My 300th post

I wanted to do something special for this post, so I am going to introduce you to one of the best horses I ever was blessed to own; Coyote Belle's dam, Sundee. I bought this mare as a weanling at the McLean sale in Calgary in 1995. My husband had just received his first paycheck as town councillor for Black Diamond, so, jokingly, he gave me all $400 of it and said, "here, that's all you can spend!" I don't think he was really surprised when I came home with a little black filly. He helped me to get her halter broke, and we registered her in his name- and he got to name her. Since she went back to Sunday Times and Wagon N, and her dam's name was Destiny Dee, she became Sundee Wagon Ride. So technically, I never owned her, but as time went by, she was definitely my horse. I sent her to a friend for the first 30 days riding on a ranch, and then to a reining trainer which proved to be a mistake- this person rammed and jammed her too much and got her afraid to stop- which really isn't a good idea on a horse that's 25% Thoroughbred! It took me about 2 years to get her soft and willing in the stop after that. When she was a 3 year old, I hauled her to Montana to help in the fall cattle gather on Walt Vermadahl's ranch near Polson. We covered about twenty miles that day, and she worked every minute of it and still was willing to give me more at the end of the day. That mare had heart!The next year we hauled down there again; she loved working cattle and I could always count on her if we had to bust through trees and brush to head off a bunch quitter. I rode her in many parades, and won a little money team penning on her. I loved riding this mare, she was feather light in the face and leg, always willing, and she had no quit in her.

Sundee raised three babies for me; this one is Jess Dial It at about 8 hours old. All her foals were fillies. Coyote Belle was her third and last baby. I was boarding them at a friends place that year, and shortly after weaning, Sundee was kicked in the front leg by a draft horse, breaking her cannon bone clean through. I called the vet and had her euthanized. She was only 8 years old.

She had the kindest disposition, all the other horses loved her- she fit into any herd she was introduced to.
She was a smoky black, and went through 4 or 5 colour changes in a year, just like Coyote Belle does. I see a lot of her in Coyote Belle, and hope her legacy of heart and willingness carries on through her daughter. (I don't ride Belle because of an old injury to her right shoulder.) I'd also like to buy back her buckskin filly, but the owner is using her as a kid's horse ( which I'm not surprised!) so it's not too likely at the moment. Maybe someday.