Teresa Wittig who owns Spirit Ridge Ranch in Ontario, Canada sent us her great inspirational story and pictures of her horse, Spirit and grandpa:
"As a child my grandpa was my buddy and always there....we lived on the same property. He supported my love for horses, being that he grew up with them being a necessity on the farm. He taught me allot, and made me learn allot for myself too. He had strong morals and was always fair. I had a horse till my early teens. Regretted selling him...grandpa warned me I would. I ached for years when I saw a horse or a big open field. I longed to ride and have horses in my life again. I got married had kids and eventually moved to Ontario. A few years ago we bought a small ranch and I got to have back what I had always felt was missing...horses! Last year we had our two mares bred to an amazing palomino stallion. As their due dates approached I spent allot of time in the barn with them. I often speak to my grandpa, as well as others that I love that have passed, and I get warm feelings of someone there with me. I still treat them as they were an everyday part of my life. Things often happen that prove to me they are there. We all pray for what we want when we are waiting for something exciting...in my case, what color will it be? Boy or girl? Well, I actually asked my grandpa and whoever would listen...that it would be a dream to get a Creamello colt and a Buckskin filly from my mares this year. It was all I thought and dreamed about all winter! Creamellos are rare and the chances for one were very slim. Buckskins have always been my favourite color for a horse....and my hubby's too. It would be nice to raise our own from my favorite mare. On April 27th at 11:30 pm, a Creamello Colt was born with ice blue eyes! As you can see, I was right there as he was born, and my husband was taking pictures. This is the first picture taken as he was being born. The back legs are still inside his mom. The face you see is of my grandfather, George Ricketts. He died two years ago. My grandfather's birthday was April 28th. He also had ice blue eyes, like the colts! I believe this colt we named "Spirit," is a gift from him, to let me know he is still here with me. Others say he may have come back as the colt to be with me, since I hold regret that I could not be there with him when I wanted to be. Whatever the case, the colt will be with me forever; he is priceless to us. My grandmother is happy that he is still there for me. She has told me before that he was still with her at times. Then on the night of May 17th 2006, I went to the barn for my night watch...and there beside my favourite mare, stood the most perfect Buckskin Filly! Another miracle in our eyes!"