An anecdotal story from my past: There we were the two of us, a Brigadier General and the former coach of the Canadian Olympic Equestrian Team, and a 14 year old kid who had no idea who this man was, I only knew him as the Major. I was interested in riding lesson's, he had 13 of the most incredible horses in the country. Over the next couple of years I found out who the amazing man was, but I only learned about his true credentials many years later, when I saw a news item; a state funeral for General Micheal Gutowski.

I shook my head in disbelief, the entire time I knew him, he never disclosed certain details about his amazing past, in the war or his during his time as the coach of Canadian Olympic Equestrian Team; that's the kind of guy he was. I found out years later he commanded 6,000 men, he served in the cavalry and armored divisions. Every once in awhile his military past would come through; although I'm sure he was kidding when he would advise his students he would take out his Luger if they let go of the reins while falling off one of his prize horses. We never got to find out, no one ever let go of the reins.

By some strange quirk of fate his son Peter, a pilot, worked briefly with my dad at TDF Artist Ltd in Toronto; it must have been some kind of trade off. We didn't put the connection together until I commented on a large abstract painting in the Major's garage. In any case, The Major and I hit if off right off the bat, he liked the way I treated his horses. After my first lesson, I knew where I wanted to be and what I wanted to do; I was going to make a career riding horses.

When a part time job came up at his riding academy, stable hand, after school and on weekends; I jumped at the opportunity. The pay was marginal, but that didn't matter, and it meant my mother had to pick me up after school everyday and drive me to and from the stable so I could take care of his horses and get my riding lesson. More importantly I got to watch the Major train high level riders everyday; that was the most amazing part of the experience. I picked up on everythingIt worked out to about 60 miles everyday, but that's how important it was to me. I was invited to have lunch with the Major and his wife Zofia every Saturday and Sunday, just the three of us, I got to know them pretty well. We talked about everything, but not much about being a tank commander or the gold medal.

I learned everything about those 13 noble creatures, they were all high spirited and very intelligent. Each one had a completely unique personality, they all knew they were very special. Eventually the Major trusted me with the care of “his children”, when he travelled. He spent a great deal of time personally teaching me every aspect of horse care.

I attended the Royal Winter Fair with the Major and his black mare Charna, and witnessed the master demonstrate how old school dressage is done; the audience was spellbound. It was the last time I saw him ride.

Must be something about our family and horses, we seem to be drawn to them. Suzanne rode as a girl, my son Alex rides, Carl's girlfriend Natalie Starr is an instructor and runs a farrier service. I am having some crazy thoughts about getting back into riding at this point in my life; we are out in the country after all. Whenever I think about horses, I think about the Major.https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micha%C5%82_Gutowski