(PHOTO) - CASSIDY COUNTY strutting his stuff in dressage, part of three-day eventing, with Jason Pascoe on board. Photo courtesy Bryanne Langford and Jason Pascoe)
The horse that changed my life
Jason Pascoe was a natural horseman from a very young age; no surprise since riding, training and living with horses has been in his life as long as he can remember.
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A quarter of the 43-year-old’s life was also spent with one of his special equine friends and the horse, he says, “changed his life.”
Cassidy County was bought by Pascoe’s mother when the avid rider was 16-years-old. Pascoe was well on his way to becoming one of the top three-day eventers in the country at the time and Cassidy played a big role in his success.
Still a teenager, Pascoe was the top Canadian at the famed Young Riders Championships in Bromont, Quebec, Pascoe was the top Canadian and by 2002 he was ranked high enough to be on the Canadian Equestrian Three-Day Eventing team.
The pair galloped their way through many competitions and garnered many ribbons and awards. They also learned from the best as they trained under one of the masters of three-day eventing in the world, Bruce Davidson.
A mixed breed horse, Cassidy County was retired from competition more than a decade ago, not long before Pascoe was introduced to Quarter Horse racing. He sold all of his event-horses to concentrate on training racehorses but Cassidy County never left his Pontypool, ON farm.
"He was a tough old bugger," laughs Pascoe. "But he did change my life."
Cassidy County lived to be 32 years of age and he is buried at Pascoe's GFR Racing farm where he no doubt oversees all the early training of Pascoe's young Quarter Horses.
(PHOTO BELOW - CASSIDY COUNTY and Pascoe reach out and over a water hazard in one of their many tough, three-day eventing competitions)
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