It was May 2004 when I first
met Scout's Honor. I had just bought a new horse that didn't work out and
had to sell it. I put the gelding on the market and told myself I would start
looking for a horse to lease. The gelding I'd bought had made my self-esteem
low and I told myself that wouldn't happen again and that I'd lease and not
buy a horse.
I drove two hours to go
see a horse named Rambo at the private boarding barn. Rambo was good; he
was a little too young for me though. I walked around the barn for a bit
afterwards and came across Scout. Scout was a large paint gelding with large,
irregular white patches over his dark brown coat. His gold plaque was
tarnished, but I could still make out the words SCOUT'S HONOR on the plaque.
A paper was tacked to his wooden stall door. I pulled it off and read
it:
FOR LEASE: 16 yr. old TB
X Paint gelding. Has done up to 4'4 courses, can jump up to 4'6. Scout has
plenty of go left in him, he is getting around 3'9 courses easily and 3'2
cross country jumps. In the last few years he's done Lower Level Dressage
and been a Pony Clubber. Not exactly a schoolmaster but not a wild ride.
Call 399-4832.
I whipped out my cell phone
and quickly dialed the number. I spoke to a woman named Clarisse who said
as long as Maria, the woman who was leasing out Rambo, thought I was a good
person and I liked riding him, I could take him. I
groomed him and tacked him up. Riding him was heaven. He had the smoothest
gaits, and was so responsive. I had to take him home with me.
Scout was just the perfect
horse, at least for me. He was no schoolmaster for sure, he managed to dump
me more then once, but he always stopped whenever I fell off and nuzzled
me gently as if to say, "You okay there?" and I always was. I started competing
Scout in the walk/trot/canter classes at local shows that September and by
late October I started doing cross rail courses with him.
A year later, in July 2005,
after competing Scout regularly in 2'6 courses, I moved Scout to my own house.
It was the right choice; since I worked at home, during my breaks I could
go out and ride Scout. I bought him that September and around that time Scout
started getting lonely. I bought Flash, a small chestnut mini with thick
flaxen mane. Flash and Scout soon became great friends. Whenever I took Scout
to shows, Flash would have to come. Sometimes my niece would come and ride
Flash in the walk/trot classes or I would do halter classes with
him.
It was early January 2006
when Scout's disposition first started changing. He had abruptly stopped
eating and he had a dull look in his eyes. He had always been calm, but he
was suddenly unusually quiet and he lacked the little "ego" he had before.
He was weaker and no longer had the stamina to go over even the smallest
of jumps.
I suspected EPM, and had
him tested. He was never flopping around or lame, but he was starting to
drag his feet around. I stopped riding him and starting feeding him rice
bran and other special grains and supplements to get his weight
back.
His results tested positive,
but that meant it was 50% percent positive he did have it and 50% percent
positive he didn't have it. I hauled him from Seattle to Davis Collage in
California for him to have a spinal tap. It turned out that he did not have
EPM, but a severe spinal problem. Apparently he had gotten it was when he
was two, and he had been sold to someone when he was four. That person owned
him for a year before they figured it out.
He was
sold again when he was eight, to someone who had done some kind of corrective
surgery that was supposed to make it so he could be ridden. Then he had been
sold to Clarisse who had no idea that he had a problem. His spinal cord was
bent, basically, and threw his ribs out of whack. He had actually always
been quite thin, but it just made him look heavier.
I was shocked and didn't
know what to do. He obviously couldn't be ridden and how could I keep him
healthy? I had his full body x-rayed and it turned out he had a bone chip
on his right shoulder as well.
I still loved him though
and hauled him and Flash back home. He didn't make it back to Seattle. He
started to seizure half way there, and we stopped at a small riding school
that happened to be having a show and therefore had vets on ground and had
him checked. He started to have rapids spasms as well and I panicked. I had
no idea what was wrong with him and neither did the vets.
I put him in their round
pen and let him stretch his legs. I sat in the middle and he galloped towards
me, and slid to a sliding stop right in front of me. He nuzzled me, and looked
at me with those huge brown eyes of his. He bowed, which he always does for
affection. Instead of petting him, I vaulted onto his massive
back.
I was wearing my skinny
jeans and Uggs, but I still rode him. He seemed to understand me, and we
moved as one. I galloped him around, feeling the wind in my hair for the
last time. I felt his muscles underneath me, and saw his smooth satiny
paint-splattered coat for the last time. I got off and sat down again in
the middle of the pen. He followed me, and then lay down next to me. We sat
there for more than an hour, me just petting him and loving him, and him
basking in the attention. Then, he closed his eyes, and his body went still.
My beautiful Scout was
gone.
Lana
P.S. In June 2006, I researched
Scout's bloodlines and found he had a nine-year old daughter named Honor
the Heart. I purchased her in August. Honor is just as amazing as her father
and I plan to breed her to continue Scout's legacy. Here is a picture of Honor when
she was a yearling. Doesn't she look exactly like Scout?
Scout's Honor 
