Who is Jackpot?
-Nancy Lewis, Co-Founder

One of my childhood dreams was to own my own horse. In May of 2000, I purchased my first horse. His name was Mane Event Aka “Jackpot”. The owner (Jewel) had become ill and needed to sell Jackpot.

Jackpot was already in his teens and had just come from his 3rd win at the Grand National Championship in Team pinning. Team Pinning consists of 3 horses and riders who have a limited amount of time to corral a number of cows. I remember sitting in the stands witnessing Jackpot, turn on a dime, slide, move from left to right in record time to corner cows. I was impressed with his agility and athleticism. I was also impressed with Jewel and how he never used the reins to control Jackpot. The only time I seen Jewel use the reins was when the bell rang. He grabbed the reins and Jackpot shot out of the holding area. When Jewel dropped the reins, Jackpot stopped in his tracks,
 
One of the conditions of the purchase was, Jewel would teach me how to ride Jackpot the way he was trained to be ridden. Jackpot was to be ridden using my legs to cue him. I was not allowed to use the reins to control his movement. The reins were only used to let Jackpot know our ride was starting or over. I was a novice to the world of horse ownership. Here I was about to embark on a journey with Jackpot who was WAY out of my league. I had no idea our companionship would span over 20 years. Jackpot was very patient with me. I can’t tell you how many times I fell off the saddle, rolled down hills, did not have the saddle tight enough, or gave Jackpot a wrong cue. In spite of all of this, he never ran off when I fell, kicked me, bucked me off or became spooked and ran off with me on his back. Jackpot was more than a horse. He was my buddy who over time became a part of me.

At the age of 36 Jackpot passed away. In his honor, Jackpots Animal Refuge was started. A refuge which caters to geriatric animals that are close to the end of their term.

Who was Jackpot? A 36-year-old Arabian who was athletic, dependable, loyal, proud and my buddy.