It all started when a young Mr John James Michaelson got his first horse after leasing for years.This horse was a gorgeous, silky soft palomino Thoroughbred. John bought him from a guy in North America, at the barn he was working/riding at the time. They had a strong bond since the start. Oh boy, could this horse jump! The horse wasn’t the best ranked, but he had all the potential in the world to become one of the best eventers. For some reason, this stallion reminded John of a lavender, delicate, but with a strong scent. He changed his registered name to Lavender.

 

Mr Michaelson always had a dream to open an equestrian center. With Lavender by his side, he decided to reach for the stars and to fullfill his lifelong dream. They started participating in all the local shows, where they caught the eye of a huge sponsor. John took the opportunity and they trained even harder. Lavender was now competing in advanced eventing shows all over the American continent. This is also when John met the love of his life, Caitlyn Bainbridge. Now with Caitlyn by his side, They went on to dominate in their class. Mr Michaelson did the smart thing of depositing his share of the winnings in a savings account. He said it was one of the best things he did, besides buying Lavender and marrying Caitlyn. Upon Lavender’s retirement from competing, John made the big decision to moved to South Africa, where he will construct the Equestrian Facility of his dreams.

 

A few months later the construction of the Center began. He was struggling to come up with a name for his Center, it was the only thing he did not think about all these years. After lots of pacing and caffeine, he finally realized what it was meant to be. He got up from his chair, stood on the edge of the porch and shouted,”Lavender! You’re a genius. I’ll call it the Lavender Equestrian Center!”. Lavender neighed in agreement. Since that day, it was know as Lavender Equestrian Center, to honour the horse who made all John’s dreams come true.

 

Not long after, Mr Michaelson had 3 children, Jack, and the twins, Stacy and Gordon. He made sure the three of them grew up amongst horses. Upon John’s death in 2012, and Caitlyn’s in 2014, Jack went on to get a Degree in Accounting, and came back to take over the Center’s books. Gordon did a few short term courses, to help with the maintenance of the Center. Stacy took a gap year after high school, focusing on the horses. She is now an Architectural draughting student, with the hopes to become an Architect one day. The Center took a downwards spiral after the death of their parents. They were forced to sell some of their precious equines, and later some of the land.

 

A few years ago, Jack found a copy of their father’s will in his office drawer. In it he discovered that 3 years after their father’s death, they are to receive an amount of money that was meant to keep the Center running. They made the decision to move the Center to the western parts of South Africa, moving away from the dry region. They managed to restore the Center to its former glory by the end of 2015. Since then, the Center has expanded tremendously and they managed to make a name for themselves once more.

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R.I.P. Lavender (08/09/1968 - 16/04/1993)