Little Red Baron

While working on the ranch in Texas, I had sent Mayo to Maryland to be safe to foal out her Class Secret (by Secretariat) foal and to be bred to a Thoroughbred stallion named Oh Say.

Around lunch time on May 5, 1999, I got the wonderful news that Mayo had delivered a little chestnut colt in the early hours of the morning.   He was doing okay, but not great, so they were watching him closely, they said.   I was, of course, very worried about my new Thoroughbred colt, the first Thoroughbred I'd ever bred, being so far away from him and hoping and praying he'd be okay.

The next day, I got the news that he was running a fever and that they wanted to give him some plasma, antibiotics, etc, which I gave my permission for them to do, of course.

Another two days later, I got the wonderful news that Baron was now a normal active colt and that the vet thought all was fine with him and he was going to make it.   I was thrilled.

They kept telling me how bright red he was, the same red as his grandfather, the legendary Secretariat.   He may have received the bright chestnut coloring, however he had not received very much white, which, at first, was a bit disappointing, but I was fine with it, because he was now healthy.   He had a small white star and a speck of white on one hind coronet band.   His mother, Mayo, has a big blaze and two white coronets, his sire, Class Secret, had even more white than his sire, Secretariat, having 3 even higher white stockings and having an even bigger white star with connecting stripe.   (The picture at the top of this blog is of him at 4 years old looking down at me, as I sit in our front field.)

For some reason, I kept thinking of him as "The Little Red Baron", so I told them to call him "Baron", for short.   It was just one of those names that just came to me, even without seeing him, I just knew it was the right name for him.

On July first, I left the job in Texas, because it was just not working out, due to not getting paid in the 10 weeks I had been there, becides a falling apart trailer to live in and board for a few of my horses (Bunny, Petey, and Samson).   She did pay for some of my meals, if we went out, but mostly, I had to use what savings i had to feed myself, so I lost 12 pounds in the 10 weeks that I was there.   It was just not a very good situation, as there were some other problems, but I won't go into that now.

So, I returned to Virginia and immediately tried to get Mayo and Baron home to Virginia, despite my lack of money.   Luckily, I got a farrier friend to help me go get them and then later in August, I was finally able to get Bunny and Petey out of Texas, with the help of my Mom.   Samson followed shortly, when I offered him to a friend of mine, if she'd just pay for his shipping.  I knew her grandkids would love him and I just wanted him safe and out of Texas.   I knew the temperatures were getting even worse down there and that the places my horses were being kept had absolutely no shade.   I worried constantly about them, having no shelter from the sun, but luckily I got them out in time.   TO this day, I don't know how anyone could keep horses in Texas like that, with no shade.

So, in the middle of July, I got to meet my Baron for the very first time.   As the trailer pulled into the farm where they were boarded at in Maryland, Mayo saw me get out of the truck and neighed a very happy greeting to me.  I went straight to her stall and she nuzzled me.   It was strange, because Mayo is not usually a very affectionate horse, but I believe she had missed me, during our 3 1/2 month separation.   She nuzzled at Baron and encouraged him to go closer to me and I was briefly able to pet his head, before he stepped back to get a better look at me.   I knew there would be more time to get to know him, so we loaded them up on the trailer and headed back to Virginia, to the boarding stable I had found for them.

It was a beautiful place, wooden fences, green paddocks, nice barns, run-in sheds, and nice people to help take care of my horses, when I couldn't get out to see them, due to lack of transportation.   I was thrilled with the place.

My Mom would bring me out as often as she could, usually about once a week and I'd work with Baron, gaining his trust in me, which didn't take long, as he was such a friendly fellow.

I worked on teaching him to lead, to pick up his feet for the farrier, to stand for grooming, etc.  It was so much fun to work with him, he was a dream, from the start.

When Bunny and Petey arrived a month later, Baron and Petey hit it off immediately, and Bunny and Mayo were happily reunited with each other.   The two colts loved playing with each other and running up and down the fenceline with another colt, who was across the driveway from them, with his mother.

When Baron was about 4 1/2 months old, earlier than I had wanted to, I noticed that Mayo was starting to bite at him at feed times and pushing him away, so I had to make the decision to go ahead and wean him from Mayo, for his own safety.   I wasn't sure if it was Mayo loosing patience, as she was a first time Mom or what.

