17 Nov IMBA Board Member Passes
Jeanine Schollmeyer, age 50, passed away on November 8, 2015. Jeanine was an IMBA Board Member, editor of the Morab Perspective and very active with her Morab Geldings, Dash and Fox. She participated with them in the Morab Demonstration at the Midwest Horse Fair for many years. She also used them when giving presentations on clicker training and trick training at the Midwest Horse Fair. Jeanine jokingly claimed that Dash was the world’s smartest horse because he knew 43 different tricks and Fox was not far behind. Jeanine and her “boys” also participated in the Jericho Creek Production Morab Horse Show in Jefferson, Wisconsin. She participated in English riding classes and was always a big hit in the costume class. Here is what one friend wrote about Jeanine:
Remembering Jeanine
What are words to describe Jeanine? Talented, cheerful, funny, creative, generous, enthusiastic, smart, and perseverant. She is the kind of person you love to spend time with because you just know something interesting will happen. It may be a funny story about Dash or Fox, or how she trained them to do a certain trick, or her latest adventures or projects. Jeanine was an expert on clicker training and trick training. She even gave special presentations at the Midwest Horse Fair.
Jeanine could always be counted on to come up with a great costume her herself and her equine friend and a routine to go with it. Her Morab geldings, Dash and Fox could be counted on to put up with whatever clever costume she designed for them. We always looked forward to the Morab Show in Jefferson to see what Jeanine had created for the costume class.
Jeanine and her boys were always the stars of the Morab Demonstrations at the Midwest Horse Fair. The rest of us were mainly the supporting cast and crew. We wonder how long it took her to train them to do so many different tricks. Probably not long as she had mastered the art of teaching and she had good students.
Jeanine was sensitive to the feelings and needs of humans and equines. She could read your emotions like a book, and she freely gave encouragement and advice.
Jeanine was a creative artist who drew all the pages for our Morab Coloring book that we used at the Horse Fair in 2014. And she came up with the idea of reading a bedtime story to Dash for our fairytale theme. She also selected the great music for our demonstrations that fit the storyline so well.
Boy, will we ever miss her. We do already. But we are thankful for the time that she gave to us, and the lessons she taught us. Be happy for each day you have and make the best of it. You can do just about anything you set your mind to do. Jeanine sure did.