Awedding is a time that the happy couple wishes to share with the people they love. For one bride it was a day she wanted to share with her beloved horse, Bug.
Guided by her husband, J.D. Haesloop, Penny Haesloop rides Bug on her wedding day at Pleasant Meadow Farm, Readington. The young woman began riding Bug when she was 12 and later became the horse’s owner when the riding academy where he was stabled was dealing with financial issues. Marlboro native Penny Haesloop, 24, formerly Penny Kalika, has spent years of her life raising Bug. There was no way she would let him miss one of the happiest days of her life.
“I felt he deserved his place solidly in my wedding as he has shaped the wonderful life which I lead now. I really owe him a lot,” Haesloop said.
The story of Penny and Bug goes back to when both were young. Growing up in Marlboro, Haesloop said she began riding when she was 8 years old.
Her best friend, Alyssa Nebus, a Marlboro High School graduate in the class of 1996, made the suggestion when Haesloop was 12 that she attend Aster Place Riding Club in Freehold.
It was there that Penny met and fell in love with Bug.
“I knew from the instant I saw him he was the horse for me, but I was 12 and every horse is the one for you, but this one stuck,” Haesloop recalled.
Bug was a yearling when Haesloop first encountered him. Haesloop said Bug was already named before she met him.
“Thoroughbreds are named after their parents. His sire was a New Jersey bred racehorse named Evening Kris and his dam was a racehorse named Treasure Zone. When you name a thoroughbred through the Jockey Club you need to choose three names,” she explained.
“The first was Twilight Zone. They picked a second name which they just assumed would be picked,” Haesloop continued, adding she was not sure what that name was. “They had just watched a sci-fiseries ‘Attack of the Big Bad Bug’ and jokingly put it as the third choice. No one was laughing when they got his name in the mail.”
It was during that same time that Penny’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, according to Haesloop’s grandmother, Rhoda Farkas of Marlboro.
“Penny helped to care for her mother since her father worked nights and Paige (Penny’s older sister) was away at school,” Farkas said.
Haesloop was 15 when her mother, Felice Kalika, died.
Farkas recalled how Penny sold candy after her mother’s death to raise money for A Time for Me program. A Time for Me offers women with cancer a complimentary day or weekend retreat where they can relax at a spa, according to Farkas. Felice Kalika had participated in the program, which is why Haesloop was dedicated to helping other women even after her mother’s passing.
Farkas believes that Bug helped Haesloop get through that difficult time in her life.
Haesloop worked at Bug’s home of Aster Place as a working student in exchange for the ability to ride until she was 17. The years passed by and Haesloop began searching for a college to attend.
“When I was looking at colleges I wanted two things – a nice college with a great business program and an equestrian team,” she recalled.
Having found what she was looking for, when Haesloop graduated from School in 2000, she headed for Alfred University in Alfred, N.Y. At neighboring Alfred State College, her future husband, J.D. Haesloop, 26, a native of Watkins Glen, N.Y., was studying.
Eventually the operators of Aster Place offered to give Bug to Penny for free due to financial concerns.
Although her father, Jeffrey Kalika, did not like the idea, Penny was determined to have Bug.
“I am so hot-headed I took him anyway,” the young woman said, adding that her sister made her tell their father that she had accepted the horse.
Haesloop said it was expensive to keep Bug, but said she does not regret the decision and would do it again. While Penny was away at school, Nebus cared for Bug. When Penny began her sophomore year, Bug joined her in New York.
With financial aid, Haesloop’s education was almost completely covered, aside from room and board, which her father paid for.
“I used the loan that I got from the school for Bug’s board, which I’m now doing double duty on as I’m in repayment,” she laughed.
Upon graduating from college Haesloop was ready to come back to New Jersey. That is when she met Joanne and Marco Pelosi, the owners of Pleasant Meadow Farm, Readington, who opened their stables to Bug.
“I would never have met the amazing Pelosi family without my horse,” she said.
At Penny and J.D.’s Sept. 1 wedding, Joanne Pelosi was a bridesmaid and her children were the ring bearer and flower girl.
On Sept. 1 as the sun shone down from a bright blue sky at the farm in Readington, Hunterdon County, Penny rode Bug down the aisle to bring her to J.D.’s side.
Years before her wedding day, Haesloop wrote a tribute to her mother in which she said, “She’ll always be with me, watching over me.”
Farkas believes Penny really did have everyone she loves present the day of the wedding.
Tearing up in recollection, Farkas said that as she, along with Penny’s other grandmother and stepmother made their way down the aisle, a cascade of leaves fluttered down from a nearby tree when there had been no wind.
“It was (Felice’s) way of telling us she was there,” Farkas said.
Haesloop rode down the aisle with her father at her side leading Bug.
“We got so many raves about how special it all was! The atmosphere was so tranquil and the landscape was so beautiful,” Haesloop said recalling her wedding day.
Pelosi said guests asked if she and her husband regularly host weddings. She laughed, saying they are now considering the possibility of doing just that, complete with a carriage to bring the bride to her big day.
One way in which Bug’s magic has come through for his owner is in helping to launch a photography business for the Haesloops.
When Penny rode in shows with Bug, J.D. would come and take photos of the pair. The photos came out so good that Haesloop was soon approached by friends to have him take pictures for them.
Tallman Photography grew out of the photos of Penny and Bug.
“We go out to local horse shows and take pictures of everyone and post them online,” she explained.
After celebrating their wedding, the Haesloops honeymooned in Peru, according to Farkas. The newlyweds reside in Sayreville, Middlesex County, while Bug lives at Pleasant Meadow.
“I am very lucky to have a great family and to have had such a beautiful weekend for a wedding,” Haesloop said.
Farkas is proud of her granddaughter.
“There are always stories of kids that have gone wrong, while here is a sweet story of the other ones,” she said.