Goodbye Guy

As those of you who saw my twitter updates the past few days know, we had to put down one of our horses over the weekend. Unfortunately its one of those things we will never know how it really happened.  All we know for sure is that what of it: Goliath broke his leg and we had to put him down.
Goliath was our first horse (by our, I mean the first horse we bought together).  He put us on the path to eventually ‘buy the farm’ and really go all in and get a place we could really have horses.  Once we moved out to our farm, we quickly added Levi, both so I and my daughter could ride and so Goliath could have a friend.  A few years went by, until this year when we bought 2 more horses, one for my daughter to have on her own and one for my wife to ride, since Goliath had hurt himself and was not really ride ready anymore.
Goliath was a cross between a Percheron and a Quarter Horse, so he was big.  Big boned…big hearted and most of all a big personality.  He was always at the front of the fence to get a treat or a pat.  Always fending off the other horses to get the most attention.  Later, as we brought more horses into the herd, he assumed the role of leader and set the rules about who went where, who ate when and who associated with who.  He wasn’t always the wisest leader, but he was always very clear about what he wanted everyone to do.
He was the first horse that showed me how ‘human’ horses can be.  I know he (and all horses) have the brain the size of a walnut and still think that they are the same size as their much smaller pre-historic ancestors, but still he managed a pretty wide range of emotions and feelings with the brain that he had.  He was way more than just a pet.  And even though he caused himself, the other horses and my wife and I a fair share of troubles over the years we owned him, I wouldn’t trade it in for anything.  To Goliath I owe the eternal debt of putting me on the path to become a horseman.  Not just having a rather large, but rather delicate, pet but being able to work with a horse as a ‘first among equals’ and together accomplish something.
Goodbye Guy.  You will be missed by all and the world is a poorer place without you.