Last Thursday, September 24th, Steeldust said goodbye to White Joe. Joey was a good old man, but his age crept up on him and his health problems could not be fixed. It was a beautiful fall day, perfect really.
I had to write this entry slowly over the last week because I still start crying when I think of it.
Something else you should know. The horse cemetery is through the big field in the back corner. This means we walked through that. Lily and Errol gave a touching escort to the gate. Then, while we were meeting with the vet, Lily went jumping on her own! She jumped one of the jumps in the big field just for the joy of life. A better send off for anyone I cannot imagine.

Joe started out with Paige teaching her the ropes, and how to deal with a flighty horse, and he eventually worked his way into the lesson program teaching many young riders how to ride. One of his favorite riders was Delaney. He taught her a lot and she had many good lessons and rides with him. We have a picture here of him all dolled up as a wizard in last year’s Fun Show.

And here is a picture from last year’s regular show season, jumping.

It is very hard to say goodbye to horses but it is our responsibility as their caretakers to make that awful and difficult decision. Please do not think it was easy or taken lightly. Because, as someone who was there, it was the exact opposite. He was a well loved horse right up until the end, and he got to go out on top.

So raise a glass to Joey, who is now in forever green fields.