Wyoming Endurance horse remembered as companion, champion

Laramieboomerang.com - Full Article

By IKE FREDREGILL
ikef@laramieboomerang.com
May 7 2017

Tala died on a Friday.

A month shy of 34 years old, the caramel-colored Arab mare with a fleck of white between her eyes looked up at her longtime owner, rider and friend, Bonnie Swiatek, whinnied weakly and struggled in vain to stand.

It was April 7. The wind was calm, and the sun was warm.

“She picked a good day to die,” Bonnie writes in memoriam.

Tala’s packmates — Sage, Rocket and Sky — knew she was dying for some time, Bonnie said.

But while the mares hung their heads and refused to eat, Bonnie wiped away her tears, straightened her back and took to the mountains to remember Tala as she truly was — an endurance horse.

Tala lived two lives. First, she was a cow pony at Connie Wilbur’s ranch east of Laramie, where she was born.

Tala put in 16 good years for Connie before meeting Bonnie, who bought her for endurance racing in 1998.

“I never expected her to win anything,” Bonnie recalled.

“But she was fearless — she would try anything and do anything...”

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