Crimson was a 26 year-old chestnut gelding - part Saddlebred - part Arab. My husband purchased him from a friend back in 1995 after having ridden him for a couple of years. He was always a head strong horse that loved to run. Getting him going was no problem - getting him to stop was another thing. He would push on the bit while pulling his head back into his chest. The only way to stop him was to turn him or let him run until he decided it was time to stop.
He didn't like cracks in the road or puddles. He would jump over them as if he was jumping over a large crevice. He looked so comical - jumping 5 feet to get over a 1 inch crack.
Sometimes you could get him into a dog trot. It was so smooth and he could go for hours in this gait. That is, unless he got distracted. A piece of paper, a rabbit, a small tree limb on the ground - if it seemed out of place, he would have to stop and examine it.
Over the years he never seemed to slow down. He always thought he was a big stud but his companion, a little Arab mare, always put him in his place.
Although he always tried to be the "king" his greatest attribute, at least to me, was that he was always there to listen. If things were going bad, all I had to do was go out to the barn or pasture, put my arms around his neck and talk. He stood so still and would sometimes put his head on my shoulder as if to say "I'm here." I cried into his mane when my husband had to have surgery after a heart attack. I buried my face in his neck when my Siberian Husky died. He never turned away from me - he seemed to know that I needed him.
Soon it was my turn to give back to him. In October of 2008 he suffered his first major trauma and went down. His tempurature dropped to 95.8. It was thought that it was just colic because he responded well to the tubing and IV. The first vet said his heart sounded good but to keep a blanket on him to help keep his tempurature up. That became quite a chore because either he or the little mare kept pulling it off.
Four months later, he went down again. An emergency call to the vet determined that his temp was down to 90 and he very distinctively heard a heart murmur. Another IV and a new, tighter blanket. Unfortunately it didn't help. Three days after the intial vet visit, I went out to the barn to check on him and found that he had gone down and had been thrashing in the stall. His hoof had broken through a 2 inch solid oak panel.
Another emergency call to the vet but this time it was to late. He tried to get up and in the process pinned my husband between his head and the stall door. Thankfully it was a double door so he was able to open it and get out of the way just before Crimson's hooves started flying around. I immediately went outside the stall and put a blanket under his head.
It was my time to hold and comfort him. As I held his head in one hand, I stoked his nose and neck and whispered in his ear that I loved him. I told him about how much I was going to miss him but that I knew it was time for him to go. I asked God to give him a place in heaven where he could run.
His stable mate, the little Arab mare, came over and nudged him with her nose just before he passed. I think she wanted to say good-bye as well.
As his eyes opened one last time, he looked at me as if to say good-bye then closed his eyes again and took a final breath as his heart stopped and he left us.
I sometimes hear his whinny or catch his smell when I am feeling down. I think it is his way of saying that in spirit he is still with me and ready to listen.
