Julie, was a close friend and the longest I've ever known a horse. We had allot of good times in the wilderness. She packed allot of elk for me over the years and even a bear. In her younger years she belong to a best friend named Mark. Mark had three daughters that could crawl from one end of Julie to the other, walk between her legs or what ever. We did many wilderness trips together and Julie was always a part of that. Back when we were just 38 years old Mark got colon cancer. Mark passed Christmas morning two years later. That next spring His widow "Belinda" called and said that Mark would have wanted me to have Julie and she knew we would give her a good home. I promised to care for her for the rest of her life.
We had a good run and many great times together. She absolutely loved the wilderness and got excited whenever we would go up in the high country. We had decided to retire her several years ago as she was getting very old and it hurt for her to pack anymore. We would still take her up the the wilderness as she was great for teaching our two younger horses. This was the very last trip in the high country that she made. We knew time was getting close as she was losing weight even though we grained her twice daily and blanketed her at night. We woke this morning to find her down. We think she had a stroke somewhere in the night. We were blessed to be able to spend the last hour with her and brush and hold her head till she passed. We are thankfull that she seemed in no pain and was at peace.
Though I knew this day was coming it certainly hits harder then I thought it would. RIP Julie 1975-2013
