Diane's Purchase

Tears of joy and sorrow: In Memorium Diane/Lola

The day was beautiful.. cool, clear blue skies.. and Diane. She came to the corral door and stuck her head in the halter... stole a mouthful of hay from the hay wagon, loaded into the trailer after balking a tad.. and off we went to her 3 PM appointment to join her friends Diosa and BB. What a beautiful soul we had to say goodbye to today. Cancer SUCKS.. .she had to leave us WAY too soon at just 20 years of age. Her pain was too much to ask her to continue.

We always had a party, a celebration of life, for the horses we could schedule a peaceful passing. It helped the volunteers say goodbye in a positive way, showed the public we loved our charges, and allowed me to process all the death when I could do so without as much pain (when an emergency leave taking occurred). When we scheduled Diane for her day of ascension to the Rainbow Bridge, we posted our Celebration of life party in Facebook Events. We then "shared" it with our friends, volunteers, and then they too shared. Amazingly, I was contacted by a veterinarian friend of mine who had just lost her soul mate suddenly at the age of 26 to a brain aneurism. I helped make a memory album for the wake party. She asked me a couple of questions about Diane and we immediately knew... this was the horse she used to own and had been looking for for 8 years! The horse had been sold and they lost track of her and had actively been trying to locate her for all that time.. and we had her in our charge for the last 3 years of her life!

Because time was short, this gal came out 3 days before Diane was scheduled for euthanasia. I spent several hours with them listening to the stories and me telling her our stories. The interesting thing was that the horse, in her youth was horrid with other horses, very opinionated and basically, she was a bitch! I showed the gal pictures of Diane/Lola at scout camp with beginner kids on her and she was floored... in her youth, the horse was also a very difficult ride and tossed even the most experienced riders! We showed pictures of Diane in a herd of horses existing peacefully and were told she couldn't be turned out with any other horses or she attacked them! We told her we had Lola/Diane in with all the horses but especially with the older mares and the babies because she taught them fantastic lessons on how a horse should act around horses and humans.

Many of these photos we were able to acquire once the previous owners realized we had her. It was such a unique experience to know we had the privilege to provide closure for 2 families who knew Diane as Lola in her youth. She left in the same week as her old lady friends. We saves some tail and mane hairs for them and delivered them 2 years after her passing.. to allow time. They were ecstatic.

Please try to enjoy our attempt at lyrics set to the song Copacabana... about Lola/Diane:

Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl

With many ribbons she had won, to a missing lov-ed one

She then was rescued, by some real nice folks

And while her mind it had to heal, She got to be a real nice horse,

She taught the vet nurse, she worked for cookies

She was now in her final home

Who could ask for more

At the Tearsong’s, the Tearsong’s Rescue

The greatest spot for final years

At the Tearsong’s, the Tearsong’s Rescue

Horses and healing are always in fashion

At the Tearsong’s… we fell in love…

And then she went to, The Boy Scout camp here

She was a fav’rit of scouts and she loved the attention,

She took them on rides, They learned to stay on

She got to take them on a lot of trail rides

She lived next to BB, they were best buddies

They were old and they had each other

Who could ask for more

At the Tearsong’s, the Tearsong’s Rescue

The greatest spot for final years

At the Tearsong’s, the Tearsong’s Rescue

Horses and healing are always in fashion

At the Tearsong’s… we fell in love…

Her name was Lola, she was a jumper

But that was many years ago, when she used go to shows

And now it’s time for, this girl to leave us

Her friends are waiting for the day she will meet them at the Bridge

She will go trotting to the Rainbow bridge with two

She lost her pain and she has her friends

Now she can run free

At the Rainbow, The Rainbow bridge now

The hottest spot not on this earth

At the Rainbow, the Rainbow Bridge now

Horse they are healed and are running free

At the Rainbow… We all have loved…