Foals in the Pasture

In the spring of 2004, we were expecting two foals.  Messenger of Light aka "leia" was in foal to Waquoit, due in late March and Street Dasher aka "Bunny" was in foal to Land's End the Colonel's Fox, due in late May.   Leia's foal would be apurebred Thoroughbred, hopefully destined for the race track and Bunny, an Anglo-Arabian, was carrying a foal by a Welsh Pony, hopefully destined for the top as a hunter pony.


As Leia's due date approached, I kept a close watch on her.  I set up the camera in the foaling stall, ran the cables to the house, so that I could watch her from the comfort of my den.   I knew she was getting close and started to stay up at night, sleeping in a recliner that was next to the small TV that I had hooked up to the camera.   Finally, I knew she was definitely close, probably within 24 hours.   I watched her all night, barely getting any sleep.   My husband got up about 7 or so and I told him that I thought she was close, but I desperately needed some sleep.    He promised to keep a watch on Leia for me.   He even offered to clean her stall.   So, i told him that when he cleaned her stall that he could let her out, but she would need to come back in as soon as he was done.

So, I laid down about 8 AM and slept for several hours.  I knew he would come to get me if Leia went into labor.   When i woke up, I went to the den and saw him sitting in his recliner and there was no Leia on the TV screen.  He told me he had decided to keep Leia out a little longer and would go out to bring her back inside in a few minutes.   I said, "OK, but don't wait too long."   I was starving, so I went to get something to eat.

I sat down and started to eat and I asked if he could look out the window to check on Leia, because of my vision, I can't see that far.   So, he got up and looked out the kitchen window and suddenly started yelling, "Red Alert!  Leia's having her foal!"

I lept up, leaving my food on the table, threw on my barn boots, grabbed the foaling bag kit and raced out the door, with him behind me.   I raced to the paddock and found Leia down and a foal laying a few feet away.   Leia had luckily laid down where a round bale had been, so it was one of the cleaner spots in the paddock.   As I assessed the situation, Gordon rushed to get Bunny and another mare, Shadow, out of the paddock.    Bunny didn't want to leave her friend, but reluctantly left when Gordon opened up the gate leading to the large back field.

Gordon then came back to help me.   The foal was up on it's chest and Leia was working on delivering the placenta.   I checked the foal quickly and discovered that it was a filly and she was large and appeared healthy.   Leia stood up and delivered the placenta.    Gordon and I then picked up the filly and moved them to the foaling stall.

I dried the filly off and we put betadine on her umbilical stump.   She was quickly to her feet and looking for her mother's milk.   As with Luke, Leia was an excellent mother and we decided to call the long legged dark bay filly, Princess.   She had a few white hairs, so we guessed she would be turning grey, just like her sire, Waquoit.

I was a little upset with Gordon for not putting Leia back in the stall, after cleaning it, like I had asked, but since everything turned out alright, I got over it quickly, as he learned his lesson.

A few weeks later, Leia and Princess left for Leia to go be bred to Zillionair, a rare colored cremello Thoroughbred.

Bunny was not due until late May, but as April turned into May, I started to think that there was a chance she would carry this foal shorter than the last two.   She had carried Tell A Tale for 361 days and Belle for 350 days.   On day 332, I checked her in themorning and she had a decent size udder and I talked to her and said, "Tonight you start staying inside for me to watch you."  

After breakfast, I turned her out in the back field with Shadow and Belle.   Belle loved being back with her mother.   Belle was almost 15 months old and was so beautiful.

That afternoon Gordon and I sat down to watch the Black Eyed Suson Stakes from Pimlico and enjoyed the race.   After the race, I was preparing to head out to feed the horses and bring Bunny in for the night.   Gordon went into the kitchen to put something away and the next thing I heard was him yelling, "Red Alert!  I think Bunny's had her foal!"

I lept up so fast and almost ran into the back door, I couldn't believe it.   I shoved my boots on and ran as fast I could to the back field.   They were in the far back, but were slowly making their way towards me.   As they got closer, I saw Bunny and Belle walking side by side and Shadow was circling them at about a 30 to 40 foot distance.   Inbetween Bunny and Belle I saw an extra head and got them to stop and Bunny, trusting me, let me get inbetween her and Belle to see the new foal. 

It was still soaking wet, but since it was up, it was obviously strong.  But we were still quite some distance from the barn, so I scooped up the foal into my arms and started carrying it.   Gordon finally made it out to us and offered to help, but I was doing okay.   I just told him to open gates and stall doors, on the way and to make sure that Belle and Shadow didn't follow Bunny and I.

Bunny and Belle kept right with me as I carried the foal, who weighed around 60 pounds.   As we exited the back field, heading into the paddock to the right of the barn, Gordon was able to get Belle to back off enough to shut the gate.   This made Belle very upset, she wanted to be with her mother and the foal.

Once we got into the foaling stall, I set the foal down and checked it over, "Another filly!"  I called out, with excitement.   She was so cute, had a huge star on her face, a white snip on her nose, and 3 white pasterns.   But, like Princess, we could tell that it looked like she would be turning grey, as Bunny was grey.

It took some effort, but the filly eventually nursed and was totally healthy, despite the early foaling date and surprise of being born in the pasture.   Because she was born about the time that the Black Eyed Susan was being run, we decided to call her Suzy.

When Suzy was strong enough, I reunited her with her big sister, Belle and Bunny was perfectly content for Belle to help out with Suzy's care.   It was so sweet to watch the three of them interacting.   I had heard of this kind of behavior in wild horses, where a mare's older daughter helped with a younger sibling, but it was the first time I had truly witnessed it first hand.   A lot of times people don't allow this kind of interaction amongst their herd, for fear of the older sibling hurting the younger one, but Belle was so gentle and loving, she'd do nothing to hurt Suzy.

Leia and Princess returned, when Leia was confirmed pregnant to Zillionair and shortly after that Bunny was confirmed in foal to Farnley Belshazzar, who had been the sire of Tell A Tale, born in 1999.  

I registered Princess as Quoit Blessed and she was eventually sold to a client, as a racing prospect, when she was a yearling.   She was given a chance to race, but due to some bad training, running her the wrong distances, and some bad luck, which caused a tendon injury, she never won, 4th being her best finish.   Princess is now the dam of two beautiful Jazil fillies.   I look forward to them racing.   They were born in 2010 and 2011, so I still have to wait a bit longer to see them race.

