Scout is no longer my pony, but he was mine for many years. I gave him
to a little boy who has grown up with him the way I have. Zye is my other
horse, an Arab gelding I got at the age of 5 months. Scout was invaluable
in keeping Zye from turning into a real booger!
He will be put down in about a week, because his health is finally failing
so much that they cannot keep him comfortable any longer. My dad and I will
go say goodbye to him this Sunday.
A Wake For
Scout
Brown and white, one
blue eye.
I remember when you bit me.
I was mad for days.
I've cried for hours now. Hours.
I've read all the horse poems.
I've read the rainbow bridge for horses.
But I know you will always be HERE, with me, my heart, my soul.
You made me whole.
I am so grateful.
You gave me hope, friendship, and never once told any of my secrets.
You were 18 years of my life. A very good 18 years.
You are the very best pony in the whole world, and I know this.
I know this as surely as Grandpa Ernie sent you my way.
Same as he did Mitten and Tess and Kipp.
So thank you to Grandpa Ernie.
I remember when only I could pick up your sore feet.
We're sorry about the apples, the grass, and the other stuff.
I remember how no one could open your mouth for the bit,
And for me you dropped your head and opened wide.
My dad said talk to you,
So I told you the entire story of Superman, the movie
And you listened to every word.
Except for the part where you took off running and scared the wits out of
me.
I stayed on, though.
I remember the cart incident.
Nothing more needs to be said about THAT.
You never once left me behind
Except that time you tossed me and gave me a concussion.
I remember the long, long walks in the snow.
I remember the evening I stopped at least seven times
To pick the snow off your feet so we wouldn't fall
And Dad came looking for us because we were late.
I remember almost every day for a whole summer
How we would run to the beach and ride along the shore at sunset.
That was beautiful.
I remember reading out loud to you while you soaked your feet
After they were trimmed too short.
I remember the vet asking, "Can you get him to stand in a bucket?"
He looked at me and said, "Well, I don't even need to ask, do I?"
And so you stood with both front feet in the buckets of warm water with epson
salts.
The vet was worried about getting you sound for Fair and I just wanted you
sound again.
Thank you for helping me with Zye.
Such a terror, but you really told him where to go.
He's still a pain, but much better for your influence.
Thank for the bears that day,
I'd never seen one in person before.
Two was kind of overdoing it, though.
I remember making a paper mache horse in 2nd or 3rd grade.
I made him brown and white like my pony at home.
Fortunately you have longer legs.
I remember riding home in the dark, in the rain, in the wind, thinking
I am not alone.
That mud pony story, the one about the Mother Earth.
How you will always be with me,
I know that is true.
Your bridle hangs here, where I can see it.
I look at it every day.
I learned to ride better than anyone I know.
I can stay on ANYTHING.
Thank you.
I remember you spooked one time, while Dad was riding Pepper behind us.
You spooked to the right and I moved right with you.
Thank you for the reflexes.
No one has reflexes like mine.
I remember at Stockdale Clinic one year
When you ran off and refused to leave the corner.
And Mr. Stockdale said to just pull on one rein.
Well, first he said 'Do SOMETHING ELSE!"
I had no idea what he meant.
Finally he said to pull on one rein, since pulling on two was not working.
And then that worked.
And he said, "If what you're doing isn't working, try something else."
So thank you for that, too.
It works in many situations and I try to teach it to other people.
I remember the day we went to do gaming with Marilyn and her horse.
We trailered there to the Kitsap fairgrounds.
We ran in every event.
We were the oldest ones in the pony division by several years, each of us.
We lost every single event but one, but all those kids and their snazzy ponies
cheered us on.
I learned about true sportsmanship that day.
You always cheer for EVERYONE, no matter what.
And when we won the flag race, we got the loudest cheers of anyone there
in the whole place.
Even though we had the slowest time.
I remember Green Day, the day I learned to hop on bareback.
Thank you for Green Day. That's March 18.
This always amuses people. March 17 is St. Patrick's Day,
and I never told you, but that's a green day, too.
I remember March 25th, too.
That's the day, a year before Green Day, that you became mine.
I was the luckiest person in the world that day.
I know I was.
I remember when Uncle Johnny still owned all that property.
One summer I stood on your back and picked a thimbleberry.
A thimbleberry as big as my PALM.
I showed you and you were very impressed.
I ate it and it was delicious.
Never has the world smelled so good as that day,
That day you and I stood in the sunshine and smelled the cedar trees and
the thimbleberries.
I remember at Fair and at horse shows how I could tell your voice from
all the others.
No one else knew their horse's voice.
I knew what you wanted, too.
Orange popsicles.
You never once let me down.
Never once did you give anything but everything you had.
You did everything (except pull a cart, eh?)
And you did it all very well.
You are my brilliant, shining, lucky star.
You will always be loved.
Scout 