Cherished Chief

 

2 weeks ago today, my daughter, Abbi, lost her best friend and good buddy, her horse, Chief. Her poem describes their lives together.

 

Cherished Chief

In 2006, my Papa gave me a gift.

It was a horse that had legs so swift.

He was a joy to have had

and he made my heart so glad.

 

We both love speed

that's what we both need.

We were one with the wind,

before we knew it, we were already around the bend.

 

And in time, we became two peas in a pod.

I know this bond was the plan of God.

When my heart was sad,

a talk with Chief made me glad.

 

Chief needed someone to love and trust

and for us to be together was a must!!

He stood tall and was a city horse

which made him nervous of everything, of course.

 

He was scared to step in water and would not cross the creek.

The only way across was with a big leap.

He didn't like to leave his horse friend, Risky.

Whenever the two were separated he got frisky.

 

Also, when I tightened the cinch

he jumped as if he got a pinch.

The bridle also became an issue -

When I tried to put it in his mouth, his teeth stuck together like glue.

 

We didn't have a trainers technique

so a trainer, we did seek!

Soon we found one that worked with Dennis Reis.

She helped my confidence increase.

 

She showed me what to do

when Chief didn't do what I asked him to.

She helped me break him of his bad habits

like running from cows, moose and rabbits.

 

Melissa is her name! Chief and I went to her 4 day horse camp.

We worked with our horses from the light of the sun and into the evening with the light of a lamp.

Then we aired up a huge six foot red ball.

It scared the horses one and all.

So we worked with them and wouldn't let them sit

until they snuggled and loved to be up next to it.

 

Then we played a game with the ball.

By then they were as used to it as their own stall.

We worked with other things too...

But there was still on more thing left to do.

We needed to get Chief to cross water and creeks

so we took him to one and what did he do - he freaked!

So we worked him through it

By the end he was not scared of it, not one bit!!

One day we went to the lake

and not a scared action did he make.

So, we went to the lakes brim

then me and him began to swim.

A few days after our swim, he got sick.

I walked him so that he would not lay down and kick.

At 8:00 am, Mom called the vet.

She came quickly and gave him some medicine and a pet.

Sadly, the next day

I got to the corral just in time to hear his last and most precious neigh.

However, we will never part

for I still have lots of love for him in my heart.

Knowing it was God's will

it is more comfort to me than a pill.

This poem is dedicated to Cherished Chief

through love and grief!!!!

Living on the farm brings many things to a childs life - labor, responsibility, commitment, endurance, diligence, care, learning, new life and death. As a parent, it is hard to watch your child feel the pain of losing a loved animal. My heart ached for Abbi. And I also felt the loss of a great horse. He was an amazing horse for her. She walked through it with great maturity, along with tears. I am very proud of her.

Chief was colic and we kept a close eye on him for 24 hours and it looked like he was progressively getting better. We left him for about 3 hours and when we came home, he was laying in the green pasture. Abbi rushed to him. Rubbed and hugged him. She was yelling at him to get up and not to die. And then he took his last breath. Oh, the sadness!