Suzy was registered as a Half Welsh Pony as Perfect Peace What a Blessing, sometimes seen with no space between "what a" to make it "whata".   I sent her to be trained by Sarah Warmack at Hilltop Farm VA, when she was 3 years old.   Sarah did a wonderful job with Suzy and started her show career.   Despite the starting of the decline in horse sales, we were able to get close to our asking price for Suzy, as she was so nice.   Suzy is a super nice mover and is always winning her hack classes and winning or getting top ribbons in her over fences classes as a Hunter Pony.   She was sold when she was 4 years to Kristin Mangum.   Suzy competes up and down the East Coast at A Circuit level shows, winning ribbons at HITS, Warrenton, Culpeper, Deep Run, Upperville, etc.   We could not be prouder of her success and look forward to hearing even more of her success as she continues to mature and develop.

Back to the Barn

I have been trying for over 2 years to get back to the barn on a regular basis. During a very difficult pregnancy, with my youngest child, I was put on bed rest, and was threatened with hospitalization, if I didn't be a good girl and stay out of my barn. After she was delivered, she was a very high needs baby that ended up with colic and reflux, she also was so overly attached to me that it made it very difficult for me to even do household tasks.

She is now 2 years old and is still high needs, but it is more emotional than anything else, these days. I try to get to the barn, but she would scream the whole time I worked with the horses and it really wore on me, making me choose not to hear her scream, so I stayed in the house, letting my wonderful husband do most of the horse work.

It has depressed me not to get to be with my horses, so I am now pushing the issue and thankfully, so far, she seems more receptive to being at the barn. Now old enough to communicate more, she can talk to me, from her stroller, as I work, and she can talk to her sister, or the horses.

On Sunday, as a family, we all went out to the barn. My oldest daughter, now 6 years old, got a set of kid sized horse brushes for her Birthday and it was time to truly teach her how to properly groom, versus just taking a bristle brush to the horse's coat for a few minutes.

My husband took the camera out and snapped pictures of the two of us, as I taught her how to use the curry and a more proper use of the stiff brush. He also kept an eye on our younger daughter.

Our oldest suffers from allergies, which unfortunately, does include a mild allergy to horses, so after about 15 minutes, she started to sniffle a bit, so I let her go play, while I finished grooming Belle.

Belle, who has been featured in some of my recent stories, is now 8 years old, and despite being 3/4 Arabian and 1/4 Thoroughbred, is one of the calmest horses on the farm, totally blowing the theory that some people have that "all Arabians are crazy" or "All Thoroughbreds are hot." She stood so calmly for my daughter's grooming lesson, I was so proud of her.

After I was done grooming her, I took her out of the barn and stood her up for a conformation picture, something we hadn't done with her in years. It took only one take, to get the above picture. Belle is the bay, you can't see it, but she has a huge blaze on her face, to go with the 4 white socks.

After I put Belle back in the stall, I pulled out her half sister, Myra, who is a 6 year old Half Welsh Pony. They are both daughters of Bunny. I have not gotten to Myra's story, yet, and I will, trying to go in order, somewhat, in my horse stories, unless something just comes to me.

I groomed Myra and then took her out for her photo shoot. Like Belle, I had not taken any conformation pictures of Myra in years. I cleaned them up as best as I could, but there are some mud stains on them, due to all the rain we've had. Myra is a grey, now almost white, so I did as much as I could, luckily, she wasn't too stained.

While Gordon continued to watch our girls and take pictures of them, I put Myra back in the barn and then fed the horses. It felt so great to be out there and working with them. I felt so lifted and energized, that not only did I go in and make 2 pizzas for dinner, I added brownies as a dessert!

Today, I took both girls out, before my husband got home and fed the horses and was so happy that my youngest didn't fuss one bit! She just talked to me as I came near her and talked to her sister and to the nearest horse to her, Mayo. She was so good and it makes me so enthused that I can actually now start going out to the barn, again! I can really truly start working with the horses, training Myra and Belle, grooming everyone on a regular basis, and just getting to know them all again. I can't tell you how happy I feel right now.

Messenger of Light and Feel the Force

A few months before Gordon and I got married, I was looking at a website for a farm that I had worked at, a few years before, and I was just curious what they had for sale, when I saw they were selling a mare, for a client, named Messenger of Light.   She was a gorgeous mare, foaled in 1988, sired by Halo, and out of the Chieftain mare, Tribal Envoy.

At the time, she had 4 foals of racing age, but all of them were sired by low level Texas stallions, a fairly well known pedigree expert actually told me to through those out, as they were "Texas trash".    None of these had raced and the lady selling the mare claimed that she had been told by the lady she bought the mare from, that the foals were being shown, instead of racing.   The mare was so nice looking, it was easy to believe such a story.

Messenger of Light, then had changed hands, after Texas, and was bred to Announce and Jules, quite a bit better than what she had been bred to.   One was an early 2 year old and the other was a yearling, at the time.   The current owner had bred Messenger of Light to Genuine Risk's son, Genuine Reward.  So, again, not to a very promishing stallion.

Gordon and I discussed it, the mare was very nice, came from a nice female family, as her 2nd dam was also the 2nd dam to champion Skywalker.  We were not interested in the foal she was carrying and we knew the lady who was selling her, was not happy about selling the mare, as she really wanted the foal, so I devised a plan to offer the lady the foal, if she would come down in the price.  I got her to reduce the price by almost half, so we decided to go ahead and buy her, upon my personal inspection and a vet checck.

So, Gordon and I went out to see her.   She was in the field and was so sweet.  She was just as pretty and perfect in conformation, as her pictures had shown.   She then passed her vet examination and so we bought her.

Because her cousin, if you think of it in human terms, was Skywalker, and Gordon and I are big sci-fi fans, and love "Star Wars", we decided to call her Leia.

The farm wasn't ready yet for horses, so we kept her at the boarding farm a bit longer and then a new neighbor of ours offered me a stall, so she could be just down the road.  I paid them board and I went out to see Leia as much as I could for the few weeks she was with them.

Once the barn and fencing were up, she joined Baron, Bunny, and Angel, at the new location for Perfect Peace Farm.

I tried to have the four horses out together, but for some unknown reason, Baron did not like Leia and would chase her.   So, I had no choice but to separate the group.   Bunny, who was pregnant with Belle, was kept with Leia, so the two pregnant mares were together, and Baron and Angel were paired up.

Leia was due about 6 weeks after Bunny, but since Bunny carried 10 days late, Leia foaled just a month after Bunny.

Leia delivered a nice looking colt that was a bit weak, at first.  He seemed fine the first 12 hours, so passed his first vet check, but when he was about 30 hours old I started to worry about him.  It was a Saturday morning, of course, and only one vet at the pracitce I used was on call.   I called her and told her my concerns, but since she was a new vet and not that experienced with foals, she was not concerned.  I was pretty upset with her lack of knowledge and concern and I did not like being treated like I was over reacting.

