From: dahead00@nx28.mik.uky.edu (Zippidy Do Dah)
Subject: Re: Morbid question ...
Organization: University Of Kentucky, Dept. of Math Sciences
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 12:59:42 GMT

In article <sysmatt.718449901@aix3090b.uky.edu> sysmatt@aix3090b.uky.edu  
(Matt Simpson) writes:

Stuff deleted....

> I realize that the disposition of a corpse is a personal decision, and 
> there are lots of different beliefs. Personally, I feel that as long as  
the
> death itself is humane, I don't care what happens to the carcass, and  
I'm not
> going to go to the trouble of digging a horse-sized hole. But if it  
makes you
> feel better, and it's legal in your area, why not? 

Not to ramble but this reminds me of a story from my childhood....
After being around thoroughbred horses all my life I decided at the tender  
age of 13 to break from family tradition and found myself working for on  
one of the major standardbred farms not only in my native Bluegrass region  
but also in the US......   Needless to say they had a large operation for  
breeding, breaking, training, etc..  This of course meant they had  
hundreds of horses and when one of them died a call went out to Lee dog  
food to come for the body...   Well one day we had a sudden thunderstorm  
come up and this older mare that we were boarding was struck and killed by  
lightning and according to custom the body was removed from the farm in  
due haste..  It turns out the owner was a sweet older woman who assumed  
when any horse died it was given a proper burial on the farm..  To further  
complicate matters she lived up east but just happened to be visiting  
friends somewhere near Lexington and decided to show up unannounced to pay  
a visit to her beloved mares graveside..  At the time I was working in one  
of the really nice barns they were using to break and prep yearlings for  
the upcoming fall sale.  It was a beautiful barn with a couple of large  
shade trees out front to make it a perfectly pleasant picture worthy of  
any postcard.  The only thing to mar the general appearance of the place  
was the fact that a HUGE hole had been dug out front near one of the trees  
as they were doing some sort of repair to the water system on the farm..  
Well we were at work bring the yearlings in from the fields as we noticed  
this car driving real slowly down from the stallion barn and thinking it  
was just another tourist did not give it much thought as we were more  
concerned with finishing our work so we could leave for the day.  However,  
we did pay attention to a truck that was commin up from the opposite  
direction as it was one of the farm managers coming to check up on us  
before he would give us the OK to leave for the day.  Our manager was a  
typical hardbooter who eventually went on to start his own operation but  
we knew him as a taskmaster with a quick mind a wonderful sort of downhome  
humor about him.  Well his truck and this car met up about the same time  
right in front of the barn. After the introductions had been made he  
realized that the woman he was talking to was the owner of the mare that  
had been struck by lightning.  I guess he saw how upset she was and just  
couldn't bear to tell her the true fate of her horse so he led her out of  
her car over to the spot where they been working on the water line and  
told her that was where her mare had been buried.  he went on to explain  
that they had chosen this spot because it was one of the prettiest spots  
on the farm (which it was as I had often taken my lunch under one of those  
great big shade trees).  Well she stayed there for a while then thanked us  
and drove away.  I never saw her again and eventually ended my tenure and  
went back to working with the racehorses I had grown up around but not  
before doing a little growing on my own. As I said the assistant mgr went  
on to start his own farm and when last I heard he had done quite well for  
himself but by then I was far from the standardbred business.  I still  
drive by that farm though and it is still beautiful and well maintained as  
it was when I was there but I always crack a smile as I remember that day  
when two ordinary people with different views on death met on the same  
plain for a little while........