I found him on the internet.

I had always wanted an AngloArab…………. “The perfect cross.”

I remember the conversation like it was yesterday.

“He is exactly what I’m looking for, if he is what you say he is, I’ll take him.”

He was 1600 miles away and I couldn’t get there for a couple of weeks………… I mailed them the money.

She said, “What if you don’t like him?”

I told her if that happened I’d very…… VERY nicely ask for my money back.

Of course I loved him.

They told me his story. They got him as a wild 9 year old. He was unhandled, not even halter broke. Someone had let a halter grow into his face as a baby, and the scar it left on his cheek was his only blemish. His registered name was Falcon.

He definitely didn’t LOOK like a falcon.

They told me they just couldn’t call him Falcon with a straight face. A friend from another part of the world told them in his country the word for Falcon was “Chil”, so that became his barn name.

She told me that she’d never checked the translation so it could mean “trash truck” or something equally silly.

Chil and I rode over 1000 endurance miles together.

Chil jumped pretty big cross country jumps with me, (while enthusiastically bucking after every jump.)

Chil gave me my first win at an endurance ride…….and my first concussion (thanks buddy) …… 

He was so tough he survived a rattlesnake bite with just 2 white dots as a battle scar.

Vet school, cross country moves, career and life changes, endurance rides, 3 day events, Chil always hopped in the trailer asking “What’s next Mom??”

He was sound year after year, mile after mile…… 27 years…….

A few years back, I met someone from the far off country his name came from…… I eagerly asked him if Chil really meant Falcon??

The reply……

Ummmm…….it is a bird………..

but no……..not a falcon…….

how do you say it????

the ones that eat dead animals????

Yes, Chil means Buzzard.

And that suits him so much better.

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Here’s to my oldest friend and companion, what a journey.