Rest In Pease, Texas Chili

I still remember that July 4, 2010, when I picked him up.  It was hot and dusty. He didn't want to load onto the trailer.  I stood in the heat with a big goofy thoroughbred who's neck was out - causing him to hold his head a wonky angle, who looked under-fed with the burnt coat of malnutrition.  I said to him "Get in or I'm leaving you here."  He walked in and stood quietly, then rode like a dream to my little farm in Pasco.

Once he was healthy, he bloomed in more ways than one.  His coat became and glossy black.  He filled out and let me know he had a thing for the girls.  He was always pastured with a girl.

He was nicknamed Dr Destructo.  He would ruin anything he could get his jaw on: buckets, feeders, gates, fences.  He even wiped out his knee, tearing it open and giving me the pleasure of learning how to wrap a knee without causing pressure sores or leaving it loose enough that it fell around his ankle.  He recovered completely sound.

Chili was the one horse that would leave breakfast for cuddles.  He would play with the leadrope while getting his feet trimmed. If he couldn't have the leadrope, he'd play with his tongue.  He was such a character in so many way. 

He was total cool with being bathed.  If it was hot, he'd stand across the fence for a hose down, politely turning so I could hose down the other side.

In 2017, The Exceller Fund decided that it would be worth moving Chili to one of their other farms in Missouri.  It made good business sense since Chili was the only Exceller Fund horse in Washington State.  Logistically, it just made sense.  It also broke my heart.  If I'd had the means, I'd have adopted Chili and kept him here. But time moves forward and plans change, so it wasn't possible.

I got regular updates from his new farm.  One that made me giggle was "Now I understand what you meant about buckets."  Apparently, Robin fed Chili and his pals from buckets hung on the fence for convenience.  That morning she arrived to find ALL the buckets destroyed and completely useless.  My response was Yeah, I really wasn't kidding nor was I exaggerating."

I have so many memories of him... all so very, very precious.

The picture below was one of the last I received.  I will never forget this amazing horse and how he touched my life is so many little ways.

"Somewhere in time’s own space
There must be some sweet pastured place
Where creeks sing on and tall trees grow
Some paradise where horses go,
For by the love that guides my pen
I know great horses live again."
Stanley Harrison


Rest in peace, my love.