His name was Red...aka MR.
RED. He is a Tennessee Walker and was 20-30 years old. He died on September
5, 2006. I had received him on March 21, 2003. He is "my first" horse and
though he is not "my last" horse, HE IS MORE THAN "MY EVERYTHING".
He had the patience of a saint with me learning how to handle horses.
He knew I was 5 ft. 2 in. and he was 16.2 hands. I was the shortest
adult person with the tallest horse. I had to step up on benches,
wood piles, and pickle buckets to get into the saddle. If I was on a trail
with him and had fallen off, which I did going down a steep hill, he would
try to cut in front of me to make me go back in the saddle. Unfortunately,
I was not able to get myself up and over in the saddle. So we had to walk
back to the barn 3 miles into the trail, while I was covered in mud all over
my back.
He lived in a pasture in VA when I had him. He hated being in a stall
NO MATTER what the weather was like outside. He was the only horse in the
14 stalls that would have his head over the stall door no matter what to
go back outside. While all of the other horses would eat their hay toward
the back of the stall, MR. RED didn't want the hay but instead, depending
on which side he was on, would look outside toward the back of the barn waiting
to be let out. Sometimes, he would be in there for days since his health
was not doing well and his HUGE MOTORCYCLE EARS would droop to the side because
he knew he was in there way too long. Even when I had him in the aisle of
the barn to brush him, he wasn't thrilled about being in there. However,
once I started to fuss with him, he would start to get comfy and fall asleep.
He would then begin to snore very loud too. Several times, I would be
in the saddle riding him and someone would walk over to help me tighten his
girth or fix something on it. Red would be standing there and just start
snoring all of a sudden with his eyes closed. He didn't care what you were
doing as long as he knew who it was. If you had food for him, you were
his BEST FRIEND!!! His favorite was carrots!!! I would grab the longest and
thickest carrots in the large bags at the food store I could find. He would
suck them up like it was spaghetti without the sauce. He would even "bow"
for a carrot if it was done right.
MR. RED IS AND WAS A
30 YEAR 4 YEAR OLD'S DREAM COME TRUE FOR ME NO MATTER WHAT.
Christine (Red's Mom)
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