Evitaa

Evitaa

(*Nabytek x Seranade by *Serafix)

bay, arabian mare, 3/30/80-2/3/01

In the fall of 1999, my then business partner, & still close friend Tammy, called me about a *Serafix granddaughter for sale in San Diego County. If I remember right, she was priced at $1500.00. I had been wanting a mare of *Serafix breeding so even though Evitaa was 1/2 Polish, I sent Tammy to look at her. I was living in N CA & Tammy was in Orange County, so within an easy drive to "horse shop".

Tammy reported back that Evitaa was a big mare with good bone & substance, had a sweet disposition, & was very pretty. She also saw two of Evitaa's 1/2 arab, pinto fillies & they were also very nice. She sounded like a nice mare so all Tammy & I had to do was decide if we wanted to spend that much money for another mare. We decided to think about it while I waited to have pictures sent to me. A couple days later Tammy got a call from the owner who said she had to get the mare sold & wanted to know what we'd offer for her. She said she was getting a divorce & Evitaa had to be moved ASAP. We wondered why it was only Evitaa that had to disappear immediately & we both thought the woman's story was suspect so we told her we'd consider & get back to her. A couple days later she called Tammy & said she'd deliver Evitaa to Tammy in San Juan Capistrano for a total of $200. DEAL! On 12/13/99, Evitaa became the newest addition to Dream Catcher Arabians.

A few days after "V" arrived in SJC, Tammy called to tell me she was lame. Great, what had we gotten into? A few days later I saw "V" for the first time when I drove to S CA to visit friends & family for Christmas. It was obvious that someone had trimmed her extremely short just before her arrival. Luckily it only took her a few days for her feet toughen back up & she was sound. She was everything I thought she would be. Big, beautiful & a sweetie. On 12/27/99 she made the trip to N CA with a few unloaded rest stops along the way. She was wonderful the entire trip. To this day I still wonder about what the real truth was behind Evitaa's sale. Something just wasn't right about the story, but we'll never know.

That spring we bred Evitaa but her ultrasounds showed her not pregnant. It was a disappointment because we really thought she'd give us a super nice foal. My vet thought the reason for her problems might have been a combination of uterine fluid & what he called a "sloppy" uterus. Whatever the reason, it was a big disappointment. We had made a commitment to "V" so she became our "pasture puff". It wasn't for another 5 months that my mom asked me if "V" was pregnant. I said no, unfortunately. But my mom was convinced "V's" belly had THAT round to it. So off to the vet we went. You can imagine the surprise my vet, Dr Wulf, & both experienced when he palpated & found a foal. I was so excited. I'm sure the smile never left my face for the next week. We were having an Evitaa baby.

A week later I came home from work to find "V" colicking. My friend Eric was also there & he helped me with her while we waited for Dr Wulf to arrive. I think Eric & I both knew that this was no mild colic & that "V" was in a bad way. She had no reflux when the stomach tube was passed, but she also had no gut sounds. She was medicated & medications were left for me to give through the night. Banamine made her comfortable & she appeared to be getting better. She was not a surgical candidate so we could only hope the meds would do the trick. For the longest time Eric held her head & to this day he says there was a deep emotion connection to "V" that night. As morning dawned it was apparent that "V" was no getting better so I took her in to the vet hospital. She was given IV medications & I left her for further observation. A couple hours later Dr Wulf called to say the meds weren't making "V" comfortable so it was time for to make a decision. With that our beautiful Evitaa was released from her pain & laid to rest.

It was such an emotional roller coaster for those few weeks. First with the joy of an upcoming foal, & then the devastation of losing a wonderful mare. Upon necropsy it was found that Evitaa had a strangulating lipoma & even if we'd opted for surgery, she wouldn't have survived. It was months later before I found out that she had been carrying a colt. For Eric & I both, we'll never forget the sad look in Evitaa's eyes that last night. She was definitely a horse who touched us deeply & effected us for life. Rest in peace & run free sweet "V".

Macrame For Horses

A friend asked me the other day if I'd ever heard of macrame halters. Well I've never seen any macrame halters, never even heard of any. But I do have a macrame headstall packed away in my closet. My friend's question took me back quite a few years.

Macrame was popular about 40 years ago. Everyone was doing it & it was everywhere. Macrame is the art of tying knots into crafty items. I can remember dozens of plant hangers in our house. My mom was a macrame genius who tied knots daily, creating some really ornate items.

It was about this time that two friends & I decided we wanted macrame headstalls. Cathy & Vicky's moms weren't artsy at all & my mom told me to do it myself if I wanted a headstall. So we 3 friends borrowed a macrame book from my mom & started on our projects. We used the ordinary white twine that you can still buy in every hardware store today. Along the cheekpiece I tied in brown, wooden beads for decoration. I can no longer remember what colors Cathy & Vicky used. I glued sheepskin on the underside of my headstall, not only to help stabilize it but to provide softness next to my mare's face. I used brown & white rug yarn to braid matching reins.

