The emancipation of women may have begun not with the vote, nor in
the cities where women marched and carried signs and protested, but rather
when they mounted a good cowhorse and realized how different and fine the
view...from the back of a horse, the world looked wider.
Joyce Gibson Roach
My oldest friend, a big
red dun with the bright blue eyes is gone. Doc was one of those rare horses
that a person can only dream of owning. He was as kind, gentle, and honest
as they come. At the age of 30 he'd "been there, done that". This photo of
him is at age 25.
Doc was successfully shown
in AQHA halter classes in his younger years. I got Doc when he was 10. I
was pretty timid when I first got him because my previous horse "Troubles"
had a screw loose and had done a number on my psyche.
It didn't take long for
Doc to rebuild my confidence. Before long, I started showing him ABRA
as well as in open shows. I was able to do it all with him: Western/English
Pleasure, Equitation, Trail, and Halter. We also did a lot of trail riding
and rode countless miles in the mountains. While it was fun to ride with
friends, I trusted Doc to take me out alone many times to enjoy the solitude
of the forests with just his gentle company.
Doc's final career was as
a cavalry horse for Civil War reenacting. Like most other things he was asked
to do, he was wonderful at it. There aren't a lot of horses that can handle
the stress of being on "the battle field" with several hundred men shooting
blanks from rifles and revolvers while 6-8 cannons are being fired. Oh...did
I mention the ground charges? The horse was literally "bomb
proof".
Doc was fully retired at
age 28. Old age was catching up with him and he had the aches and pains of
an elder statesman. Aside from being a little stiff, he remained quite healthy
up until the last month of his life when tests indicated he had a multitude
of serious problems.
Because of his advanced
age, I chose to not put him through the pain and me through the emotional
and financial expense of trying to give him a little more time. It's pretty
tough when your head tells you to do one thing, but your heart doesn't
agree.
So rest in peace, my Big
Enuf Doc! I can never thank you enough for all the joy you brought to me
and so many others.
Jan Pierce
Big Enuf Doc 
