To the Angels at Rainbow Bridge
Give Brew pastures tall and green,
With lots of clover, oh so thick.
And give him lots of carrots
And blocks of salt to lick.
Make sure that someone rubs his belly,
and they scratch behind each ear.
And tell them about that itchy spot,
right on his rear.
__________________________________
To Brew, my friend and companion for 30 years
May 3, 1963 to August 12, 1997
May your tail fly high
As you run the ridge,
'Til the day you race to greet me
At the Rainbow Bridge
Your pain is gone now old friend, but mine is just beginning. You took part of my heart with you, and oh, how I miss you already. I hope the pain wasn't too bad. But if it was, I know you will forgive me. You know that I was only trying to do what was best for you. Goodbye my dear, sweet friend. God bless you and keep you until we meet again. Love, Sheri
Making that final decision was the hardest thing I have ever had to do & I wavered up until the very last second when I grabbed the vets arm & asked him if he was sure I was making the right decision. He assured me that I was making the right choice.
I stayed with Brew all day on his final day, giving him belly rubs, brushing him, & feeding him 4 bags of carrots. His head & mouth were very swollen, so it was hard for him to chew, but oh how he loved his carrots.
I fed him the final carrot as the vet gave him the shot, & I stayed & talked to him & petted him & scratched his ears until his final breath. I gave him a kiss on the nose & a last belly rub, & it was over. 30 wonderful years - how quickly they are over.
Brew is buried out by the barn, but I haven't been able to bring myself to go out there yet. They buried the last of his final carrot with him. I wish I had given Lou one of Brew's barrel racing trophies to put in with him, but I didn't think about it. But then, Brew didn't care that much about gymkhana anyway. He was great at it, & we have boxes of trophies, but he was always really nervous just before each event. The gal I bought him from had started him on barrels, & she used to beat him all the way through the course, so I think he was always anticipating that I might hit him too. I never did though. In our 30 years together, I never once raised my hand to Brew. I figured he had been through too much already. I was able to trace a couple of his previous owners, & he had been terribly abused by them also. But for some reason, when I first saw Brew, it was love at first sight, & I think he felt the same. Even so, it took him a long time to really trust me, but he never tried to hurt me like he had some of the previous owners. Anyway, Brew ran his last competition at age 25 & we retired from the arena together. But I always took good care of him, so he was in excellent shape. Up until this illness, I think we could still have gone back in the arena & given everyone a run for their money. Our biggest moment of glory was when we rode in the 1976 Pony Express Race from Utah to California. Brew was 13 at the time, & really in his prime. At the end of each stretch, he was still rarin' to go some more, while most of the younger horses were standing around gasping for breath. At one point, the coordinator messed up & there wasn't anyone waiting at the point where we were to hand over the mail bag. Brew wasn't even breathing hard, so I decided to go on to the next point, but there wasn't a rider there either! Luckily, a vet was there, so he checked Brew & said he was fine for another stretch, so we continued on. What a relief to see someone waiting for us at the next stop, but not because I was worried about Brew. Even at the end of the run, he was still dancing around & raring to go some more. But by that time, I was really worn out - mainly from trying to hold Brew back.
Thanks for letting me share my memories.
Country/Sheri