The day came when we were going to go trail riding for the first time in our new, macrame headstalls. They really did look good on our mares. Now young girls are never content to walk & amble along the trail & we were the typical young teens. We started galloping our horses along the riverbed, having a great time. As our horses picked up speed we reined them in to slow them down. The only problem was that Cathy & Vicky had used regular, knitting yarn for their braided reins. As I stopped my mare, their mares continue to run because their reins had stretched, & stretched, & stretched. Finally the yarn reach it's no-stretch zone & they got their mares stopped. I'm sitting here giggling at the memory. I thought we'd all fall off we were laughing so hard. Cathy's headstall had also stretched so the bit was hanging below her mare's mouth. Needless to say, we never rode in our macrame headstalls again. But I've kept mine all these years as a reminder of a wonderful mare & a fun time with friends. So would I want a macrame halter? Uh, probably not.

Launi's Gelding Ordeal

DreamCatcher Rabulaun

(Rabu Farwa x FV Farrubi)

born 5/16/2005, chestnut arabian

On Nov 23rd I woke up thinking it was time to have Launi gelded. It wasn't a sudden decision, just the day I finally made it. I'd been contemplating gelding him for some time. It had been a war of emotions because Launi has a rare pedigree grouping & was the last known breeding stallion of his particular sireline. I knew I was doing a disservice to his bloodlines if I gelded him. On the other hand, I had dreams of riding him & having him as my best friend. He has such a big personality & we suit each other so well that I knew we'd have fun, & it's been a long time since I've "clicked" with a horse so well. If gelded I could take Launi everywhere with me & no longer have to read the fine print "No Stallions Allowed". Nov 23rd was just the day I realized having fun with him was more important to me than breeding his pedigree forward. I called UCDavis & got an appointment for the next morning.

Launi is so good sometimes that he surprises me. He's always been a challenge & I never know when he's going to be agreeable or when he's going to challenge me. Tue's morning he was an angel. He hopped right in the trailer, in the dark & we were out the drive by 6am. Two hours later we were at UCD. Our appointment was for 9am & upon arrival I was told Launi's surgery had been bumped to 2pm. It was going to be a long day. I had opted for surgery on the table under general anesthesia because Launi was well developed & I wanted to be safe. We hung out in a stall with vet students coming & going, drawing blood & prepping him for surgery. Word came that we were scheduled for 12:30. I found out a llama had bumped us from our 9am slot. Imagine that, Launi bumped by a llama!

Launi's a big boy for an arab.

At 4 yrs he's already 15.3 & hit the scale at 1067lbs, & he carries no extra weight because he's in a growth spurt again. His surgical vet is an endurance rider & he was very impressed with Launi. And I think a little surprised as well because when he came to talk to me after surgery, he kept saying Launi was a BIG boy. Fortunately I'd made the decision to have Launi gelded at UCD under surgical conditions. He required quite a few stitches to close off the abdominal/scrotal opening, as well as the seminal cord. I would have lost him if I'd chosen to have him done locally, laying on the lawn as is the usual procedure. Unfortunately for me the vet recommended Launi staying overnight. So I left UCD at 4pm to return the next morning.

I was at UCD by 8:10 the next morning. I couldn't wait to get Launi home. He had some minor swelling but was in otherwise good shape. He was only too happy to hop in the trailer to get home. For the next few days I hand walked & lunged at a trot to keep the swelling down & to keep the incision site draining, neither of which happened. Poor Launi swelled a little more each day. When I got home from work on Mon he was so swollen his penis couldn't retract completely. In a panic, I called his UCD resident vet. She insisted that I take him to a local vet to be opened & drained. No way was I doing that & I told her I had no local vet. I asked if I should give him antibiotics & she said he'd been on them all week already. WHAT?! I informed her Launi had been on NO antibiotics & she got rude, insisting that I had been given antibiotics to give him. I was so mad she's lucky she's was 80 miles away. Needless to say we were on the road by 6am Tue, heading back to UCD.

When the resident vet came out, I informed her that I had the discharge orders & there was NO mention of antibiotics. At that point she became contrite & apologized because she's spoken with the surgical vet & learned that no antibiotics were prescribed. She was extremely, overly nice that day. Because very few new geldings come back with complications, 3 vets & numerous students came to see Launi. It took an ultrasound to find a trapped pocket of fluid. It seems Launi had healed inside more rapidly than normally happens, not allowing drainage. Not only did the vets have to reopen his surgical site, they elongated it so the fluid that was building in his sheath could drain. The surgical vet said the penis & sheath needed to be massaged into place to force drainage & correct positioning. He was skeptical that Launi would allow that at home without sedation. I assured him that I would have no problems because I had been doing that very thing Mon night. Sometimes Launi can be amazing at his cooperativeness. We left UCD just before 11am, this time WITH antibiotics, bute & instructions to lunge at a trot for 15 mins 3 times a day, followed by cold hosing. I was to do whatever it took to keep the incision open. Now, 4 days later, Launi is healing normally & is no more swollen than any incision should be. Of course now that he's feeling better, he's back to his ornery, challenging, lovable self.

Poor Launi, not only was he castrated, he had to have an episiotomy!

A Great Horse Day

Sometimes it's not a specific horse that touches us, but all the horses in our life at any given time. Today was a day when not a single horse touch me. Today was a day when all my horses touched me, lifting the cloud of melancholy that has filled the week.

