Fallen Friend Rode With Daisy In National Contest

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When Daisy Beisler won, she remembered JoAnne Currie.
Daisy, 16, of Milford Center, riding Jazz, won Reserve World Champion, Classic Pleasure Saddle, Junior Exhibitor 14-17 at the World Championship Morgan Horse Show Oct. 10-17 at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds.
JoAnne, 64, a fellow Morgan horse lover from Otego, was stricken by a massive stroke and died Oct. 3, a week before she, Daisy and three other riders were supposed to depart from Reindance Stable, outside Utica, to complete in Oklahoma City.
The younger riders looked up to Joanne, who for many years was a private rehabilitative therapist, then Fox Hospital’s director of rehabilitation services.
Her barn mates were devastated at the news, especially Daisy.  After much inner turmoil, the riders decided to proceed to the competition.
“It’s what she would have wanted,” said Daisy, back at home with her red ribbon. “Everyone in the barn was doing this for JoAnne.”
Daisy, her family, her horse trainer Sally Lindabury, and the other riders and their families flew.  Jazz and the other horses were brought down in a large trailer, a 24-hour trip.
The show in Oklahoma is the pinnacle of Morgan horse competition.  More than 1,000 horses and their riders compete. This was Daisy’s second time around.  She and Jazz finished in the top 10 in 2007. 
 “It’s competitive, but there is a real family feel,” said Daisy’s mom Betsy, who describes herself as a very nervous supporter. 
Daisy rode in her qualifying round at the show on Tuesday, Oct. 13.
She was nervous, too, beginning preparations an hour and a half before her event so she wouldn’t be rushed.  She rode in her warm-up.  She brushed Jazz to make sure they looked their best.  The time arrived, and the team entered the arena with 17 other teams, winning third in the qualifying round.
 “Oh, I was pleased,” said Daisy.  If you win the qualifier, she said, you feel more pressure in the final round. 
She then started preparing for the final ride, set for the afternoon of Thursday, Oct. 15.
During her ride, Daisy remembers feeling pretty good about how things were going, she and the horse made a couple “bobbles,” but she was able to fix them quickly and keep going.
As the judges started to announce the Grand Champion, she held her breath.  The first two numbers matched hers. “Maybe we did it,” she thought.  But the third number was a five, not her eight.  She exhaled.
 “But then they called my number next, and I automatically looked to my trainer and her smile was bigger than I had ever seen it before.”
After her victory pass around the arena, Daisy was welcomed back to the stall by all of her friends and family jumping and screaming for joy.
“Jazz got lots of peppermints,” Betsy said smiling.