It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of our wonderful horse and family member, Chance. Out of respect for this amazing animal and for all of the people who knew and loved him, I feel that it is only right to provide a brief obituary in honor of our friend…. Chance was born in 1985 at the Rolling A Ranch as an Allred racehorse whereby he began his career at the Los Alamitos race course. After an impressive career, with over 55 races and having been awarded blue ribbon horse of the year in 1992, he ultimately landed in Utah as a chariot horse. At the close of his racing career, he was bought by a family in Utah as a hunter/jumper prospect. Sadly, this family came upon hard times and lost everything, including their horses, to the bank. Chance was auctioned off, passed hands a few times, and finally came to our family on a cold spring day in 1999. I was 14 years old and had been looking for a new horse that was safe. At the time, Chance was up for lease with the option to buy. He was covered from head to toe in mud and his mane full of burrs; I hopped on, cantered him around the arena twice and loaded him into the trailer for the long drive home. I don’t think that either of us ever looked back. Chance happily carried me through my adolescence. Ultimately, he carried me through countless rallies, shows, events, and my C-2, C-3, B, and H-A ratings. We spent hundreds of hours riding in the hills and many winter days cantering bareback through the snow. When no one was watching, we would jump the neighbors’ fencelines. He was an excellent partner. He was sound and dependable. He was also instrumental in discouraging any of my high school boyfriends from sticking around (he was really just looking out for my best interests). With a heart the size of Texas, Chance eventually became my mom’s faithful mount and campaigner. Chance and my mom enjoyed riding with the Red Rock Hounds in Nevada, California, and Montana. The two of them had only the best of times together; riding hell-bent for leather across a desert playa on a decorated racehorse is an experience that very few people get to have. Because of their innocence and unwavering dedication to humanity, the death of a beloved mount is often harder to cope with than the death of a person. Horses do give us the wings we lack, and I will be eternally grateful for the wings that Chance lent to me and my mom for the years that he was with us. While we are sad to see our dear friend leave us, we know that he has gone on to a better place and I feel certain that he has left a piece of his spirit behind as a guardian angel.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Aug 2013 23:03:36 +0000