Today was a mental health day. I stayed home from work with the sole thought of having a "Horse Day". I planned to do nothing other than spend time with my horses. I wasn't going to fix fence, prune bushes, rake leaves, or anything else that wasn't horse related. It had been a long time since I had taken a "Horse Day", so I woke in the morning looking forward to the day. My horses didn't disappoint me. And neither did the gorgeous weather.

I did do some work, like buying & unloading feed, rolling leg wraps, & cleaning the trailer. These didn't count as work though because they were completely horse related. Once I had the horse chores done, I decided to spend time with my 3 weanlings. Quite a while was spent brushing & scratching & being mobbed by the little darlings. They then followed me into a stall so I decided it was time to halter break the youngest, Mariyyah. I had managed to get the halter on her previously but it was a battle. She's been an extremely sensitive & explosive filly so I try to give her a lot of space & time. I was prepared for her usual theatrics but did she ever surprise me. The halter went on with only the slightest disagreement. She then let me move her around as if she was at the same halter level as the two other weanlings. She picked up her feet like an old pro. I wormed all 3 fillies. Then I brought out the cordless clippers. I only intended to sit in the stall & let them hear the buzzing. Carli investigated but didn't get too close. She did let me rub the running clippers over her back & up her neck. I even managed to get 1/2 a bridle path done before she started shaking her head. Ari, who I thought would have no problem with the clippers, wanted no part of the buzzing monster. She stayed at the other end of the stall, giving me the evil eye. Mariyyah is the one who surprised me. I knew she'd hide at the other side of the stall & not come anywhere near the clippers. I was wrong. She was the first to investigate, coming up until she bumped the clippers, shaving off a few whiskers. I rubbed the clippers all over her & she's sporting a very nice bridle path. The clippers seemed to fascinate her & she never did move off until the battery ran dead. Mariyyah made my morning. It was her day for a break through.

After a wonderful morning with the weanlings, I decided I was going to ride my 4 yr old stallion. It would be his 3rd time under saddle. I lunged him before tacking him up. He's a very mouthy horse & I'm tired of him biting the lead rope & reins. A few days ago I had gone through Taco Bell & brought home some of their fiery sauce just for Launi. I painted the ends of his lead & reins with fiery sauce. Boy did he get a surprise. He had the funniest look on his face, screwed up like someone biting into a lemon. Then he kept trying to spit the sauce out of his mouth. Maybe I'll let Taco Bell know there's a new use for their sauce. LOL It took quite some time to finally get into the saddle. Launi is 15.3 1/2 & I'm 5'1" so I use a mounting block. Brat that he is, Launi insisted on trying to knock me off the block (at least he wasn't trying to bite anymore). Every time he misbehaved I sent him round & round the roundpen. At last he decided it was time to behave. He stood like an angel & I was in the saddle. We walked at random with just enough guidance to keep the stirrups from banging the panels. Launi backs really well so we practiced that a couple of times. Today we did a little flexing for the first time with the bit. I was actually riding in a halter with a bridle over top so I could use the lead & reins similar to a double bridle. Launi's not ready to be ridden solely in a bit & today was the first time I asked him to work with the bit. He did really well. I was pleasantly surprised at his willingness to give & flex. Launi can be a bit of challenge & has the attention span of a gnat. Today his gnat brain was on it's best behavior. I hosed him & hand grazed him as a reward. Some days Launi makes me so glad he's mine.

I spent some time brushing Shain, my 7 yr stallion, who is the sweetest horse. He's a love who only wants to be cuddled & pampered. He's still my baby & will come running when I call Baby Shain. He very seldom responds if I just call Shain. He likes to have his head held & will also wrap it around me in a hug. Shain is the horse who fills my heart with love.

I finished my "Horse Day" by walking the pasture with brush in hand to groom my mares. I'm so lucky to have these wonderful horses. They're all so personable, wanting to be with me, following everywhere I go. They lighten my heart & mood & make everything alright.

Today was a great horse day.

Wraini-Where Have The Years Gone?

DC Kobayashi Wrain

(Khemo Thunderr x Mandy)

Registered 3/4, grey arab mare, born July 2, 1991

As I was putting blankets on a couple of horses in anticipation of a major storm the other day, I realized that Wraini is now my oldie. That realization made me pause & wonder where the years have gone.

It was a rainy October day when I first saw Wraini. I had seen a flyer at the local store so decided I had nothing better to do than go look at horses in the rain. She was a wild, 4 month filly with a halter already growing into her face. It had been put on the day she was born & the owner hadn't been able to touch her since. She was cute, firey, & floated across the pasture, running from us with her dam. I wasn't really interested in a filly that couldn't be caught. I was really only a looky-loo that day. But as I chatted with the owner I gave her my number so we could get together for some trail riding.

