Fleet

After 38 years of being in our lives, being our friend and companion, our beloved horse, Fleet has passed.

I remember when we got Fleet; I was only eight years old and I wanted more than anything to have a horse. Fleet taught my mother and me everything he knew: the good, bad and the ugly!! "He was the type of horse they just don't make anymore."

He was a lesson horse for so many people most of his entire life. But, he was more than that to all of us. He was a presence. A constant. A symbol of hope and strength. Since his retirement Fleet spent his days mostly getting into trouble! He was always standing on the hose, stepping out in front of all the parents trying to watch as their kids were having a lesson, scaring little grandmothers as he snuck up behind them. You could never leave anything undone as he knew how to get into it, whether it be the feed room, a pretty mare's stall, or the tack room which had a big bag of carrots! Our whole barn was booby trapped because of the persistency and knowledge of one horse!

Because of this one horse, I continued riding and followed my dream of having my own stable. He watched over us all these years, almost as if he was seeing it through, making sure we didn't stray our path. When we thought he just wasn't going to make it one more winter, he proved us wrong. Time and time again we questioned whether he would be able to hold out for another year. And in the year of the completion of my dream, my own stable, he looked at us as if to say, "don't give up;" "keep fighting for what you want"; "I will always be here watching over you," like he has since I can remember.

In the last moments with him, we sat with him, his head on my lap; and he tried to close his eyes and take one more rest. He was dreaming, his legs actually making the motions of running. I believe he saw that green pasture, the one we used to fly through together. The one he is now grazing in, free from restraint and free from being weakened by old age.

He is laid to rest in our very own green pasture, one in which the very horses that were his friends and family will continue his legacy. He will always and forever remain in our lives and in our hearts; a presence; a constant; a symbol of hope and strength. Overlooking us, saying, "don't give up;" "keep fighting for what you want;" "I will always be here watching over you."