Memorial

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.

There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

I'll lend you for a little while

My grandest foal, He said.

For you to love while he's alive

And morn for when he's dead.

It may be one or twenty years,

Or days or months , you see.

But, will you, till I take him back

Take care of him for me?

He'll bring his charms to gladden you,

And should his stay be brief

You'll have treasured memories

As solace for your grief.

I cannot promise he will stay,

Since all from earth return.

But, there are lessons taught on earth

I want this foal to learn.

I've looked the wide world over

In my search for teachers true.

And from the throngs that crowd life's lanes

With trust I have selected you.

Now will you give him your total love?

Nor think the labor vain,

Nor hate Me when I come

To take him back again?

I know you'll give him tenderness

And love will bloom each day.

And for the happiness you've known

Forever grateful stay.

But should I come and call for him

Much sooner than you'd planned

You'll brave the bitter grief that comes

And someday you'll understand.

For though I'll call him home to Me

This promise to you I do make

For all the love and care you gave

He'll wait for you, inside Heaven's Gate.

What we are allowed to share with those special spirits, can never be taken from us. Those memories will be buried in our hearts forever. And even though some of those memories are not as long as others, they are very worthwhile.

If It Should Be

(Author unknown)

If it should be that I grow weak,

And pain should keep me from my sleep,

Then you must do what must be done,

For this last battle cannot be won.

You will be sad, I understand;

Don't let your grief then stay your hand.

For this day more than all the rest,

Your love for me must stand the test.

We've had so many happy years -

What is to come can hold no fears.

You'd not want me to suffer so;

The time has come, so let me go.

Take me where my needs they'll tend

And please stay with me until the end.

Hold me firm and speak to me

Until my eyes no longer see.

I know in time that you will see

The kindness that you did for me.

Although my tail its last has waved,

From pain and suffering I've been saved.

Please do not grieve - it must be you

Who had this painful thing to do.

We've been so close, we two, these years -

Don't let your heart hold back its tears.

Don't Cry

Don't cry for the horses

That life has set free

A million white horses

forever to be.

Don't cry for the horses

Now in God's hands

As they dance and they prance

To a heavenly band.

They were ours as a gift

But never to keep

As they close their eyes

Forever to sleep.

Their spirits unbound

On silver wings they fly

A million white horses

Against the blue sky.

Look up into heaven

You'll see them above

The horses we lost

The horses we loved.

Manes and tails flowing

They gallop through time

They were never yours

They were never mine

Don't cry for the horses

They will be back someday

When our time has come

They will show us the way

Do you hear that soft nicker

Close to your ear?

Don't cry for the horses

Love the ones that are here.

~~Author Unknown

The Bridle on the Wall

There's a bridle hanging on the wall,

And Old Pokey's no longer in the stall.

He's in the Great Pasture at last,

Where he'll feast and never fast,

Though he never shurked his task;

For Old Pokey had plenty of class,

So it is with man and beast,

As I think to say the least.

Time will come to man as well,

When retirement time is swell.

But that's not the end of life,

Nor man's sorrow, or his strife.

Though a man of means he be,

One more stop, Where will it be?

Heaven is a place of rest,

Through Christ alone man stands the test.

