In Memoriam...

When I first began riding, Trevor was already ancient. 30 years young for an appaloosa is pretty darn impressive. That was five years ago.

Trevor and I had a tenuous relationship at best. He knew what he wanted to do and most of the time it was not at all what I wanted or expected from him. Being bossed around by a mostly blind, mostly white appaloosa is no bowl of cherries, I can tell you that. But I learned a lot from him.

My most memorable moment with Trevor came on a regular old morning as I was tacking him up for a practice ride. Apparently Trevor had other things in mind for his morning. When I turned around with his saddle in hand I found him lying on the ground, his head hanging from the pole where the rope was looped. I panicked (of course). His eyes were rolled back and he was unresponsive. My good buddy, Leslie, bolted off to get our instructor as I desperately tried to get the halter unhooked so that his head would lie on the ground and he wouldn't suffocate.

When Leslie returned with Debbie, we managed to get him unhooked and then tried, repeatedly, to get him to stand up, to no avail. Someone ran to get the vet, also a boarder at our barn. She came and checked his vitals... everything seemed to be fine. Trevor just wouldn't respond to any of us. In the meantime, I was in tears, fearing I'd killed this horse, or that he'd died while under my care at least...

Close to 10 minutes had passed by and Trevor was still on the ground with his eyes rolled back. Then Debbie had an idea. She ran to the tack room and returned with Trevor's favorite cookie. She waved it in front of him and, eyes still closed, Trevor lifted his head and sniffed eagerly. We all jumped back and Debbie lured that crafty horse to his feet with the cookie! The vet looked him over and pronounced him well enough for all that...

Trevor had just decided that he didn't want to go for a ride that day... and that scaring the life out of ME would be more fun. I never forgave him for that, really. And I'm sure he snickered to himself every time he saw me at the barn.

I learned a few days ago that Trevor has finally crossed the river. Wily trickster that he was, I'm sure he's living large on the other side. Hope you find all the green grass you could ever eat, old man.