Lost Creek Dunc'n Hawk
ILR # 291712
male b. 06-06-2018 . . . d. 02-18-2022
Eagles' Nest' Americus ("Bull") x Lost Creek Sagehopper
Dunc'n was a sturdy fellow, shockingly reminiscent of paternal grandsire Gold'n Hawk in his abundant brillo-pad guard hair, color, heavy build, ears, head, and disposition. In addition, Dunc'n had Sage's excellent gaits with an even better natural trot. Dunc'n's total package oozed "harness potential" and had Gwen drooling over the possibilities.
We planned to retain Dunc'n as a gelding (his notable shyness with humans wasn't something we wanted to pass on), but unfortunately his life was cut short for reasons we'll never know. Dunc'n went from perky and normal to down and in pain overnight. Our vet was stumped — a lot of symptoms pointed to a gut issue, but without a tense abdomen, directing treatment toward the gut (let alone pursuing surgery) made no sense and would have been unwise. Dunc'n passed away less than twelve hours after the first signs of trouble. We took his body up to OSU-VDL for necropsy (as we often do), but were turned away by an inept and uncooperative "emergency contact" person, which made Dunc'n's loss that much more difficult to bear.
"Duncan" is a Scottish name from two words meaning "dark or brown" and "battle or warrior." Dunc'n was a very dark color, and his mom had a battle to birth him (a very long labor culminating in dystocia, in this case both front legs needing repositioning). Dunc'n's resemblance to Gold'n Hawk was unusually striking from the start, and we were compelled to find a name that referenced his beloved paternal grandsire — Dunc'n Hawk fit perfectly.