Eagle - goodbye my dear friend

I remember his nose eagerly coming over the stall wall. A uniquely colored appy stallion, but I wasn’t there to see him. I was there to see his curly babies and when my friend and I left that day I never expected our paths to cross again, but they did. His owners decided to donate him to the school I was attending and I was to be the one to train him. He was gelded the day he arrived and I met him the next. His name was Eagle a 97% foundation bred appaloosa.  

We spent the next 8 months together. I was the trainer, but he trained me in many ways. He was stubborn and sensitive at the same time.  I remember working in the round pen with him, placing the bit in his mouth & the saddle on his back for the first time. I was the first person to sit on his back; he didn’t even attempt to buck. I remember the feeling when he finally laid down for me. I slid off his neck, hugged his head and spent many long hours working together. I shed many tears on his shoulder that year and many laughs. At the end of the school year I decided I couldn’t part with him, so I bought him and hauled him to Wyoming with my other horse, Romeo.

I spent many hours on Eagles back that summer, winding with a string of mules on craggy mountain paths.  He had a quick step and a smooth trot. We did our job well together. Him and Romeo became good friends and we continued our journey home that fall. I had dreams of doing some endurance rides on but never found the time to do it. But I would take him out on the trail and pretend we were training for a long race.

Because I was moving to Africa I decided I should part with him to help save money. With tears in my eyes and great emotion I loaded him into the trailer and drove him to his new home. Over a year later while I was still in Africa, a friend went to pick him up, as the home wasn’t working out.  When I was home for 4 months that fall I spent time riding and loving on him. My future was up in the air and I didn’t want to part with him again so I asked my parents to keep him a while longer. After returning to Africa I felt God calling me to serve him full time in Africa and I knew it was time to part with my horses for good.

My mom being the wonderful mom that she is took on the task of finding Eagle a new home. A wonderful family decided he would fit wonderfully with their other horses.  I was sad to say goodbye again, but filled with thankfulness that God had provided such a wonderful family to be Eagles forever home. For the last 2 years Eagle has been loved and happy at his new home. I visited him last summer while I was home and got to ride him, lay him down and hug his head. I never imagined that it would be the last time.

This past winter Eagle has been sick with kidney stones. His family has been working diligently to help him heal and feel better. Today my mom informed me that the vet was out to look at him and she found a watermelon sized cancerous tumor on his bladder. He has to be put down.  I wish I could hug him and bury my nose in his hair one last time. I am sad and my heart is heavy. Yet, I am thankful that God blessed me with such a wonderful four-legged friend. I learned so much from Eagle and through working with him I became more kind and gentle, more like Jesus. Goodbye my dear sweet friend, I will always hold you close to my heart.