SNOW DRAGON EA

4/5/93 - 7/13/03

"I remember the first time
I saw Snow Dragon and what
a pleasure it has been watching
him come into his own and
become one of the best
ENDURANCE horses I have seen.
Tracey and Dragon have represented
Endurance honorably."
Barney Fleming DVM

Photo by Lynne Glazer

Dragon was a very special horse. He has completed all 1010 miles of the XP
rides in the last year (Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Cuyama Oaks, Mt. Carmel
and Cold Springs), earning him the prestigious Gold Medal Award, along with
other rides including the 20 Mule Team 100, Virginia City 100, and Tevis in 2002.
He had 2925 AERC miles. Official results of an autopsy showed that he died of a
ruptured stomach and had no ulcers or other underlying medical conditions.
Below is a letter written from the heart by his partner.

Dear Karen, thanks so much for your kind words. I do keep asking myself why
Dragon was taken from us and yet I see so many others who ignorantly way
override their horses with apparently no ill consequences. It just seems to unfair.
I am so glad I noticed something was wrong with him in spite of passing the vet
check with good marks and that I decided to wait there until he was normal from
my experience. It was well over an hour before he coliced and I kept thinking,
thanks goodness were weren't in the canyons where help couldn't get to us.
Within an hour of the initial colicing he was at the equine emergency clinic- and
again I am so glad I decided to bypass Foresthill and the vets there and go directly
to the emergency clinic - against standard proceedure. If I had followed standard
operating procedure I would have always wondered if the time spent there was what
killed him and if only I had gone directly to the emergency clinic. Instead, I feel
good I saw right away when something was wrong and I did the best I could and
got him quickly to emergency care. If they couldn't help him, no one could; it comforts
me that all was done to the best of human ability. And I thank God he didn't suffer -
or at least only minimally. The most important lessons Dragon taught me were
patience, humility, tenacity and to know when to quit - and he did that even in his death.
Patience was what kept me at Deadwood and not to move on - patience is what taught
me to listen to the signs Dragon gave me there. His death again teaches me humility -
as did regularly finishing bottom ten, and even some in dead last. Humility, patience
and tenacity were struggling through the 5 days at Bryce Canyon last year dealing with
scratches and working together as a team to finish all days of the ride. I lead him many
of those miles to make it easier for him, my partner. The same struggle again at Grand
Canyon with the scratches and then finally figuring out what worked for him. Humility
and learning there is a time to quit was day 1 of Death Valley when he took a wrong
step and went home after that first day - Patience was choosing not to go again on day
2 and risk further injury but inseady wait for another ride. Patience was carefully bringing
him back so he was all back together by 20 Mule team.  Tenacity was not giving up.
And at the emergency clinic we started off with tenacity: we could solve this problem
together and he would be just fine. We had triumphed over far greater challenges on the
trail after all and we had arrived there less than an hour after the first colic signs.
Patience was staying up all night to make sure everything was done so he would
pull through. Humility was when I realized that my horse was going to die and that
I had a hand in killing him. And in his last hour, I was faced with the realization the time
had come to give up - he could not be saved and the humane thing was to ease his pain
and suffering. My teacher is gone and what I hope is that I can pass his wisdom onto our
next horses. I admit that in my dreams this past week Dragon was there with me and alive
and in the dream I am thinking about this nightmare I had that Dragon was gone. I hug him
grateful he is still alive. Then I wake up, only to be brought back to reality. tracey