Today, Pookey lost one of his oldest and dearest friends.

His favorite mare, Snooty Tooty, crossed the Rainbow Bridge at the age of 30 years.

Born in 1980, during the Carter presidency, she was sired by Mr Denero APHA out of Lady Debra Sue, a QH granddaughter of The Ole Man. Snooty, a ringer for her great grandsire conformation-wise, wound up with a single plate-sized spot on her right side, which--aside from a pretty blaze--was her only white.

She enjoyed a brief but glorious show career before coming to live with our small family of Paint horses in the early eighties. I remember mucking out her stall when I was pregnant with both daughters. Both of them learned to ride on her chubby little bay back (after struggling with the pony!) Years later, she took eventual horse-trainer daughter to her first show.

She was always there for all of us: always patient, kind, gentle, and dependable, the ideal babysitter for both horse and human.

Never sick or lame a day in her life, she suffered a sudden-onset neurologic problem that made it clear it was time for us to put her down. Fortunately she was able to spend much of her last morning grazing and hanging out with Bunny in her favorite pasture. She also had a bit of alfalfa, her favorite treat, and then she gobbled up her entire breakfast of Equine Senior, not dropping a single morsel of grain (thanks to excellent dentition) and licking the platter clean!

Snooty, RIP--you will be missed by all of us!