Feature was an appaloosa
stallion that was 4 years old the first time we met. It
was love at first sight. My husband asked me to come give him a hand when
he was getting Feature off the trailer at our farm. HE called me Candy and
Feature looked up at me and gave a loud nicker and pointed both ears forward.
Later we found out that the first owner of Feature was named Candy and she
must have loved him a great deal also, and so we think he recognized the
name. I touched the rope, then the face and it was over. I loved him with
all my heart from that very moment. The amazing thing is that he loved me
the same way from that moment.
God loves all creatures great
and small and knows their needs and wants just like he knows ours. God must
have loved Feature a little more than most because he looked after him to
the very end.
He was big and beautiful
with a temperament to match. He was absolutely without a doubt the kindest,
sweetest most trusting horse I have ever seen. And, I have seen quite a
few.
Feature and I were together
for 8 years. Every day we had some sort of communion. If I was out of town
for a few days, he would not eat and a vet usually had to be called in. But
as soon as I got home, whoever was there would immediately tell me I had
to go to Feature because he was sick. The minute I grabbed his rope, he was
well. He always started eating and just being his normal self the second
we were reunited. He was my baby and everyone knew it. Even the vet would
ask, "Is Candy out of town?".
His owners would come to
visit with him about once or twice a year. They owed my husband a lot of
money for his care and he gave them the choice of turning Feature over to
us or taking him home. To our amazement, they took him home. I cried for
3 days and could not even go to the barn. Feature screamed all the way out
my driveway. He was very upset.
I thought about and prayed
for that horse every day for 5 years. Not one single day went by that I did
not think of him or wonder about him. I knew I could not go see him because
he nor I could have stood another separation.
One day a friend saw a picture
of him on a website that she just happened upon. He had been abandoned by
his owners at a boarding facility and a lady had taken him in and gotten
him healthy and had put him up for sale. Oh yeah, you guessed right, my husband
left the next day to go pick up my buddy, my horse. I had a premonition that
I might not have him for a long time, so I told my husband that if he died
tomorrow it would be okay because we were back together.
When we pulled up in our trailer to get him, he ran to me and nickered
in that loud growly tone that he had used the first time. He ran to meet
me at the gate. The lady couldn't believe it. She said she had never seen
a horse recognize a person just by sight after 5 years. But you could plainly
see he did.
He wrapped his head around
my neck and pulled me close and smelled every inch all the way to my toes.
Then he did what he always did. He put his head on my shoulder and left it
there. We walked out of that pasture without a halter or rope and he went
straight to our trailer and jumped right on, turned around and looked at
us as if to say, "Let's go home". We got him home and he walked with that
big head on my shoulder all the way in my barn and into his stall.
I had taught him several
stupid pet tricks during our 8 years together and he remembered every one.
There were 2 very happy campers at my house.
He had been abused and neglected
for probably almost the whole 5 years. But, it all went away. Just like Black
Beauty, he was safe, he was home, never more to be from home. He slept for
2 days, drank about 100 gallons of fresh water and ate "like a
horse".
He started having some
neurological problems about 3 months after we brought him home. We had him
tested and he had a brain tumor. As long as he was not in any pain I could
not put him down. He had trouble standing for very long and would lose control
of his hind quarters,. otherwise he was fine. He could be walked around and
get okay for a while. We did a lot of walking and a lot of kissing and a
lot of talking to each other. And I thanked God every day for his
life.
I was at work and at 6:00
I felt a jolt. I knew he was gone. When I arrived home, my husband said he
had died about 6 p.m. I already knew, so he didn't have to tell me. He said
Feature came out of the pasture he was in, walked to the barn, then to the
front pasture where my husband found him. He took 2 breaths and was gone.
To this day both my husband and I believe he was looking for me to say goodbye
or to help him.
You know, I was not sad,
because I knew without a doubt that I was only an instrument in a divine
plan of God. He got us together in the first place, worked in His way to
get us back together in the second place so Feature could die happy and with
someone who loved him and be some place he felt safe. I was honored to be
chosen for such an outstanding creature and friend.
I will never forget him, I will see him again. What a great day that will
be. I will always love him till my last breath and beyond and I feel
his presence still and I can still feel his coat and his wonderful cool nose.
And the weight of that huge head on my shoulder.
Three days after Feature
died, I was in a store in the mall buying a last minute gift for my sister.
An older lady walked up to me and asked me if I had horses. I asked her if
I smelled like one. She just laughed and said she usually didn't say things
to people because they thought she was crazy, but she just felt she needed
to tell me there was a horse next to me. I asked her, "What color?" She said
brown and white. I told her I knew who it was and thanks. She said I was
welcome and she walked off with her friend. I was not surprised and
smiled for days about it.
Candy Maynard
Feature 