Rev. Charles E. Ashcraft

P-234

William H Capps

1998

Leo came from Cameron

Wimpy's number is one

Both have earned the right to be called

A Texas favorite son

Time has shown their greatness

As their praises we still sing

But when you ride in Southwest Texas

P-234 is still the King

From the Palo Duro Canyon

To the Diablo Plateau

Across the rolling hills of Austin

To the streets of El Paso

Just ask any hand, he'll tell you

Wether he's weathered or he's green

P-234 is still the King

He is as much a part of Texas

As cowtowns or Rodeos

Longhorns or coyotes

Or the fabled Yellow Rose

Jast ask any hand, he'll tell you

Wether he' weathered or he's green

P-234 is still the King

There's Midnights and Gray Badgers

Waggoners Rainy Day

Old Joe Blair, Old Joe Bailey

Uncle Jimmy Grey

There're Rondos, there're Tontos

The Hank, the Gal, the Gill

Question Mark, Clabber

Ben Hur, Ed Echols and Chicaro Bill

These were no mere horses

They wore lightning in their hide

They scorched the southwest winds

With their each and every stride

Oklahoma Star, Cowboy, Beggar Boy,

Nick Shoemaker, Amigo Brown

Can't forget Raffles, Bartender, Joe Hancock

These are the jewel, but not the crown

Just ask anyone who saw him

Run the table in Abilene

They'll tell you without blinking

P-234 is still the King

He is as much a part of Texas

as black gold or dosey-dos

Poco Bueno, Pine Johnson

Jesse James or Matlock Rose

Just ask any hand and he'll tell you

Wether he's weathered or he's green

When you ride in Southwest Texas

P-234 is still the King

Squaw H, his running daughter

Was speed and beauty on the track

King's Pistol was pure poetry

With Jim Calhoun sitting on his back

That princely son "Ole Pokey"

Started his own dynasty

As did Power Command and Royal King

Two more splendid branches

From this splendid tree

Now I know there are those among us

Who say he was "all right for his time"

Then they'll proceed to "blah blah blah"

About this old stud of mine

My temperature starts rising

Like a radiator on an old burned-out V-eight

I slowly ball my fists

So I can properly oil that squeaking gate

But ever since I "oiled" that one in Amarillo

The judge told me "to learn to count to ten"

Because I was going to learn to count to ninety

If I ever "oiled" one again

So I just tip my hat politely

Then make my way back to the ring

And watch one of his great-gand-get prove

That P-234 is still the King

He is as much a part of Texas

As Bluebonnets or Armadillos

Earnest Tubb's "Walking the Floor"

Or the Playboys' "San Antonio Rose"

Just ask any hand, he'll tell you

Wether he's weathered or he's green

That he's dead certain of two things

One is that bourbon still goes with branchwater

And that P-234 is STILL the King.

A Parting Prayer

Dear Lord, please open your gates

and call St. Francis

to come escort this beloved companion

across the Rainbow Bridge.

Assign her to a place of honor,

for she has been a faithful servant

and has always done her best to please me.

Bless the hands that send her to you,

for they are doing so in love and compassion,

freeing her from pain and suffering.

Grant me the strength not to dwell on my loss.

Help me remember the details of her life

with the love she has shown me.

And grant me the courage to honor her

by sharing those memories with others.

Let her remember me as well

and let her know that I will always love her.

And when it's my time to pass over into your paradise,

please allow her to accompany those

who will bring me home.

Thank you, Lord,

for the gift of her companionship

and for the time we've had together.

And thank you, Lord,

for granting me the strength

to give her to you now.

Amen.

Two years ago I turned him out,

He got too old to ride.

He wasn't with the bunch today,

That's how I knew he died.

I rode upon the highest hill,

The day was cold and raw,

From there I saw him lying dead

Down in the biggest draw.

The kids had all learned to ride on him,

Together they had fun.

He always brought them home from school

Through snow, or rain, or sun.

If they fell off he'd wait for them,

He didn't seem to care

How much they bumped him in his ribs

Or hung on by his hair.

I rode up close to say goodbye,

A horse like him is rare,

And something seemed to fill my throat

To see him lying there.

I wish now I had kept him in,

He'd wintered out enough

His teeth were gone, he was too old,

the winter was to rough.

And as I sat there looking down

On those old legs so trim,

I thought of all the miles they went,

Of how we trusted him.

A horse to me is like a man

They're both the same inside,

The qualities we like in men

Within the horse abide.

I knew I'd have to tell the boys

Their friend had passed away,

To where he'd be a colt again

with other kids to play,

And so I thought as I rode on

With eyes a little dim

A boy would make a better man

Who had a pal like him

From the book, Logs and Leather. Published in Western Horseman (1966 ?)