Luke was breathing heavily, his heart rate was high, and he was starting to develop a fever.

Still being new to the area, I did not know all the vets in the area, so I called the people down the road, that I had kept Leia with the previous summer, to ask for another vet recommendation.   They gave me their vet's number and she agreed that Luke sounded like he needed help.

I called this vet, told him what was going on and he said, "I'll be there in a half hour!"   So, that showed experience and concern, that I wasn't just over reacting. 

Once he got here, he said that I had acted quickly and praised me for being aware of what was going on with the colt.   He said that if I had waited any longer, that Luke would have developed pnuemonia.   Since it was borderline, we went ahead and treated him as if he had it, just to be safe.  He got a catheter put in his neck, so we could give him the antibiotics straight into his bloodstream.  We had to flush it out several times a day and give him the meds after flushing it.

Luke was a good patient and he quickly gained strength and soon was a healthy thriving colt.   His owner was very pleased with him.   We sent her pictures quite often.

Leia was then sent up to Northview Stallion Station in Maryland, to be bred to Waquoit, a son of Relaunch.  Relaunch had sired Skywalker, and Waquoit had a reputation of crossing extremely well with daughters of Halo, so we were very excited about this mating.

Leia got in foal quickly and was soon back home.   Luke grea a lot while theyw ere gone.  I'm always amazed at how fast foals grow.

Since Belle was now in the stall, due to her fractured pelvis, Luke had no one to play with, until Belle was finally cleared to go out that July.   They became quick friends and loved playing with each other.   Leia and Bunny were great co-moms, they'd let the other foal come near them, if their foal was at their side.  They helped each other out and took turns babysitting.

Belle and Luke were weaned in late August and in September, Hurricane Isabel hit us.   Belle and Luke shared a stall and were perfectly content.   All the horses were very calm during the storm.  

We were without power for a week, after Isabel, and shortly after that, Luke left us to go to his owner's farm in Pennsylvania.   Luke was registered as Feel The Force, because I could feel his strength as he fought, those first few days and you could tell he was a fighter.  It just came to me, and yes, it has a "Star Wars" sound to it, too.  I suggested it to his owner and she loved it.

I usually try to register the horses I breed with religious sounding names, but as I said, this name just came to me, so I figured it was just meant to be his name.

His owner said she planned to train him herself and race him, but I have not heard anything from her since Luke was a 2 year old.   I do not know what happened, we had a wonderful relationship, had become email friends, so I worry that something happened to Luke and she just didn't have the heart to tell me.   I stay in touch with just about everyone who gets a horse from my breeding program, as I try to keep track of what I breed or what I have even just owned, not bred, for a short time, so I know they are safe and I let everyone know that if they ever need to give the horse away, it needs a retirement home, etc, that I want to be the first person they call and I will take the horse or pony, if I have the space.  And if I can't take the horse or pony, I will do all I can to help them find it a good home.

So, if anyone out there ever hears of a Thoroughbred by the name of Feel the Force, born in 2003, sired by Genuine Reward and out of Messenger of Light, please contact me, so I know where he is.

First Miracle at Perfect Peace Farm

Bunny had given me my dream horse, Belle.  Belle was perfect in so many ways and from the beginning, she was so friendly, sweet, and easy to train.  Her first month of life flew by, with her learning daily and our bond getting closer and closer.

When she was about a month old I came out to the barn to do the morning feed and turnout.   I found her sprawled out in the middle of the stall.  She was trying to nurse from Bunny, while laying down.   Bunny, being such a great mom, stood still and let Belle do this.   As I entered the stall, I realized that they had moved all the bedding out of the center of the stall and had exposed to the stall mats, which were now slick with urine.

Belle could not get up on her own, on such a slick surface.   I quickly moved bedding out of the corners to try to help her get some traction, but she still required my help to stand.   I checked her over, and she was weight baring on all legs, so I just hoped she had bruised something and she would be fine.   When I turned her out she was a little lame behind, but it did not appear too serious, so I decided to watch her and see how she was in a day or so.

But the next morning, when I came out to the barn, she was down, again, but this time there was plenty of bedding under her, she had not moved it out of her way and she was not getting up.  I went into the stall and again, had to help her get to her feet.   It was at this point that I realized that there was something wrong, so I fed them and went back to the house to call the vet.

The head vet came out a few days later, as they didn't consider what I was describing a true emergency.  He looked Belle over, as I told him, there was no heat, no swelling, nothing outward to indicate what was wrong, but she was obviously favoring her hind right.  I told him she had gotten more lame over the few days, so he continued with the exam.  He started blocking nerves, starting with just above her hoof, no change.  Then he numbed her pastern, again, no change.  Next her ankle was blocked, same result.  The last attempt to locate the injury was to block her hock, but again, as before, there was no change.

He felt her stifle and did not think it was that joint, so at that point he started to think it was her hip.   However, we could not be sure what was going on without x-rays.   Since it is very difficult to get x-rays of the hip, I was told I'd need to bring her to the clinic, where she'd be put under sedation to get proper x-rays.

I called a friend of mine, Katie, and she and her father came a few days later to help me transport Bunny and Belle to the vet clinic for the x-rays to be done.

It took some effort, but I finally got Bunny on the trailer, as she remained hard to load from her bad experience years before.

When we got to the clinic, I took Bunny and Belle to a waiting stall, with Katie's help, and one of the junior vets and a tech met us and then sedated Belle.   Bunny remained remarkably calm as they worked on Belle, flipping her onto her back so that a proper image of her hips could be taken.

After the first image, he wasn't satisfied and another one had to be taken.

About 20 minutes later, I was given the bad news.  Belle's hips were fine, but her pelvis was fractured.  I was told that Belle would need at least 6 months in the stall and she still may not be 100% sound, only time would tell.

We loaded Bunny and Belle back up on the trailer, this time Bunny went right on for me, I think she knew we were going home.  

When we got home, I put them in their stall and cried.  My beautiful dream horse had a fairly serious injury.  She would probably live, but I may never get to ride her.  I had given up riding her mother several years before, due to Bunny's mental stress, from what I believe was abuse by a previous owner or trainer, I just couldn't believe I may never get to ride her daughter, who I'd dreamt of having for so long.

I was very worried about how Bunny might handle stall rest for 6 months, with Belle.   Bunny had gone through 6 months of stall rest, herself, in September 1996 to March 1997.  I did not know if she could handle it, yet again. 

