Coffee Clutch with Dutch Henry: "Edie Booth’s Tribute To Her Horse"

Monday, February 2, 2015

"Edie Booth’s Tribute To Her Horse"

Howdy Friends,

Last week my friend Christine Cooper shared with me the tribute a friend of hers wrote of her horse. I was touched and thought I’d share with our Coffee Clutch friends. Our horses become more than partners, they become part of us. They make us better ... The author, owner, is Edie Booth of Antique Arabian Stud in Canton, TX, who along with her family has quite a legacy breeding desert bred Arabians. Her horse has achieved Legion of Supreme Honor in endurance from the Arabian Horse Association—Her fist sentence is what immediately grabbed my heart. ~ Gitty Up, Dutch

********

She was not my horse, but she let me ride, she loaned me her ability to fly... I was not smart enough or quick enough to do those mountain rides, much less if I were on my own with my two puny appendages called legs, which pale in comparison with the real legs... the legs of the conditioned superior equine athlete. She never thought much of me, but she took care of me. Perhaps my only importance to her was that I was her human's mother, and she was obliged to look after me with utmost care. At any rate she did that with only the slightest disdain for my mistakes... she almost always knew better

I knew how reliable she was, I knew her bit of arrogance, moving to the side to stride past the others who were turning the rough rocky uphill trail into baby steps of drudgery. She was so disgusted. (And they were so impressed.)

She was always responsible for any farm horse along for the ride, and sometimes had to shove youngsters into a creek bed or up a hill. She was responsible for all of us.
She was bold and courageous, but I never knew quite how fast until the end of the 50 at the Alamo ride. I had not asked her to run before, and when I did in that last 3 or so miles, it was unbelievable. I can feel it now. Me above that deep heart girth reaching, reaching so powerful. So strong. Fear gripped me when I saw ahead a couple on the dirt road who had come out to take pictures... not fear that she would hit them, but that they would cause her to leave the trail into the brush. I screamed, "Get off the road, Get off the road!" and they did in time and I have that fleeting vision of their faces frozen in astonishment for that brief moment, mouths agape, as we thundered past. So strong, and so courageous.... she would not have left her course. What an incredible privilege.

She was a 3000+ mile AERC mare, a war mare, descendent of only original Bedouin horses. Fly on AAS FAHD ALWALIDA+/, may you rest in peace. You were our queen.

********

Eddie and AAS FAHD ALWALIDA+/ followed by her son Thomas Booth on AAS AL SAKB+/ who is the son of AAS FAHD ALWALIDA+/

The "+/" behind her horses names is a Legion of Supreme Honor award that both the mare and her son achieved in endurance.

1 comment:

Beth sharpFebruary 2, 2015 at 11:48 PM
Very touching...nice.
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Welcome to the Coffee Clutch

Welcome to the Coffee Clutch, a happy place to visit. I write uplifting stories about a wide variety of subjects from horses to birds and nature, to love and family and friends. Sometimes I'll post excerpts from stories I've written for Equine Publications. Sometimes I'll post about writing itself. Coffee Clutch got its name because I often write while enjoying my morning coffee in the barn with my mare Kessy, and all our critters. Join us here for fun conversation and stories I promise will make you feel good.

It's For The Horses

This is not a book about riding, or training horses. It is a book on my thoughts, ideas and suggestions on how folks might find the joy in doing things for the horse, with the horses’ point of view as the leading guide. My hope is to help as many people as possible learn to hear the horse, feel their spirit, and in that way help horses everywhere. Over the years I’ve met and worked with remarkable people and horses who taught me about their feelings, their joys, their sadness, and their spirit. As a horse advocate everything I do is from the horse’s perspective, including this little book. Every story, idea, suggestion and thought on these pages will be to suggest and share thoughts and ideas on how to maximize a relationship between horse and human—from the horse’s point of view.

Tom Named by Horse

The only man ever to offer Tom respect is Red Cloud. The only woman to give him love is Red Cloud’s granddaughter. Struggling with his own personal demons, Tom finds himself wedged between honoring that friendship and staying true to the depths of his conscience. Amid a backdrop of tumultuous social upheaval, he finds nothing prepared him, the woman he loves or Chief Red Cloud, for the changes about to thunder into their lives, sweeping them helplessly into the tides of human conflict and historical drama. Available on Amazon.

From The Banks OF Little Bear Creek

The Tom Named by Horse Saga continues. Three years after the death of Tall Dog, Tom Named By Horse and Soft Cloud have turned the little soddy, the lands granted them by Red Cloud, and the lean-to barn into a thriving horse ranch, fulfilling Tom’s dream. The Plains Indians Wars, or Red Cloud’s war, is mostly behind them, and the lands have had their transformation as Red Cloud’s vision had warned years earlier. Trailing horses from the ranch to Denver city has become an annual event for Tom, Buck and the rest, and this is the story of that trail. In the spirit of a good old John Wayne movie, vengeance, cattle and horse thieves, a dirty sheriff and corrupt mayor, and a wedding make this year’s drive a ride you’ll want to tag along on.