In Loving Memory of Spider

"Let a horse whisper in your ear and breathe on your heart. You will never regret it."







I wanted my first post to be about and in memory of my horse soul mate Spider. He was an American Saddlebred gelding born 2-3-1978 and he passed away on 7-13-2006. His registered name was Victory's Renaissance. His sire was Starheart Victory and his dam was Tallahanna Angel. I had 11 years to get to know and fall in love with this magnanimous horse... but nothing short of forever would have been enough time. I guess I'm greedy... : )

My family bought 17 year old Spider in December of 1995. He was so beautiful he took your breath away. He was supposed to be my beginner horse since he was older and I was only 10. However, when we brought him home we ran into problems... He knew that we were inexperienced horse people and he put us to the test whenever he got the chance. His favorite trick? Backing you down a ditch! I used to get so mad at him and his shananagains. There were numerous times when he would also just take off on you and I can recall a couple of spills that I took.... No matter what tho Spider loooooovvved his people. He was such a charismatic horse. He could be out with "the herd" in the field and as soon as you called to him or as soon as he'd spot you he'd start heading in your direction. Lol He was hard to photograph because he would not stand still or he wanted to be right next to you!

After a while of his "tests" Spider and I got to know each other and we could read each other. We knew when the other was in a mood and how to change that mood to a better one. I got into bareback riding and loved it! I loved bareback riding because you could feel what your horse was thinking before he could act on it. My family and I would brush the horses and tack them in the roundpen and I would get on Spider and we would open the gate. As soon as it was opened Spider would get excited and you could feel his muscles bunching up and he would charge through the gate and do little crow hopping. You never could tell how old he was lol.

"When I ride my horse, my heart is no longer in my chest but between my knees."

Spider was my best friend and the one I would go to when life became to much. When there was no one in the world that I could turn to, I always knew I could spill my heart out to him and he would just listen and give me a shoulder to cry on. Or he would do something obnoxious like push on me or nibble on my coat just to distract me from my worries or make me laugh! No matter what he could always make me smile. Even now looking back on everything and all of the moments that we shared (the good, the bad, and the ugly) I can laugh and smile.

On a cold night in Feb 2006 we called the vet out because we thought Spider was colicing. The vet came to the house and discovered it was not colic, but a severe case of heart arrhythmia. He did not expect Spider to make it through the night. I was devastated and stayed up all night with him talking to him, crying, praying, and I was not ready to give him up yet.

Someone must have heard me... or maybe it was simply because Spider was a VERRRY strong willed horse but he made it through the night. He lived five more months before he passed away July 13th, 2006. He died during the night on his own and I am so grateful that I did not have to make that decision for him...

I had Spider cremated and a small amount of his ashes were put into a necklace that I wear everyday (he is always with me) and the rest of his ashes are in a wooden urn in my room. When I die he will be buried with me (or cremated not to sure which one yet).

I dream of him often and I know I will see him again someday.