A farewell to Zach

The end, when it finally came, was sudden.

Zach, our 30-plus-year-old Appaloosa, seemed fine at the noon hour yesterday. But a couple of hours later he was found on the ground. He had clearly been struggling and couldn’t get up. With help, he got back on his feet once, but immediately crumpled back to the ground. Before long, the vet put him out of his misery.

At his age, death wasn’t a surprise. But after a few winters of struggling to put on weight, this year he had put on the pounds and had a nice, heavy winter coat, and everything had been looking good.

He leaves behind Bo, his equine companion of many years. Rumor has it that Bo and Zach used to be Park Service horses. They were rescued several years ago from a dude ranch where they had been allowed to waste away to almost nothing.

He was a good old boy.