Goodbye, Rico

I haven't meant to neglect this blog. Actually, I felt like I couldn't post in it without first closing the chapter on Rico, and I haven't had the heart to do it. But I've had a little time, and it isn't so raw anymore (though still painful), so I think it's time.

First, I wanted to thank you guys for your support and kind words in the last post. I really appreciated every one of them. I'm not going to post about Friday, but I do want you guys to know that Rico went as peacefully as I could hope. The doctors at UC Davis are amazing, and I felt like they really cared about Rico, as well as understood how I felt. I couldn't have asked for kinder people.

When we bought Rico (for $600!), he had been surrendered to the stable because his owner was behind on board and couldn't pay. He had used Rico in illegal races, and Rico had been so abused that he was absolutely terrified of being ridden (he had scars on his sides from being spurred so hard and so often). It took four people holding him, and almost forty-five minutes for me to just get on his back the first time -- he would move around, come up in the front and just try to get away. When I finally mount up, he just froze and trembled and, when I asked him to go, he took off.

To be honest, I was afraid of him, but that was because I didn't understand. I had to learn to let go of my presumptions (like he wasn't just some psycho horse that had it in for me!) and figure out the root of his problem and how to best address it. It took me over a year to get Rico to trust me but, once I did, there was nothing I couldn't ask him to do. Rico would follow me around without a halter or lead; sometimes we would go racing through the stable, but when I'd stop or slow down, he would match my pace.

Rico was never stubborn or disrespectful, he never refused to do anything I asked and he never showed an ounce of aggression. In truth, he loved to work more than anything. I rode in my first parade with him, and when I started doing gymkhanas on him he took to it like a fish to water.


I learned so many lessons from Rico -- lessons that I've applied to all things in life, not just with horses: patience, understanding, trust, and how to let go of the past and start over are just some of the gifts he gave me.

So good bye, Old Man, and thank you. I hope you find endless space to run, and lots and lots of pretty Spanish mares to court until I see you again.