Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Debbie on June 18, 2009 at 4:29pm

What do you do when your beloved horse dies? You remember the good times you had together and that’s exactly what this story is about – a wonderful partnership, a lifetime of riding adventures, and choosing to put a horse down instead of sending him off to slaughter.

I was “Captain Miller” Barney’s owner, rider and #1 fan since 1986. He caught my eye in a show ring at the Moose Jaw Exhibition in the province of Saskatchewan. Captain Miller was very handsome four year old – a flashy, spirited dark bay, full of mischief with a love of carrots. He was passed over by the hunter-jumper groupies in Saskatchewan; not because he didn’t have the size or stamina but because he’d rather befriend the judge than go about his business on the jumping course. The jumping group’s loss was my gain, as Barney went from a ‘for sale’ horse with ‘jumper possibilities’ to a people-loving , family pet.

Barney attended many horse shows, wore the RCMP regalia for a full summer in Regina participating in the weekly Sunset Flag Lowering Ceremonies; belonged to the Qu’Appelle Hunt Club where he regularly joined the hounds on drag-scent hunts for miles across the prairies; attended many riding clinics under some of the best Olympic equestrians of the day; won awards for his participation in Santa Claus parades in Bowmanville, Thunder Bay, Windsor and LaSalle; and was the mascot for the RCMP in Windsor for such events as marathon fundraisers, VIP functions and tourist visits.

Barney was hauled by horse trailers halfway across Canada several times to catch up to our moving van as we were transferred from city to city and probably walked the other half during all the trail riding we did together. We met many wonderful people through his stable buddies. Latterly, he was a familiar presence around the trails of LaSalle and Windsor in Ontario, where he had many adoring fans who never failed to show up with carrots and apples when we passed by their houses. The children loved him and he always stood patiently while they stroked his nose and patted his neck. He was also my ‘deer-hunting partner,’ as we scoured the back woods of the area to find those secret alcoves where the deer hide during daylight hours.

Those memories I will always cherish as moments of serenity which we both shared with Mother Nature….a soothing time away from the hustle and bustle of everyday living. Rain, hail, sun or blizzard, the two of us were always together enjoying the great outdoors for over 22 years across Canada.

So it was with great relief that he ended his days peacefully, passing away on ‘humane terms’ and not being hauled off to the slaughterhouse where he would have ended his days herded into a van by strangers, scared and away from home, taken to Sudbury and rendered as dog food or fertilizer, which appeared to be the only choice for livestock pets who have served their masters but are no longer useful. That was not the choice I wanted for my pet. I didn’t have the heart to hand Barney over to strangers who would take him, uncaring, to his death.
For anyone who is approaching the final days of a horse-loving partnership, remember to treat your best friend with kindness in the final hours so the rainbow to heaven will be easier to cross…for both of you.

Debbie

Permalink Reply by Barnmice Admin on June 18, 2009 at 5:13pm

Who knew we had such amazing writers and photographers in our community! I'm reading all this and bawling my eyes out!!

Permalink Reply by Margaret H. Ostrowski on June 18, 2009 at 11:28pm

Attached is my submission

Attachments:

• Partnership and Courage Contest 09 MOstrowski.doc, 26 KB

Permalink Reply by Nicola Barnes on June 19, 2009 at 2:37pm

PARTNERSHIP:
To Storm, my favourite Palomino mare!

Storm, I love you so much,
Your beautiful mane flowing in the wind.
I've never seen a horse more beautiful than you, nothing close as such,
And I shall never want to bid farewell to you.

Even when you are lame I will love you,
And I would give up all my money just to see, touch and smell you once again.
My heart would break in two,
If I lost you, I would cry all year until I see your face again.

All you need is trust,
In the endurance trail,
Especially on the dust,
And then we won't move like a snail.

Once again,
I love you Storm,
See you till then,
Standing in the light of the Dawn!

Permalink Reply by Michelle Synnot on June 19, 2009 at 5:07pm

Courageous First Ride (A Haiku)

A muscle ripple

Leather creaks sighs of relief

Two views now are One


-by Michelle Synnot

This is a picture of my friend's little girl on her birthday and her cousin on their first horse ride.

Permalink Reply by Amber J. on June 19, 2009 at 9:58pm

This is my cute little pony, "Sterling Silver"
I ride him bareback everywhere and just hop on him bare back with no halter or anything in the paddock and we walk around

Permalink Reply by Laura on June 22, 2009 at 7:23am

This is posted on the whiteboard outside our indoor arena. I found the quote shortly after falling off my horse this past winter. Since I've fallen off I can get so tense about anything that might spook him. So before every ride we pause and meditate on that quote. It relaxs me and helps me to focus on how much I love my horse and how amazing he makes me feel, and how happy he is after I ride him. So despite the evil "Wheels-eating-baby-robins" in the courner that might spook him, and I am very aware of their presence, getting on and going for a ride is more important to me than sitting out on a ride solely because he might spook at those baby birds. Somedays its really hard and I have to repeat the quote over and over but I always get on because riding him is "more important than fear".

