Tony

"Gone from our sight, but never from our memories ~
Gone from our touch, but never our hearts."

This is a drawing my husband did for me of my Arabian, Tony, my friend of many years.
Tony passed away at 32 years of age. He was a crazy 4 years old when I got him.
The drawing was my Christmas present the Christmas after Tony passed away.
My husband drew it from an old photograph, as a surprise.
He framed and matted it with an antique barn board frame.

Love can last a lifetime, but sometimes a lifetime can last only one more day.
~Joseph Lynn~

Tony & Fizz
This photo appeared on the cover of the 'Trail Riders Of DuPage'
publication shortly after Tony passed away.
My friend is the editor. She retired Fizz with us.
Tony & Fizz traveled my trails together when they were young and crazy.
It was nice that they could be reunited.

Tony & Girl
Constant Companions for 28 Years

A Noble Steed ~ By A. Olsen ~ *In Memory of Tony* My Gray Desert Bred Arabian (April 16, 1970 ~ October 23,2002)
A noble steed faithfully kept, is not a noble deed. It is an honor and their right. The few, the proud, can see. He taught you to listen and to see, He taught you patience and kindness, He showed you respect and humility, He taught you---
	Now you say your faithful companion Can take you no farther, Another can make you greater. Trade, sell, send to auction, most care not. He served you as no other, Now you can't even remember his name. Do you feel no shame? Did you really gain? Did he feel pain?
But I don't wonder What became of my steel gray steed, I just glance out my window and can see, My snow white friend still leading the pack At a young 32 years of age. Still roaming with his herd from long ago. They all roam through the fields of dreams. They earned the pastures that they roam. Some are gone but still remain, They never left the fields of dreams.
	A few have joined our herds of old, And now are members too, They have a home to call their own. Till they join the ghost riders of the night.
We still return to trails less trodden. Though the trails are disappearing. All the woods knew us, But that was very long ago. ŠCopyright 2000, A. Olsen. All Rights Reserved.

My snow white steed
has gone through the mist
Joining the ghost riders of the night.
Till we meet again, my friend.
Till we meet again.

In Memory of Tony
My Gray Desert Bred Arabian
(April 16, 1970 ~ October 23,2002)

Tony
October 23, 2002

My snow white friend has passed through the mist,
Joining the ghost riders of the night.

~ A. Olsen ~

...tireless, swift as the flowing wind.
Shadowfax they called him.
By day his coat glistens like silver;
and by night it is like a shade,
and he passes unseen.
Light is his footfall!

~ J.R.R. Tolkien ~

Desert Bred Arabians

I am your equal.
I am a wild creature that can never be like you.
I have heart, courage, and the game spirit
that is my heritage, and I will be respected.
I will be taught and I will please,
and maybe in time I will be your intimate.
But I will never be your possession.
Mine is a fierce love which knows no mercy for failure,
no sympathy for weakness.
I have come from the desert
with its closeness to the spirit of nature
which you do not understand.
I was born of the wind,
mine is a warrior spirit.
I cannot be humiliated in punishment.
Or defeated even in death
For my spirit lives on in my children's children.
-unknown-

Tribute to a Confederate Grey

Traveller
General Robert E. Lee's Horse

Traveller was used by General Robert E. Lee throughout most of the Civil War. The
iron gray horse was born in 1857 in Greenbrier County, which is now in West Virginia.
He was first called Jeff Davis by Andrew Johnston, who raised him. He was renamed
Greenbrier by his next owner, Captain Joseph M. Broun. Lee bought the horse from
Capt. Broun for $200 during his late 1861 stay in South Carolina. Lee renamed his new
mount Traveller. Traveller, who weighed about eleven hundred pounds and stood nearly
sixteen hands high, served his master well. He outlived General Lee, and upon his death
he was buried next to the Lee Chapel. In 1907 his remains were disinterred and displayed
at the Chapel for a period of time before reburied on the front campus outside the Lee Chapel.

The best description of Traveller was Lee's own, which he wrote in response to
Mrs. Lee's cousin Markie Williams, who wished to paint a portrait of Lee's horse. 'Traveller':

"If I was an artist like you, I would draw a true picture of Traveller;
representing his fine proportions, muscular figure, deep chest,
short back, strong haunches, flat legs, small head, broad forehead,
delicate ears, quick eye, small feet, and black mane and tail.
Such a picture would inspire a poet, whose genius could then
depict his worth, and describe his endurance of toil, hunger, thirst,
heat and cold; and the dangers and suffering through which he
has passed. He could dilate upon his sagacity and affection, and
his invarible response to every wish of his rider. He might even
imagine his thoughts through the long night-marches and days of
the battle through which he has passed. But I am no artist Markie,
and can therefore only say he is a Confederate grey."

~ General Robert E. Lee ~

The drumbeat surging thru my blood,
Is the sound of the horses, ridden by my ancestors,
Horseman riding thru the past.
Let the drums sound.

~ A.Olsen ~

When you lay me to slumber no spot you can choose
But will ring to the rhythm of galloping shoes
And under the daisies no grave be so deep
But the hoofs of the horses shall sound in my sleep.

(From the poem "The Hoofs of the Horses" by Will Ogilvie, Australian poet)

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A. Olsen
This site was created in 1999-2009 by Ann Olsen ŠCopyright 1999-2012, Ann Olsen. All Rights Reserved.
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