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Sovereign died suddenly on 31st October, 2006. Sovereign died in his sleep in his field. He had been fine the night before and in the morning it looked like he had just died where he had been sleeping, no sign of any struggle to get up or anything to suggest he had been in any distress. It's a good way to go but still sad to lose an old friend. For years, Sovereign's best friend was a livery client's horse called Rainbow, and she died about two years earlier. Just as I approached where he was lying a short section of a rainbow appeared in the sky right behind him. It was then I remembered about Rainbow the horse and how close they had been. It may have been just coincidence but for a moment I imagined that his friend may have been waiting for him wherever he had gone. Sovereign came to Redwing Riding School in 1986 and then he was a livery client's horse for about ten years when his rider had to move to another city 200 miles away. He was so upset at moving away from his familiar surrounding and friends that in his new yard he became totally unmanageable. He careered around the field when anyone approached, kicked out at people and other horses, he refused to be caught and the farrier couldn't get near him. After four months of trying to calm him his rider wisely and kindly decided to send him back to Redwing where he had been a happy friendly horse. The transporter who brought him back was amazed at the contrast between the rampant horse they had loaded with extreme difficulty and the docile one that quietly walked out of the lorry at this end. It was a sight that spoke volumes. From the field several hundred yards away Rainbow called to him and he gave a quiet whicker in reply, and ever after was the same loveable Sovereign we had always known.
  Sovereign in 1995 and Rainbow, the love of his life. |
