AQHA Blog: Squeakie
Image by Suzanne Couch, courtesy of AQHA
From the AQHA Blog:
By Suzanne Couch
I have been showing over 35 years with AQHA and other shows. Over my 35-plus years of showing, I have seen tons of horse show dogs, but only three horse show cats and one of them was mine. May of 2008, I acquired a kitten from a local farmer. The kitten was tiny, and little did he know he was to become my “horse show cat”! Every time I loaded my horse (Afancy Scotch) in the trailer for a show or a weekend at the trainers, Squeakie the kitten was there with me.
His place in the truck was on the console where my right arm was his pillow. At fuel stops, he sat up on the console and kept an eye on me. Unloading and getting set up at the shows, he sat patiently and watched. When all was ready with the livingquarters trailer, I would go to the passenger door, call him and he would climb into my arms. Friends at the shows would ask if I’d brought Squeakie. My answer would always be, “Of course!”
On a 2010 trip to the Houston Livestock Show, we pulled up to the guard to check in. The guard came to the driver side as I rolled down the window. There sat Squeakie on the console looking the guard in the eyes. The guard burst out laughing that of all his years working that show, he had never seen a “Cattle Kitty”! He called out all the other guards to see him.
For 14 years of shows, he traveled with me and “Lilly.” It added up to 144 shows and over 105,000 miles, where he was my traveling companion. He also went with me and my husband, Larry, on our annual vacation to Wyoming. That was 15 trips to Wyoming and 60,000-plus miles. He slept with us in 24 different states over the years.
November of 2022, Squeakie passed away leaving a big hole in our hearts. I told a friend, “There will never be another kitty like Squeakie.”
He replied, “There does not have to be.”
He was a very special cat and I think I will always miss him.
Thank you to Suzanne for sharing this special blog with us and with AQHA! We met Suzanne, a lifetime DIY Amateur, at The Orange Blossom Classic in Ocala in 2024. Watch her interview here:
