In Memory of Dreamette...

I hate when I have to work so hard I cannot write.

The month of April is when I am working at my real job the hardest. Usually the weather is awful, when is good for my normal business (special event rental) but also the wildest. Tornadoes, high winds, hail - you name it we get it in the spring. And nothing ruins a good event event quicker then any of the aforementioned weather problems.

Last weekend was one of our biggest spring events. There were lots of tents, lots of alcohol and lots of bad weather. The wind was blowing a small gale. The rain came down in sheets. The mud was everywhere.

At my 'side' job, we kept the horses inside in anticipation of the weather. Across the street, the broodmares were turned out for a short time to allow them to stretch their legs. Mares who are about to foal are miserable. Just like pregnant humans. One mare delivered in early March. The other two were due in early May.

Dreamette was 22 years old. A champion broodmare, she was due for her latest baby the first part of May. Last Saturday during a large spring thunderstorm, she was struck by lightning and killed instantly.

Karma is relentless. Even if Dreamette had been kept inside last Saturday, she wouldn't have been safe. The same storm that hit the paddock also hit the barn, exactly outside the stall she would have been standing in.

I have never truly understood mares who are only used for breeding purposes. It has always seemed like a waste of a good horse. But I can understand grieving for a lost friend and a lost child. She was a star in her own world, producing babies that excelled in their breed. Her last year's foal stands alone in the front pasture, looking for a mother he will never smell or hear again. That, my friends, is worthy of mention.

People think animals are dumb. They consider horses put on this planet for their amusement or abuse. But, they are also mothers, and sons, and daughters, and friends, and companions.

Somewhere Dreamette and the foal who never was are running free, enjoying God's much greener pastures. Free from pain or worry, they will run forever, Dreamette waiting for her other children to join them. May they run free forever.