I was born around 1990 in the South, a Tennessee Walking Horse with a smooth natural barefoot gait. At some point I received an injury, and I was sent to an auction. Fortunately I was bid on by a gaited horse dealer and shipped north in July 2002, where I was found by my human best friend, and loved to the end of my days.
Bold on the trails and willing to try anything, I climbed hills and crossed streams all over Michigan. I chased cows and played at fun shows. Losing an eye in 2007 didn’t slow me down, either!
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The first years
For my human, it was love at first ride.
In 2004 this fancy retired racehorse named Blizzard came to live with me. That wasn’t his real name, though. Don’t tell anyone but his daddy was kind of a big deal.
Trail rides and parades
Went on some trail rides in 2004 and 2005 with my pal Blizzard.
Apparently there’s a gait called a “trot” that is not so friendly on the male human’s sitting parts. Blizzard also had really grabby brakes, but I liked to go and go! So it wasn’t long before my humans were looking for another naturally smooth gaited horse.
2006 is when my buddy Zeus came to our farm.
Zeus and I were a great matched pair of gaiting machines! Lots of trail rides in 2005 and 2006.
In June 2007, our humans took us on something called a honeymoon. They got really, really lost on some unmarked trails, and after a while my person finally let me show them the way back to the barn.
There were bear tracks that crossed over ours while our silly humans were trying to figure out where we were! I wasn’t worried. I was always in the lead, so Zeus would have been the one eaten by a bear. I was faster anyway.
Surgery
Also in 2007, it was determined that the cloudiness and weeping that developed in my left eye was due to a tumor, and the best way to alleviate the pressure was something called e-nu-cle-a-tion. I went to a horse hospital and underwent the procedure. While I was asleep they stole my eyeball!
I had to adapt to not being able to see anything on my left side, but the headaches were gone. Zeus was a brat and would sneak up on my left side and bite me, but I’d get him back.
Fun shows and cows!
Wandering the trails was fun but some of my human’s friends liked to do silly things like weave through poles and turn dizzy circles around barrels, so off we went to our next adventure!
I got lots of attention at these places.
We even did something called “sorting” which meant I had to make some stinky cows run away from their friends and let me tell you, they didn’t like it (or me) very much. Mainly because I thought it easier to push them with my body than this “cutting” thing I was supposed to be doing, I guess. So, not a cow horse. More of a plow horse.
The old scar
While it didn’t cause me pain very often, the old scar caused some discomfort if I had pressure from the wrong saddle and pad. From 2002 to 2007, my people tried many different combinations until the right one was found.
The first brand new saddle and pad combo tried made me itchy and fussy. The fleece pad was double thick, but it sat right on the scar. I didn’t like that.
In May 2007, my custom saddle arrived. With a new thick wool split pad, there was no pressure on my old injury!
So we did barrels and poles in an Aussie saddle—not the fastest, but the smoothest runs in the arena!
The best of times
I had a nice smooth gait that was comfortable to ride for hours. Oh, but I could gallop, too. I loved it.
From 2002 to 2017 we had all kinds of adventures.
Above: at about thirteen years old, and about twenty-seven.
Semi-retirement
June 2008 was the first time I got really, really sick. I had the worst tummy ache.
Was it colic? Grass founder? Poisonous weeds in the pasture? Insulin resistance? Sometimes there are more questions than answers. My people treated the symptoms and I was much better in a few weeks.
The horse doctor who saw me in 2008 suspected Potomac Horse Fever, but when the symptoms returned later in life, chronic equine grass sickness (EGS) was considered.
Fewer long rides. Fewer fast rides. More relaxing strolls.
Changes
In 2013, my buddy Zeus went to live with some other gaited horses and take beginners on trail rides all over Michigan and Florida.
I adapted to being an only horse pretty well. All of the brushing and all of the treats were for ME and no sharing, and no booger head biting me on my blind side.
Senior horse probs
I didn’t want to slow down, but mom made me, because I kept injuring my shoulder in my excitement to run very fast.
The difference between 2016 and 2017 was hard for my humans to accept but easy to see. They tried everything from supplements to pads to massage to ease my final months until it was clear there was no more that could be done.
Growing old is a luxury not afforded to all horses who find themselves for sale to the highest bidder at an auction.
Don’t be sad. My people did everything they could to make me comfortable, but when I told them the struggle was too much, by refusing to accept one of my favorite treats, they helped me transition.
Just a month after that, my old friend Zeus came home from a few years taking beginners on trail rides. He ran around and sniffed everywhere, across the pasture and in every stall, looking for me. He’d begun to lose his vision in one eye and saw “ghosts” and has not been ridden since.
You can help Zeus live his best life in retirement.
Click here to send $3 to help cover his $500 monthly expenses, if you like.
(It says “coffee” but mom doesn’t like coffee. It should say carrots.)
shantell evelyn 