Our Prince was a special horse, a very special horse. He was
beautiful and had a beautiful golden brown coloration, blond mane
and white blaze on his face. His white feet, big brown eyes,
everything about him was beautiful. Prince was BIG, one of the
biggest horses in North America, weighing 2600 lbs with his back
higher than my head. He had an enormous neck. Prince was "well
broke" which means he was superbly trained. He functioned well in any
position on a team of 2, 4, 6, or 8 horses or by himself. He trained
many other horses put in next to him. And you could ride him.
Prince was B I G !
I called him Blondie
Prince was famous. He was born in Idaho and started his career as a
pulling horse, in weight pulling contests. Unlike most horses that
get "ruined" for other uses after being a puller, Prince successfully
transitioned to all the other uses of a draft horse. He showed at the
Cow Palace in San Francisco and the P.N.E. in Vancouver. For years he
led the torchlight parade opening Seafair in downtown Seattle. In the
cities, more than once his calm demeanor, superb training, and great
strength saved the hitch from having some serious untoward event.
My Big Boy
Prince was well behaved, meaning he had "barn manners." He had great
equanimity; nothing bothered him. Firecrackers, gunshots, cars, or
kids - nothing would spook him from his quiet self assurance. Twice
he got his foot caught in fence wire and stood patiently for hours
waiting for someone to come and extricate him, where other horses
would panic and kill themselves in the wire.
Prince loved to get harnessed and get to work
Prince was the ultimate in being an "easy keeper." He was happy by himself, or with others.
He was great friends with the sheep and careful around them.
He never got sick, pushed down the fences, or made any demands whatever on us.
Dot, with Prince
And Prince was the personification of the term for draft horses --
Gentle Giant. Prince got a double dose of those ingredients. Dot
could march him around, or work on his feet. Barney the cat would eat
oats with him from his dish, under that great head.
Prince and Barney, sharing oats for supper
Prince would follow me around as I worked on fences and put his big nose
in my back pockets, investigating the tools. He was as curious as any cat.
I called him my lap horse because he had the mind of a lap dog and the
body of a big horse. I know he would have slept in the bed with us if
he could only figure out how to get in the laundry door. He didn't
bite and he didn't kick.
Prince loved the attention of a horse show
Getting his mane braided.......for the 1985 Draft Horse Show
Check out those beautiful flower ribbons - Dot made them......and his horse cart
Prince lived about half his life with Fred Reuble on Camano Island,
and the last half with us. He was about 22 years old when he died.
He was everything one could want in a horse and much, much more.
He was a lover and a friend and we miss him enormously. We shall
certainly never forget him, nor the fact that "someday, our Prince did
come." He's buried in his favorite spot in the shade of the woods in
the back pasture, where we can still visit him, and, in the fall,
leave a few apples for our noble friend.
Copyright 2006-2007 Robert A. Bogash. All
Rights Reserved