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| Name: |
Deacon
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Age: |
Deceased, Five years old
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| Gender: |
Male
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Kind: |
Paint cross Horse
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| Home: |
La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
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Deacon
(show name Decadent) will always be very special to me. I did not own
him, but I had a special bond with him. He was a sale horse at the barn I work
at. When I first met him, I wasn't so sure that I liked him. He was kind of
green and really sluggish. Soon I was riding him every week, and I fell in
love with him. He gave me some problems and I fell off him a lot. When I was
getting him ready for the show season, I pulled his mane so short by accident
that it stuck up like a mohawk!
Eventually though, we just clicked. I bought him a sparkly pink halter and a
matching pink lead rope that we all thought he secretly liked more than his
other halters. We would say he really wanted to be a musical theatre star, and
that we'd get him a part in The Lion King as a zebra in the chorus. Throughout
the summer our bond strengthened, we smoothed out most of our problems and
were able to do some really fun higher courses with tighter turns that
unfortunately weren't taped.
We went to lots of shows this summer and won a lot of ribbons, including
Champion in our division at several shows. I already knew I'd have to leave
him when I went home, but I was not quite prepared for what happened.
One Monday he started to colic. It was one of the worst cases I had ever seen.
Colic can be mild and cause no lasting problems at all, or it can be fatal. I
was really scared, and we weren't sure if he was going to make it through the
night. When he did, I was so happy I cried. I thought the worst had to be
over. With regular doses of medication, he seemed to be getting steadily
better. On Wednesday morning, he seemed stiff but almost back to normal,
although still not eating much. I went on with the day like usual, teaching
lessons and working with the young ponies. I was about to leave for the
afternoon when I thought I better go check on him one last time, but I found
him grunting with every breath and very unstable on his legs. We took him out
of his stall and right to the arena, where he collapsed in the doorway and
seized up. He looked very much in pain. I knew he wasn't going to last long
then, and so I just sat there stroking him until past the point I was sure he
was gone.
As I have been typing this up, I've been smiling and crying, but I feel like
writing about it helps me cope. Deacon was very special to me and I even
talked about trying to find a way to buy him even though I don't really have
the resources to buy a horse right now. But he will always be loved.
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