United States Eventing Association

The USEA extends its condolences and sympathy to Tim, Karen, and Patience O'Neal for the loss of their Advanced-level equine partner, True Avenue. The 11-year-old Thoroughbred mare was lost due to colic on January 7. Kathryn Daniel was kind enough to send us a statement and some words from the O'Neal family.

We will miss that beautiful bright bay blazing around our cross country courses.

Additionally, here is a very personal statement written by Karen and Patience. To me it embodies the respect, love and bond that we all share with our equine partners, as well our common dream that we just might discover that exceptional athlete in a field."

From Karen: "On a cold day in March 2008, my friend and client, Rick Vogt, came down the barn isle and said, 'I found a horse for you, Karen.' He proceeded to tell me he knew of a mare that was by the same stallion, True Confidence, that sired his horse, TC Royale. At the time I was competing TC at the CCI level and loved him, so hearing about a sibling was good news.

True Avenue was her name and she was a coming 5 year old OTTB mare who had just weaned her colt. She was living in Oregon, near Portland in a backyard with about five other horses. I was going to the Portland area to deliver a horse a few days later so I decided to go see her.

It was raining and there wasn't anywhere to ride Avi. It was so muddy that I couldn't even watch her move. Her owner told me that other trainers had come to try her and she would rear with them and no one wanted her. Her owner told me I could post mark a check for $1000 and take her home for two weeks to try, so I wrote the check and loaded her up. Her feet were really mushy from living in the mud, so I gave her a month to settle in. When I did finally ride her, she was great. Nothing spectacular, but she walked, trotted and cantered both directions, was smooth and uncomplicated. I started riding her more and she learned quickly. She was forward, balanced, supple and loved to jump more than any horse I had ever sat on, but unlike her brother, didn't have textbook form over fences. I assumed she would be a lower level event horse at best.

Looking back now, I can't believe I wanted her, but I loved her half brother so much that I didn't want to think that she could ever be bad.

Since I was competing multiple client horses at the time, I had my working student, Kaleigh (Keda) Holland, compete her in her first Beginner Novice, where she finished third. I then competed her in a Novice event, a few Training events and bumped right up to Prelim. She was Area VII Prelim Horse of the Year after just a season and a half.

True Avenue was a STAR - a fiery and fierce competitor. She adored her new job, quickly moved up the levels and became unstoppable, winning regularly. She was ranked in the USEA Top Ten Mares and a regular feature as Area VII Horse of the Year and Year End Champion at various levels.

In December 2009 she had a bad colic and ended up at Ohio State University where they did colic surgery on her for a 520 degree colon torsion. She recovered quickly and was anxious to go compete again.

In 2010 Avi was USEA Area VII Horse of the Year, USEA Top Ten Mare and won at the Intermediate and 2 star level.

In 2011, I broke my collar bone at the beginning of the season, so Avi and 11-year-old Patience O'Neal started a partnership. They competed successfully at Junior Training.

In 2012, when Avi was 9, we competed in our first Advanced at Aspen Farms. We won the inaugural event and then continued on to compete in the Advanced at Woodside, placing fourth, and was again listed in the top 10 Mares for USEA and Horse of the Year for Area VII in 2012. One standout memory from this season is our double-clear cross-country round at Inavale Farm, when it started to hail just after I left the start box.

In 2013 I gave Avi to my 13-year-old daughter Patience O'Neal in preparation for the 2014 NAJRYCs. They competed in 8 Prelims, 2 of which were CICs and did the CCI1* at Rebecca Farms, qualifying them for the NAJYRC. During this time Patience was selected for the USEA Eventing 18 High Performance Training Program. Watching the best horse I've ever known and my beautiful daughter gallop flawlessly around event after event this past 2013 season was breathtaking. They were a beautiful pair.

After finishing the 2013 season, True Avenue suffered a puncture wound on the inside of her left front knee. We gave her 30 days off to heal. On day 30, Avi colicked again and had another surgery for a 360 degree torsion. She recovered quickly and was doing well. Feisty as ever, we started exercising Avi slowly but in December she had another colic scare. I brought her to Washington State University and she was fine. On December 27, she had yet another colic scare which passed quickly and was determined to be gas. On January 7, 2014 at 3:00 in the afternoon, we noticed Avi was in discomfort. After going to WSU equine hospital and going into surgery again, the surgeon found that her colon had been extremely compromised and most of it would have to be removed. She had very little chance of survival. I made the decision to put her down. We didn't want to see her in pain.

True Avenue was and is the most incredible horse I've ever owned or ridden. Amazingly the mare never once, whether schooling or competing, refused, ran out or misread a fence all the way through Advanced. She would do anything for me and my daughter Patience, she loved her job and especially loved cross country. She was so much fun to have in our lives as well as to ride. She made me feel I could jump anything - even that huge Advanced course at Jonathan Elliot's Aspen Farms!

True Avenue was a diamond in the rough. Just a plain Bay OTTB mare - found in a muddy back yard pasture - who gave everything to the sport of eventing and had a blast doing it.

I will never forget her and what she did for me and my family.

Thank you Avi."

Patience wrote:

"Avi was an outstanding horse. She allowed my mom to accomplish her dreams and gave me a huge head start on mine. It's hard to describe how great of a horse she was on paper, but she was one in a million. But Avi was much more than a horse, she was my partner, teammate, and by far, my best friend. Avi was the best horse I have ever had. I will always love and remember her."