SHA - Sacramento Horsemen's Association

🤠 Saddle up, Sacramento! The Sac-Town Rodeo is riding into Cal Expo on September 12–13, bringing the excitement of the rodeo and a celebration of Western culture to our community.

Get ready for heart-pounding action, incredible talent, and an unforgettable weekend with family and friends.

📍Rodeo Arena
🗓️ Sept. 12: 6:00–9:30 PM
🗓️ Sept. 13: 4:00–7:30 PM

https://calexpo.com/event/sac-town-rodeo/

SHA HOOFBEATS Monthly Newsletter
September 2026
Sachorsemen.org

SHA Arena Notice for 8-30-26 Attention SHA Boarders, Members and Guests : Posse Practice for today, Sun Aug 30 3 pm to 8 pm has been cancelled. The Phillips Memorial Arena is OPEN to all regular use today. Thank you and have a wonderful day ! Posse practice will resume tomorrow, the large arena will close tomorrow for watering at 5 pm as planned.

Saturday Aug 29 SHA Western Dressage Schooling Show 2 of 2 - this is what SHA is all about - the people and the horses !
Sachorsemen.org

**At 78 years old, Harry Morgan loaded a dying 26-year-old horse into a trailer for one final journey.**
The veterinarian had already told him what he feared.
Sophie was tired.
Her legs trembled beneath her.
Her eyes had grown cloudy.
She could barely walk anymore.
And it was time to say goodbye.
But Harry Morgan—the man millions knew as Colonel Sherman Potter on *M*A*S*H*—wasn't ready.
Not because he couldn't accept what was happening.
Because there was **one promise left to keep.**
“Not yet,” Harry reportedly said.
“There’s somewhere she needs to go first.”
It was 1993.
Ten years had passed since *M*A*S*H* aired its final episode.
Harry was 78.
Sophie was 26—an extraordinary age for a horse.
For nearly two decades, she had been part of his life.
But before she became Harry Morgan's horse, millions of television viewers had known her as something else:
**Colonel Potter's beloved horse, Sophie.**
So Harry called his son.
“I need your help.”
“With what?”
“I’m taking Sophie somewhere.”
His son knew how weak she was.
“Dad… she can barely stand.”
Harry answered with two words.
**“Malibu Creek.”**
The filming location.
The place where the fictional 4077th had once stood.
The buildings were gone.
The cameras were gone.
The actors had gone home decades earlier.
But Harry remembered the hills.
The oak trees.
The paths.
And somewhere in his heart, he believed Sophie remembered them too.
“She deserves to see it one more time.”
His son asked:
“See what?”
Harry didn't hesitate.
**“Home.”**
They arranged a padded trailer for her.
Sophie was so weak that several men reportedly helped her inside.
Harry stayed close.
He stroked her mane and spoke softly.
“One last adventure, girl.”
Then they began the drive toward Malibu Creek.
When they arrived, there were no television crews waiting.
No helicopters.
No lights.
No directors shouting instructions.
Just open land.
Trees.
Hills.
And silence.
Then something happened.
Sophie stepped onto the ground.
Her head lifted.
Her ears came forward.
And for a moment, the tired old horse seemed different.
Harry watched her carefully.
Then Sophie started walking.
Slowly.
Painfully.
But deliberately.
Toward the land where the 4077th had once existed.
Harry followed beside her.
He pointed toward places that now existed mostly in memory.
“That was the corral.”
“Potter's tent was over there.”
He remembered crew members bringing her treats.
Then Harry reached into his pocket.
An apple.
Sophie took it gently from his hand.
Just as she had done countless times before.
Harry's voice reportedly began to break.
**“You weren't a prop, Sophie.”**
**“You were family.”**
Because after filming ended, Sophie hadn't simply disappeared from Harry's life.
He kept her.
She became part of his home.
Part of his routine.
Part of the quiet years after one of television's most famous shows ended.
And when Harry lost his wife, Eileen, there was Sophie.
Every morning.
Waiting.
No scripts.
No applause.
No audience.
Just companionship.
Standing there at Malibu Creek, Sophie eventually lowered her head against Harry.
Imagine the scene.
A 78-year-old actor.
An elderly horse nearing the end of her life.
Standing together on land where millions of people had once watched them through television screens.
But there were no cameras now.
This wasn't Colonel Potter saying goodbye to Sophie.
**This was Harry saying goodbye to his friend.**
They stayed there for hours.
Harry walked with her slowly.
He talked.
Remembered.
Pointed toward places only the two of them could truly understand.
Eventually, it was time to leave.
But Sophie reportedly stopped.
She planted her feet.
She didn't want to move.
Harry looked at her and smiled.
“I know.”
“I don't want to leave either.”
Then he told her something every pet owner has probably said when they weren't ready for goodbye.
**“We'll come back.”**
But sometimes we make promises because love needs them in that moment.
Not because we believe we can keep them.
About a week later, Sophie could no longer stand.
Harry sat beside her.
Her head rested near him.
The veterinarian prepared the final injection.
And Harry whispered his goodbye.
“Thank you for Malibu Creek.”
“Thank you for the 4077th.”
Then came the words that mattered most.
**“Thank you for being my horse.”**
Sophie was gone.
Harry reportedly buried her on his property beneath an oak tree.
But the story didn't end with the horse.
Harry Morgan lived for another 18 years.
He died in 2011 at the age of 96.
And according to the story passed down about Harry and Sophie, he had one final request:
When his own time came…
**he wanted part of himself returned to the friend who had waited for him through all those quiet mornings.**
Maybe that's why stories like this stay with us.
Because eventually the television sets disappear.
The awards gather dust.
The applause stops.
The famous characters become old reruns.
But somewhere beneath all of that fame is something much simpler.
A man.
A horse.
And eighteen years of mornings together.
And if there is somewhere beyond this life where the people and animals we loved find each other again…
maybe there's a field.
Maybe Sophie isn't old anymore.
Maybe her legs don't hurt.
Maybe Harry walks toward her like he did every morning.
And maybe she lifts her head when she hears the familiar voice:
**“Morning, Sophie.”**
Then the old Colonel climbs into the saddle.
And together…
**they ride again.**
❤️ Share this for anyone who has ever loved an animal enough to know that they are never “just a pet.” They become part of the family—and part of us.

Dinner & Dancing Under the Stars ✨

Looking for something fun to do?
Come enjoy an evening of great food, dancing and good company while supporting the Sacramento Horsemen’s Association! 🐴

🍝 Full Italian dinner
💃 Outdoor dancing under the stars
🤠 Line dancing instruction
🍸 Full no-host bar
✨ Indoor dining and plenty of time to relax and socialize

📅 Monday, September 21, 2026
🍸 Bar opens at 6:00 PM
🍝 Dinner begins at 6:30 PM
📍 Historic Saddle Oaks Clubhouse at the Sacramento Horsemen’s Association
3200 Longview Drive, Sacramento, CA 95821

🎟️ $36 per diner
🎟️ SHA members $18

Hosted by the Sacramento Sheriff’s Posse, with all proceeds benefiting the Sacramento Horsemen’s Association

🎟️ Buy your tickets at SacramentoSheriffsPosse.com

Your online ticket purchase is your automatic RSVP

📞 Questions? Call Corie at 916-812-2592

Proudly sponsored by A Little Bit Used Tack Shop, Oakbough Gallery, and Trust Production Services