Dorina
(Duft I x Salute) Hanoverian mare   May 8, 1980 - Feb. 4, 2006

Dorina left Serpentine Farm on a warm winter day, in her pasture, alongside her sisters. She died suddenly and without pain or fear, and never suffered the infirmities or indignities of old age. She was a Grande Dame in every respect and enjoyed a long and healthy life. She was adored by the teenage girls who rode her and groomed her. She was a loving mom (to her own foals as well as to everybody else's) and a wonderful schoolmaster in her later years. She taught her riders the intricacies of Dressage with kindness and patience, and, perhaps most importantly, she taught them confidence. She was always the champion of the underdog, taking the young mares under her wing when they were at the bottom of the pecking order. She gently raised a young stallion, teaching him respect and manners, even though he wasn't her own son. After her death, her sisters held vigil for three days on the spot where she took her last breath. Dorina is buried on a hill overlooking the farm she loved and mothered in her last years. She is terribly missed.