Charismatic dead at age 21...sigh...

Charismatic is dead at age 21.  He was a grandson of the great Secretariat and had a beautiful chestnut coat.  He won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness and came in 3rd in the Belmont, with a fractured leg.  I remember watching the race as his jockey jumped off and cradled his leg.

...sigh...

That makes me think about my own horses.  Gigondas is the oldest.  We believe (she has no tattoo) that she was born around 2000.  That would make her 17 this year.  Sunni and Quad were both born in 2004, so they are 13 now.  Scout was born in 2005, so she is 12.  WHERE did the time go?

As they age (and as I do, too), I'm finding that I just don't have the time for them.  I only see them once a month (if I'm lucky).  Riding is OUT of the question.  I don't wish to get injured again.  I already have sciatic nerve damage from a fall off a friend's horse and my legs don't work like they used to.  I'm not as quick as I used to be and remember Gigondas knocked me down last fall...

I DO worry about Quad.  He seems to be the most fragile.  He frequently suffers from choke, so I don't give him ANYTHING extra.  He also paces and cribs.  I NEED to get up there more often and take them out, but my babysitting duties call me elsewhere.


Here are the two little STINKERS down here in the desert.  The other 2 are in Temecula...

 Girlie girl!!!

Little flirt!