Brandi came into my life
when I was 16 years old. I read an ad in the paper for a 2 1/2 year old Appaloosa
filly, green broke, for $250. My parents thought the price was misprinted
and should have been $1250, so they told me if she was that price I could
get her. She was and I still didn't have enough money. I bought her from
Cynthia Franklin and she let me pay her out.
When we brought Brandi home
she was mostly brown with white spots. Each year she slowly changed to where
if you saw her first pictures you wouldn't believe she was the same horse.
She was a small horse, with a choppy trot and was not the fastest horse around,
but her heart was pure gold. She always gave 110%. I think she would have
died trying to please me if I had let her. She never competed
to bring home ribbons, never did any parades, although that was always a
dream of mine.
I grew up and left her to pasture for some foolish years. Then after marrying,
we took her with us and bought a paint filly. Then I had kids and she
got lots of rest. We had been riding over the last several years.
We sadly took our last ride
together at a 4H horse clinic this June. My daughter was riding in it and
I took Brandi along. We ran through a pasture at full blast which was one
of her favorite things to do since we kind of trained her that way when I
was still in school.
My sister Melisa and I,
along with our younger sister, used to ride down country roads, our
favorite was running with the wind in our hair. My sister has Morning
Star in this memorial site. I had found it two years ago when she lost Star.
I didn't think it would be my time anytime soon to use it.
Thanksgiving morning, when
we went out to feed, Brandi came up to eat and layed down. She wouldn't
get up without us putting a halter on her and tugging at her. We were going
to my Mom's house for Thanksgiving with the family. We gave her Banimine
and walked her for about a hour. We then loaded her up and took her to my
sister's horse pens where they live about 20 minutes away. We didn't
want to leave her. We gave her another shot and kept waiting for
her to get better. My Dad came out and checked on her too. She wasn't getting
any better. She was really hurting, but she wasn't trying to roll, she would
just lay sometimes with her legs under her. We finally got a vet to answer
and he was a way from town. He thought, after what we told him, she should
be put down. I wasn't ready for that. We took her to Muleshoe about 1 1/2
hours away. They had an on-call vet. He tubed her that night and told us
he'd stay with her awhile. My kids rode with us along with my sister. I have
a 3, 5, and 11 year old. They all loved Brandi. I kissed her goodbye that
night, not really believing it would be the last time to ever see her. I
had had her 24 years at this time.
We checked in the next day
and he told me she was the same, but her heart rate was up. He said she was
a tough horse, that most horses would have been rolling at this time. He
said if she got better or worse he would call us. He called about 4:00 the
next day and wanted to put her down because she was hurting so badly, but
still being so tough. He said she could go on for a while, but that she would
just be suffering. I knew when he called I couldn't do it, so I had to give
my husband the phone. She was put down on November 28th.
I had to leave her there after she was put down. I hated not having her home
to bury, but I hated to not see her living any more. I wanted to keep my
memories of her like they were. I will always miss her, she was the best
horse that I ever could have wished for. I just hope she is running with
Star on green pasture without any more pain.
The vet did save me part
of her mane. I just would have given anything to had a few more years with
her.
Debbie Mason