SSM Cloud Fire, better known as Beans. 1988-2012

Yesterday, June 20, I had to have Beans put down. He was born with me holding him and he died with me holding him.
Although he was 7/8th Lippitt, he lacked breed type, but was a handsome horse with excellent legs and grand feet that the farrier loved. He had personality that endeared him to everyone who met him. One of my favorite Bean stories is this--Back in the mid 1990's, I would let the horses in the back lot out each morning to run to the barn into their stalls for breakfast. One day, Snubbers and Beans did not show up so I went looking for them. They were by the clothesline and Snubbers was eating the nice spring grass. Beans, however, had been busy pulling laundry off the clothes line. He had 3 of my t-shirts on the ground & was working on a fourth one, happily chewing  holes into it.
He was a good riding horse and we had some good rides. He liked to get behind a person and then sneakily try to pull off a pants pocket. He loved to chew on lead ropes, so I had his own special lead rope that he could chew on while getting his feet trimmed. I never had to actually hold him; I just haltered him & handed him his lead rope to chew & visited with the farrier while he trimmed Beans. He loved to have his face rubbed after taking off his fly mask each night. He was never a fast eater; he preferred to nibble and graze. He also never gulped water, but slowly sipped it. In the arena, he could sull up and refuse to move his feet in any direction but he moved out well on the trail. At feeding time, he would stick his tongue way out the side of his mouth and wrap it around his lower jaw, and drool too.
So many neat Bean things over the years and now all that is left are some photos and my memories. Right now, those are not filling the hole in my heart.
Good-bye Beans, I really miss you.