To the Lovely Laydee Lucille La Don
5/6/89 - 3/21/17
I remember when I first saw you in 2007. You were in an email flier from the Animali Farm horse rescue. It was a photo of you nuzzling the neck of another horse and the paradox of your greatness and softness got my attention. You were eighteen years old and had completed your service as a Premarin mare and were up for adoption. There was a price tag around your neck from the meat buyer.
In that moment I knew I wanted you. Not than I needed another horse, but something about you stayed with me and I waited anxiously for two weeks for you to arrive from Canada.
When you finally arrived I noticed the trailer was too small for you and your tail had rubbed off. You looked bewildered and exhausted. The other horses immediately felt threatened by you, and it took a couple of years before they finally accepted you into their herd.
I was surprised to find you so open hearted and loving considering your past. All the foals you bore, year after year, taken from you prematurely and sent off to the feedlot to be sold for meat. There was an underlying sadness in you but you displayed no defensive behavior. I only felt love from you Laydee.
There was nothing complicated about you Laydee. You loved to be groomed and massaged. If I had a brush in my hand you followed me around until I had to take notice of you. How could I not? Your gentleness and beauty was intoxicating.
You were the first horse the kids rode. The giant white horse who made the kids feel like they were in a real life fairy tale. When your legs were too tired to give rides I retired you from the kid’s program and you became an exceptional therapy horse. Your empathy and generosity of spirit touched the lives of many.
I’ve witnessed you as the angel, the matriarch the light bearer and in your last constellation, less then two weeks ago, you represented death. What you showed me is that death is inevitable. It appears unmistakable like an illuminated shadow demanding respect.
Laydee your consistency was re assuring, which I took for granted. It’s a day after you left and the space you leave behind is vast and empty. To say I miss you is an understatement.
I’m glad you passed on you own terms and I was fortunate to be with you when you took your last breath. As we laid together on the ground I felt the moment your spirit left your body and followed the smoke trail from the sage. There was a palpable feeling of peacefulness as your spirit exploded to it’s full potential like the genie being released from the bottle.
Laydee you were grand, majestic, beautiful, compassionate, kind, loving and generous and I will always remember you in this way. Run free with your tail high sweet Laydee.
