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Re: [RC] Old Horses and weighing decisions......... - Truman PrevattI have one out in the pasture that I would rather go than see her go. However, at 26 she will go some day. Three years ago I didn't give her more than 3 months. For some reason she is a lot better now than then. She is still the boss mare and gets into the running with the herd from time to time. She of course over does it - and pays the price for a day or to. Hey, but so do I :-( .Her time will come I know and I will know when it is time. Back when I was 17, we had to put down my first horse. I got her when I was 9. She was an older horse then - but she taught me more about cows than I could have ever learned without her. My grandfather handed me the lead line to take her to her final resting place. It was something that I sure didn't want to do, but it was something I had to do. The vet did his job, the tractor covered her and I stayed awhile to reflect on spending almost half my life with my partner. Somehow I never thought it was fair - that she go so soon. I think that day was the day I actually became a man. It is never easy - but it is our job. Truman Barbara McCrary wrote: My old treasured "Courage" developed emphysema when he was 26-27. When he could no longer walk up a slight incline into his barn, I knew it was time. We had a hole dug for him down on a flat next to his old friend "Grey." I called the vet, he came up, and we led Courage down the hill toward the hole. I couldn't go all the way...I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I wanted to remember all the wonderful adventures I had with him, his dependability, his flying trot, his heart. I didn't want my last image of him to be falling into that hole. The vet took him the rest of the way and put him down. Courage lies next to Grey...each one with a lovely stone headstone (our neighbor is a sculptor who works in stone and metal and did these for us.) Grey's bronze plate reads "Nobility without arrogance..." Courage's reads "From his back, I discovered the world." I first saw The Pony Express Trail from central Utah to eastern Nevada, the Applegate-Lassen pioneer trail in Nevada and California, the Great Salt Lake Desert, and Death Valley (the real valley itself) while mounted on this unassuming, 14.2 hand grey Arab gelding with the twinkle in his eye and a lot of common sense in his head. How I wish there were more just like him. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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