Wendy Williams and her beloved Saddlebred mare "Kate"
On Saturday May 14, 2022, family gathered at Evergreen Cemetery to lay my Aunt Wendy to rest. My grandmother asked me to write her Eulogy, which I was planning to do anyhow because I felt the obituary was too "ordinary" and "bland" for such a gifted and beautiful woman. I wanted to write something special that captured my Aunt's talents, and celebrated her legacy. Here is an edited version of the Eulogy I read.
Nana recently found a old VHS tape of Wendy riding Kate at GMHA, her beloved Saddlebred mare from Colorado. Just weeks before we learned of her passing, I had sat down with Nana and watched the tape together and we reminded what a gorgeous horse Kate was indeed! And Wendy of course, was just as gorgeous riding her ever so gracefully and skillfully. Here they are at GMHA:
I remembered my Mother also had some old VHS tapes of Aunt Wendy teaching me how to ride “Tony the Pony” at about age 4, and one of her riding Kate at The Hildene in Manchester, Vermont. After I found out Aunt Wendy had passed, I drove up to my mother's house to dig up those old tapes (and thankfully had them converted into MP4 files to preserve and share with all of you). We had a laugh at the Hildene tape because my friend Sara accompanied us, and each time Aunt Wendy rode past our post on the outside of the ring, Sara would pipe up and say, “Hi Aunt Wendy”! Apparently, my 4 year old self was getting annoyed (or jealous – I’m not sure which) with Sara saying 'Hi' to Aunt Wendy, so I asked Sara “Why do you keep saying Hi to Aunt Wendy" and she replied, “BECAUSE I LIKE HER!”. Near the end of the video around 27 minutes in, after Wendy completed her equitation class and received 2nd place she gave Sara and I a ride on Kate.<3
The Hildene in Manchester VT - Wendy and Kate in 1991 & Tony the Pony
Watching these old tapes brought back a lot of memories of me riding with Aunt Wendy as a young girl.
Her love for and involvement with horses is what inspired me to ride and also love horses! She was extremely talented and gifted at working with horses and all animals. With a horse she could do anything though – from training a foal, to riding in a dressage or open equitation class, to driving. I'll never forget some of her "signature" horse gear - the red chaps, the sheep wool saddle toppers, the fancy gold accent head brows on her bridles, her silver nameplate on the back of her saddle with "Wendy" engraved & her olive green suede Western Saddle. Over the years, she raised and trained quite a few foals on the farm, including the horse my grandfather promised me at age 8. He was born in 1996, a gelding Saddlebred name Cinnamon. Aunt Wendy helped me choose his name and it was fitting because his dam's name was Ginger. My mother told me that Aunt Wendy used to give tourists sleigh rides on the Killington access road when my grandparents ran lodges up there during the 70's and 80's... I thought that was pretty neat! She also used to work at the Grafton Inn and gave carriage rides to guest and wedding parties with her "fancy" carriage.
Grafton Carriage Ride, Sleigh at the Farm, Her Signature Red Chaps
I have so many fond memories of riding with Aunt Wendy as young girl – that used to be the highlight of my visitation weekend with Dad. When Aunt Wendy showed up to farm, there was a pretty good chance I’d get to go for a ride. I used to be amazed at all her ribbons hanging up in the tack room, and as young, horse crazy girl I would stare at all her tack and dream of being as skilled as she was at working with horses. I’ll never forget all the summer rides we took down in the cornfields. I would often hop on just behind the saddle, wrap my hands around her waist and off we’d go down into the fields! After a while, she’d ask me, “do you want to canter” and I would excitedly reply, YES! We’d race through a row of corn – the silks whipping past in a whirl of exhilaration until we hit Alfrecia Road. Man was that fun! Then, we’d mosey back to the farm on the road, and I remember thinking as the cars passed by, “I feel pretty cool up here on top of this horse with Aunt Wendy"! Occasionally, we would stop and pick plums of a tree in front of the old creamery farm on Middle Road. I always felt safe with Aunt Wendy and trusted her ability to handle whatever horse we were riding or working with.
While working with horses was certainly one her greatest loves and gifts, she was talented n many other ways as well. Wendy was an artist and I remember her submitting her work to the fair each year, and seeing it hanging in the 4H building. She was always doing something creative whether it was a painting on a building, an old milk can, making a sign or painting on tree mushrooms. She also enjoyed gardening and had a real knack for interior design - I guess you'd call her style "shabby chic cottage". I also remember her sporty cars including a convertible and her little teal Mazda (MX-3 couple I believe) that I wanted to drive at about the age of 10. HAHA I remember she liked Fendi brand perfume and I remember her ferrets, her "Pretty Bird" parrot and her poodle Cheetah that us kids used to be amused by at family gatherings. We'd be hanging out in Aunt Wendy's studio room and down the hall (crazy) Cheetah would stroll to hump her favorite bear... us cousins used to laugh!! Cheetah is the white dog pictured below with Wendy.
Wendy was a woman of many talents and it is sad that she left this world at the young age of 61. I will never forget all she taught me about horsemanship, and her life and personal struggles (with substance abuse) serve as a reminder to all of us to have compassion for others rather than judgement and at the same time, strive to realize your power, gifts and talents and go out and share them with the world.
May you rest in everlasting peace Aunt Wendy and may your spirit ride with the wind. We love you and will miss you! <3
Evergreen Cemetery May 14, 2022
This song kept coming to me over the past month. Little Wing originally written by Jimi Hendrix I believe. I think it was the lyric, "riding with the wind" - hence the title of this blog post. Here is a version by Eric Clapton.