A couple days later I got a phone call that said the mare & filly had finally been run into a stall & that if I wanted the filly, to come get her. How could I pass up that deal. It took some doing to get the filly caught, even in the 12 x 12. Because I knew we wouldn't get her into my two-horse trailer, we loaded her into the owner's stock trailer & she delivered her to me. I already knew I was calling her Wraini, spelled with a "W" because I wanted it spelled like Wraff's with a "W", because it was a rainy day when I saw her. The Kobayashi came from Star Trek, where the Kobayashi Maru was an un-winable test. I knew I had some work ahead of me in handling this wild filly. That first night I sat on a hay bale in her pen & watched her charge me with teeth bared. When she got her first vaccinations she came at my friend & I with front feet flying. Beware those hind feet because they were some of the fastest at kicking that I've ever seen. It really was a good thing she was only 4 months old when I got her. At least I was bigger than she.

When Wraini was 18 months I started taking her with me on trail rides. She loved running ahead, flying up hills, & crashing back down a la Snowy River. By the time she was 4 yrs she was being ponied on all manner of trail, including the cliff's edges along the American River. She was as sure footed as a mountain goat & very careful where she stepped. She was almost 5 yrs when I first rode her. You would never have known it was her first time. I rode her all over the 15 acre pasture, walking & trotting. Just a few rides later we were out on the trails out of Auburn, riding across No Hands Bridge. We went alone that day because no one wanted to ride. The bridge was being closed for an undetermined length of time & I wanted to go across the historical bridge on Wraini in case it never reopened (it was repaired & is open today). To this day we've never ridden in an arena.

Wraini is a little mare at 14.1 with fine bone. I really never saw myself riding her much because she's small & I like bigger horses. But what a ride she's been. When it came time to back off on endurance competition with my over 20 gelding, Wraff, I decided to give Wraini a try in between Wraff's rides. She was a natural & loved flying down the trail. She was so much fun because she never wanted to walk & would dog-trot up & down the trails. When she walked it was most often a running walk. She's the only horse I've ever had that gained weight over a 50 mile weekend. My promise to her was that she could eat all she wanted as long as she carried me down the trial. That first 50 miles saw her consume an entire bale of hay, 25lbs of bran, 25lbs of grain, 50lbs of carrots, & grass & more hay along the trail & at vet checks. She was & still is an eating machine. It's such a shame that non-riding injuries ended her endurance career before it really began.

As a 3 yr old Wraini got a leg caught between a fence post & the gate during a raging storm. I found her the next morning. Even the vet thought she was lost. At best she might live but never be sound. Her front leg was layed open from chestnut to fetlock, looking like everything had been scooped away. For 5 weeks I cleaned, doctored & re-wrapped her leg daily. Finally it started to heal. What I hadn't told anyone was that she wasn't lame at the walk. When the bandages were finally removed for the last time & she was turned back out on pasture, I held my breath to see her first trot. She trotted SOUND! On Christmas day when Wraini was 10, another mare kicked her left hind leg. The next morning the vet was out for x-rays & ultrasound. I knew it was going to be bad. The ligament was torn from the impact & as it tore, it pulled a chip off the top of the sesamoid bone. Added to that was a fracture through the center of the sesamoid. The vet said her prognosis at best would be maybe pasture sound. She was on stall rest for a month & then I could begin walking her the length of my driveway twice a day. Her 2nd round of x-rays & ultrasounds was amazing. The chip had seated back in place & appeared healed. The fracture was so faint it was hard to find. The tears in the ligaments were healing well. I continued hand walking. By April, just 4 months after the injury, the vet told me to start riding at a walk. He could only shake his head in amazement that Wraini was sound. 18 months after her injury I took her to an endurance ride. If I'd known how hard the ride was going to be, we would have stayed home. It was rocky, had massive climbs, little water, & many riders opted to pull. Wraini finished looking like she hadn't started.

The myth is that cats have 9 lives & horses are only suppose to have one. Wraini must have been a cat in a former life because she continued to beat the odds. When she was 13 she got the teeniest cut on a knee while riding in my aluminum trailer. I didn't think much about it & we went for a 10 mile ride. Later that day I remembered the cut & went to put Swat medication on it to keep the flies away. What I found was yellow ooze running down her leg. I knew it was joint fluid. For the next month Wraini was on & off antibiotics. She was sound & had no swelling when taking antibiotics, but would be lame & swell within 24 hours of going off them. I decided it was time to take her to UC Davis so made an appointment. When I got there the vet was confused because Wraini was sound & there was no outward sign of a problem. She said they thought I was bringing her in to be euthanized because no bone infection can go that long without going systemic. X-rays showed infection in the knee & at the top of the joint. The vets started discussing the possibility of surgery put weren't optomistic of the outcome. Next we went for ultrasounding. Everyone was shocked at what was found. It looked like a thread thin lightening bolt had entered the knee, piercing the joint. I have to say that by this point I was beyond crying, I was sobbing. The infection had traveled to the bottom edge of the forearm. By now there were 3 vets & a handful of students studying the x-rays & ultrasounds, all thinking Wraini was lost. They couldn't give any odds on survival even if she had surgery. Then in walked the emergency vet who said she thought maybe there was a chance if I was willing. She felt that since Wraini had maintained, & was sound, for a month on an antibiotic that normally has NO effect on bone infections, there was a chance that mega-antibiotics might work. I left her at UCD for the next 2 wks, where she underwent joint perfusions, IV antibiotics, & IM antibiotics. No one could believe Wraini's progress. I was allowed to bring her home on an antibiotic that comes with warnings of causing aplastic anemia. When the shipment arrived from the pharmacy it was only 1/2 the precription. I called & was told that because it was such an expensive drug, they only shipped at 1/2 because most horses didn't survive long enough for the complete prescription. I told them to ship the rest NOW! I can now look back & appreciate their not wanting people to buy expensive drugs that wouldn't be used. It was over $600 for 15 days. But I KNEW Wraini was going to be ok.

