A Bittersweet Goodbye as a Rider Gets a Hospital Visit from His Horse

Photo via Kari Ann Cole/Bluefield Daily Telegraph Facebook

West Virginia horse owner Steven Ford knew his battle with cancer was coming to an end. He had been undergoing treatment at Roanoke Memorial Hospital, and according to the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, he wanted to spend his last days at home. Unfortunately, because he was on life support at the hospital, he wouldn’t be able to make the trip.

Wednesday, June 8 was Ford’s 39th birthday, and his friends and family wanted to make it as special as they could for him.

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“The only way I could do it was to take home to him,” Amy Rose, a friend of Ford, told the Daily Telegraph. “We asked if there was any way they could take him outside and see Boogie.”

Boogie was Ford’s horse. Finding a way to get Ford out to see Boogie took some logistical planning, but after some discussion, hospital staff determined that it could be done. Rose went and asked Ford if he wanted to see Boogie.

“And he shook his head yes and was just crying and squeezing my hand the whole time,” said Rose. “He wanted me to bring him home and I just couldn’t, so I just took Boogie to him.”

Friends trailered Boogie to the hospital and adorned him with the balloons that had been brought to decorate Ford’s room. Hospital staff equipped the life support system with battery packs so that it could be used outside of the building.

“He loved every minute of it,” said Rose. “[Boogie] just fell right into Steven’s hands. He just stood there and let Steven pet him.”

Ford passed away the following day. He left Boogie to Rose.

According to the Daily Telegraph, plans for Ford’s funeral on Saturday included Boogie, who would be led in the funeral procession with an empty saddle as a tribute to his rider.

9 years ago

Leslie Potter

Leslie Potter is a graduate of William Woods University where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Equestrian Science with a concentration in saddle seat riding and a minor in Journalism/Mass Communications. She is currently a writer and photographer in Lexington, Ky. Potter worked as a barn manager and riding instructor and was a freelance reporter and photographer for the Horsemen's Yankee Pedlar and Saddle Horse Report before moving to Lexington to join Horse Illustrated as Web Editor from 2008 to 2019. Her current equestrian pursuits include being a grown-up lesson kid at an eventing barn and trail riding with her senior Morgan gelding, Snoopy.