July 26, 2016 
It began as so many things in Julie Lockwood’s life have begun. It was an opportunity to help a fellow human being; a friend and former training client that was in need.
Some years before, while running her training barn in Northern California, Julie had the ride on Lance and Mary Roselle’s Arabian, Machete. One day in conversation, Mary confided to Julie that there were things she couldn’t do as her “kidneys hurt”. She continued, telling her she had a progressive kidney disease and that one day she would need a transplant. In what family and friends refer to as “typical Julie fashion”, without batting an eye, Julie told Mary, “I’m young and healthy, and when you need a kidney, I’ll give you one of mine.”
Fast forward to 2015. Julie received the call that Mary was at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and that it was time…she needed a kidney. Julie told her family, including her two boys, ages 10 and 15, that she would be going back East for several days, maybe a week. The clinic needed to do a battery of tests to determine Julie’s suitability as a donor, and to see if she was healthy and ready to undergo the medical demands a donation would place on her. After her first day and quite a few tests, the staff came to Julie and said they needed to draw more blood, as she was anemic. Julie said “sure.” No problem, I’ll eat a steak, she thought to herself.
That night, the doctors met with Mary and Julie together. They told Julie that she had Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and that she needed to check-in to the hospital and begin treatment in the next 24 hours. Julie said immediately that she didn’t want to be in Minnesota, but near her family in California. Even today, her voice still catches when she relates how the staff at Mayo arranged her flight, had all her records in place and the staff up to speed at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center (UCSF) when she arrived. The doctor in charge of her case in Minnesota made a personal call to UCSF to make sure everything was arranged. Within 45 minutes of walking through the door of the ER, she was having her first of six rounds of chemotherapy.
Julie and friends. (via Facebook.com)
Knowing what transpired above is just the tip of the iceberg in Julie Lockwood’s story. Her life with horses has taken her, quite literally, across the world. She has worked for some of the industry’s most well-known names and has proven that there is no challenge she won’t meet head-on. Those that know Julie know her to be unendingly positive and upbeat; if help is needed, she is there with a smile, her constant companion. But as she wages the fight of her life, all that pales when compared to her job as a mom to her two sons.
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Julie’s journey in the horse world began with her first pony, Duke. Her dad was asked by the SPCA to use some of his equipment to free a pony that was stuck in the mud. The SPCA gave the pony to him, he found a horse trailer, and he and Julie brought the little guy home. Julie recalls that the white pony was, “meaner than a snake, and her new best friend.”
During her college years, Julie was offered a full-ride scholarship to California State University, in Chico. She had been attending Cosumnes River College in the Sacramento area and had helped to start a non-sanctioned equestrian team there. The team, however, was quite successful, and Julie’s role in making that happen soon caught the eye of the people at Chico. The Chico team was at the top of the West Coast Intercollegiate Horse Show Association for all the years that Julie attended. They paid for their travels with fundraisers, and every member kept up their academics and therefore lettered in equestrian. To this day, Julie has remained friends with her college coach, Tina Barclay.
Out of college, Julie obtained a job organizing the very popular Cavalcade of Horses at the California State Fair. It was a position she says she loved, as it opened so many doors and allowed her to meet, “many wonderful people.” The Cavalcade is an exhibit that introduces fair attendees to the many facets of the equestrian world, housing the horses in stalls around the arena as part of the experience so that fair-goers can get up close and personal with the animals. Some of the notable participants for Julie were the full-contact jousting group from Florida and the Canadian chuck wagons. Julie’s interaction with them led to her having the opportunity to travel to Canada and ride in the back of one of the wagons in a race.
The connection that perhaps had the most impact on the direction of Julie’s life at the time was when Neil Davies of Australia, who teaches fear-free horse training, came to give a demonstration at the Cavalcade. In a conversation, Neil asked Julie what she wanted and she answered that she would love to be a working student in Australia. At the end of that year’s Cavalcade and with Neil’s help, Julie bid goodbye to the job she loved and moved Down Under, where she eventually earned a spot working for the Australian Olympic show jumping team. She remembers this time in her life as one that required lots of hard work, but also gave her the opportunity to travel and get to know and observe many amazing riders and horses.
