My mother bought three horses for us to enjoy after the passing of our horse Domino, which were named Mac, Buster, and Granny. The people who sold us Mac told us he had papers, but they were lost. His registered name was Dappled Apple and he was supposedly 18 years old at the time. Little did we know, he was actually 22! The vet checked Buster's teeth and told us he was 8, so he is now 21 years old. Granny was a blind pony who was in her thirties. We sadly had to sell her because we couldn't leave her alone in the pasture when we wanted to ride, and we made sure she went to a loving home, and she did.
Mac became my mom's personal riding horse and Buster became mine. Mac was a beautiful leopard Appaloosa who had once been a stud and was the proudest horse I had ever seen in my life, and Buster was a gray/copper blanketed Appaloosa pony. They were the best of friends, and they were even spotted carrying their previous owners through fast food restaurant drive-throughs before we bought them! I barely remember anything about getting him, since I was 3, but I do remember winning a trophy with him at a local 4-H horse show and riding him bareback in his older years. Even in his mid-thirties, he was still wanting to run, run, run! My last ride on him was in December 2010, when he was 34 years old, and he was prancing and wanting to go. He reminded me of a racehorse in a post parade.
In the early months of 2011, however, Mac's muscle tone and weight were declining. He had never looked "old" until now, and my family and I were beginning to worry. He made it okay until May 29, 2011, when I was at my grandparents' house, my parents found Mac in the pasture, unable to rise. The vet was called, Mac was humanely put down, and our good friend (who never cries), buried him and was sobbing while doing so. My stepfather, who is ex-military, positioned Mac military-style (so it looks like he's running) before the friend buried him.
We received his headstone today, and it says, "Our hearts will ache with sadness, and secret tears will flow. What it meant to lose you, no one can ever know." My mother picked it out and bought a concrete horse head with it. The horse head looks like he did when he proudly carried his head high.
The picture I have sent with this is the last time Mac and I ever hugged, as I was out of town when he was put down. My mother graciously gave him treats "from Casey."
Casey
Dappled Apple 
