Chester Lenzendorf

On Thursday night October 25, 2007 Chester laid down to sleep in the pasture near the oaks below the barn. Friday morning he did not wake up. Chester now sleeps peacefully near the oaks on our farm on DuCharme Ridge but I am sure his spirit freely roams the woods and pastures of all Crawford County. Chester came to our farm in June 1989 and was to be Ambers riding horse. However Ambers age (10) and size (she stood in front of him and fit right under his neck) prompted him to become Dennis’ horse and Sonny was purchased for Amber. Cody would soon follow and within one year Chester had two pals on the farm. The trio became known as the “boys” and soon became fixtures in the pasture around our house as well as Jeff and Brenda’s lawn. Chester became a legend for some of his escapades on DuCharme Ridge. When Jeff and Brenda were building their house across the road from the pasture his curiosity got the best of him. He found (or made) a hole in the fence and wandered up to check things out. The garage was a nice large space with a dirt floor and it seemed logical to Chester that some fertilizer would be needed to get grass growing in there. So he made a large contribution right in the center and wandered up behind the house to see what was going on up there. He could hear a lot of noise in the basement of the house and thought he should check it out. Windows in the basement were open and it would take more than a screen to keep Chester out. He busted his head through the screen and the contractor nearly had a heart attack when he looked up and came face to face with Chester. We always had a sense that in Chester’s mind he thought he should live in the house with us. One time Dennis was getting ready to take a ride and I was holding the reins while the saddle was being put on. Dennis walked away for a moment and I went into the house to get something leaving the door open only to turn around and Chester was standing in the entrance looking around like he belonged there. Chester was in a 4th of July parade in McGregor with Smokey the Bear, he enjoyed trail rides all over DuCharme Ridge and up to Eastman. He was a master of disguise, white in the winter, gray in the summer and as you can see in the picture above, a large fall mud puddle to roll in made him a “horse of a different color”. Chester was a large horse but he was very gentle and loved to be brushed. We will never know why he left so soon we think he did not suffer. We do know it will be different now without him here. We feel confident he knew how much we cared for him and we can only say “Good-bye old friend. We will miss you.” But it was your time to leave.