In the 5 yrs since the joint infection, I've elected not to ride Wraini any more. She's sound & no one would ever know she's had 3 injuries that should have taken her life. She's given me 2 wonderful fillies that I cherish. Before this year's filly was born I had already decided this would be her last foal. At 18 years old, I don't want to take any chances & risk losing Wraini. She's earned her life as my Pasture Puff.

NDL Emblem- Wraff's Little Buddy

NDL Emblem (*Enoss x *Etyka)

Grey, arab gelding, born 2/16/84

In the fall of 1990, my friend Laurie realized she needed a new horse to ride endurance. As luck would have it, another friend of mine had the perfect horse for Laurie.

Emblem was a wonderful, pure Polish gelding that my friend's son had been riding. He'd already done some endurance & was honest on the trail. He wasn't a very forward horse, but he would steadily trot on down the trail. Laurie went to look at him &, realizing he was just what she was looking for, bought Emblem.

I had met Laurie at a ride in Feb 1989. At the time she was trying to get into endurance on a horse not suited for work. We only rode a few miles together that day but we instantly became friends. To this day Laurie is my BFF. When she started riding Emblem we did a lot of conditioning together. It wasn't long before Wraff & Emblem became BFF's as well. We rode a lot of endurance rides together. We endured all types of weather, all manner of footing, easy & hard rides. I'm sure Wraff & Emblem got tired of hearing us sing The Ant Song umpteen times over the miles & years.

Emblem was a lazy horse, preferring to stay home & eat instead of going for long rides. He really didn't like the work involved in endurance riding. But he was also a very easy going & wanting to please horse who did the work because Laurie asked it of him. He was a tough little horse with a huge heart. He kept up with the bigger horses & even finished ahead of many because he was so steady. He might not have had the biggest or fastest trot, but he'd hold that steady trot all day long. I was there when Emblem carried Laurie through the ride of her dreams, Tevis. The granddaddy of all endurance rides, 100 miles in one day from south of Truckee to Auburn. It's some of the most difficult trail in the world. More than once that plucky little gelding finished Tevis, a ride many horses never manage to complete. Emblem also finished the Virginia City 100 more than once. He really was a little Energizer Bunny on the trail.

Laurie & Emblem were with us the day Wraff slid in the mud on his belly, me tangled in the infamous yellow slicker. We were together in the sleet & freezing weather of the Scotts Flat 50, me using my down vest to keep Wraff warm while I turned blue. We rode in the rain at Derby Ditch, the heat at NASTR, & in the dark on many rides. It was with Emblem that Wraff decided to show me that I could NOT ride him in a halter, even after 50 miles. Those 2 boys were in a trot away race with Laurie & I hanging on. That was the last time either of us tried to ride in just halters. Emblem was there when Wraff finished his 6000th mile. Together the buddies were at shotgun starts, crossing rivers & climbing mountains. As Wraff aged & I slowed him down, I could no longer camp next to our BFFs. I had to hide Wraff so he wouldn't see his little buddy at the start of a ride.

The ride that sticks in our minds as the best testament to the bond between Wraff & Emblem was The Mustang Classic in San Jose. Laurie was going to ride faster & I was going to ride Wraff with the plan of taking the entire day. He was in his 20s & needed to slow down (or at least that's what I thought). What a bronc Wraff was that morning. In a temper tantrum he even threw himself on the ground, me still in the saddle, scaring riders behind us. We kept going, compromising on a booming trot instead of an all out gallop. As we were coming in to the first vet check I saw our BFFs coming out of the check, up the hill toward us. I jumped off Wraff & threw my shirt (I had a t-shirt on as well) over Wraff's head, hoping he wouldn't realize we were passing Emblem. It still cracks us up at all the riders that day who thought I had come up with an ingenious way to lower my horse's pulse. A few miles out of the vet check we caught up with our BFFs. Laurie said Emblem was dogging it, not wanting to go, acting like he was tired. I said Wraff was on fire & hard to control. But once they were together they settled into their buddy system of going down the trail. We rode the remaining 30 miles with happy horses.

Eventually Emblem started to have some slight metabolic problems. Sometimes it wasn't much more than knowing he just wasn't right. He had some problems with lack of gut sounds at rides, which can lead to catastrophic colic. His sheath would swell to massive proportions. Finally his disposition changed. Wraff's little buddy shocked him one day when Emblem attacked with heels & teeth. Laurie & I were shocked. This just wasn't right for sweet Emblem. Finally she took him to UCDavis. They ran tests & determined that he had raging testosterone. WHAT? He was a gelding. Upon palpation they could feel what they thought was a retained testicle. When they performed surgery what they actually found was swelling on the end of the severed cord. They had no answer for why this was but they did determine he wasn't a cryptorchid (a stallion with a testicle retained in the abdomen). They could find no reason for the elevated testosterone levels. He retired from endurance in 1996, at the age of 12. He had completed over 2500 miles, covering some of the roughest terrain in endurance.

