Shocked and deeply saddened.

Yesterday was Digby's birthday. I was in the middle of writing a post about it when I went on Facebook and discovered this.

I met Seema while I was still in college during a summer internship I completed at an eventing barn. While I have not directly written about her on this blog, it was probably within the first year or two that I owned Digby and I was keeping him at my then trainers barn. He was having some lots of lameness issues and I couldn't afford to pay to ride another horse, plus do right by Digby and keep him hanging around. She selflessly mailed me a check so I could afford to half lease one of my trainers horses for a month while I was in the process of finding a cheaper place to move Digby. I had met her years earlier and was wildly impressed by this as I had thought she was kind and impressive - great professional, active in supporting young riders and eventing, and competed in marathons and eventing herself - but even more so by the fact that she mailed me, whom she did not know THAT well, a check to allow me to half lease and continue my riding while my horse was dealing with his lamenesses. I have made an effort, due to the impact of her kindness and generosity, to "pay it back" to another person who needs help.

She was selfless and a true gem, both in the horse world and otherwise. She was just so overwhelmingly kind, talented and beyond generous. I wish I could speak more eloquently about her but there are just so many words: smart, compassionate, witty, full of life, hard working, the list goes on. I have fond memories of her and her horses. My heart goes out to her family.

If anyone reads COTH Forums, she was the poster named Scubed. There is a post on the Eventing Forum right now about it. She also had a blog and although it wasn't updated super regularly, I feel like it captures just how much she did for others. This a crushing loss for the horse community that I wish was not true. Rest in peace Seema. You will be missed.