We first met Juan the Sailor in August 2017. He, his son Juan Peppy Sailor, and a few other horses were being sold at a farm auction in Wilkie, Sask.
Juan was a 27-year-old skinny gelding. The rest of the horses were thin as well, but Juan looked the worst. We had decided to buy his son, Juan Peppy Sailor, and try him out as a stallion but we really weren’t looking for a project and were not planning to buy Juan himself.
As it happened, we did buy him. I felt bad for him and I thought he might make a good companion for my old mare, Classy, whom I brought with me from Idaho to live out her retirement years in the best comfort I could provide.
Read Also
Beef demand drives cattle and beef markets higher
Prices for beef cattle continue to be strong across the beef value chain, although feedlot profitability could be challenging by the end of 2025, analyst Jerry Klassen says.
Being quite a bit older than our other horses, she was often by herself in the pasture, so I thought Juan could be her old age companion. He fulfilled this job to the fullest.
Juan and Classy were never apart and Juan was a loyal companion right to the end. The morning that we were going to put Classy down, we found them both missing. They had been grazing the yard with only a single rope to keep them in and they had never touched the makeshift fence until that morning.
We tracked the two old horses through the yard, past all the other horses, and then out into the wheat field. We found Juan standing guard over his friend. She had passed on by the time we found them, but Juan never left her side until we led him away.
The story continued
Juan was 29 when his companion died and he had done an amazing job of his assigned task. That would have been a happy enough story, but the little horse was not yet done giving.
He was such a quiet old gentleman that we decided to use him as a role model when we weaned the foals. He was a quiet and calm horse that the foals were drawn to and also respected. You never saw them jumping on him or trying to bite or kick him during their baby games.
One time we had an aggressive stray dog wander through our yard. We had to scare the dog away from trying to fight with our dog who was protecting our son, Joseph. From there the stray dog went into the corral. Juan gathered up all the weanlings and had them under the lean-to, putting himself between the colts and the intruder.
Gregory chased the dog out of the corral and away from our livestock and nothing bad happened, thanks in large part to Juan.
Juan proved himself to be a good teacher for Joseph. He was always quiet and calm around my wild and busy son when we began showing Joseph how to brush a horse. Later, when we went to riding, Juan was the first horse Joseph ever rode and the first horse he ever fell off.
Joseph always had good balance and confidence around Juan. Once, when Joseph went out with me to water Juan, I put the halter on the old guy, threw Joseph up on his back and led them around. It was a nice day and Juan was content to stand still and swat flies with his tail so I left Joseph on his back. Joseph had a good handful of mane and was quite happy, so I flipped the lead rope over Juan’s neck and turned on the water.
I didn’t realize that Joseph had grabbed the lead rope until Juan leaned down to grab a bite of grass. Joseph was pulled over the horse’s shoulder and landed in a heap. I rushed over to see if he was OK and he was, but he was mad.
“Why didn’t you give me more rope, Mom?” It never occurred to Joseph to fear Juan or to blame him. He trusted Juan completely and wanted to get right back on.
Juan taught Joseph how to care for a living being. Joseph helped me feed and water Juan and blanket him when it was cold. At the end of his life, Juan taught Joseph the final lesson of how to love and how to say goodbye. Joseph was four years old and Juan was just shy of 32.
We all said our final goodbyes to Juan and I collected his mane to have it made into something special. After a few months I sent the hair to Heart Horse Creations by Shelby Larson. I ordered a custom piece to be used as a wall display and two rear-view mirror displays.
She did the work, with lots of hair left over, and made as many additional pieces as she could.
This experience was so symbolic of the time we had with Juan. We asked for one nice piece, but he had more to give us. We asked for a few more pieces and he still had more to give us. When Shelby had finally used up all the hair, she said it was surreal how she was able to make so many pieces from such a memorable horse.
Each piece she made is beautiful and unique, just like all the experiences we had with Juan. We were amazed by all that Juan was able to give us in the few short years that we had him and all that he was able to provide for us even after his passing.
Thank you, Shelby, for your work, and thank you Juan, for everything.
