| |
THE END OF AN ERA
2006 was a
rather bittersweet year for us, as we lost our wondrous foundation mare,
Ta-ket “Taco,” on June 3rd, just one
month before her 35th birthday, July 4th.
Whenever a beloved horse reaches the twenties in age, one is aware that
each year is a gift, and no one was more aware of that than Wendy and I
as we watched Taco grow older. She was a part of our lives and hearts
for twenty-five years, and will be forever.
She never
showed her age like some horses who are seniors, just kept on “tickin”
like the energy bunny. In fact, we got beautiful photos of her, her
palomino daughter, Jericho’s Royal Ashlin and her grand-daugther,
Jericho’s Thee Senorita when she was thirty-two. The vets and farrier
were always amazed at her condition, and in all the years we had her,
the vet bills for her were almost non-existent. She was our inspiration
in breeding Morabs and the foals who trace back to her are always better
than we imagine at the time of the breeding, and they are easy to pick
out in the herd, with their near-perfect conformation and beautiful
Raffles/Skowronek heads, with luxuriant manes and tails enough for two
horses.
The day
Taco crossed the “Rainbow Bridge” was a truly beautiful spring day, and
the horses had just been put on pasture the day before, so Wendy and the
vet were both hoping that maybe she just got a little too much green
grass, but then Dr. Graper felt a mass, and Wendy knew it was time to
say goodbye to her first, best-loved horse. As these things go, it was
as good as such things can be, as she didn’t suffer long, and the
“Circle of Life” means we must accept death, as well as life.
I was here
at our farm, so was unable to be there, but I went outside and let the
spring breezes and warm sun comfort me and dry my tears. And I
remembered something my nephew wrote when my brother passed on, about
how the Egyptians believed that the worth of a man was reflected in the
weather at the time of his passing. They thought extremely good weather
indicated the the great value and status of the person, so I decided
that probably also applied to horses and our animal friends of great
worth, and no horse will ever be worth more than Taco was to us. She
carried our hopes, dreams, and love on her broad, patient back for
twenty-five years; she was already ten when we got her, and in all those
years, she did everything we asked of her, and did it as only she
could. I still remember all those high point trophies she got in speed,
and the great way she cut the cows in team penning, and so many other
things.
When
Carolyn heard the sad news, she said she figured that Taco headed
straight for the motherless foals as soon as she got across the Rainbow
Bridge, and I’m sure she found our foundation Arabian mare, Ari Black
Diamond, there, and the two of them are happy and surrounded by foals,
as that was what they liked best.
|
