It is with great sadness that we report the passing of our foundation stallion, Gelan, on November 19, 2006. He was a very large part of our lives for over 23 years and was a good competitor as well as a good sire. His many offspring have gone on to great successes and brought a lot of pleasure to their owners. Though Gelan had been retired from riding for several years after old injuries lead to arthritis, he maintained a wry sense of humor and had a zest for life.
That final day started as any other and Gelan enjoyed the success of dumping Charlie's wheelbarrow and he often tried to do. In the early afternoon, Gelan had gone down in his paddock to roll and was unable to stand again ... his right hind leg would not push up or support him. Without any power in the left hind after a previous stifle injury, he relied on the opposite hind. Our Veterinarian attended quickly and determined a loss of sensation in the right hind, possibly a neural trauma. Although we did manage to get him up, he was not able to support his own weight or walk. The day had been a grey, cold and rainy one, yet the weather broke for a short while and Gelan enjoyed the feel of sun on his face and a patch of green grass at his passing.
Thank you to everyone who has been a part of Gelan's life, and ours - Linda, Charlie, Glen, Julie, Kip, Desiree, Nico, and many others. He was a very strong personality and chose his friends and work partners carefully. For those he respected there was no quitting or stop ... he would go to the ends of the earth. Though not particularly tall by today's standards, he had a magnificant presence and to those who were at all intimidated by him he enjoyed the game and missed no opportunity to look sideways at them ... we could see him enjoy the wry humor of the situation and be convinced he was smiling, yet he never took advantage of it. He was so confident of his own strength of personality as was his dam. Partners such as these do not come along very often and we had the priviledge of knowing two. Thank-you Gelan and Gaylorn.