Julie (left) and a friend. (via Facebook.com)
When her time in Australia concluded, Julie decided to head home—albeit with a month’s “stop-off” in Hawaii to experience the culture while working as a cook in a youth hostel—and returned to California. She had always been interested in course designing and she contacted Linda Allen. Linda invited Julie to join her at Santa Anita, where she met some “ring crew dude” (Julie’s words) who actually knocked her over with a rail. That “dude” eventually became Julie’s on again/off again husband, Rich, and father to her boys. Throughout her current challenges, Rich has been there to support Julie and the boys every step of the way, to allay her worries and encourage her healing.
The World Cup Finals were held in Del Mar that year and Julie assisted Linda and Michael Roy Curtis in any way she could while trying to learn as much as possible. Thanks to her time working for John and Tish Quirk at Horses magazine, Julie was given the job of being the press liaison, working with riders and reporters at the competition. One particular highlight for her during this time was meeting the legendary Big Ben and his rider, Ian Miller.
Julie stayed in Del Mar for two more years, working at Newmarket Farm for Cece Durante Bloum and her team before she married and decided it was time to move home to the Sacramento area. Over the next nearly 10 years, Julie continued to expand her resume, working for Patty Ball at Hunterville, Kelly Van Vleck at Van Vleck Ranch, Michele Vaughn at Starr Vaughn Equestrian, Bill Madden at Brookside Show Park, and her own Honey Do Stables at Nighthorse Farm. She ran summer camps for horse-crazy kids, gave lessons, organized evening Jumper Jackpots, and helped to start Pony Club chapters.
Horses have always been central to Julie’s life as a mother. It was at Welsh Pony Nationals in Oklahoma City (where she was attending with Tammy Burgin of Farmore Farms Welsh Ponies) that she received the news she was expecting her first son. Five years later, Julie was showing a pony for sale at Andrea Barbee’s Dreamland Farms when her water broke. She loaded up the pony, her 5-year-old, and their family dog and drove herself to the hospital to give birth.
When her boys came along, horses didn’t leave Julie’s life entirely, but she made the choice to stay closer to home to be the mom they needed. She became a second-grade teacher in the area for several years, and she and the boys would travel on weekends and in the summer to horse shows, where Julie worked as a braider. Though at the time, her boys weren’t particularly interested in horses, Julie is proud that as a single mom, braiding allowed them to see and experience so much. With a smile, she tells the story of braiding at the summer Pebble Beach Classics. “I would braid at night, the boys would sleep in our camper, then I would sleep for a few hours, and we would spend the rest of the time riding our bikes on 17 Mile Drive, or watching the seals. The boys still remember seeing Tiger Woods playing a hole on the golf course.” Julie’s sons are her heart and soul, and when her second son experienced some learning disabilities, Julie left her teaching job to homeschool him.
Julie with her family. (via Facebook.com)
All that is on hold now, after, as Julie says, “four and a half glorious months in remission,” her leukemia returned. She is back at UCSF, currently undergoing rounds eight and nine of chemo. Not only is she fighting for her own life, but she worries about her boys, their care, their schooling, keeping a roof over their heads, and some semblance of normalcy in their lives.
“Horses have allowed me an amazing life. I’ve been a bit of a vagabond, and I’ve loved every minute of it,” Julie says. “I can’t wait to go home again. My son has an amazing horse, and just to go out and bury my nose and smell him makes me happy.”
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Julie is each one of us that has ever loved a pony, secretly reveled in meeting one of our heroes like Big Ben, or just been ecstatically happy to bury our nose in that sweet horse smell in the quiet of a summer evening. She is your trainer, your summer camp counselor, your braider. And she is evidence none of us want to see; that bad things do happen to good people.
Ask anyone that knows her, and you will hear the same description: Julie Lockwood is a woman of incredible spirit and determination. She has created her own opportunities, often overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Julie never complains, and if she knows anyone in need, she is the first one to give help, though she doesn’t ask for help herself. Now, Julie needs the help she so often gives. She needs the peace of mind that her boys are safe and well and taken care of while she fights to beat this awful disease.
In true “Julie fashion” while at UCSF for her latest round of chemo, she was filmed for a video, hoping she could help others by explaining the benefits of Healing Hands for Cancer, a massage program to ease the pain and anxiety for cancer patients. Surely, there are dark moments for her, but no one will fight harder than Julie, and there is no one that knows her that has one moment of doubt that she will prevail.
