Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Requiem for a mountain horse

Fellow Campfire Members;
When we arrived home yesterday afternoon from our trip stateside, after the car was unpacked I wandered over to the horse pen. One look at our old sorrel gelding Cody told me the day I knew had been coming had arrived. I called the kids and my wife to come out, telling them what was up on the way to the pen.

My wife suggested I call a good friend for a 2nd opinion and Dwight, a retired RCMP Inspector and lifelong horseman arrived as soon as he could free himself from his vineyard. Dwight confirmed my opinion of Cody�s situation and reminded me of the pact we�d made sometime ago. As he put it, �A man shouldn�t have to shoot his own horse or dog, so when the day comes you call me and I�ll call you.�

Meanwhile my wife drove over to another neighbor Bill, a former logging road builder who now operates a mini-excavator and deals with this sort of thing locally, to see what his schedule looked like.

Cody came into our lives 15 years ago almost to the day, purchased from a horse trader and day ranch worker one valley to the east of us. He was a typical Quarter Horse build, 14.3 hands high and went maybe 1100lbs in his prime. From the T over W brand on his left flank I knew he had been on a large ranch on the Washington � BC border at some point in his life. The seller said he was between 12 and 15 years old and thought he�d been a pony horse at a local race track for awhile. Other than that, he was just a solid horse that let me handle his feet without fussing and did what he was asked when I rode him.

He turned out to be a great pony horse. Our two girls as well as other kinds learned to ride our jigging Appaloosa mare as she was latched to my right knee via a thong run through the left cheek snaffle ring, me aboard the steady sorrel gelding.

While I was never quite able to get him to agree to pack meat, he did tolerate foolishness such as a .308 Norma and an �06 being discharged in his general vicinity without too much bother.

He showed real promise as a cow horse the few times I used him as such but his real strength proved to be as a mountain horse that seemed to be able to go indefinitely and always know where to put his feet and when to put them there. As it turned out, he never tripped a single time in the hills with me on him � a particularly endearing trait in my books.

Slowly for Cody, as it does for all of us I guess, time took its toll.

So it was that at 8:00 this morning as my wife and our eldest took our Appy for a walk down the road, two neighbors met me in the back of the horse pen. In an amazingly short time Bill had a deep hole opened in the rocky ground. I haltered Cody and for the last time gave him some of his all time favorite- whole oats. He�d been off his feed lately, so although he labored a bit with the grain, as he dipped his head for another mouthful, Dwight aimed the little rimfire and did what he�d come to do.

By 9:00am, we all had gone our separate ways, me with our family to get some back to school clothes shopping done for the girls.

As I waited while the girls shopped, I considered how very fortunate I am to live in a state of grace that allows me to have family that understands that sometimes in life doing the right thing can be extremely tough.

I considered my great fortune to have friends and neighbors who will rearrange their lives to help me do unpleasant tasks that need doing.

While it was a sad day for me I take heart in the notion some of the folks I�m surrounded by are apparently very capable individuals.

With that I thank my fellow Campfire Members for allowing me to sort my thoughts on the events of the day in this fashion.

Hopefully it doesn't sound like I feel sorry for myself, as emphatically I don't. Death is a part of life, just the last part is all. Perhaps it will mean something to someone else at the Campfire, so I put it out for your consideration.

I believe I�ll end this story, hit the �Submit� tab and raise a small glass of Tangle Ridge to a great old mountain horse that never tripped, to good friends and a great family.

Thanks for reading,
Dwayne

Cody in his prime a few years back

Good on you.
Ingwe

Your friends are friends. Your turn to stand-to will come. So sorry about the loss of your companion.

bugger! sorry to hear of this. well handled though.

Dwayne,
Cody sounds like he was a fine horse who lived a good life.
You both were lucky.

Thank you my friend for allowing us to be a part of Cody.

Sorry for your loss. Thanks for the story. Cody was a great horse. You did the right thing.

Very well written. When the time comes to deal with our old dog I hope I can sort through all those emotions as well as you did. Thanks for sharing.

Bob

Sorry to hear about Cody

Got to love a good, honest horse. I know you and your family will miss him and I'm sorry for your loss. Having friends to help youi out with a horse whose time has come is a real blessing. I know this by my own experience.

Happy trails to Cody.

That really sucks.
My uncs old horse died, and with a little skinning, I had him a pair of saddle bags made.

He'll be waiting on the other side, Bud.

.....in tall grass.

Godspeed, Cody.

GTC

Take care and sleep well knowing you did the right thing by a friend. I know, because I've had to do this thrice in my life so far, to dear canine friends. It never gets easier, but it gets done right.

With a tear,
Wolfie

By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill,
is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.
Where the friends of man and woman do run,
when their time on earth is over and done.

For here, between this world and the next,
is a place where beloved creatures find rest.
On this golden land, they wait and they play,
til The Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day.

No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness,
for here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness.
Their limbs are restored, their health renewed.
Their bodies have healed with strength imbued.

They trot through the grass without even a care,
til one day they whinny and sniff at the air.
All ears prick forward, eyes sharp and alert.
Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the herd.

For just at that second, there's no room for remorse.
As they see each other...one person...one horse.
So they run to each other, these friends from long past
The time of their parting is over at last.

The sadness they felt while they were apart
has turned to joy once more in each heart.
They nuzzle with a love that will last forever.
And then, side-by-side, they cross over...together.

Dwayne,

You did the right thing, and thank God for friends that helped and supported. Sounds like he was a great horse. You're all going to miss him.

Sorry for your loss Sir, and thankful you have such a great family & friends.