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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
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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!!!! |