Permalink Reply by Barnmice Admin on June 22, 2009 at 6:17pm

Lovely quotation.

Permalink Reply by Jess on June 22, 2009 at 7:17pm

Attached file :)

Attachments:

• My Side.docx, 16 KB
• 7am the farm.jpg, 1.2 MB
• Photos 2.JPG, 660 KB

Permalink Reply by Kaitlyn Habermehl on June 22, 2009 at 8:44pm

On the worst day of your life,
all you need is some time with your best friend.
Someone who will listen to your complaints, your thoughts, your fears and your joys.
And respond with only a soft breath of comfort.

Permalink Reply by Tammie Caldwell on June 23, 2009 at 1:55am

ONE MANS TRASH IS ANOTHER WOMENS TREASURE

I always had horses when I was young, rode anything & everything, never had a lesson in my life, guts made up for everything (and Luck). Same old story, had children, gave up horses & worked, etc etc. After many years, my husband & I buy 4 acres - now I can have a horse! I bought a beautiful thoroughbred mare, who quickly turned into too much horse for me to handle. I presisted with her until one day she turned in a bucking bronc - well I was knocked out cold. After 7 hours in hospital, although thankfully nothing broken, I decided that my time had passed for horses. She was sold to a much more experienced home. Months went by & I was still determined that there would be ho horses in my life. Then my close neighbour was going overseas for 6 weeks & could I look after her horse (a 23 year old Standabred gelding). My heart raced everytime I had to go into his paddock, however 2 weeks later I found myself saddling up. I couldn't go any faster than a walk or I would break out into a cold sweat, but as the weeks past I felt more and more comfortable on him. When my neighbour got back, I knew I had been kidding myself, of course I couldn't give up horses. So now the search begins and my story..
So I had made my list - Gelding, no bigger than 15hh, quarter horse (or cool breed) under $1000. Easy.. or so I thought. I soon realised that I was trying to find a needle in a haystack, there were plenty of QH's, however you just about needed a second mortgage to afford them (not that they weren't worth it - just not my price range). After 6 months of looking with no success, the local horse market was coming up. I organised for my sister to go and see what was there (I don't trust myself, I would come home with a truckload of unwanted horses). On the day of the market I put $300 in her hand & reminded her - no mares, no thoroughbreds & nothing over 15hh. Back at work I paced nervously & every time the phone rang my heart skipped a beat. Then the call came - "I have brought a horse", my heart stoppped. I met her at the saleyards after work & as I walked towards the pen, there was this huge black/brown TB looking back at me. "well hes a gelding & I have change" she tells me. This horse was in a terrible state, he was so under weight & his coat was long & dull. His eyes looked defeated, it was as if he had given up all hope. So next step is floating him home, it's alot of horse if he doesn't want to get on. Well we shouldn't have worried, because he loaded, travelled and self-unloaded, met alpacas & settled in without any dramas. The next day I expected to go out & find a scatter-brained horse in the paddock, but no, he was the same sweet, gentle boy. After a few weeks and a lot of brushing, food, worming, dentist, vet and farrier, he was looking beautiful. His coat had gone a deep black & there was a spring in his step.I was totally in love with this huge gentle soul. Our first ride was incredible. It was as if he knew that I was terrified, but never put a foot wrong. It became apparent that this horse had been well educated in his day, as he can perform most dressage tasks & jump! Nine months has passed and we have been on countless rides, both in company & alone, and he never ceases to amaze me. He is enjoying this winter with 2 hot meals per day & warm rugs. Next spring I plan to have dressage lessons & if I get good enough, maybe a competition or two.
The question that I ask myself all the time is "How can I be so lucky to have ended up with such a fantastic horse, when his destiny was the trash?"

Permalink Reply by Brit Kirkman on June 23, 2009 at 3:58am

I wrote this for an english project shortly after I sold my mare, it absolutely tore me to pieces, but yeah :(




For three years I worked as hard as I could to get things right, those hours of tears I went through making those decisions that could change my life, those hours of pain I went through to get everything right, those hours of laughter I had when I was with you, those glorious moments that were few and far between, those terrible moments which more often then not, those pretty blue ribbons which excluded me each time, those large amounts of money I spent on giving it my best, those days when nothing went right and I had you to fall to, those days when everything was perfect and I had you to thank.

