Our Mims, The Aging Champion
by Jeanne Mirabito

She rarely hurries anymore.  Her strides, once long and graceful, are now more of a shuffle. Stiff shoulders, stiff knees and stiffer ankles. Not really painful, just slow to respond to the signals her brain is sending them.

Her eyes cloud more each day but her practiced hooves know every bump in the road so she doesn't complain.

Her meals are consumed with the appreciation of someone who has missed a few but is now content with the knowledge there is another coming, slow and deliberate, not missing a bite. Oh, for a bit of molasses or apple. Always a delight on the tongue that has tasted many. But, first, the peppermint! The soft kind, please. They are easier to chew and not so difficult for the fumbling human hands to open in haste.

She watches the younger horses run as they will. Run until their breath comes short ragged. Her sighs bring back memories when she too, could run at will but was never so out of breath. Every now and then her youth returns…she tosses her head and flies across the pasture faster than any of the young ones ever dreamed of running, hooves hitting turf in a rhythm uniquely hers, no one more graceful, more proud or more loved. She still hears the crowd calling her name.

As the afternoon fades into twilight she looks for her human. She watches the farm truck pull into the drive and knows there is love, grooming and perhaps a few carrots awaiting her. She ambles to the gate…warm greetings of soft nickers make the human's heart melt. The old horse knows how to please the human and does so immediately by dropping her head low and brushing her soft muzzle across the human's cheek. Together they walk to the barn.

She loves a freshly bedded stall to sleep in, all cozy and warm.  As another day ends she finds comfort in little things; a dry stall, cool, fresh water in a bucket hanging nearby and a plentiful meal of grain and hay.  She knows she is loved because of her grace, her perseverance and her beautiful soul and not because of any purse earnings. The big mare lays her mighty head in the fresh straw and sleeps. The human watches as the great horse dozes hoping for another week, another day, another moment with this horse who has come to mean so much to her. Then, the human bows her head and once again thanks Great Spirit for this incredible blessing He has bestowed on her.

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