So, I started to research how to raise an orphan foal, as Belle was only 5 weeks old, at this point.  I even called a farm in PA that was considered one of the authorities on raising orphans and got some great advice.

After another week, Bunny was starting to show signs of stress from the confinement in a 10 by 12 stall.   I could open up the foaling stall, but I was told not to, because they didn't want Belle moving that much, just yet.  So, I talked to Bunny, because I seriously believed she understood a lot of what I said to her.

I told her that Belle really had to stay in the stall and I didn't want to have to wean Belle at 6 weeks, but if she couldn't handle being in the stall, I would let her go out.  

Bunny remained a bit nervous or high energy, so after my husband got home, I decided to let Bunny out and see how things went.   I held Belle as my husband opened the outer stall door to let Bunny out, and then close it, separating mother from baby.   Well, Bunny went absolutely nuts that she could not get to her foal.  I let her run around outside of the barn for about 10 to 15 minutes and then I let her back in with Belle.  I told her that she had to calm down to get to stay with Belle, and I swear I never had any other problems with Bunny after that and her getting too high of energy.

After about 2 months of stall rest, only going out to walk down the barn aisle to be moved to another stall, I had the vet come out to evaluate Belle's progress, because she was becoming more and more sound as she walked.

At that point the okay was given to open up my foaling stall, which gave Bunny and Belle an area of 12 by 18.   They had two outer stall doors that I could open the windows to and two inner stall doors, but I kept those closed, so I could hang fans, as it was starting to get hotter, as spring was over half way through.

Bunny would calmly stand looking out of one of the stall door windows and Belle would pace back and forth from one to another.  I wish I could have closed one of the windows, but it would have gotten too hot.  So, I figured if she developed a slight pacing habit, I could live with that and maybe she would grow out of it after she healed.

When Belle was 5 months old, 4 months after the injury, the vet came out to evaluate her progress, again.  He could not believe what he was seeing.  She was so sound in the stall that while he was there, he had me turn Bunny and Belle out in the small 1/2 acre paddock, that came off their stall.  Belle behaved herself and did not run around like a maniac, like a foal who had been stalled for 4 months.   She did move around at a walk, trot, and slow canter, enough for him to realize that she was healing a lot faster and a lot more complete than he could have ever imagined.  What should have taken a minimum of 6 months, only took 4, it really was a miracle that she had healed in such a short period of time.

He told me that Belle could start going out on limited turnout, for a few weeks, slowly increasing the time she got outside.   After about a month, Belle was out with the other foal that had been born on the farm that spring, and happily playing with him.

For about another year, she would sometimes stand cross legged, behind, which is what she did, at times, to rest her pelvis, but slowly she did it less and less.   She was sometimes difficult to work with her hind feet, but by her 2nd Birthday, she was fine and the farrier was happy, too.

I continued Belle's training and she would trot in hand, knew all kinds of voice commands, and if i stood in front of her, she would put her head on my shoulder and give me a Belle hug.

Belle has never been broke to ride, there is a chance that her pelvis could be a bit weak, but maybe one day I will get on her back and see if she can handle my weight.  I had the vet check her, when she was 5 years old to see if she would be able to have a foal, safely, and the report was good news.   She stands only 14.2 hands, Bunny was 14.3 hands and Belle's sire, Rho-Quest (Khemosabi) was 15.1 hands, so she definitely ended up a bit smaller than I expected, but the vet said I could breed her, I'd just have to limit it to pony stallions who are known to sire smaller sized foals, even when bred to larger mares.   Belle has not produced a foal, yet, on two tries.  Once she didn't get in foal and the other time she did, but lost it at about 7 months gestation, out in the field, where we never saw it.  I am hoping to try breeding her in 2012 to Land's End the Colonel's Fox, who sired one of Belle's half sisters.  Perfect Peace What a Blessing is cleaning up in the show ring and I'd love to get a 3/4 sibling to her.

Belle, my dream horse, remains the first miracle to happen here at Perfect Peace Farm.  She has a life long home with me, she will never ever be sold or given away, she's mine forever!

My Dream Horse

For a very long time I had dreamt of having a spectacular blood bay with a blaze and 4 high white socks.  I even drew pictures of such a horse when I was in middle school.   I always figured I'd have to find one to buy, at some point in my life.

Since Bunny was not rideable, and I had learned that since I had rescued her, several of her foals had started winning big at A rated shows as hunter ponies, so I decided I would breed her, again.   I had sold Petey, her colt, that she had in 1999, as a yearling, so it had been a few years since her last foal, it was time to breed her again.

I had sold Mayo the month before and paid off all my bills and I had some money leftover, plus I was in a steady relationship with Gordon.  Though he hadn't asked me to marry him, yet, I think we both knew it was heading in that direction.   So, I discussed breeding Bunny with him and we agreed that it was the right thing to do and he would help me a little bit, in accomplishing it.

I started looking at stallions, ponies, Arabians, and small Thoroughbreds.  I did a lot of praying, thinking, and research.  I decided that it was time to try to breed to get a horse for me to ride, hoping for Bunny's superb movement and I would hope for a filly that I could always keep and that would also eventually be Bunny's replacement as a broodmare in my pony breeding program, that I dreamed of.

I had not started out wanting to breed ponies, but Bunny's first 3 pony foals all did well at the A circuit and in Virginia, which is very tough, so I kind of fell into it, but decided I liked it, too, and wanted to continue Bunny's legacy.   The free horse that no one had wanted had proven that she was worth more than just about anyone else had thought.

So, I decided, for this breeding, I'd look at Arabians and small Thoroughbreds, so I could get something big enough for me to ride, since I'm 5'7" and I'd look really funny on a pony.

I just couldn't seem to find a Thoroughbred that fit my needs.  Bunny being only 14.3 hands, I did not want to risk breeding her to a large stallion.  So, my focus then turned more towards Arabians.   If it was to eventually be a broodmare, if I got a filly, for me to cross on ponies to get hunters, I needed a specific type of Arabian.   It could not have too much knee action and it needed to have similar movement to Bunny, who was and Anglo-Arabian, sired by a Thoroughbred and produced out of an Arabian mare.

From my previous research, I knew that Bunny's Arabian side was over 90% Crabbet, about 95% CMK, and the other part was Davenport, as her tail female line went to a mare that Davenport brought to the US straight from the desert.

I narrowed my search further to high percentage CMK stallions and in doing so, I stumbled on a stallion standing not 5 miles from where Bunny was boarded.

His name was Rho-Quest a Champion son of the legendary Arabian stallion Khemosabi.  Granted, there are a lot of sons of his at stud, but I saw something I really liked int he pictures of Rho-Quest, so I made contact with owner.

