My final tribute to Major on this Christmas Eve.  He has been dead almost six weeks and I miss him every single day.  Run free lovely boy.

Major - My Horse of the Year 

Only a horse?  Well that may be,

but so much more than a horse to me.

A horse in a million – I know that sounds trite

but this perfect description fits him just right.

I don’t begrudge all the money I’ve spent

on this dear horse, from Heaven sent,

honest and brave, my trusty steed

out riding, he would take the lead

when others stood and would not budge

he’d walk straight on from the slightest nudge.

Frequently, he’d play the clown

in the outside school by lying down,

and there he’d snooze without a care

causing folk in passing cars to stare

at what it seemed was a dead horse

but no, it was only Maj, of course.

By Loch Ness shore he’d like to ‘paddle’

deep enough to reach the saddle,

but most of all he loved to swim

when, striding out, no stopping him,

the Monster, though, we didn’t see

(always a relief for me).

Not always such a perfect horse,

his halo sometimes slipped, of course,

as on one ride high on a hill,

no breath of wind, the air was still,

and there we’d stopped to stand and blether

but he dropped down to roll on heather,

me still on board!  Laugh?  I did not!

and his excuse, ‘Well, I was too hot!’

Always gentle, always calm,

incapable of doing harm,

friend to old ladies, strong men, tiny tots,

nothing phased him, not one jot,

he took all things within his stride,

a pleasure to be with – a pleasure to ride.

For eight short years he brought me joy,

my handsome, gentle, generous boy,

my dearest buddy, special friend,

his life cut short, too brief an end,

still in his prime, he seemed so strong

but that awful day, he proved me wrong.

So every day, I question why

 this wonderful pony had to die.

It is so, so hard to say goodbye.

So this Christmas Eve, the tears still near

I say thanks to my beautiful ‘Horse of the Year.’

Wishing all Major's blog followers and friends a very Merry Christmas and happy 2015 x