{"id":124655,"date":"2024-06-29T06:50:40","date_gmt":"2024-06-29T11:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/?p=124655"},"modified":"2024-06-29T06:57:44","modified_gmt":"2024-06-29T11:57:44","slug":"rest-peace-sweet-duke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/2024\/06\/29\/rest-peace-sweet-duke\/","title":{"rendered":"Rest in peace sweet Duke……"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi, a brief but sad post today. Many of you occasionally ask about Duke and I needed the right time and place to talk about him. I shared with you when I got my beautiful horse, Duke about 4 \u00a0years ago. I had ridden when I was younger for years and loved it, always had a genuine love affair with horses. \u00a0Fast forward to about 4 years ago, a friend of mine in Palmetto Bluff \u00a0is an active dressage rider and I got the bug again through her. One day, while at her barn, casually my husband and I told her “if in your travels you see a great horse, keep me in mind”. And wouldn’t you know, a few months later, she excitedly called me from a horse show in Fla. telling me she had the perfect horse<\/em> for me. A beautiful thoroughbred, who had raced when he was young and then went to to become a dressage horse and was now for sale.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was a big plunge, my riding days were long behind me (or so I thought) but the very idea of riding again was exhilarating. When we met a few weeks later after he was transported to her barn, it was love at first sight. To anyone who met Duke, everyone left with the same impression, he had the personality of a dog not a horse. He was so full of personality, genuinely got excited when he heard me coming, and would pace with anticipation and snorting and neighing until I got close by. It made me feel so loved. I took a few “brush up” lessons and off we went. I felt young again!! When I was with him, I was my happiest.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I didn’t get to ride him as often as I would have liked, since he was in Palmetto Bluff but every time I was there, I took full advantage. \u00a0For a brief while, I \u00a0was going to bring him to NY. However it was soon winter and another rider in the meantime, \u00a0had asked if I would consider leasing him to her, as a full time rider. She was experienced and lovely and he deserved sometime to pamper and ride him daily. It worked out just great for nearly a year until he spooked while on a ride and therefore she spooked too and at 62, she decided her riding days might be over. So we found a wonderful, nurturing home for him in NC at a retired thoroughbred farm, where he would live until I figured out what to do. In the meantime, he developed tendenitis and was receiving regular treatment\/therapy but could not be ridden, \u00a0he was on stall\/partial run out rest for approx 4-5 months.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

So as I was figuring this out, tragically, one night a freak seriously southern intense thunder storm with major lightning struck the run in shed where Duke was. It was instant, which might be the only thing that calmed me down upon hearing this horrific news. To know he did not suffer as some horses do if they survive a lightning strike somehow brought me some peace.<\/p>\n

Needless to day, I was absolutely devastated (and still am thinking about it). I keep telling myself maybe he was really suffering from his tendinitis and God perhaps decided it was time for him to go up to heaven and frolic pain free. He was 16 and had enjoyed a good life, being pampered and very loved. I hate to think of how this ended but I am a believer in that God has a reason for everything.<\/p>\n

So just wanted to share a small collection of pictures from my beautiful Duke with you today (had a few videos which I wish I knew how to upload as they are so great)….<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

_______________________________________________<\/p>\n

We didn’t have long together but the time we did have I will always treasure.Thanks for making me feel young, alive and carefree again, you sweet gentle giant. Rest in peace beautiful Duke. \u00a0Thanks for stopping in, until next time…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi, a brief but sad post today. Many of you occasionally ask about Duke and I needed the right time and place to talk about him. I shared with you when I got my beautiful horse, Duke about 4 \u00a0years ago. I had ridden when I was younger for years and loved it, always had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[3975,3976,1207,4603],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124655"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124655"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124679,"href":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124655\/revisions\/124679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}