| Zippin A Little Gin aka "Sparky" |
| Qualified for the AQHA World Championship 2003 in Junior Trail at age 5. L to R: Sparky, Dean Hodges riding, My Mom Peggy, Me, My Dad Dave. |
| Sparky as a 2 Year Old Top Five at Golden N Grand |
| Sparky was Ginger's only colt. Here at 4 months he's already a looker! |
| Sparky started showing as a weanling and did well at halter and the lunge line futurities |
| Then he trained for Western Pleasure and excelled at the two year old Futurities |
| Sparky was one of those rare horses that loved hopping in the trailer and going to shows. He loved the people and the activity. He excelled in Western Trail and the harder the course the more he liked the challenge. |
| After many years of showing, Sparky started to show joint issues. First he developed ringbone which we tried to treat with cortizone/lidocaine injections. This didn't give him much relief so we went to IRAP treatments which also didn't work. Finally his pastern joint was fused and this gave him pasture soundness. He did great for several years but then his knees started to bow. His left knee eventually suffered a joint capsule rupture which made him unstable. |
| As a last resort we tried a custom built orthotic brace. But in the end I knew that it would be cruel for him to face another winter and slippery conditions with that knee. |
| So before the winter came Sparky and I had a final goodbye and he left us. |
