Horse carries Cedar Rapids rider to final resting place

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - A Cedar Rapids man who loved horses and spent years competing got his final wish Saturday as he was carried to his final resting place.

Jim Powers was carried to his final resting place by his horse Remington and fellow competitive horse rider Andria Pooley.

Powers rode horses competitively until suffering a stroke in 2020. He never got the chance to ride again before his death earlier this month.

“Jim wanted so much to just ride his horse one more time, and today we were able to make that happen,” Pooley said.

Powers found a passion for horses later in his life. That’s how he met Pooley.

“I was 8 and he was 50, and we were both learning to ride together at the same barn,” Pooley said.

Powers competed in jumping, dressage, and cross-country events.

“He’d be on a horse every day if he had a choice, but we’d go out to the farm almost every day,” said Patricia Powers, Jim Powers’ wife.

Patricia Powers said it was important to honor his final wish.

“He always wanted to have one last ride on a horse. And he wasn’t able to do that because of his stroke and so we took care of it. He got his last ride,” she said.

Pooley said the ride honored everything Powers meant to the horse community.

“He always showed up to horse shows and was competitive and there and in it. And I think we could only all hope to have that same spirit going forward,” Pooley said.