In Memoriam

Click on this link for the moving dialogue, Interview with a horse

GOODBYE

With heavy hearts and a tear in our eyes,
after all these years, we must say goodbye.
Please understand, we've done all we could,
if there was anything we could do, you know we would.

I'm sitting right here, gently rubbing your ears,
while I talk to you softly, trying to hold back the tears.
The memories you gave us, we'll never forget,
especially the ones of the day we all met.

One last hug and one last kiss,
you have no idea how much you'll be missed.
To look into your eyes this one last time,
you tell me it's ok...you know it's your time.

Close your eyes now and go to sleep.
We'll pray to the Lord, your soul he'll keep.
Go in peace now, our good friend,
We'll stay right here with you, until the end.

Dream of that special day and time,
when we'll meet at the Bridge and all will be fine.
We'll run and play side-by-side,
with a soft warm feeling deep down inside.

Your memory will live on in each one of us..
You'll always be number one to all of us.
Have a safe journey through the night.
I promise when you awake, you'll be in God's light.
So with heavy hearts and tears in our eyes,
just for now my friend....we say goodbye.

John Quealy

AN OLD HORSEWOMAN

Trudy Hatfield

When I am an old horsewoman, I shall wear turquoise and diamonds and a straw hat that doesn't suit me. And I shall spend my Social Security on sugar cubes and carrots, and sit in the alleyway of my barn and listen to my horses breathe.

I will sneak out in the middle of a summer night and ride the old sorrel gelding across the moonstruck meadow if my old bones will allow it.

And when people come to call, I will smile and as I walk past the garden to the barn and show - instead of flowers growing - stalls freshened with straw. I will shovel and sweat and wear hay in my hair as if it were jewels.

And I will be an embarrassment to all who will not yet have found the peace in being free to have a horse (or pony) as a friend ... a friend who waits at the midnight hour with soft muzzle and a nicker and patient eyes for the kind of woman I will be (when I am old)!

BAGGAGE

Evelyn Colbath

Now that I’m home, bathed, settled and fed,
All nicely tucked in my new warm bed.
I’d like to open my baggage
Lest I forget
There is so much to carry -
So much to regret.

Hmmm...Yes, there it is, right on the top
Let’s unpack Loneliness, Heartache and Loss,
And there by my leash hides Fear and Shame.
As I look on these things I tried so hard to leave -
I still have to unpack my baggage called Pain.

I loved them, the others, the ones who left me,
But I wasn’t good enough - for they didn’t want me.
Will you add to my baggage?
Will you help me unpack?
Or will you look at my things,
And take me right back?

Do you have time to help me unpack?
To put away my baggage,
To never repack?
I pray that you do - I’m so tired you see,
But I do come with baggage -
Will you still want me?

....when the love that lights up in your eyes goes out

See Rainbow Bridge

GOD'S FOAL

I'll lend you for a little while
My grandest foal, He said,
For you to love while she's alive
And mourn for when she's dead.

It may be one or twenty years,
Or days or months, you see.
But, will you, till I take her back,
Take care of her for me?

She'll bring her charms to gladden you,
And should her stay be brief,
You'll have treasured memories
To bring solace in your grief.

I cannot promise she will stay,
Since all from earth return.
But, there are lessons taught on earth
I want this foal to learn.

I've looked the wide world over
In my search for teachers true.
And from the throngs that crowd life's lanes
With trust I have selected you.

Now will you give her your total love,
Nor think the labour vain,
Nor hate Me when I come
To take her back again?

I know you'll give her tenderness
And love will bloom each day.
And for the happiness you've known
Forever grateful stay.

But should I come and call for her
Much sooner than you'd planned,
You'll brave the bitter grief that comes
And someday understand.

Author unknown

Hoofprints On My Heart - Memorial tributes to your equine companions

As you journey through life,
choose your destinations well but do not hurry there.
You will arrive soon enough.
Wander the back roads and forgotten paths,
keeping your destination in your heart,
like a fixed point of a compass.
Seek out new voices, strange sights,
and ideas foreign to your own.
Such things are riches for the soul.
And if, upon arrival you find that your destination
is not exactly as you dreamed,
do not be disappointed.
Think of all you would have missed but for the journey there,
and know that the true worth of your travels lies
not in the journey's end,
but in who you come to be along the way.

Poems and Verse (See also In Memoriam)

AN OLD HORSEWOMAN

BAGGAGE

Poems and Verse
(See also In Memoriam)