I made arrangements to go see him in person and one Saturday morning Gordon and I went over to take a look at him.

He was very nice, a gorgeous sleek 15.1 hands, beautiful bay with 3 socks and a star that looked almost like a questionmark on his forehead.   His owner put him int he round pen so I could see him move.   I liked his trot, but when he picked up the canter, I was sold!  That was the stallion for Bunny.   It wasn't an identical canter to hers, but it was the closest I had found. 

No, with my vision being bad I can not see how a horse is moving like a sighted person can.   I can see a little bit, but what I can tell is with my ears and I can tell a lot more with my ears than most sighted people can comprehend.   I can tell how long a stride is, how sound a horse is, how heavy or light they hit the ground, and I believe I can get a good idea of how much knee action or lack thereof, by how they sound.

I can also use my hands to tell me a lot about a horse's condition, conformation, etc as an added assistance to my limited eyesight.   I can tell a lot in conformation and condition with my eyes, but I will admit I can miss some flaws, as they are harder to judge visually for me, but my hands can pick up the slack there, quite a bit.

So, I signed the breeding contract for Bunny to be bred to Rho-Quest and they came and picked her up a few days later.   I believe it was early June of 2001.

Bunny was kept there for a few heat cycles, but never conceived.  I had asked the vet about giving Bunny a shot to help her ovulate, but he didn't think it was necessary.   I told him that she had been given one when I bred her and got Petey, but he just argued with me about it not being necessary.   And the breeding season of 2001 ended with Bunny not pregnant.   The vet just said she was getting old and maybe was done.  But I knew different, she was 19, which is getting older, but my intuition told me the vet was wrong and had made me lose money and a breeding year.   But I trusted God and that he knew what was best and that there was a reason.

But the following year, I decided to get an early start, just in case it took a few tries to get Bunny in foal, but this time I absolutely insisted Bunny be given something to help her ovulate.   Since it was early March, he didn't argue with me this time, and Bunny was given a shot.

Well, she was bred and 18 days later she was confirmed pregnat!

I was so excited and started hoping for that filly that I so wanted, to continue on Bunny's bloodlines.

Gordon and I got married in July 2002 and in August the barn went up on our property, followed a few weeks later by the first round of fencing.   Baron was the first to arrive on the farm, actually two days before the fencing went up, so he lived in the brand new barn, by himself, but I opened up the foaling stall, so he'd have plenty of room and then I also put him in our backyard, for a few hours, to let him stretch his legs and graze a little bit.

Leia arrived the day after the fencing was completed and Bunny and Angel arrived a few days later.   I will write more about Leia and Angel in future posts, and the stories of how we got them.

Bunny settled right in here at Perfect Peace Farm, happy to be with her buddy, Angel.   She also made quick friends with Leia.

As winter approached and Bunny and Leia's pregnancies got further along, I separated them from Baron and Angel.

Bunny was due February 11th, a lot earlier than I had really wanted, but I would deal with any issues of it being cold, as they arose.   That January had been so cold that the water pump infront of the barn was constantly freezing and I was having to tote water from the house to the barn on a daily basis.

Bunny's udder started to develop in early January, so I started to worry about the foal coming early, but I also knew she had taken her time with Petey, carrying him 21 days past her due date.   But as her udder filled, I started watching her closely.

We bought a security camera and cables, placing the camera in the foaling stall, running the cables to the house, and hooking them up to a spare TV, so I could watch her from the house.   Bunny liked her privacy and I wanted her to have it.

February 11th came and went, with me diligently watching.   The lady across the street wanted to see a foal being born, so she was on standby and was getting daily updates from me.

On February 21st things were a bit different and I had a feeling she was even closer.   When Gordon helped me milk a drop of milk from her that evening, it was bright white, so I knew then we were in the homestretch.

At 10 PM, Gordon and I went out to the barn to do our nightly check of water buckets and I put my hands on Bunny to see if there was any change from the 6:30 check and sure enough I could feel a bit of sweat starting to develop on her coat, despite the temperature being in the 40's.

Gordon and I raced back to the house to gather up the supplies, grab the phone, etc and as we were doing this, I saw Bunny lay down and suddenly heard her water break.   I started calling for Gordon to hurry with what he was doing, as she was about to give birth.  I called the lady across the street as I raced back to the barn.

Bunny and I had a special connection and as I re-entered the barn and opened up her stall door, she got up and met me.  Now, I may not be able to see very well, but I can tell you I can sense things and what I sensed from Bunny was the message, "You came back!  Thank goodness!  I need you!"   

I gave her a reassuring pet and she circled the stall and laid back down.   Gordon made it out to the barn at this point, as I was kneeling behind Bunny to check for the foal's birthing position.   Everything was fine, as I reached my hand in, I felt one hoof, then another slightly staggered, and then a nose, just above the ankles, so everything was good.

As Bunny pushed with her contractions I kept talking to her and she started nickering to her foal who's head wasn't even out, yet.

Soon I saw the first white foot, then the other front, which was also white.  My heart started to pound in my chest even harder.   Bunny did seem to be having some trouble, so I grasped the foal above the ankles and gently helped pull when she was pushing.

The lady from across the street arrived as I was helping Bunny deliver the foal.   Once Bunny got the shoulders passed, she was able to get the rest of the foal out with no trouble.

I ripped the sack and exposed the little foal's nose and head to the air, as it took it's first breath.  It had a huge white blaze on it's face and we also now knew it was a bay.   The hind feet then came out and the foal had 4 very high white socks, to go with it's blaze.   My heart was leaping in my chest, it was the horse I had dreamed about for so long.   I quickly reached my hand under it's tail to find out it's gender.   My face lit up like a Christmas Tree, I'm told, and I could barely speak as I gasped, "It's a filly!  It's a girl!"

I immediately knew what to call this beautiful dream filly, "Welcome to the family, Belle!"

As Belle grew and learned how to use those beautiful long legs of hers, within a few days, I knew, Belle had received her mother's movement.  I had gotten everything I had hoped and prayed for and more, Belle was unbelievable, so perfect.   I was beyond happy with my dream horse.

Belle's formal name became Bella Serhafina, which means "beautiful heavenly angel", because that is what she was to me.  I put the "rh" instead of just the "r" in the Serhafina, in honor of her sire, Rho-Quest, and his sire, Khemosabi.  Belle bares a striking resemblence to her grandsire, Khemosabit, down to the same jagged sock on the same front leg.   What a blessing she is and a wonderful addition to Perfect Peace Farm.