It had been just over three years ago when I met you in January 2005, you scraggly little pony who stole my heart with the first glance, that scraggly little pony that cantered up to me when she first saw me, that scraggy little pony who changed my whole life and perspective on life. You scraggly little 6yro who still wasn’t broken in.

For a painful 5 months I waited for you, I waited to be able to call you mine, I waited ever so patiently to have you in my life. I worked with countless other horses in that time, little ponies galore, they were fancy and prancy and some quite fluffy but nothing measured up to your brilliant little neighs and your clever little looks.

June 4th 2005 my ever lasting dream came true, I could finally say I owned you, or more correctly you owned me! From that day I on, I had a daily commitment to feeding you, working you, brushing you, oh and I guess loving you! I had never known hard work until now, hard work surely came with owning a horse, along with the words commitment, time, money, tears, happiness, money, pain, joy, and did I say money?

I’ve never known the feeling of truly being afraid either before you, you showed me how to be truly afraid that something’s going to go wrong, you showed me life isn’t all dandy and fun, you have to take the good with the bad, you showed me being weak isn’t what is needed, and you don’t have to feel confident as long as you look confident. You showed me that there are two sides to everything, each side entirely different.

Along with the bad you showed me the best, you showed me what feeling on top of the world feels like, you showed me the joy you have when you get that exclusive movement correct or that joy when you pass that one spot without rearing. You showed me how to break down fears and how to face what scares me. You showed me its possible to love something without regrets, you gave me everything you had and put up with me when it went wrong. You showed me how to smile and laugh on a terrible day, you showed me what its like to be at the top. You taught me to take the good and cherish it as long as possible.

I remember the thrill I got when I filled out my first every entry form for an ODE, writing ‘Royal Storm’ proudly in big letters, proud to own you! I remember the tears I had at the end of the day where we finished a dismal last with terrible dressage, two stops on cross-country and a terrible but clear showjumping round. I remember the thrill I got when I got my first gymkhana schedule and remember circling all the classes I wanted to do! The hacking, the games and the showjumping. I remember how upset I was at the end of the day, no ribbons in the flat, I tried my hardest but we just weren’t showy enough, no ribbons in showjumping, we knocked to many rails, we got 2 ribbons in games though? I was so proud! I had my first ever ribbon and so did you!

You suffered from so many problems, so many vet visits, so much more money to spend. We tossed up the idea to sell you on, but I refused, I liked my little pony much to much to sell on to someone who might not love you the way I did. You could barely walk on the bad days; I would see you hopping around your paddock, wishing I could somehow magically fix your feet which had fallen apart. I was wishing your stifle lock would disappear; it hurt to see you lock up and it hurt to see me have to work you through it when I knew it was causing pain.

I remember the tough times, the stupid tricks you’d pull, the evil little rears that would get me off and your habit of not cantering on the left rein, oh gosh you annoyed me at the best of the times!

I remember the best times, like the day we jumped 1m and I was in tears, the day you got that left canter absolutely perfect, the day I truly felt you go perfectly with me, the day we won our first ever showjumping ribbon. You were simply perfect and my sense of direction when I was lost.

October 2006, you showed me what its like to win for a change, something must have clicked in your head, we had competed in the Launceston Royal about 4 days before this particular show, to bring down 3 rails in our SJ class. I had no hope of winning anything at the show but I entered the 85cms and 95cms with a vain hope of jumping clear. Well to my surprise you jumped the 85cms perfectly, to then jump the jump off perfectly and the quickest, to earn yourself that desired blue ribbon hanging around you neck. To my even more surprise you jumped a fantastic clear round in the 95cms, the highest we’ve done yet! We got to the jump off where they were a little to big for you, but you gave it your best, just knocking a single rail, which was my fault, but to my surprise you managed a strong 2nd, beating horses who had gone clear, but it proved to me that day you were fast and brilliant once you reached a jump off.

I pottered around that 2006 – 2007 eventing season, just doing some grade threes, I wasn’t a big eventer, but we managed a few places. We got to our first ever state champs in eventing, aside some bad luck we managed a 5th place, certainly a surprise for me! And only .2 out of the placings!

2007 was the change of everything; I got to more showjumping events and started to bring home some ribbons! It became very rare for you not to place or win in a SJ class. Your first 1.05m was scary! You hooned it around the jump off course to place 4th in a large class, I was so happy, and so looking forward to what might come after this. Numerous other little places followed, always winning the 85cms class and normally the 95cms and a place in the 1.05m.

I did my first B grade SJ day, the Tasmanian Interschool’s SJ Championships 2007, where I managed to win the first round, a simple 95cms -1.05m for the jump off, once again a blue ribbon was tied around your neck and I sat back and thought how long it had taken me to get you to even canter on the correct leg, and here you are now winning showjumping.

