Farewell our friend Trooper

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]On December 1st, 2016 , just a few weeks shy of his 33rd birthday, Trooper passed away. And so we bid farewell to our special friend…

Back in the spring of 2014 this sweet morgan horse settled in for his retirement at A Horse Tale when the farmers who’d had him could no longer afford to keep their farm.

A calm and gentle horse, Trooper was a favorite of many members.

Being a volunteer based group, means that some of our members come to us with little or no experience working with horses.

Thanks to his gentle nature, Trooper became the “go-to” horse for our members to understand what it means to care for a horse. He was approachable.

Trooper provided our new members an opportunity to gain confidence and feel comfortable around horses. In turn he got back love.

As much as Trooper was loved by the people of AHT, he never really paired off with any of the other horses. He often chose to be by himself when around the herd, but he never shied away from being around our members when given the chance.

Since he was so loved, we reached out to our members to share their stories about this wonderful horse who will be so dearly missed. Here are some of those stories.

RIP Trooper. You will be missed.

—

 

Trooper was not only my friend but my helper on so many things when I was working on something. Did not matter if I was cutting wood with a saw or a Chainsaw, he had his nose in it. I will miss him so much

 

-AHT Member (and Mr. Fixit) Rod Young

 

 

 

“Troops” as I liked to call him, was the first horse I met when I joined AHT approximately one year ago.  Caroline shared that he was the most gentle horse in the herd, often bullied by others particularly at meal times.  And that he was, rarely needing a lead or harness to his stall….he just knew where he lived and walked there calmly, of his own accord.  Calm, gentle, sweet and the sloppiest eater* I have ever seen, bless his heart.  I will miss you Trooper but am grateful to have known you.  I am the better for it.   Rest now xo

– AHT Member and regular feeder Myra Ouwendyk

 

* Note: Since he was a senior horse, in his later years Trooper’s teeth weren’t what they once were and so he was fed a blend of moistened fiber classic “soup”. Watching him eat was not a “clean” sight, and even though he was “mature” it would seem that he never learnt proper table manners (so some of our members made him a “bib” to put over his stall door.)

Monday evening feed with Trooper

“THE ROUTINE”

I always looked forward to my routine with Trooper.  Actually I’ll call it  “our” routine.

 

Trooper would  go in his stall and watch me prepare the soups for the gang… of course waiting for his soup to come.  Looking at me with his big eyes and sticking his head out as far as he could…I could just feel him say “hey where is my soup, when is it coming”?

He would always eat his soup with relish in his unique Trooper way.  You all know what I mean.

I did grow to love all his special sound effects and his messy ways. He was absolutely adorable.  I will miss him dearly.  Mondays will be different without him.

 

Love you beautiful, gentle, funny Trooper.

– AHT Member and Monday night regular Lise Sandstrom

 

At the time, the owners who had him had begged us to take him; they were losing their farm and could no longer afford to care for him. There was nothing “wrong” with him, but we took him…I’ve never regretted this. I remember the day he arrived. The poor guy had banged his head in the trailer and had a gash. He was neighing, and running around, very aggressive and farting (someone referred to him as Trumpeter).  The farmers who brought him to us said it was so very unlike him, and that he was usually very docile.  Of course, once he settled in, he became that docile Trooper we all know and love. He was the first horse I felt confident in leading (he was such a good boy all the time). In the same way that some people don’t get along well with other people, Trooper never really clicked with too many of the horses, though he’s had his friends…back in the day he hung out with Dolly and Balou. Last fall it was the dearly departed Caesar, and our boy Smouch has been known to be kind to him. Remady tried at first but he wasn’t having it. 🙂 But what he lacked in horse companionship he made up for in people companionship. I have no doubt he was given an amazing life at AHT…there was no lack of love from all of us. Troopie. You will be missed. 

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][distance][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”9301,9302,9308,9300,9309,9332,9305,9304,9316,9291,9307,9313,9315,9311,9310,9303,9298,9297,9295,9296,9293,9292,9317″ img_size=”large”][/vc_column][/vc_row]