In memory and honour of Garnet Gompf, a life-long horse lover, the Gompf family decided to make a donation to Urban Stable, supporting the work we do connecting youth to their education, peers, communities, and themselves through hands-on experiences with horses. Along with the donation in Garnet’s memory we received a letter from the Gompf family that beautifully highlights the love Garnet had for horses and why the family chose to donate to Urban Stable:
Garnet, from Oak Lake, Man., loved horses his whole life. When he was very young, he would line up chairs from the dining room table and attach binder twine to them, using the twine as reins to drive his “team” around the house. There is a picture of him as a very young boy with his little wooden set of horses hooked up to the family’s closed-in wooden van on sleighs that was used to get around the neighbourhood in winter.
In his life Garnet was never very far from a horse. It was no surprise that he got into the PMU business making a living working with the horses he loved. Garnet had at least 300 horses in his care and he loved every one of them, always ensuring his horses were very well taken care of.
Garnet loved hitching up a team and always had a team of horses whether they were miniatures or Belgians. For 31 years, when requested, he drove a team of horses at Sioux Valley First Nation, pulling a horse-drawn hearse with a loved one who had passed away, from the hall in the valley to the cemetery at the top of the hill.
The last team Garnet had was a pair of girls, Sadie and Sally. In the picture Garnet is getting a farewell kiss from Sally. He passed away ten days after this picture was taken.
Rest in peace our dear brother. Knowing that we supported a cause like Urban Stable (even in a small way) would have warmed his heart. Thanks for the great job that you and the horses do with young people.
The Gompf Family