Grace

Three weeks ago, Sarge had a post on our four-legged Veterans which was slightly dust raising.  This picture from that post touched me significantly.

Source

As you may remember, Mrs Juvat and I are horse people (yes and Dog people and Cat People also).  We became horse people when we took on three horses as rescues.  

Cabernet and Merlot were rescued as colts from a breeding farm near Brenham that went bankrupt during the drought.  They were rescued by the Sheriffs department, thin as rails and near death.  An animal rescue organization nursed them back to health.  Mrs Juvat, being the kind soul she is, was reading through their newsletter one evening and decided that we needed them on our property.

So it is written, so it shall be.

They were a little timid stepping off the bus.

Cabernet is in front, Merlot is still in the trailer.

But they figured it out.

And pretty soon were exploring Rancho Juvat.

Never having owned a horse before, much less two, we needed some assistance.  So, the two went off to boarding school for a couple of weeks to learn some proper manners.

While that's going on, I'm in my easy chair one evening, perusing the paper and reading through the want ads.  I happen to notice an ad that says "Free Palomino Mare".  Upon further investigation, we find that the horse is owned by a couple of doctors who are on an extended mission trip in Africa and have decided that boarding a horse is not an effective use of their money.

So, we pay the boarding facility a visit.  The owner takes us out to meet Grace and as we walk up, she walks over, stares me in the eye for a minute then puts her head on my shoulder and gives a sigh.  The deal is sealed.

She showed up at Rancho Juvat a few days later and the Paints rejoin us.  Grace teaches them that the barn is their friend when it's raining or cold and that juvat will feed them, if they don't bite him.

As Grace was a bit older, she couldn't process hay as efficiently, so needed a bit more grain in her diet.  That necessitated, a daily stop on my way home from work to feed her and then come back and let her out of the stall when she was finished.  I've come to rely on that.  The cool thing about Grace is, that no matter how tense I was coming home from work, she'd just give me that little sigh and things would come back into perspective. I need that, frequently.

Unfortunately, She passed away peacefully Friday morning.  I know what the soldier in the painting felt like.

The tree in the center was her favorite spot.  That's where she'll be forever.