Emblem went on to be the companion & pet of a woman battling terminal cancer. No horse could have asked for a better retirement. He had a new barn, grassy pasture, lots of treats, & someone who doted on him. He was her light, & reason for being.

Those years of miles & trails riding with our BFFs were the best of times.

Shirleys McCoy

Shirleys McCoy (Little Prince x Streamline)

Grey, 3/4 arab mare, born 2-6-1979

I bought Coy in the spring of 1982, when she was just 3 years old. She was a very pretty, already almost white filly who hadn't been started under saddle. I had seen an ad for her at the local tack shop & since she was stabled just a couple miles away, I went to see her. I wasn't really looking for a new project, but she was just too nice not to buy.

Coy was one of the easiest horses I've ever started. She fit the category of "born broke" because the first day I put the saddle on her was also the first day I rode her. She was such a nice filly, wanting to please. It wasn't long before we were wandering the trails of San Juan Capistrano. Nothing upset or spooked her. Well, maybe one thing did. A group of us were hanging out on our horses one day when Coy reached down & grabbed a mouthful of wild squash. As she raised her head the horse-eating squash came with her. Boy could that little mare spin. I don't know how many times that vine chased her in 360s, but I do know it was long enough that I could feel my old torn knee starting to give. Lucky for me Coy managed to step on the vine, pulling it from her mouth. She stopped spinning just before my knee gave so I didn't hit the ground that day. Every now & then I think of Coy when my right knee acts up.

Coy was one of those wonderful horses that anyone could ride. She was always solid & honest. By the time she was a 4 year old I was using her to give lessons. She was a favorite of the young girls at the stable. There were many shows where multiple girls rode her in various classes, always placing. One day one of my students asked if she could take Coy in the Follow The Leader jumping class because her horse was lame. Coy had never jumped but I told my student she could try. This class was set up so that each person jumped one jump at a given height & anyone knocking it down or refusing was eliminated. The jump was raised after each round. It was unbelievable to watch Coy continue to go over that jump. It started as a pole on the ground & had gone to 3'6" before she knocked it down. She finished third, not bad for a horse who had never jumped before.

Coy was a true all around horse. I played broomstick polo on her, team penned cattle, rode english & western, & took her to parades. She even did a couple of 25 mile rides (now called Limited Distance rides) competitively. If anyone was needing a spare horse for any type of event, Coy was often called upon to fill it. It didn't matter what it was, she was willing.

I had one adult student named Carol who was actually afraid of horses. She had always loved them from afar, but had never been brave enough to get close. She decided one day that she needed to face her fear of horses by learning to ride. Coy was always extremely patient & quiet with Carol. There were a lot of lessons just brushing & leading before Carol was ready to ride. Once she learned to ride she knew she loved horses & decided she wanted one of her own. In the meantime I agreed to 1/2 least Coy to her so that she'd get the experience of ownership. I eventually had someone I knew put up a really safe mare for sale so Carol bought ChooChoo, a grade QH type mare.

ChooChoo was really the perfect horse for Carol because she was as docile & calm as a horse could be. She was very well trained but content to just plod along at the rider's level. Carol continued to take lessons on her new horse. Even though ChooChoo was perfect in doing everything asked of her, I could tell that Carol was never comfortable around her. I couldn't see that there was a problem but knew that something wasn't right. If Carol wasn't taking a lesson, she didn't ride. I eventually asked her if ChooChoo was giving her problems but she said that wasn't the reason she didn't ride. She said she only felt safe with Coy. She told me that Coy was the only horse she really wanted. She said she trusted & loved Coy & just didn't feel the same way about ChooChoo. She asked if she could go back to 1/2 leasing Coy.

For the next couple of days I did a lot of thinking about Carol & Coy. While I really liked Coy, Carol loved her. With me Coy was an extra horse &, while never lacking for anything, I knew she'd thrive as someone's only horse. I didn't want to sell her because she was such a great all around horse. But I also felt I owed it to her to let her go to someone who would cherish her. So when Carol's next lesson came, I told her I would do better than 1/2 lease Coy to her. I told her I would sell Coy to her. Not many people get the chance to see someone's face light up like Carol's that day. While I missed Coy when Carol eventually moved from the area, I knew in my heart that I had done the right thing for both of them.

DC Mohegan Sun

Registerd arabian gelding

I detested his registered name so refuse to use it.

He will always be DC Mohegan Sun to me.

In August 2005, I was browsing sale ads on the internet when I came upon a picture that “spoke” to me. Or should I say the bay horse in the picture “spoke” to me. Now it has to be remembered that “window shopping” didn’t mean I was looking to buy. As luck, or bad luck, would have it, the horse in question was only a couple hours from me. I called & talked to the owner, finding out the horse was a registered, 12 ½ year arab gelding who was halter broke at 11, & had been with a trainer for 30 days the previous winter. At that point I was figuring he had maybe 15-20 days under saddle months ago, & I wasn’t interest in an older, unbroke horse. I thanked the owner & said I’d think about the horse. For two sleepless nights I thought about that bay gelding. I had no idea how I was going to buy him, but I KNEW he was mine. I called & went to see that gelding the next morning. There were three horses tied to a trailer when I got there, two of which were bays. Don’t ask me how I knew which bay was the one in the poor quality photo I had seen. But I walked up & and said “Hey Sun, wanna come live with me”? Forty-eight hours later Sun was home. He was everything I could have hoped for. He was intelligent, wanted to please, had a lot of try, & became my best friend. He had a heart of gold & he filled my heart. There was just something about him that made my heart flutter like a horse hadn't done in a very long time. It’s not often that a connection happens, but when it does, follow your heart.

