Tony

We had to say goodbye to our family horse, Tony, last week.  He had been battling health problems (blindness and foundering) and my parents along with his vet decided it was best to end his suffering.

Tony was our first family horse.  I'm not sure how my dad found him, but he was a man down the street's horse.  I'll never forget when my dad and I went to get him, as he (Tony) came walking out of the door of the neighborhood hangout bar.  He was a spirited horse and enjoyed eating cigar butts and drinking beer when we first got him.  If my parents or their friends had a beer in their hand he would lunge for it and try to drink it.

When Mary was little she couldn't say Tony so he was nicknamed Ta-ta.  I remember one day someone must have left the pasture gate opened because Ta-ta was on our porch at the back door.  

Tony was more of a pasture dog then a horse.  After 18 years of being a Gaiennie family member, he will be missed.