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Re: [RC] CBS Redman is gone... - steelsidedownI've been searching for the right words... they just don't exist.. Redman was AWESOME. Very early in my endurance career, I had the pleasure of riding behind him for a few miles..... you see, no one was ever in front of Redman, and no one could keep up for long behind him, so a *few* miles behind him, you were very lucky to get! He had an amazing stride, confidence, motivation, and he had style! He was bigger than life, and we did enjoy cheering him on... greatly. Someone else commented how many great horses we had lost this past year, so true. I like to think the angels have a big FEI 100 coming up and have recruited our best.... Root for the angel on Red, they'll be tough to pass. :-) Jen ---- Debi Gordon <debig54@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: To the endurance community... On Monday, I had to say good bye to my partner, my dream come true, my once in a lifetime horse, CBS Redman. I wanted the endurance world to know one of the great ones has passed on. He was almost 28 years old and was just hanging out at my farm enjoying retirement. It had always been my goal with him to retire him from the sport sound and happy, and I did. I won't list his accomplishments here, but they were many. One of the accolades I felt very proud of was the fact he won almost as many best condition awards throughout his career as he did races. As all of you know, that's hard to do. In the last few years, he began to lose his molars and had to be put on a special, soft diet to keep his weight up. Winters were getting harder. In April, he managed to injure his left hind leg. I never knew how, but it was clearly very bad. I doctored him through it and got him to a point where he was pretty comfortable and more than happy to be alive. A few weeks ago, the leg took a turn for the worse. When the vet looked at him and the injured leg, which was a horrific sight, she said, "He's one tough horse." That's an understatement to be sure. But she and I decided that day that it wasn't time to say good bye yet. He was still happy and not in much pain. She said I'd know when it was time. This past Sunday, Redman gave me the look that told me I had to make the call. We had climbed so many mountains, galloped so many fields and crossed so many rivers together. It was time to cross the last river together. I arranged it all in a rush on Monday, had a horrific day at work and got home to walk the last walk with him. I hugged him and thanked him for everything. I knew him and he knew me with no words. He was part of my soul, part of my identity, a member of my family. He was with me for 23 years. My youngest son, Joey, was 16 months old when I bought Red at an auction. Joey just turned 24. My daughter, Sara (30 years old next month), was in second grade when Red came into our lives. From the beginning she said, "He has a very important face." Many would call it the look of eagles. Redman gave me the most wonderful thrills, adventures and memories. My heart is broken. If you ever saw him or knew him, please remember him with admiration and fondness. In sadness, Debi Gordon =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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