Good Bye my marsh mellow Monk

I feel as if I just sold one of my best friends. And, it's mixed.

On the one hand, I will miss Monk a great deal. He's a 16 hands chestnut and white Spotted Saddle with the personality of Jay Leno and the charm of George Clooney. Only six years old, Monk has the maturity and grace of a horse much older.

Selling him has been painful, but if we are going to thin our herd of 20 horses, I have to make some hard decisions. None will be more difficult than this one.

I can remember one steamy summer day when I was repairing some fence in our front pasture. A people loving horse who just wants to hang out with you, Monk came striding over to where I was nailing up a board and walked up right behind me. I spoke to him, but continued my work. Bang, bang, bang.

Monk nudged me softly in the middle of my back. I hammered again, ignoring him. Bang, bang, bang. And, once again, Monk nudged me, still gently but with a little more force. I told him to go away and hit the nail. Bang, bang, bang.

For a third time, he stuck his nose into the middle of my back and pushed. For the third time I told him to go away as I hammered again.

Monk had about enough of being ignored by me, and as I hammered at the nail again I felt the beginning of a wedgie. This time there was no nudge. Instead, Monk just reached down, grabbed the back of my jeans and my belt into his mouth and lifted me up. It was like, hey you! So, I stopped my hammering, turned around, rubbed his face and ears and then gave him a big old hug. That was all it took. He turned and meandered slowly away and returned to munching on grass.

Monk is the horse that everyone can ride. If you are an experienced rider you love him because he will move out at your pace. And, when you put him into his gait, you feel as if you are sitting on a mountain of soft and sweet marsh mellows. If you are someone who has ridden very little or not at all, Monk is the horse that will take care of you. That is especially true of children. Not much bothers him, which is a very good thing when we are out in the forest and on the trails.

Frankly, I am surprised that I actually sold him, and I will miss him for a very long time.

But, the other side of this story is about Monk's new home and his new friend. He was purchased by Bob Bush, a 77 year old veteran who recently lost his horse, the love of his life. Bob has a small ranch on the forest not too far from where we live. And, in his search for a new horse, he heard about Monk through a mutual friend.

Monk was gone from our Spirit Woods Farm almost the minute Bob met him a couple of days ago. It was love at first site.

This morning, Bob returned to our farm, saddled up Monk and he and my wife Annette went out for a ride. Two hours later I was loading him into the horse trailer to drive him over to Bob's place.

Monk will be very happy there. First of all, he has a new partner who will give him lots of attention and will never ignore him, never requiring that Monk give Bob a wedgie. Monk's home is nice, and Bob has a mare who will be a good companion.

But, maybe best of all, Bob is going to get tremendous enjoyment and great joy from Monk at a time and age in his life when many older people seem to get lost and lonely without any challenges and adventures. I am 63 now, and I hope that when I am 77 like Bob I have a Monk in my life to help me keep it wonderful.

POST SCRIPT. About 24 hours after we dropped off Monk at Bob's place, he called this afternoon. There was obvious excitement in his voice. He had just returned from a trail ride with several of his friends, his first with Monk. They wanted to know where he got the beautiful horse, he said. Monk was perfect, he said. And, "I led everybody. They never let me do that before." You go, Bob. Thanks, Monk.