I had not planned to start this blog with this news, but it is important to me, so I will. I had to send Marco (Mark of the Galaxy), my last quarter horse, to his maker this last weekend. It was harder than I had anticipated.

I have said final words to a lot of horses in my time and Marco and I shared a beer before he died like we had done many evenings of his life. I share no illusions that Marco ever understood a word I said much less cared, but it was always a great pleasure to have him standing there in the last sun of the evening. I drank a beer and he rubbed his nose on my shoulder. We did that for over 20 years.

And now he is gone!

My wife asked how I was with this one, and I told her Marco had been in so much pain the last few days it was tearing me up to watch him. But when the vet looked up and said, “He is gone!” a serene sense of peace came over me. My sadness was gone and I was not happy, but I did not have a sense of loss or misery.

Marco came to me from the racetrack. I was playing polo at the time, and he was to be the best of the string. He was bold, incredibly fast, and loved being on the field so I put him in training and looked forward to many great games with him.

That was never to be because he got injured in a freak accident and could never be ridden again. I would have put him down then, but I had lots of pasture room and I decided to keep him around. A chiropractor found a way to get him walking again and, as long as he did not carry any weight, he was happy.

As I stopped playing polo my old horses began to leave me. Marco and I said goodbye to Kirby who had been a love-hate relationship. She challenged Marco for three days when he first arrived, and then on the fourth day Marco had enough and he set the rules for the pasture. He was in charge from then on, and Kirby gave him a wide berth.

A few years after Kirby, Rose (All Stars Paper Rose) laid down one morning and could not get up. I found her struggling and I knew, after 31-years, it was time to call the vet. Rose played both full field and indoor polo. Although not the fastest horse I had, she brought grief to many players who underestimated her heart, ability to play, and her love for the game. I sat on the ground next to Rose and talked to her for two hours before the vet got there. Rose once stepped on my right foot and I finally had that messed up toe joint replaced a few weeks ago. I miss her to this day.

I believe pet owners will understand that talking to them is more about making us feel good than actually communicating with them; but no matter how you look at it my horses and I had a lot of conversations over the 74-years I have been on horseback.