by Fran Jurga | 8 January 2010 | The Jurga Report at Equisearch.com

{ M A R T Y N + M A R T H A }

Just a few days ago, this blog linked to the blog of publisher/celebrity Martha Stewart, who shared with her followers one of the greatest heartaches of horse ownership: the knowledge your beloved horse suffers from a debilitating and degenerative chronic lameness condition. Tonight, Martha shared by Twitter the news that her 17-year-old Dutch Freisian gelding Martyn has been put to sleep.

Dozens of readers immediately reacted with a spontaneous, heartfelt outpouring of sympathy and kind words, including yours truly and including, I noticed, Dr. Dean Richardson, the New Bolton Center surgeon who was in this blog so often a few years ago as he cared for Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro during his fateful recovery from a leg fracture and subsequent laminitis complications.

From the statistics on this blog, I believe that, for a few days, Martyn must have been the most viewed and talked about horse on the Internet. For some, it was the peek inside Martha’s beautiful barn, and seeing her grooms, her barn office, her equipment. But for most, it was the revelation that lameness and injured or sick horses are a universal bond between all horse owners, whether they are rich or poor, famous or unknown.

Maybe on most days we can’t relate to the detailed recipes, the crisp linens, the ever-abundant flower arrangements, and the perfectly lettered invitations that have become Martha Stewart’s universally-recognized trademark of domestic elegance. But for a few days, she spoke our language, and we felt again our own pain, for horses we have known and cared for, in her words that obviously were portents of the news she shared tonight.

Martha Stewart, it turns out, is one of the tribe.

Click to go to Martha Stewart’s blog to read her message about Martyn.

Click this link to read The Jurga Report’s January 5th post about Martha and Martyn

Follow @FranJurga on Twitter.com for links to news and media for equestrians!