championship Show. She also has notable achievements in Rookie Amateur and all-around performance in APHA.

It’s not hard to see that Jamee’s life was dedicated to her horses in all aspects.

In 2011, however, Jamee suffered a horse accident while showing. The accident left her with critical injuries that threatened her life.

She remembers her accident and the first thing she said was, “I’m broken, I’m broken,” and in true horse person fashion, she was very worried about her boots: “Please don’t cut my boots off!” she recalled saying.

“I had no blood pressure and was pretty much dead,” Jamee explains. “I had to be airlifted to a university hospital. The repairs saved my life, but I was in excruciating pain and I didn’t eat for a week. I was on a ventilator, and I was full of plates and screws.” She didn’t walk for three months but her dedication to her recovery afterward showed. “You would have never known.”

While she was still in intensive care, one of her friends was showing her pictures of minis to buy, knowing she could no longer ride but also that she couldn’t stay away from the horses.

So Jamee purchased her first miniature horses, and she credits them with her recovery. “Lemonade out of lemons,” Jamee states in recalling how the minis gave her a purpose and turned to them to continue her career with horses.

Once she began dabbling in the minis, her competitive spirit took over and she sought out show horses and learned what makes a great mini. In 2013, Jamee had a successful show season, earning her first American Miniature Horse Registry (AMHR) National Championship, and that led into a very successful career showing minis, earning well over twenty AMHR National Championships, a Hall of Fame title, and high point achievements.

“I love that I can show my minis as little stock horses. That class is evolving. Many people thought it was just fat horses that made a good stock horse. It takes training and conditioning to make a nice stock horse,” she says.

As an AMHR Amateur Committee member, Jamee was also always wanting to give back by helping put on clinics and demonstrations.

That was until 2014 when Jamee was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. While going through chemo during the summer of 2014, Jamee still showed her minis. She was going through radiation and surgery and many other difficulties while dealing with her cancer. “Cancer sucks, but it is what you make out of it,” she explains.

She would show in headscarves, and she says, “I rocked the bald,” making sure she had a chair waiting for her as soon as she was done. Jamee had wonderful friends and horses that helped her keep going and pushing through.

Jamee’s story is an inspiring one as she’s faced so many hardships but still treats everyday as a gift. Talking to her, you wouldn’t know what all she’s been through. She made a life for herself with her involvement with horses, doing much of the training and learning herself. Throughout it all, she manages to maintain an extremely positive outlook on her life, “I would not have met some of my best friends if not for my accident.”

 

 

Thank you to Jamee for allowing us to share a glimpse of her story, and to Tierney for her first EC article! Nice work!  We also found the AQHA article about the three-time Superhorse bred by Jamee, Acadamosby Award, also the horse Charlie Cole and Jason Martin say put them on the map (Jamee reports “Oscar” is still alive at age 33):

https://www.aqha.com/-/acadamosby-award-the-oscar-winner-of-show-hors-1