Sun & I spent a lot of time together. We did a lot of ground work to gain trust. We spent many hours wandering the trails. Finally the time came when I took him to his first Limited Distance ride. It was a great ride. We did a couple more with Sun improving after each. I began to think I could once again compete in endurance. I'm not sure when the realization came to me that while I loved Sun, I had to admit that he wasn't quite the horse for me. Sun is a very soft & gentle horse, bold on the trail but very timid in nature. I'm anything but soft & timid. In the four years Sun & I rode together, I was always very careful to suppress the real me. I began to feel I wasn't doing either of justice. It broke my heart when I realized Sun would never be my Tevis horse since this was the dream I had for us.

I truly believe that things work out the way they're supposed to, even if it's not what we have in mind. A friend of mine had been looking for an endurance horse for quite some time. I kept trying to help her find the right horse. My friend is a very gentle, soft person who whispers to her horses & kisses their noses. It took some time, but one day it dawned on me that I knew the perfect horse for her. Unfortunately for me her perfect horse was Sun. I offered to loan Sun to her. I told her each & every one of his little quirks. They sounded a match so she picked him up for a trial. I warned her that he might take some time to settle in & adjust as he'd down with me. That proved to not be the case. Sun moved in & immediately took to following her everywhere. Today they enjoy riding softly & gently down the trail. Endurance is in their future & I hope I'm able to ride with them on their dream journey to Tevis.

While I gave up the horse who grabbed my heart to someone better suited for him, I will always love him & hold him dear.

Glory B & My Rebel Go Easy

Unregistered, black, quarter type mare, born circa early 1960s
Unregistered, chestnut, 1/2 quarter horse colt born 1968

Glory B was a beautiful black, 14.2 mare that was purchases from Leonard G, the horse trader. She was standing in a corner of a stall, facing away from us. A woman at Leonard's stable told us that she was a really nice mare who deserved a better owner. She went on to tell us that Glory was a very successful barrel horse who had won many saddles. She was also used for goat tying. The woman told us that her owner was Diane Scott, aka The Blond Bomb. She said that The Blond Bomb would whip her horses in their stalls to get them jazzed up for faster runs. She had a history of abusing & over riding her horses. The reason Glory was for sale was because she'd been bred but wouldn't settle. She was traded to Leonard for a different, registered QH mare. With that story, Glory had to come home with us. No one was able to recall her name so my mom named her Glory B.

What a wonderful horse she turned out to be. At first she was aloof & shy, eyes wide with fear when I entered her stall. It took months before she trusted me. She was so much fun to ride. She was great on trail & even did a little jumping with me. I almost never rode in a saddle & did come off her a few times. Every time my weight shifted she either slammed the brakes on & i kept going, or she'd make a 180 turn thinking I was cuing her to run barrels. She did learn that neither habit was required & I learned balance.

About 8 months after buying Glory we had a vet do a pregnancy check on her. She was getting bigger & bigger. Sure enough, she was in foal. We went back to Leonard's to ask him for more details. To say he wasn't happy was an understatement. He got his studbook out for his stallion, Chip Dee Reed, a very nice QH stallion of foundation bloodlines. Sure enough, there was the breeding dates for Glory. It was then that we learned her name had been Star Spang Durango. Leonard tried to get us to pay the breeding fee but we weren't falling for that. The next 2 months was filled with excitement at the expected foal, & disappointment that I couldn't ride. After many midnight checks, Glory finally had a chestnut colt that my mom named My Rebel Go Easy.

Rebel was feisty & spunky, ornery & stubborn. He managed to kick both my knees in his first day. He was a gorgeous colt who grew to be very sweet & loving. Although I had a lot of fun playing with Rebel, I was tired of not having a horse to ride. I also wanted a thoroughbred so I could jump. We finally decided to sell Glory & Rebel when he was about 6 months old.

A man who worked at our local feed store bought them. Three months later winter set in & we found out he was selling Glory & Rebel. We went to see them & were horrified to find them extremely thin & standing knee deep in mud. We contacted him & were told Glory had been sold. We talked to both Leonard & Mr Harris & both told us that Rebel wouldn't be worth anything because he'd been starved. They cited all types of potential problems. We didn't buy him back but a year later I saw him at a local stable. I never met who bought him, but at least he was in a good situation.

One day while I was riding on the levee I went passed a show. In the arena was a black mare that in my heart I knew was Glory. I'd heard she belonged to another young girl. I thought I saw the dent in her face (probably shot by a bee bee at one time) & kept hoping the announcer would have the horses reverse. On her left hip there would have been an "S" brand. While the horses didn't reverse & I never saw the left hip, I know to this day that it was Glory.

