Teddy's Story

May 18, 2002 - November 19, 2010
 

Not just a horse...that is what I thought of my 2002 stallion "Pizzazzed " aka Teddy or Theodore or Tedwig or Teddy Bear depending on the day and he has a lot of pet names. I watched him come into this world (actually I pulled him into it). He has been my friend and my confidante many a time and I can remember the days of riding him bareback down the road, laying on him and just holding him tight during those difficult times we all have in our lives. My husband (not a horsey person but he loved Teddy) has been crying about losing him with me and we still watch his video, reminisce and cry again. My parents, children, and grand children have all loved him and knew he was special. We lost him on November 19, 2010

The story started the year before he was born...his Dam Concentuous was bred right after the death of my brother and only sibling, Theodore Charles Petrucci, 37 years of age. We had no doubt in our minds what to name him when he arrived and that he would live his life here. He was the kindest, gentlest stallion I have ever been around. Even last year I have memories of him playing with two of his colts and when he would lay down they would go over and keep nudging him while he was trying to nap and finally he would get up and give them "the look" but never once did he go after them and never did he ever hurt a foal in his life...he loved them and they would hang out with him instead of their dams a lot of times, oh the memories! This year I can remember him running through the pasture with Bella his daughter on his heels playing and having a good time. That was one of the last times I saw him run. He came when I called his name, looked at me every day when I walked out the door and said good morning or talked to him. There was many a time throughout the day I look out my kitchen window or my big picture window in my office and just looked at him in the pasture. He also LOVED apples, he liked anyone who would give him an apple too. He had become a bit dull in the eye and had lost some of his spark, I looked out the window and he walked very slowly, I went to him and he rested his head on my shoulder but he had lost that playfulness and I knew his spirit was in pain. He let me know it was time.

I of course cannot keep from crying writing this but it is what will help me get through it and feeling the pain is a must. Again, he was not "just a horse" but one of my true best friends!!! He had always trusted me to be there and to care for him and I have done that and will never regret a day of his life with me, what I have done for him, and the decision I had to make for him. There have also been a few others that have had the privilege of being with him and having him at their farms for a short time and they too can tell you of his kind sprit and that everyone loved him. I will and can say he has the prettiest head of any stallion I have ever seen with these HUGE soft kind eyes that melt your heart and his dished forehead and short small muzzle. He still to his last day wore a mare halter, a regular horse one was too big. I once had Allison's husband Eloy Silvas ask me who that gorgeous headed mare was in my pasture, it was Teddy.

I have spent almost 9 years with Teddy, he has been through a lot in his life and had a will and spirit that amazed me. I remember running in the pasture with him and the sheer joy of just playing with him and him bucking and playfully coming back to me, it was a fun game we played together even if it looked like my horse and I were crazy out there running around. I understood him and his body language like no other horse I have had, we were soul mates. I could go to get him anywhere and he would just walk up to me, then I would lay my hand on his wither and we would walk shoulder to shoulder to wherever I needed him to go, no halter, no ropes.

I could breed any mare to him by going out, putting a halter and lead rope on him, then take him to the mare. He was always a perfect gentleman, I needed no chain. He taught me to trust him that when he did not want to breed, that mare was not ready no matter what the ultrasound said. He would let me know when a mare was ovulating and when she was done, even if she wanted to breed the day after ovulating he would have nothing to do with her, his nose knew better than me or any machine. He also pasture bred and I am sure running with mares and the bred ones when he was younger taught him a lot.

He has also kept me safe. I can remember another time (and I am just reminiscing) that I was not able to ride after another one of the many surgeries I have had and he had not been rode for almost a year. He had only had a few months riding on him before my surgery. I used a block to get on him as my shoulder was still not strong enough to grab the horn and I had it on the edge of the concrete...well you can imagine as I went to step off of it, it flipped, I fell down reins in hand under Teddy so it was pulling on his mouth and he NEVER moved! He stood stock still until I got up. He would do the same thing when a puppy or kitten would go under him. No, not just a horse, but my best friend and I can truly say the most magnificent horse I have ever owned in many ways. We will only have one foal by him next year out of Scotch's Stoned Roper (Chevy) and I have high hopes for this foal as she is the kind of mare I had looked for to cross with him for quite a while. There is also an outside AQHA mare Miss Sonny Te at Six owned by the Dale & Heather Keiter that is in foal to him for Feb 2011. He has few foals but some will be in the show pen next year as we did not even breed him until he was 5 due to my accident and surgeries. Whether or not any of them have great show careers does not and never will make a difference to me, it is about the horse he was and the stallion I had dreamed of since I was a little girl, he was my blessing to have in this life.

Here is what happened. At some point in the last year he sustained an injury to two of the vertebrae in his back. It was NOT because he was somewhere else, it was not because of lack of care, I have no idea how he did it but as all of us with horses know, it can take one slip, flip, wrong turn, etc. to cause something like this. He did very well with Chiropractic treatment but in the last month or so would not trot, walked slowly and seemed depressed. I took him back to the vet and T-9 and 10 vertebrae were to the point where there was no helping him, fixing it, or keeping him pain free. He is gone now and it was a hard thing to go through, but not a hard decision as I know he is free. I will hurt for a long time and have been hurting, but it is what was best for him and that is what matters, especially when he was not "just a horse".