Hurricane Irene at Perfect Peace Farm and a few Other Things

As Hurricane Irene approached and the air pressure started to drop on Thursday, it sent our oldest mare, Messenger of Light, aka "Leia", into a gas colic.   She has been sensitive to drops in air pressure, int he past, suffering a gas colic about once a year, for the past 4 years or so.   We gave her some Banamine and she was quickly much better and never had anymore signs of a problem.   We kept a close watch on her for the next few days, but it appears that this episode had been mild, thank goodness, so no vet was needed.

We brought the horses into the barn on Friday evening, as the rain was supposed to start between 3 to 5 AM on Saturday.   We filled up all 3 huge water troughs, knowing we'd lose power, we wanted to make sure we had plenty of water for the horses.   After Hurricane Isabel, we were without power for a full week, actually about 6 hours or so past a full week.   So, I wanted to be ready for the worst.

We had our tub filled with water, I had cleaned out milk jugs and juice containers, and filled them with water, and I had a few big pots of water for the dogs and cat.

We woke up on Saturday morning to strong winds and heavy rain, but still had power.   I started lunch shortly after we finished breakfast, as I wanted to make sure we had something nice to eat before we lost power.   I also had my husband run some of my frozen foods over to a friend's house, as she had space in her chest freezer for them and had a generator, so i wouldn't lose all my food.

My planning paid off and we lost power right after lunch, at about 1 PM.

We put our youngest daughter, almost 2 years old, down for her nap, hoping she'd sleep throught he storm and she did somewhat.   Her nap was a bit shorter than usual, but you couldn't blame her.

We had an old transister radio, so were able to listen to the news reports as to how bad things were, where the storm was going, etc.

Since we'd lost power I was not going to be able to watch any of the big horse races of this past weekend, but a friend of mine was willing to talk to me ont he phone and relay to me what was happening with the races.   I got to hear about the King's Bishop and Travers as they were happening.   She promised to call me the on Sunday so I could hear the big races from Del Mar.

Then it was time to feed everyone, so my husband went to check on the horses and feed them their dinner as I prepared our dinner in the house.

We got the girls ready for bed a bit earlier than their usual 8:30 bedtime and got them into bed as it got dark.

We had batteries to run the CD player for our youngest daughter, so she'd have her music to fall asleep to, but our oldest, almost 6 years old, was just a bit too scared by the wind and storm, so I laid some blankets on the floor next to my side of the bed and told her she could sleep there.

My two dogs, Nalley, an 11 year old Golden Retriever, my retired Seeing Eye Dog, and Dextra, a 2 year old yellow Labrador Retriever, my current Seeing Eye Dog, laid on the floor on either side of our oldest daughter.

Several times through the night, our youngest daughter woke up crying, so I had to go check on her.  I did try to bring her into bed with us, but she just will not sleep in our bed, prefering to play or talk.   When my husband started snoring she blurted out, at almost full volume, "Daddy, what are you doing?"    I tried to hush her and told her that Daddy was snoring, but she just wouldn't quiet down, so I took her back to her room, put the music back on and rocked her in the glider for a little while.   She did go back to sleep and I was able to get a bit more sleep.

We were then rudely woken up at 6 AM by our oldest daughter, who jumped up and called out, "There is no more storm!"   She was so excited that it was over.

My husband knew I hadn't slept well, due to our youngest, so he took our oldest and let me sleep in a bit more, as our youngest was also still sleeping.

They got dressed and went to feed the horses, let them out of the barn, and survey the damage to our property.

We were pretty lucky, no trees down, but some minor gutter damage and the roof over our patio got ripped off the house and flipped over the back yard fence, almost landing in our pond.   The legs are bent, the roof is bent, so I think it can't be put back up, it will have to be replaced, at some point.   Our mailbox also got damaged, so over all we were very lucky.

Sunday was hot, but there was a wind for mos tof the day.   In the evening we all went out to feed the horses and spend some time with them.

As they ate, Leia started to cough, and I instantly knew she was starting to choke, something else that she does about once a year, like the gas colic.   We were working with the other group of horses, but I kept an ear out for Leia and paid attention to how often she was coughing.

Our oldest daughter really wanted to get on the backs of Myra and Belle, our two ponies, well, Myra is a Half Welsh, Belle is just pony sized, but is an Anglo-Arabian, they are half sisters.   So, I led Myra, while holding our youngest daughter, and my husband held onto our oldest, as she sat on Myra, first.  Myra and Belle have not truly been broke to ride, but have been willing to let us put kids on their backs, so far, but this time, Myra decided she really didn't want our oldest up there, so let out a buck, but since my husband had ahold of our daughter, he was able to get her off and she was not hurt.   She was crying, but I think it was more from being scared.   She quickly stopped crying and I caught Belle and she eagerly got on Belle's back.   Belle was very good and didn't do anything, so that was great to help rebuild her confidence.

I noticed Leia was still coughing, so I said it was time for me to check on Leia more closely.   I handed our youngest daughter to my husband, so I could go into the pasture with Leia and Glory, to see how Leia was doing.   She had some snot coming out of her nose, due to her coughing fromt he choke.   I ran my hands down her neck to see if I could feel anything, but I just felt that all the muscles were super tight.   I then put my hands on either side of her neck and slowly and gently moved them from her throat latch area down towards her chest, trying to follow where her esophagus is.  I did this only twice, not really  knowing if it would help or not, but something just told me to do it, so going with my instincts and gut feeling, I did what just seemed to come naturally to me.   As I did this, I could feel Leia's neck muscles start to relax.   I led her around a few minutes, then turned her lose, when I realized she hadn't coughed even once since I had run my hands down her neck.   We stayed out there another 10 minutes or so and there was no more coughing.   So, the choking incident was also mild, just like her gas colic. 

I have never done that technique on a choking horse before and I just had a strong urge to do it.   The only thing I can tell you is that God was telling me what to do to help her, and because I listened she was healed and again, no vet was needed.

Let's just say my husband is so happy that in the two incidents with Leia, in the last week, that I'd saved us, easily, over $600 in emergency vet costs.

All I know is God has given me a gift to just know things about horses, what is wrong with them, how good they are going to be as race horses, if they are a nice spiritted horse or a mean horse, and so on.  I just have this sense and I want to try to use it more, share my gift.  I don't know how I will do this, but maybe some door will open for me to share this with others and not just use it on my own small herd or share experiences I've had with horses I've worked with int he past on this blog.

Sunday night was very hot and uncomfortable, as there was no wind and the humidity was up, but we managed to get a little sleep.

On Monday, a friend of mine offered to take my kids and I to her sister's house so we could all get cleaned up.   It was a nice break.

While we were gone my husband went for more ice and some milk.

