Well Debbie, you letter made me
laugh some, but most of all it made me sad. You see, I had a stallion, Fa
Al Badi+/, that I rode for 3500 miles in endurance and he loved nothing
better. When I retired him after winning a two day in the hot TX summer,
it broke my heart. But I had younger horses to start in endurance, and I
could not ride them all.
He would be so sad when we left for a ride without him. Once,
he got loose and I couldn't find him. He was in the horse trailer!
He was like a dog, who is first to jump in the back of a pickup truck.
I miss him
terribly; I miss our bond. I miss the memories we will no longer
make. I cannot describe to you the feeling of riding over Sherman's Gap on
the Old Dominion at 2am on our first 100 and our agreement made there: I
could ride him up anything, but I must get off and walk down the
hills.
Or how we snuck behind the first place
rider for two miles and then, when there was only one mile left, I let him fly,
and we won the IAHA regional championship by a nose.
The time I cried in his long black mane
because he got a cramp and was pulled at the finish for
lamenss.
I could go on and
on....
And I know there are many people on
ridecamp who are saying "yeah, Louise, I KNOW how you feel.
All these things, Debbie, you will
never know. And that makes me sad.
