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05/1982 - 10/11/2005 With great sadness we must share that we lost one of our truly loved friends, Bear. He was put to rest after having struggled and unable to recover from having a horrible debilitating neurological disease. Bear a thoroughbred horse was 23 years old, 17.2 hands, and a beautiful Bay gelding. Bear’s former owners needed to find a home for Bear due to his arthritis and the possibility of a move in the future. Fearful Bear would go to slaughter due to his arthritis if sold to someone unfamiliar we were called in to help. Bear had many four legged and two friends while living here. Bear was a not only an incredible equine but a protector of humans which is rare in the equine world. Two wonderful stories of his heroism are known, one where he protected his former family from a very dangerous mare and he literally shielded them from the mares strikes until the family was safe and then attacked the mare back and at another time put himself once again in front of harms way by shielding a human friend from a knife wielding foe. Bear was born in May 1982 as a registered Canadian Thoroughbred named Soda’s Lucky Leaf. Originally thought to be perfect for the race track it quickly became apparent he would not succeed and due to his size he was not as fast and was sold at auction for $75,000 in Canadian to a couple who were involved in jumping. He was renamed Pipemajor MacLeod for his show-ring name and became a star on the cross country jump circuit. He was so good in fact that he qualified and was long listed for the Canadian Olympic Team. He was never called upon to compete and never saw that level again as he suffered a check ligament injury that he didn’t fully recover from. He was sold to a trainer in 1993 and with 1 year of intensive care to recuperate he returned to a level where he could compete again. This is where he met his former owner Carolyn in 1995 and they became incredible friends. His barn name was changed to Bear. Together in British Columbia they showed in the show jumping ring and then on to Dressage. Once in Phoenix they had moderate success. Even Carolyn’s son at 4 won in the pleasure class. After sometime his health deteriorated as mentioned earlier and that is when he came to live with us. Bear will be sorely missed although we know he runs with the best. We are certain he is enjoying his new life in the galloping lane with LaVonda, Lady and Duchess and we are also certain they are all curious as to how this big big guy runs so beautifully with them. We love Bear, and he looked just like that… big and cuddly. We don’t ever think he realized he was a horse, although what a gift he has been to all who knew him.  Duchess - a beautiful young filly that was separated from her mother at the sale pen. She was too young to be on her own and the auction did not provide her with proper water and food. She was so dehydrated but Susan Bozarth of Wildhorse Ranch Rescue at Rockin 7B ranch purchased the little filly. Everyone rallied around Duchess but it became apparent that no amount of money or love could save this young foal....the damage had already been done. We will never understand how people can be so cruel to animals, but we will continue to fight to save horses and foals in honor of Duchess and the other babies like her who never had a chance at the hands of humans. |