The Percheron, a breed of draft or work horse, died Saturday, and the Weeks family, along with friends, members of the equestrian community and others who knew him, are mourning his death but also celebrating his life.
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| Pictured is Charlie, the Percheron draft horse, at the Elkhart County 4-H Fair in 2005. |
He led carriages for weddings at Bonneyville Carriage Rides. He helped with traffic control during the fairs and the Bonneyville Celebration. He even accompanied Weeks for fox hunting in Michigan for several years.
“I think he was special because he could do so much. He had such a good attitude. There was never anything he wouldn’t do,” Weeks said. “Pulling a carriage, being dressed in ribbons at the Wiccan wedding. He was OK with it all.”
Besides being a ribbon-winning horse — he won in 46 classes in 4-H competitions — Charlie left an impression not only on his human family but those around him as well. Aptly dubbed a gentle giant, the large white horse attracted attention wherever he went, and he loved it.
Whenever Charlie was at the fair, the Weekses were presented with many astonished faces and questions about just how big he was.
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| Mya Weeks and Charlie in a dressage class in 2012 |
“He always had this happy-go-lucky attitude. Clint Yager called him ’Good Time Charlie.’ That horse was always happy,” Weeks said.
All Charlie wanted was to be petted and do things for you, said Yager, a friend of the family and owner of Bonneyville Carriage Rides.
“No matter what you wanted to do, he loved to do it,” Yager added. “I never had to worry about him kicking anybody or stepping on anybody or doing anything to hurt anybody. He just wanted to be petted.”
In fact, Charlie was great with children no matter how young they were. Weeks’ three daughters and one granddaughter, Mya, grew up with the horse, so he learned quickly to be careful of the small humans.
Mya’s first time “riding” Charlie was when she 8 months old, while being held by her grandmother. The now 17-year-old officially started riding him at age 4.
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| Shelby Weeks and Michelle Weeks stand next to Charlie's, a Percheron draft horse, empty stall Wednesday, Jan. 27 in the horse barn at their home in Middlebury. Charlie died on Saturday, Jan. 23 but the family celebrated his 24 years with them by recounting memories of him. (Elkhart Truth photo/Amanda Wilkinson) |
One of her favorite memories with Charlie was six years ago, during a drill team performance at the fair parade. A fire truck’s sirens went off, and, despite both of them being startled, Charlie kept his cool, Mya said. He learned quickly he shouldn’t be afraid of sirens.
While the Weekses’ children grew up with horses, Michelle said Charlie was the biggest of them all and had a lot of character. Michelle, Shelby’s daughter, once was napping in front of his stall during the fair and he nudged her off the bench because she wasn’t paying attention to him.
“He was always very friendly, very much a character, and always the first one in the barn during feeding time,” she said with a laugh.
As the family recounted their many happy memories with Charlie, Shelby thought of ways to mark his time on Earth with them. She plans to plant a weeping willow tree where Charlie was buried in their pasture.
Although the Weeks home already is decorated with multiple oil paintings of the white horse, Shelby said she will continue painting her friend of 24 years. The hardest part will be not being able to look for Charlie in the pasture from her easel during the summer.
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| Pictured is Michelle Weeks and Charlie at the Elkhart County 4-H Fair in 2002. |
Although she knows the animals she keeps won’t live as long as she does, Shelby said she was hoping Charlie would live forever. Even in the short time Charlie was with them, he filled the Weeks family with love and loads of fun, she said.
“We kind of make the deal that you’re going to get all that love and all that fun and, oh my gosh, he was so much fun.”
(Elkhart Truth - Jan 28, 2016)
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