I had stepped you up to grade two eventing for the 2007 – 2008 season, we were never quite in the placings until our state championships, and we were winning after dressage, certainly a surprise! But as usual my winning after dressage curse came and we had a fall on XC, you brave little pony who doesn’t stop at jump leapt a jump that you should have stopped at, making it impossible for me to stay on! But we finished the course and finished the weekend in 5th place, enough to make me smile.

By now I had to sell you, you were 14.2, I was a long legged 175cms tall teenage who could almost wrap my legs around you! I had you advertised on a few horse websites with little interest, but that did not faze you, I wanted you to be mine for as long as possible.

I headed of to the 2008 Interschool’s SJ Champions with fears and hopes. I had us entered in the A grade class, the highest it went. Boy we got a shock! First round up to 1.10m, but it left us again in the blue ribbon spot with that lovely ribbon tied around your neck, you happily leading the winners lap. You started to struggle in the final round, they had gotten to 1.15m and you just weren’t there yet, pulled a rail with a disappointing finish, but managed to land us a 4th, your quick little spins and sharp corners made us quicker then those bigger horses.

I had the 2008 Interschools Eventing Championships left as well, our first Pre-Novice event? How scary! I was trampled moments before my dressage test was on, I rode my test in great pain but you took care of me, making my life so much easier to ride you through the correct movements. We managed a lovely clear XC round, you had not stopped at a XC jump since that faithful first ODE back in 2005, and you managed a lovely clear SJ round, bringing us to 3rd place! Our first pre-novice and we were in the ribbons!

Our biggest challenge came up. The Tasmania PC Showjumping Championships. You blitzed it with ease, you’d gotten the feeling of ribbons around your neck and you wanted more. You out jumped everything and anything to win the B grade championships which got to the insane height of 1.20m, getting as tall as you! You proved that day you were the best and nothing would stop you. I was never so happy that day, I was so happy with the fact my work with you had payed off. Forever that trophy stays in your name, sitting on my shelf currently, sitting next to the photo of us once we received it.

By now I had a fair bit of interest in you, a lovely family came from Victoria to see if you were suitable for their 12yro daughter, it was if she was seeing you through my eyes, and instantly I knew she was perfect for you. They rode you and loved you, you passed your vet check with flying colours, they booked the transport to take you Victoria and before I knew it you were not mine anymore,

I had to sit down to realise what this meant, June 4th 2005 I brought a freshly broken RP x TB mare named Maddie. On May 24th 2008 I sold a highly educated RP x TB mare named Maddie. Just shy of 3 years of having you in my life, my directions if I got lost, my saviour when it all went wrong.

How was I meant to sum up what you meant to me? You were simply my hold in life, my best friend and saviour. I could not sum up in words how much you meant to me, but I’ll tell you I love you and the moment you loaded onto that truck to Victoria, I’d miss you forever.

I knew you were happy with your new family, they loved you, and from what I heard you were happy with them. I knew there was no way I would ever forget about you, you were the special one, the one that would try as much as was humanely possible, the little 14.2 mare who gunned it round a 2** XC course for me, the little mare who would clear showjumps as high as her! The little pony who made me feel on top of the world.

There are no words to describe what you did for me, you saved me so many times, those days I felt like ending everything, I just had to picture your pretty little face and you kept me hanging in there.

How do you say thankyou? I don’t think its possible to say thankyou to your horse, but every day tell them you love them, you love them as if they weren’t going to be there tomorrow, you love them as if there your best friend, and to me Maddie was my best friend. My simple reason for staying together, my saviour when everything else crumbled

I have a new horse now that Maddie has left, a talented 16.2 TB mare, who’s got some huge horseshoes to fill! She’s heard all about Madds and tells me she wants to fill those horseshoes and possibly go even futher, I tell her, she might fill those horseshoes but she wont fill the whole in my heart which is just there for my special Maddie pony.

Some links to photos [just click on them]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v307/DarlenMaddie/Maddie/gomoogo.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v307/DarlenMaddie/Maddie/24th%20D...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v307/DarlenMaddie/Maddie/24th%20D...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v307/DarlenMaddie/Maddie/Bakers%2...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v307/DarlenMaddie/Maddie/Exeter%2...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v307/DarlenMaddie/Maddie/Intersch...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v307/DarlenMaddie/Maddie/Intersch...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v307/DarlenMaddie/Maddie/SJ%20Cha...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v307/DarlenMaddie/Maddie/State%20...
last but not least
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v307/DarlenMaddie/Maddie/21st%20o...

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