On August 1st, at the start of the Friday night show, Michigan FQHR member Jared Bontrager’s life changed forever when he found out that his mother was killed in an accident. She and his two sisters were traveling in a horse-drawn buggy when they were struck from behind by a Jeep. Tragically, his mother died at the scene of the accident, and his sisters survived with non-life-threatening injuries.

Jared Bontrager, a 20-year-old who works for Bill Thomas, left the Amish community just over a year ago. Jared has become an integral part of Bill’s training program, and Bill has become Jared’s support structure outside of the Amish community. While he has built a small but strong circle of support, the loss of his mother is unimaginable, and the road ahead will be incredibly difficult, especially considering the restrictions the Amish community has imposed on him since he left the community.

As a family here at FQHR, we are asking our members, friends, and extended horse community to come together in this time of tragedy. Any donation—large or small—will help ease the financial burdens Jared now faces and remind him that he is not alone.

Let’s rally around Jared the way our horse community always does—by showing up with compassion, generosity, and love.

Please give what you can, share this page, and keep Jared and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

News Article Found Here: https://upnorthlive.com/news/local/amish-woman-killed-in-gladwin-county-buggy-crash-two-others-injured-horse-vehicle-jeep-michigan?fbclid=IwY2xjawMG03dleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFhNEpZakZLRU9uYTVXaGxJAR4umyeE3I9YxoTcXKcfjzwuPSVVFD2Osr5fGO6JgXscL_ynIdRmMqAvqYuccA_aem_CXSvvSfWlu6Dpnho6jaxeg