I think I’m still in shock that I won’t see Tremaine Cooper again. As I walked across the field here at Surefire this morning, I was crying and smiling at the same time, remembering all the time he spent here working on our cross-country courses.
I first met Tremaine at Chesterland Farm when he was riding with Bruce. I also met his future wife, Marion, who was working for Bruce as his secretary, doing everything that job entailed. Tremaine was my friend, my student, the Surefire Horse Trial’s course designer, and someone to share laughs and argue with. In my mind, Tremaine also changed the sport of Eventing in Area 2 in a lot of ways as the mastermind behind the course at Morven Park.
One of my best memories of Tremaine is from last January. I needed to empty my manure cart at the barn and I couldn’t get ahold of Tom to help me. Anyone who knows Tom and me and our tractor, well, there’s some issues with me driving it… I can’t find the key, and if I do, I can't drive it because I normally can’t open door, and in the rare circumstance I can, I might sneak on it to move a jump or something, but it’s definitely Tom’s tractor. This particular day, I couldn’t finish the barn without emptying the manure, so I called Tremaine. He came over and kindly walked me through how to start the tractor, what the A, B, and C gears are, how to work the bucket, throttle the engine, how to go forward, how to back up and so on. Because of Tremaine I was successful and I was able to park the tractor, unhook it, and surprise Tom. As soon as I was done unhooking, my phone was ringing and it was Tremaine, just making sure I’d survived my mission and reminding me to turn the key off and take it out of the ignition. He was the best kind of friend.
I will be forever grateful for all the jumps and all the courses he designed for Surefire, all the people he’s introduced to Tom and me and our families, and all the fun we were able to share. My heart breaks for Marion, James, and Sadie, and his dogs, horses and chickens, and everyone else whose life was touched by Tremaine.
I first met Tremaine at Chesterland Farm when he was riding with Bruce. I also met his future wife, Marion, who was working for Bruce as his secretary, doing everything that job entailed. Tremaine was my friend, my student, the Surefire Horse Trial’s course designer, and someone to share laughs and argue with. In my mind, Tremaine also changed the sport of Eventing in Area 2 in a lot of ways as the mastermind behind the course at Morven Park.
One of my best memories of Tremaine is from last January. I needed to empty my manure cart at the barn and I couldn’t get ahold of Tom to help me. Anyone who knows Tom and me and our tractor, well, there’s some issues with me driving it… I can’t find the key, and if I do, I can't drive it because I normally can’t open door, and in the rare circumstance I can, I might sneak on it to move a jump or something, but it’s definitely Tom’s tractor. This particular day, I couldn’t finish the barn without emptying the manure, so I called Tremaine. He came over and kindly walked me through how to start the tractor, what the A, B, and C gears are, how to work the bucket, throttle the engine, how to go forward, how to back up and so on. Because of Tremaine I was successful and I was able to park the tractor, unhook it, and surprise Tom. As soon as I was done unhooking, my phone was ringing and it was Tremaine, just making sure I’d survived my mission and reminding me to turn the key off and take it out of the ignition. He was the best kind of friend.
I will be forever grateful for all the jumps and all the courses he designed for Surefire, all the people he’s introduced to Tom and me and our families, and all the fun we were able to share. My heart breaks for Marion, James, and Sadie, and his dogs, horses and chickens, and everyone else whose life was touched by Tremaine.
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