Forever Alive Yet Dead

    February 13, 2011 was the date of the tragedy that had happened in my life. Foxy was an American Saddle Bred and she was my first horse. She was the best thing that has ever happened to me in my entire lifetime. Foxy was given to me as a child and I took care of her til her death. My name is Tabitha Steward and I am going to tell you the story of how me and Foxy came to be the best of partners.

 

    I was nine years old when I had first met Foxy. She was badly abused and was a very aggressive animal. She hated me because she was scared of people. Everyday I would go down to my neighbors field and sit there watching her and making sure she was fed and watered. I don't know why but I was very interested in this horse and I became the only one to be able to feed her. She would automatically run or kick at other people who would go into the pen with her. It took a long time to build up her trust but once I had it, she became my best friend. I would go down and talk to her everyday and she would perk up her ears and look at me as if she understood every word I had said to her.

   

    One day I do remember she had cut herself so badly on the barbed wire fence. Blood just ran down her leg and I had no idea what to do about it. Considering she wasn't my horse, I had immediately called my neighbor. She drove up and looked Foxy but Foxy put her ears back at her and tried to bite her. I started to pet her and she put her head on my shoulder and perked her ears back up. I remember looking at April, holding the bottle of medicine and some wrap, and she just stared at me and Foxy. She smiled and gave me the medicine and wrap and told me how to do it.

   

    Everyday I would look down the road and see Foxy standing by the edge of the fence waiting for me to come down. When I would go down the road and she saw me, she would make a chuckle and neigh at me. She only trusted me and no one else. But this particular day when I walked down, April was waiting at the gate. She handed me a lead rope and halter and said, " I have decided that she should belong to you. After all the hard work you have done for her and me, you deserve her. " I immediately smiled and gave April a hug and went in the fence and grabbed Foxy. She seemed to know what was going on and lowered her head so I could reach her to put the halter on her face. I led her up to the house and told my mom.

 

    I trained her how to ride and she eventually became my best friend. Foxy couldn't gain weight properly so we had to spend most of our money on her every week. Considering I come from a poor family, it was difficult. Foxy had been abused so badly in her lifetime is why she couldn't gain weight. She had been beaten, starved, dehydrated, and shoved in a stall left to die before April had bought her. I would spend almost all of my time with her every single day. After school I would go and brush her, feed her, and just show her the love that no one else had done. We tried breeding her but she was also so abused that she wasn't fertile. I was just happy to have her and be able to spend time with her.

   

    My older brother was the only guy she liked. I took it that guys were the ones that abused her the most. She didn't trust hardly anyone that tried to pet her. She wasn't mean though at all. She loved little kids and babies. They were the only ones besides me and my brother Chris that was able to ride her. She would only go if I was around her which showed she loved me more than anyone and she just wanted to make sure it was okay that she was allowed to do this. Foxy was the best horse I could have ever had.

   

    I wasn't about to let anything else get in the way of me and her. It's like we understood each other more than anyone. Whenever I were to speak to her, she would automatically look at me and never look away. I eventually decided that she needed another horse to keep her company so we got a 24 year old gelding. He was absolutely crazy in every possible way and I could tell Foxy wasn't very happy so we called this guy named Don Miller. He is a bad horse owner and has abused his animals. He no longer is allowed to have any but we traded the 24 year old along with $50 to get a 2 year old Tennessee Walker in 2009. He immediately took to Foxy and she loved him to death. His name is Skippy and him and Foxy were exactly like me and Foxy were, close.



    Eventually we had an offer to buy a $200 Tennessee Walker mix named Spirit. He needed a lot of work because the lady never rode him. He is five years old. Foxy was 20 at this time and she was starting to slow down quite a bit. During the winter we always have a hard time keeping weight on her and keeping her warm. But this winter changed a lot. The year 2011 held a bad snow storm that had formed ice that you couldn't see underneath the cold white snow. I would have to take Foxy out of the fence to feed her because she needed special treatment that the boys didn't need. Foxy was working her way out of the fence when she had collapsed onto her right rear leg. I was terrified and ran to check on her. I had to help her get off the ground so she could stand. She favored that leg the rest of the night. The next morning I walked out and she was just fine. She was running and bucking with the boys, playing and having fun. I thought nothing of it and video taped her and put it on YouTube. She needed to have some fun because its been a while.



    The next day I go out and call for her, "Foxy! Come on girl come get some food! " but no response. I thought this was odd because she always came trotting out of the trees to get her grain. Since she hadn't come, I open the gait and look and find her laying down. I walked over to her and smacked her butt to get her up. She tried but fell and I started screaming for mom. She ran outside and helped me try to get her up. We eventually got her up but when we did we looked at the leg she had landed on two days back. It was completely swelled up and she couldn't walk. She would spin on the leg and wouldn't put any pressure on it. We put food and water around her so she didn't have to move. We had made a grave for her the year before because we knew the day was coming. I got to thinking that I couldn't watch her suffer the rest of her life and, as hard as it was to do, I decided to put her down. When the day came to do it, April came up to my house and picked me up and took me for a walk so I wouldn't hear the gun shot. I gave Foxy one last hug and told her how much she meant to me and I was doing this to help her. She seemed to have understood what was going on and hugged my shoulder. I looked into her eyes and she seemed at peace and I cried and cried on her shoulder. She just hugged me tighter and tighter to where I knew it was time to go.



    My neighbor then held me and we got in her truck. As I looked at her one last time, she watched me go down the road until we weren't able to see each other anymore. When I came back to the house, my face drenched in tears, I hugged my mom and my step father. I will forever remember her as my best friend. The one I can talk to about anything and she would always listen. This is the story about how one 9 year old girl and one horse, could have a bond like no other.