Thankfully, at 9:30 PM on Monday, the power came back on, but since we were already in bed, the only enjoyment we got from it was that we turned on the fans.

Home phone is still not working, internet is super slow, but at least we have power now.   I've been trying to catch up on some new sin the world and some racing news and when I found out what Uncle Mo's owner said about finishing 2nd in the King's Bishop it has annoyed me greatly.    He said it was the "lowest of lows".   No, sir, sorry, finishing 2nd in a major Grade 1 stakes race is not a low of any kind.   When your beautiful 3 year old filly, who has the heart of a champion, is improving with each race, looks like she is going to finish a clear cut second, suddenly fades and is eased, then requires the horse ambulance to come get her to take her back to her stall, that is the "lowest of lows".   Being told she may not survive, because one of her sesamoids is totally shattered, that's a low.   So, please do not say finishing 2nd in that race was "the lowest of lows.", you have no idea.   I foaled that filly out, helped her come into this world, and it was a very difficult delivery, I halter trained her, loved her, played with her, etc, the heart ache of her injury was more than I can put into words.   Luckily, and praise God, she beat all the odds and is standing out in my pasture right now, and will hopefully be bred next year.   The jockey said it as a soft spot in the track that she found, it happens in racing, it's hard to deal with, loving horses the way I do, but it could have happened in the field, I've had horses get hurt in stalls, fields, etc, so I will keep racing, loving my horses, and taking care of them the best I can.

Her half brother is gearing up to make his first start this fall.   So, watch out for Marq Your Bible!

So, Hurricane Irene is gone, leaving some with more damage than we got and I know some lives were lost.  My thoughts and prayers are with those who's lives have been devistated by this storm.   I pray lives can get back to some kind of normal as quickly as possible.

Learning it's not Riding, but it's the Horse I Love

I was on a major high, Bunny was improving and we had just had one of our best rides, ever, on a Thursday afternoon, but the following Monday, my world came crashing down around me, when I got the phone call every horse owner dreads.   Bunny was hurt, kicked by another horse in her pasture.   I was told she had a cut on her hind left leg, she was acting a little lame, so the vet was on his way out.   I was told they'd call me back after the vet left.

Monday was not one of my usual days to go out to the barn, so I didn't have a ride, so I frantically started calling everyone that I knew, that might be willing to give me a ride out to the barn, but everyone was either not home or too busy.

I had a meeting to go to that afternoon, where voting would be held for the officers for the group of disabled students.  I had been acting President, because the previous year, I was elected Vice President and the President quit college.  I had asked for help from the Secretary and Treasurer, who had different disabilities from my own, meaning they were not visually impaired.   They did not help me at all.   I had worked to try and get a therapuetic riding program started at the college, as we had the horses, the students on the Equestrian Team were willing to volunteer their time, and a fraternity had offered to build a ramp, but the faculty just didn't seem to want to do it or even try it, but I kept fighting for it.   Well, at that meeting, I was not voted to any position at all, in the organization and I could hear whispers amongst the people of that other type of disability, as they all were of one type, about not voting for me for anything.   They voted themselves in, so that all the officers of the group, now had the same type of disability, so there was no longer any diversity in the officers to make it seem like they really stood for all disabled students.

After the meeting, I pulled aside a friend of mine, who drove,, and told her what was going on with Bunny, and she said she'd come get me in about a half hour.

I rushed back to my room, unharnessed Zach, my Seeing Eye Dog, and got him taken care of, so I culd get out to the barn and not worry about him.

My friend arrived and we rushed out to the barn.  I had not heard a word, from the farm all day, not since the call that morning, about the injury.

When I got there, I was told that the vet had to x-ray Bunny's hind left leg.  I was told he was worried it was a significant leg injury, possibly a fracture of some kind.   I rushed to the stall where they had put Bunny and she was still heavily sedated, her leg wrapped tightly.   Her head hung low, as I entered the stall and I just wrapped my arms around her beautiful head and cried. 

I just could not believe this was happening.  My beautiful horse, who had been through, who knows exactly what, in her earlier life, before me, but obviously some kind of abuse, obvious neglect, and now she may be fighting for her life with a leg fracture.

I was told that the vet would call me the next day with the results of the x-ray.

I stayed with Bunny for a long time, just hugging her, trying to comfort her and myself, at the same time.  Praying to God that she would be alright.   I started praying that she would just live, even if I couldn't ride her again, I just wanted her to live, because I loved her and I just didn't think it was fair that she'd finally found love and to have her life end so shortly after it.   It was September and we'd only been together since the middle of May.

My friend had to get to her evening job as a reader for a blind friend, so I had to tear myself away from Bunny and I promised that I'd get back out to see her as soon as I could, hugging her and kissing her multiple times, before I left the stall.

I got back to my dorm room and hugged Zach, who was happily waiting for my return.  I made myself dinner and as I was about to sit down to eat, there was a knock at my door.  It was one of the those other disabled students coming to talk to me.  She had been designated the one to come inform me why they had decided to get rid of me, in such a cruel manner.

I was apparently not doing enoughf or them, they thought I wanted all the glory over the therapuetic riding program, and so on.  They hated that I used the word "I" when referring to things that I, alone, had done, without their support, they wanted credit, too.   They had wanted to sit in on meetings with the faculty for the therapuetic riding program, but had not, because someone else had told them not to, not me, but I was the one they blamed.  They decided that they also thought that all the blind and visually impaired students were getting special treatment because the Director of Disabled Students was blind, himself, but this was the furthest from the truth.  Anything time they wanted a ramp put in, a curb cutout put in, anything, it was granted, we aske for the room numbers to be lowered to eye or shoulder level, with braille put on them, and no, that couldn't be done.  Nothing was done to help make things better on campus for the blind students, except for readers, given longer times on tests, and so on, but any additions to buildings, like numbers or names, being put in braille or at eye level, for us to read more easily, on our own, without always having to ask, was too much trouble.

These other diabled students blamed me for a lot more and the blind population for a lot more, and I knew, from previous experience with one  of them, that some of them were jealous that we could walk across campus on our own, with the help of a cane or guide dog, but they could get driver's licenses, so it made no sense to me, why they'd be jealous, but one of them had come straight out and said to me, "Well, you can get up and walk across campus anytime you want."   I pointed out to this individual, that she had a van parked in the parking lot, that she rarely drove.   Oh, well, I thought, if they were going to dislike or even hate a whole population of a different type of disability, it was their loss.

I called another blind friend of mine and he was so mad about my treatment that he was ready to start a revolt of some sort, but mostly I needed his comfort to talk about Bunny, since my roommate wasn't back yet, for me to talk to, and I had to talk to someone about all that was going on with Bunny and the organization, it was so much to take in, all in one day.

