DAN (MOORE SUNBAR)

DAN,

Birth Name: MOORE SUNBAR

Born April 15, 1978

to BAR'S BABE AND MARYETTA MOORE

in Cologne, Minnesota

Occasionally, I find myself hashing

over and over in my mind,

the questions asked by Mr. Berry

at both my Deposition,

and the trial of Jason Meduna.

**********

During the Deposition on August 24, 2009,

those present were:

Mr. Berry; County Attorney, Jean Rhodes;

Cynthia Brandt, RPR; and myself.

Mr. Berry asked if one of our

horses was a Palomino.

I felt immediately he was referring to Rayu,

as told to him by Jason Meduna

that we had stolen Rayu.

I replied, "We had a Palomino."

He than asked,

"What happened to that horse?"

I'm surprised I was able

to get through the question with no tears -

"He's dead."

"How did that horse die?" he asked.

"We put him down."

Has Mr. Berry ever owned horses,

or was this just lawyerism coming through?

I'm not saying he was being

a bad man, or mean...

I just don't think he's ever had

the good fortune to have a horse,

that is loved by the family.

My mind was in a whirlpool.

He continued, "And why was that?"

My reply as best I could,

"Because he was so old.

He had ........... just age."

***********

I paused at my last answer.

Trying to find words. There weren't any.

I could have elaborated,

but I knew I would no longer be able

to hold down the lump in my throat.

I could have said that he was almost 30 years old,

had lived a life of adventure,

work - which he loved,

had lots of friends: both humans and horses.

He was an adventure to ride.

He was Don's horse.

As he got older, he was passed down to me.

I had to wait until he was older,

the bugger was hard to hold back.

He wanted to run like the wind,

and he could.

He loved to run, and my only thoughts,

besides exhilaration,

would be that he would not tumble

into a huge gopher hole as we flew!

He never did stumble,

as sure footed as he was.

He was anxious to work cattle;

when a saddle was put upon him,

pleasure riding was the

furthest thing from his mind.

It was time to find cows.

I could have told Mr. Berry all of that.

I should have said the Palomino

you're thinking of, Rayu -

has never been on our place.

I understand what Don means by wishing to have the memory of certain animals locked in his mind, and not on photos. He thinks photos can be too hard. When I found the pics of Dan for this blog, it was as if a small tsunami had suddenly rippled from the top of my head and out my toes. It is hard to see. But it's important to me for all the pictures, to pass on. He was laid to rest deep in the ground, we had a 'service' for him, said our good-byes...... he was a friend.

***

Jason Meduna told many people

that the Freibergers did not own horses.

If we had owned all of his horses,

instead of him.....

they would not have suffered.

***

DAN

April 15, 1978 - April 1, 2008