Thoroughbred 20 years old March 13, 1990 - January 3, 2011  Help me write this, Beau... Just like most every little girl out there, at a very young age I dreamed of having a horse.  At the age of 28, my dream finally came true!  I had looked at dozens of horses, then met Beau.  Only his registered name was, Princely Son.  In my mind, that had to go, and soon!  So, I renamed him, Mr. Beau Jangles.  After all, he apparently didn't cut it as a race horse, so why would he need a race horse name, right?? We started our friendship with the intention of joining the jumping world.  At 16.2 HH, I figured he would be perfect!  The only problem is, I had only jumped a couple of downed trees in my time, so we were about to embark on something completely foreign together!  I remember my trainer say, "Green horse, green rider, not a good combination.".  But, the same trainer told me he would give me $10,000 for him. (I paid $1,300.) Beau and I had formed a great bond quickly, and I told my trainer that in no way was he for sale...I didn't care if he offered me $100,000! We went on to Event together, and did pretty well (at lower levels), then I took a nasty spill and decided to just trail ride.  Beau loved it though!  He would rear up in the start box, he was so excited to go!  We even had a couple of Events where we had time penalties for going too fast!  I shouldn't have chickened out and quit Eventing.  But, he equally loved trail rides, as did I!  He loved being out with all of his equine friends, and getting a change of scenery once in a while. We both loved all of the attention he got.  He deserved every ounce of it.  He was a big, beautiful chestnut gelding! Anyone could ride Beau, young and old alike.  People were always leery because of his height, but I assured them he was the biggest gentleman out there.  And, a gentleman he was.  I have pondered lately just how many lives that beautiful boy touched.  How many friendships were formed because he was in my life.  Even the farm we live on is because of him.  What a beautiful spirit... I am holding dear all my memories of him, but especially one of the last bareback rides I had.  I was talking to him, telling him how grateful of all the times we have had together (I did this a lot), and he would round his neck and bow his head, almost like, "Awww... shucks"...  But, what made that ride so special was that I was wearing shorts and I wrapped my legs around his barrel, and my arms around his beautiful neck, and just smelled and felt the essence that was him, Beau.  Writing this last sentence, I am sobbing so hard, I can't stand it.  I didn't realize on that date that that would be my last chance to do that. Beau died unexpectedly, and I was in Japan when it happened.  (I am a flight attendant).  There's nothing worse than being on the other side of the globe when you lose your best friend.  This I found out. I am not certain as to what killed him, as I chose not to have an autopsy.  My vets speculated at a guess (Aneurysm?  Hematoma?)...  All I know is that I had a pretty vibrant 20 year old Thoroughbred friend that I thought had 5-10 years left, and now he's gone. Beau, I miss you so much I can't stand it!!  You will always, always be in my heart.  You will be in a lot of peoples' hearts...I still can't believe you're gone.  I love you, my dear Beau!  Mr. Beau Jangles.... Dance.... Luana

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