Dear Chaco

Dear Chaco,

It’s been a year since you left us. You are so missed. A lot has happened since you died, but you are never forgotten. It took a long time for the horses to move on without you. Dulce would come down every single day from the pasture looking for you. He finally stopped a few months ago. I’m not sure what made me sadder; him looking for you or him not looking for you.

Dulce was lost and grumpy without you for quite a while. You were his best of friends. Do you remember when you bit him on the hock, and you got kicked on the side of the mouth that July 4^th? You galloped down from the pasture to me so fast bleeding out the side of your mouth, and Dulce was right there with you. It was so hard to separate you two because he was worried he hurt you. Luckily, everything was okay. Your mouth was swollen, and we got the bleeding stopped quickly.

I spent several nights with Dulce in the barn letting him know we would all be okay.

You will never believe this, but even Harley was lost without you. Gosh, he sure resented you when we brought you here. He had no intention of sharing you with Shandoka. Trying to bring you two together took every ounce of creativity that I had. Remember how I ponied you and Harley on either side of Shandoka? I thought it would be a disaster or go well. Somehow, it went well, and you guys became the best of friends. Now he and Wiz play over the fence waking me up every night

You taught Weather Wiz well. Harley only liked playing with you if there was a fence between you. My guess is because Harley was three hands shorter than you and Wiz.  All those mornings that Wiz could have gone up on the pasture, he stayed with you, and you two played until I would take you for your hand graze. You were preparing him to step in for when you left, weren’t you?

He is almost as good as you were at taking off Sueño’s mask by the way. He’s not quite as fast but very good.

Sueño struggled. He was always on the verge of cribbing since the day he arrived, and I was always able to keep it at bay. This time I couldn’t. Your death was too much for him, and it started. I really tried to soothe him, but nothing I did was enough this time; your loss was too huge. We manage it with acupressure points, and he is doing okay with it.

He also challenged Harley after you died. He suddenly started going after him, because he no longer felt safe. Harley is the one that keeps them safe when I’m not around. He got obstinate with me as well. I understood. Harley seemed to understand. It was Dulce that ended his challenge one day when I got caught in the middle.

They all developed ulcers after you left us too. Don’t worry. We took care of that.

They all seem to be doing better now. Dulce’s coat is covered in dapples, and everyone else is shimmering in the sun or moon’s light. They play quite a bit, and yes, Dulce still dumps the water tank everywhere.

Nobody likes it when I blow narrow streams of air into their noses like you did, and nobody dribbles water down my back when I am scrubbing the tanks. Nobody will every be like you my four-legged Baryshnikov.

My hope is you and Shandoka are running around playing. He always took such good care of you.

We are all doing well, but that never means you aren’t missed and loved each day.