IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY DEAR FRIEND, "COMANCHE, " a Double Registered Missouri Foxtrotter & Spotted Saddle Horse.

April 19, 1992-July 29, 2006

Comanche was a scrawny, long haired, runt of a stud colt when I first saw him that snowy morning in Van Buren, Missouri.  He had been beaten back from the trough by the bigger horses and looked like he needed a friend.  Somehow, I knew he was the one.  He was just 6 mos. old when we loaded him on the trailer and headed back to Georgia.
In the 14 years God let me enjoy him he carried me thousands of miles in many states.  Sometimes we were on terrain so rough I wouldn't have wanted to walk on my own feet.  His fearlessness, patience and love is a treasure I will hold in my heart forever.  He was a stallion for his first10 years, and my trail horse.  We gained respect from fellow riders where ever we went.  He sired many wonderful babies and passed down his temperament and conformation to new generations of Missouri Foxtrotters. 
He was my search and rescue horse for Fannin County, in the mountains of North, Georgia.  In August 2005 he carried the body of a plane crash victim down off Springer Mountain in North Georgia (the Southern end of the Appalachian Trail).  He never spooked, balked or faltered.  Regardless of the task, he was always ready, willing and able.
A treasured memory........In September of '05 we were fishing a lake up in Cloud Peak Wilderness in Wyoming.  The fish were biting & we couldn't stop fishing.  Before we knew it the weather turned and we were in a blinding snow storm at 10,000 feet.  We couldn't see the trail but Comanche led and I just held on the eight miles back to the trailer.  He seemed to have a homing device. 
I miss him so.
Only once in a lifetime does such a friend come along.  It was a blessing to know him.  He and I learned together about so many things......
   I thank God for him, his memories and the good times we shared, but 14 years just wasn't long enough and my heart is broken.   I have other horses, but they can never fill the hole left by his passing.   Whoever reads this, I hope you have the privilege of knowing a true and special friend like "Comanche" sometime in your life.


Susan Williams Shedd

 

Pictures of My Friend
Back To gafoxtrotters.com homepage


Prelude.......

I had another colt, the last one of Comanche's left after we stopped raising MIssouri Foxtrotters.   He was a, not very pretty, cream and white paint gelding with strange blue eyes.  I had been trying to sell him, but no takers & then I lost Comanche.  After deciding that I wanted to start my own horse, one last time before I got too old, I figured I'ld give him a try.  I 've ridden  him around 200 miles in the last 4 months and it looks like I just might have a keeper!  His name is "Stimey."  Isn't it wonderful how God closes one door and opens another................... 
I just wish he would have let me know I was going to keep this one so I would have given him a different name!!!!