Georgia Thomas loved horses, being outdoors

Georgia Thomas of Rathdrum was always geared up for the ride of her life.

An avid horse lover, she grew up in South Dakota and moved to the Sagle area in 1938. She started riding at 4 years old and rode horses from her home in Sagle to see her aunts and uncles in the Hidden Valley nearly every day. She died Oct. 29 at age 76.

“She just loved horseback riding,” said her daughter, Thayla Mickelson.

She met her husband, Dale Thomas, in 1948, and they married a year later in Hayden Lake. They raised their family in Rathdrum. She stayed home to care for her family and often baby-sat kids in the neighborhood. “You couldn’t ask for a better mom,” said Mickelson. “She was always there when we needed her.”

While quick to care for others, her passion was spending time outdoors on horseback, snowmobiling or motorcycling. She continued to ride horses until about a year and a half ago.

Thomas inherited a love for horses from her parents, and her grandfather was a horse trader. She passed her love for horses down to her daughters.

She taught Mickelson, her youngest daughter, to ride and break horses when the girl was about 6 years old. Mickelson now owns 10 horses, and her sister, Marcyna Barrett, owns six. Mickelson often went horseback riding with her mother.

She holds horseback-riding memories close, like the time when she snuck out to ride an unbroken horse Thomas had brought home.

Her fondest memory was when she lived across the road from her parents. She rode up one day to invite her mom to go horseback riding. Thomas sat behind Mickelson and when Mickelson jumped a fallen tree blocking the trail, all she could hear was the sound of her mom’s surprise behind her.

But she got even on another trail ride by loaning Mickelson a horse only Thomas could ride.

When the horse started to buck, Mickelson said it was just one way for her mom to even the score.

In addition to horseback riding, Thomas introduced her kids to camping, motorcycle riding and snowmobiling.

Mickelson said her mom always preferred to be outside working with her hands.

“She just loved the sunshine and the fresh air,” Mickelson said.

When not on a horse, Thomas enjoyed gardening, bowling and making dolls and figurines out of beads.

Mickelson said her mom had a strong sense of humor and made many friends. She was a quiet woman and a homebody who loved to cook. When Fourth of July came around, they always had big parties at their house.

“We always had everybody else’s kids at our place,” said Mickelson. “It seemed to be the meeting place.” Mickelson said sometimes her high school boyfriends would stop by just to visit. “She was just a person you could sit down and talk to about anything,” she said. “You could take her advice with a grain of salt or you could take it to heart.” Mickelson said Thomas stayed independent by working for herself and made her own money.

After she worked for Coeur d’Alene Homes, and later at the Owl Cafe in Hayden Lake, Thomas opened her own tack shop with her husband called The Tack Room, in Rathdrum. The shop has been open for 10 years. Mickelson now runs the shop.

Barrett picked up her mother’s cooking skills and now cooks for a living at Guardian Angel Homes in Post Falls.

She said while they were growing up, Thomas showed them right from wrong and steered them away from the rough kids in the neighborhood. When Barrett took in foster children as an adult, Thoms was always around to help.

“She helped other people a lot,” said Barrett “She was just a great person.”