Pat Coulter

Ten years ago I published a post titled A brief history of BCS, in which I chronicled my hobby history. In the comments section, Pat Coulter wrote:

And it's true, our lives to that point were eerily similar. We were almost the same age, although I was a couple years older. We were both life long horse girls who grew up collecting Breyers. We both put the hobby on hold to to pursue real horse hunter jumper dreams in our twenties. Eventually, we both found our way back and became tack makers, specializing in English competition tack. We both made tack for Breyer's 2010 WEG Diorama Project. We both showed performance. For a while, we even both had blogs.

Pat's 2010 Breyer WEG Diorama tack

Of course, there were differences, too. When I left the hunter jumper world, I left it completely. Unlike me, Pat remained a pro. She managed several stables and also served multiple terms as the Region 9 NAMHSA representative and one term as NAMHSA president.

Pat and Dallas with friends

We weren't besties. Pat lived in New Jersey, and I knew her mostly through social media, first Model Horse Blab, then Facebook. We didn't always agree on everything, but the bond of shared experiences was real.  The first time I met her in person was at the NoNANSense event at BreyerFest 2017. I walked over to her table and introduced myself, and she said, "I kind of love you."

Pat at NoNANSense, 2017

We spent the next hour chattering like old friends, which we kind of were. 

Pat's tack and tools

Pat was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in June. She died today at the age of forty nine. She is survived by her mother, her horses, Dallas and Beamer, numerous kitties and so, so, so many grief stricken hobby friends.

Pat and Lindsay Diamond

Pat with Niki Hertzog and Teresa Buzzell, photo by Eleanor Harvey

Pat with Chris Wallbruch and Teresa Buzzell

Pat with Kate Norway, Christine Jordan and Niki Hertzog

Pat with Niki, Christine and Kate

Godspeed, Pat. I kind of love you, too.