Remembering

This week is vaccination week. I'm sure the horses will be thrilled to learn that they all get to see the vet this week. As part of preparing for vaccinations I collect everyone's coggins in a file for the vet. Instead of spending all day re-drawing all of the marking on a new coggins for each horse I just hand the file with the old coggins to the vet so they can copy the information from them at the office.

As I was sorting through the file of coggins making sure I was not missing any I reached the back of my folder. In there were the old coggins reports for residents that are no longer with us. It is an inevitable part of the retirement farm that eventually the residents pass away. Sometimes it is a planned euthanasia, sometimes it is not. Sometimes they leave us way too young, other times they have a very long life. No matter how it happens it is sad. Painful.

I looked at the names of the horses we have loved and lost through the years of boarding retired horses. My own mare Bridget was in the pile of horses past. Poco the flea market pony. Trillion, the first face that used to greet me every morning. Other names from my pre-blogging days including Mable, Sultan, Lacy and Magick. I still have all of their coggins in my file. I just can't bring myself to throw them away. For some reason having that copy of their coggins in the file makes it seem like they are somehow still on the farm, still here.

I had to add three new copies to the group of coggins reports that reside in the back of the folder. Beautiful Buffy that we lost last May, along with Teddy and Ogie. I sat looking at all of the names for a long time, remembering the good times and the happy memories and trying not to dwell on the end.

I miss them.

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Cuffie napping (Lily behind him)

Clayton and Stormy

George and Fonzi grooming each other

Maisie and Silver getting acquainted over the fence

Silver and Gus grooming each other

Silky, Maisie and MyLight waiting for breakfast

Fonzi, George, Asterik, Faune Winston, Chimano, Romeo, Gus

Murphy and Boo grooming each other

Romeo, Winston and Faune

Noble, O'Reilly and Spike