Bunny, on the other hand, was super Mom, she even invited Baron to come join them at her own bucket, letting the two colts eat before her or with her, all three taking turns.   In Texas, Bunny would be at a feed trough with 3 or 4 other foals, because their mothers had chased them away and Bunny seemed to feel sorry for them and allowed them to come join her and Petey.   So, it had continued with Baron.   Bunny consoled Baron when he was weaned from Mayo and a few weeks later I weaned Petey when he was 6 months old.

Baron and Petey were then put in with the other colt, Salem, a Standardbred.

At that time I was notified that the main part of the farm was being sold, but that the racetrack area, where the old man had his jogging track for his harness horses, would be fenced in and run-in sheds would be put up, as his son was getting to keep that section, as his house was near that and they split the land into two parcels.

Once the wire fencing was put up and run-in sheds were built, the horses were all moved to new paddocks, and that is when the trouble began.

I had gone to the Center for the Blind in Richmond to receive more training, hoping it would help me find a new job, even if I had to take an office job, I needed to work to support my horses, and I was trying hard to find work and get the extra training that might help me.   I could only get home about once every few weeks to see my horses and I started to notice that Baron was looking a bit thin, but I wasn't sure what to do.  I told the owners to make sure he got fed properly and got his fair share, which they assured me that he was, but something didn't seem right.  I also noticed that Bunny was loosing weight.   I could not believe this was happening to me again.  I kept thinking to myself about what was wrong with boarding stables and not feeding horses properly.   I started buying my own grain and told them to feed it and I'd bring more on a schedule.   I started buying it every two weeks, and at first, that was fine.

But, at this point, it was too late, I got a call late one night, while I was at the center, that Baron was laying down and would not get up.   I, again, turned to my father to go out and meet the vet, as the vet would need to be paid and to make decisions on my behalf.

The vet believed that Baron had developed Salmonella and tests were done that proved he had.   He was immediately put into isolation and had to stay there for months, until he was cleared by the vet.   It was touch and go, at first, he was so weak, but being a fighter, he was somehow able to defeat all of this and eventually was able to be put back in with Petey and Salem and a few other horses in that group.

In early 2000, I got a call that Mayo had lost her foal to Oh Say.  When I went out to see her, I found several kick marks on her belly and I called the vet.   The vet said that the blows could have definitely caused the loss of the baby.   She examined Mayo and said Mayo was also thin.  I showed her my other horse, Bunny, and she was even more concerned about how thin Bunny was looking.

I told her that I was also getting concerned.  Bunny's teeth were fine, it wasn't that, and I told the vet that I was worried that the people weren't feeding my horses the feed I brought for them or were sharing it with other horses of their own, but I didn't know another place that i could afford to move them to, at that time.

She recommended I keep trying to find another place and I kept on looking.

As spring approached, by chance I met a woman in the waiting room of a doctor's office, who was a small animal vet.  Right there, she offered me a job as a receptionist, I just needed to bring her my resume and she'd talk to her office manager.

So, in late May of 2000, I went to work at the vet office and now, I would have the money to move my horses, if I could only find a place nearby that was still within my budget.

As the spring turned to summer, my horses did not gain weight and the grain that I brought, religiously, every two weeks, was starting to still be there whenI'd return.   Before I knew it, two weeks worth of grain was lasting me 4 weeks.  I confronted the lady who was supposed to be feeding my horses, the owner's wife, and she said, something stupid, like she was just trying to help me out by stretching it.   I was like, "I have a job, feed my horses!"

When at the feed store, I told them I was having major problems and that I needed to move my horses immediately, and again things fell into place, as the lady said she knew of a lady who just had a few spots open up at her farm.   She gave me the lady's number and I went right home and called her.

I told her what was going on and she was so upset she agreed to take on my horses immediately.   That weekend she came out and we loaded Bunny, Mayo, and Baron, onto her trailer.   I had sold Petey a few months before, so at least he was out of there a lot sooner than everyone else.

I was so relieved to get to the new farm and my horses started gaining weight immediately, under the new care.   This time, I did not need to buy my own grain, it was included in the board and she kept her feed room filled, the hay barn was full, the stalls were clean, and everyone got one during bad weather.   It was such a nice change from the nightmare that had developed on that originally so picturesque farm.

Things were finally looking up, again, and it was a major relief, to have my Little Red Baron, safe, who now had been given the registered name of "My Messenger", which is the meaning of Malicah.