R.I.P. Casino

I lost one of my favorite horses today. I've know Casino since 1996 when he was first imported to this country from Europe. He was bought by Mark Leone to try out for the 96 Olympics (he didn't make it, but his brother Peter did). I was Casino's groom from then until the day I left Ri-Arm in 2001. I clicked with him right away and he was a very close second to my other love, Artos. I got to ride them both a lot and one of my favorite times was when we were doing the trials for the World Championships and I got to go off to horse shows with just the two of them! Casino didn't make the World Championships either but he was close! He was the top horse going into the last day! But he had a couple rails and dropped out of contention. He did however make a European summer tour where he was consistantly putting in clear rounds and got the nickname "Clear round Casino"! He was even picked to be the anchor for the Nations Cup Final that year, bless him. He did win several Grand Prix classes, the biggest was probably the World Cup class at Toronto. He won me an nice Tag Hauer watch and a lovely Volvo cooler (which is probably still in the upstairs closet at Ri-Arm!) When I left Ri-Arm it was extremely hard to go, knowing I was leaving him behind (Artos was already sold back to Zangersheide by then). But as luck would have it he was sold to Evan Coluccio about a year after I left. Which was great for me! He was good friends with my friend Cathy Martin, who told them to call me because I knew everything about Casino. (He had a few quirks, but they didn't bother me!) So Evan's mom called me and we stayed in touch, and when the time came to retire him she asked if I wanted him. Of course I wanted him but to be fair I thought Mark should get the offer first. So she tried Mark but he wasn't interested and he became mine!


I had him here for over 6 + years and I loved every minute of it. I rode him a little but between having kids and his age it wasn't a priority. I was just happy to see him everyday again and know he was happy. He started getting grey hair all over his face and in his mane but he still acted just the same and from a distance (without seeing the grey hairs) you would swear he was still a show horse. He kept himself very fit and even with his big belly! I got on him this past summer just for a couple photos because I didn't have any of me on him and it had to be atleast 2 years or more since I sat on him. He felt great under me again! He was looking for my hands and coming round instantly, bless him! All I did was walk and get a few pictures, but I'm glad I got on him one last time.



Rest in Peace Casino, I will miss you asking for hay, grain, and to go outside, the barn will be so quiet with out you. :(