We specialize in foundation bred Missouri Foxtrotter
LADY'S FAREWELL
On about August 10th, 1998 myself & my then 10 year old grandson & I decided to ride our horses about 8 miles to a friend's lake to fish. This was a surprise to him. I like to spend the day with each of my grandkids for their birthdays. This particular grandson loved horses but was afraid of them. But he loved to fish so I was compromising our day with both what he liked to do & what I liked to do.
We brought the two horses in that morning. Hands Up was the name of the horse I was riding. I called her Lady. She was 26 years old but that day she looked like a 12 year old. I brushed the horses off & gave Hands Up her natural medication for her tendency to cough when ridden. It was a mixture of honey & apple juice the vet had given me. I put the saddles on both horses, put the bridle on his horse & he mounted. I put the bridle on Lady & I mounted. We started off down the hill out of the barnyard & out across our farm to a road that would take us to the lake. We went down a hill, up & down another hill, thru a ravine & at the base of the next hill I thought 'something is wrong' cause she dropped out of her fox trot & she never did that. At that I leaned over & patted her on the neck & said, 'Come on Lady we gotta do better than this. We got 8 miles to go'. Then I really knew she was in trouble. As we started up the hill she appeared to be completely out of sync. Each one of her 4 legs seemed to be independent of the other 3. Then I realized she was struggling just to keep upright. Her entire body was shaking and trembling severally. As we were going up the hill I knew that I should probably try to dismount. Everything in me shouted get off! But I knew if I did I would pull her over because she was trying soooooo hard to keep her footing. So we inched & wobbled up the hill literally. As we got to the top of the hill it was like she saw the top & threw herself over the crown. It was like she lunged to get herself over & onto the top of the hill. Without a word between us she told me this was the only way she could get me safely on the ground. It was actually the last thing that we would ever do together, it was important to her that I was safe then she could gently leave this world. I had already kicked my feet free of the stirrups & loosened myself from the saddle so as she went down I just stood up. As she went down she went forward leaving her front legs back & underneath her & her neck stretched out. She went down at the crown of the hill on her belly & took her last breath. Since I knew what was happening & didn't want my grandson to be there I had instructed him to ride on ahead. I told him to go ahead to my daughter's house since we were gonna go thru her yard to get to the road. He went on & didn't turn around until he got there. Then he saw us on the ground. He called my name knowing something was wrong. I assured him that I was okay that I would be there in a few minutes. It was very difficult for me to accept the fact that Lady was gone and this was goodbye I knew I would miss her terribly. She was one of those once in a lifetime friends, I felt like I was dreaming.
I called the vet because I 'd had her there about 10 days before. He hadn't told me that her heart had been very enlarged for the past 5 years. He said I would have just fretted & not enjoyed her. So the diagnosis was that she had an aneurysm & she was for all practical purposes absolutely dead before she even went down. I know she knew that she had to get to the top of the hill because anything happening going up the hill would put 'me' in trouble. I'm so thankful for the bonding that we had, that I was sensitive to what was happening, allowing her to do what she felt she needed to do for my safety. I'm sure if the problem had started sooner she would not have even attempted to go up the hill. But she got up there. She went down a very abnormal way for a horse to go down, but that was the only way she could do it so I could free myself of the situation & just walk off.
Hands Up, Lady, was born in Trigg Co KY. Her sire was
Rambling Red, owned at that time by John Vinson of Cadiz.
Judella Maden Burton, currently of Beaver Dam KY, later purchased
Red. Lady's dam was Dixie Do, owned by Felix Waddington of
Cadiz KY. I begged for years before I finally got to own
Lady. And I'm telling you she was one
awesome
animal!
(As you enter the long driveway
leading back in the woods to our set of buildings going down the
hill and starting up the last one is a Y and
at the point of
it is where Lady's Remains are Buried. It is a constant reminder
as I wind down that stretch daily of Lady, of all our wonderful
memories and the sacrifice she made that day in August for my
safety.)
Burton Foxtrotters
4597 U S 62 E, Beaver Dam, KY 42320
270-274-7760