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Harmony Dan
A.K.A. Happy
A.K.A. Grandpa Horse

Cathy (age 7) and Happy

Years ago we purchased a home on a small piece of acreage near Mt. Diablo, Calif. We offered about 10% less than the seller was asking. The seller accepted provided we kept an old thoroughbred horse and a barn cat that lived there, to which we agreed. I had no idea at the time how that transaction was going to change my life.

Happy was a retired grand prix event horse who had now come into the hands of folks that couldn't even qualify as green horns. Needless to say, we had many a near-calamitous adventure barreling across Mt. Diablo trails and fire roads, a chorus of "Whoa, dammit!" echoing across the pristine hillsides.

Not having enough of a good thing, a relative gave us a Mucho, a retired racetrack quarter horse who ended up being good buddies with Happy, although the two were very competitive out on trail and would race each other at the slightest urging.

Mucho and Happy doing what they liked best

Quite remarkably Happy would occasionally get visitors. A Mercedes or other fancy car would pull up, folks would get out, visit him a while and offer carrots, then depart. As it turned out, these were people who owned or rode him back when he was in his prime, kicking down stall walls and untying himself and a few nearby mares and running amok inside such places as the Cow Palace.

A divorce put an end to that rustic setting, Mucho went back up to the mountains, but I kept old Happy and moved him in with me when I started the boarding stable. We had all learned to become better riders, and Happy had mellowed with age, becoming a stable mount, even for children.

Josh, the 11 year old son of a family friend, would come out to ride Happy. One day, on his 4th or 5th ride, we sent them down to an arena to warm up while we fiddled with some tack on our horses. When we got to the arena we couldn't believe what we were seeing... Josh and Happy cantering through a jump course that someone had left set up. Josh didn't know enough to be afraid and Happy seemed to be enjoying himself immensely.

Josh and Happy,
along with Jeff and Prints,
on a trail ride (circa 1990)
Where's the airbag???
(Happy teaching Cathy and Josh
that the rider in the rear
doesn't kick a horse in the flanks!)

At the age of 31 Happy would still go out on an occasional trail ride, but his hips were becoming quite arthritic and for a couple of years we had to avoid impact and speed work. One morning just before his 32nd birthday, Sharon found him in his paddock unable to get up and having great difficulty catching his breath. The vet diagnosed him to be suffering from heart failure with little chance of improvement, so we had to relieve him from his mortal difficulties.

However, the adventures we had will be always remembered, and the greater adventure he set us upon, we are still discovering. He opened up a whole new world to us and for that we are ever grateful... (except maybe when we have to clean paddocks in the rain...)


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