I do not know why different disability groups pit themselves against each other, it baffles me.  I think so much more could get done if the different disabilities would work better together, even at the college level, like I'm sharing in this story, that really happened.

That night, as I cried myself to sleep, I prayed again, just asking for Bunny to be alright and to live, even if I couldn't ride her again.

I waited all Tuesday to hear something, but I didn't.  I called the vet office, but I was told he was not available and that he was trying to consult with another vet, about Bunny's case, before he talked to me, which did worry me and frustrate me a bit.

Finally, on Weds. morning, I got a call from the vet and was told that Bunny's hind left leg was indeed fractured, the outer splint bone was broken, a clean break, and there was a hairline fracture to the cannon bone.   I was told she would probably live, but she would need to stay in the stall for 6 months.  Another option was to put a plate and screws in, but being a college student, I could not afford that, so he said we'd just do stall rest and see how she healed on her own.

I bought her a calcium supplement and I began part time work out at the barn, because I could not afford stall board on my limited income.  I worked off some of her board, by filling water buckets for over 50 horses, sweeping and raking the large barn aisle, helping clean tack, clean out the grooming and wash stall area, and any other odd jobs that I could do around the barn.

I bought her a blanket, as winter approached, because it was apparent she was not going to develop much of a winter coat, in her current situation and the area of the barn, she was put in, was more open air and if there was a cold wind, there was  not as much wall protecting her from it.

I hung a sign on her door, that the blanket was only to be put on and left on at night, if the temperature got below freezing, but I'd come out on days where it was in the 60's and find her still blanketed, sweating.   I would just cry.  I longed to be able to take care of her myself.   SHe developed thrush, while I was home on Christmas break, because no one bothered to clean out her hooves for me and her stall didn't get cleaned properly, because some of the pople who cleaned the stalls only thought of her as a "crazy Arabian".   True, it was a barn of 99% Quarter Horses, so some people showed their breed bias.  

There are some people in the horse industry that for one reason or another will decide they don't like a particular breed and there is nothing you can do or a horse of that hated breed can do, to change their minds.   I may have my favorite breeds, but I still like all horses and try hard not to trash a whole breed, just based on limited expossure to that breed, because you never know that horse's true background and if it is breed related issues or it's background due to poor handling, training, or even abuse.

Finally, I just could not afford to keep Bunny there any longer, so I started looking for another place to board her, in late January of 1997.  Happily, a friend of mine was working for a small boarding farm that wasn't too much further down the road from where Bunny was currently boarded and she promised to take excellent care of Bunny and help me in her rehab.

So, I moved her in Febuary.   At the six month mark, we started limited turn out, as the bet had said to do, but it was obvious that Bunny was still quite lame, so I had the vet come back out and x-ray her leg, again.   The news was not good, though the cannon bone had healed, the splint bone had not healed at all.

I was again, left feeling devistated, what was I going to do.   The vet said if it hadn't healed in 6 months, it was not going to heal, leaving her lame and probably in pain.   So, we discussed the options, I still could not afford the surgery to put a plate and screws in her leg, to stablize the bone, so the only other option was to remove the lower portion of the splint bone, from the break downward.   The vet could not tell me if she'd be sound or not, after this procedure, but she would at least be out of pain.   He offered to do it for less than he usually would do that kind of procedure, realizing the situation I was in and not wanting to have a horse be in pain.

So, Bunny ws taken to the vet clinic for the surgery, where the lower three quarters of the outer splint bone on her hind left leg was removed.   She stayed there a week, before my friend and I went to go pick her up and take her back to the farm.

It took us 45 minutes to get her on the trailer.   We believed that having to ride in a trailer, twice, with her leg hurting, had made her afraid to get into the trailer.   We finally got her on and I knew I'd have to work with her more, once she completely healed.

After a month rest in the stall, she started limited turn out, again, and I anxiously watched her on her first day out in the roundpen.   My friend, Mary, and I stood there waiting to see what she would do and it didn't take her long, before she started to trot around the perimeter of the circular roundpen.   We turned to each other and I don't remember who spoke first, but both of us were amazed at what we were seeing, Bunny was sound!

A few weeks alter the vet came out to check on Bunny and I had him follow us into the roundpen, Mary closing the gate as we passed through.  I turned Bunny loose and with my limited eyesight I just watched the vet's face, because I knew Bunny was sound, I wanted to see his reaction.   I sear, even with bad eyesight, I saw his jaw about hit the ground.   He turned tome and said, "Not only is she sound, but she has one of the best trots of any horse I have ever seen!"   He couldn't believe it.   He had not expected her to go 100% sound or sound that quickly.

He said I could start trying to ride her in a month or two, when she got stronger, and just make sure I paid attention to her soundness, which of course I promised I would.

But when Bunny was ready for me to start working with her again, it was like we had gone back to day one or actually even worse.   Her freezing episodes were more frequent, almost every single time I got on her back, I never got to go but about 10 to 20 feet, she just was terrified.   As I'd done before, i'd lean forward and hug her neck and just talk to her.

Through prayer and just being with Bunny, I made the decision, that I was right in my prayers, when she first got hurt, I did not care if I rode her ever again, I just wante dher to live.  Yes, it was a bit upsetting that I couldn't ride a physically sound horse, but I could not put her through the terror anymore.  Something about being ridden terrified her and I could feel and sense the pain, the emotional and mental pain, she was feeling, and I just could not do that to an animal that I loved so much.

Bunny and I had been through so much in that first year of our relationship and she taught me that it was not riding that I loved, but it was her, the horse itself, and riding was a perk, a plus, a benefit, and a privilege of horses and I learned that if you truly loved a horse, you would not put them through that kind of mental pain, just for the perk of riding it.   I didn't think it was fair to put her through that, so I decided that my beautiful Bunny would become a broodmare and most of all, Bunny would be my beloved friend, I'd never part with her, because I would not risk someone else trying to ride her.   It is what love does, it grows and learns to accept and to sacrifice.  No, I never felt that awesome canter of hers ever again, but I knew that if I was patient and found the right stallion to breed her to, she would pass it along to her babies and one day I would feel it again, just on her children, not on her.

My love for Bunny was so strong that I just knew I would not pain her any more with trying to ride her and I told her it was okay, that she did not have to worry anymore.   I knew she'd had a few foals before I got her, so I told her she would get to have more babies and I swear I sensed happiness from her, that this was what Bunny wanted and she would pay me back for my love and understanding, in time she did, when Belle was born in 2003, she gave me my dream horse.