A lot of lessons were learned about selling horses. Almost without exception never would I again take payments. Nor would I ever take payment in rolls of coins again. Both would raise a red flag about the ability of the person to financially support a horse. Each of my horses over the years have taught me lessons. But the sale & subsequent events surrounding Glory & Rebel were among the most painful of all my lessons. I now require a deposit in blood before you can even think of buying one of my horses.

I read a passage in a Shakespeare play one time that sums up how I feel about Glory today. It goes something like this: "What a horse should have she did not lack, save a proud rider on so proud a back". I didn't appreciate you enough Glory, & for that I will always be sorry.

Founders I Have Known

As I'm dealing with a foundered & a laminitic horse, I've been reflecting on the horses in my past. Looking back it's pretty amazing that I never saw a foundered horse at the stable of my youth. In fact, I'd had horses for 20 years before I saw my first founder. Knowing what I know today, I find that unbelievably amazing. Our horses were kept in stalls & fed high quality, dairy alfalfa with large quantities of grain. Maybe part of the reason for no founders was that a number of the horses had young girls who rode them constantly. But what of the idle horses standing around in stalls with bins of feed? Why did these horses not founder?

Rick was the first horse I knew who foundered. He was an early teen, chestnut gelding of unknown heritage. I occasionally rode Rick when his owner was out of town. He was nice horse, one that I enjoyed riding. One day his owner noticed that he was slightly lame. Thinking it probably a stone bruise, he let Rick have a couple days stall rest. Rick didn't get better, in fact he got worse. Finally, after about a week, the vet was called. The horrifying diagnosis was road founder. Rick's founder wasn't caused by feed, it was caused by being over ridden (his owner liked to run for miles in the deep riverbed sand & it took it's toll) into exhaustion. Back then it was common practice to euthanize horses when diagnosed with founder. Rick's owner wanted to save his horse so he did as vet prescribed. Rick was put on anti-inflammatories & the shoer was called. Eggbar shoes were put on to keep the sole off the ground. When Rick continued to worsen, he was reshod with shoes put on backwards. This was to relieve any pressure at the toe & to give him a better breakover. Still he worsened. Finally the day came when his coffin bones pushed through his soles. The decision was finally made to lay Rick to rest. I personally would have opted for euthanasia sooner. Rick was in a lot of pain, he refused to move, he had lost massive amounts of weight from the pain, & he battled numerous hoof abscesses. It was a relief to finally see he didn't have to suffer any longer.

VM April Dawn was a gorgeous bay, arabian mare. She belonged to an elderly friend who loved her horses to death. Each spring Dawn & her companions were allowed free access to the lush grass during the day. At night they were brought into the barn & fed alfalfa. Each receive a scoop of grain (or sometimes chicken scratch) as a treat. Dawn & her companions were obese. Every spring the four horses would become foot sore. I don't know when Misty foundered but it's evident today by the structure of her hooves that she did founder at some point. While she's sound today, Dawn wasn't so lucky. A couple years ago Dawn foundered. The original x-rays should 26 & 28% rotation in her front feet. She was given Bute & put on stall rest (12 x 12 box stall). She stopped eating because she couldn't move. By the time I was called, Dawn was emaciated & dehydrated. Her coffin bones were pushing through her soles. I had her owner start feeding her beet pulp & rice bran, we moved her water trough closer to her, & we put her in a roundpen instead of the box stall. When I called a few days later, I was told Dawn was doing better & the farrier was upbeat on her outcome. It was a couple months before I got a phone call that Dawn was worse again. It took some doing but I convinced her owner to let me take them to UCDavis. It was a sad trip. Dawn did not come home.

Cougar's Charmer was a palomino, quarab mare who belonged to one of my best friend's. While she didn't belong to me, I loved riding her. She was very forward, bold, & covered a lot of ground with little effort. She was a very successful endurance horse. One day while my friends & I were out riding, Charmer stepped on a pine cone. She was shod with pads so we didn't think much of the small hole the pine cone put in her pad. Little did we know what had really happened. A few days later Charmer was lame. When the shoe & pad came off, there was an abscess brewing from where the sharp point of the pine cone had not only gone through the pad, but into her sole. Laminitis set in, as well as a mild case of founder. Over the next few years Charmer continued to be ridden endurance but she had to have pads to protect her tender soles. Anytime she got early spring grass she would become sore. It was finally decided to retire her because it was difficult to keep her feet sound under the stress of competition. For a few years she was occasionally ridden by my friend's grandkids. The day came when she was no longer ridden & became a "pasture puff". As Charmer aged she would have laminitis bouts that always resolved. Then one day while my friends were on vacation, Charmer foundered again. When my friends got home, Charmer was in extreme pain & it was decided her time had come & she was laid to rest.

Laminitis & founder are horrible & devastating conditions. Their causes are many & not understood. There are various treatments & no guarantees of success. Once a horse has foundered, it is always at risk for another episode. While we can do everything to control diet & exercise, we have no guarantee that we can keep founder at bay. It is my hope that someday we'll beat these conditions that can take our horses' lives.

The Painful Journey-Founder Part I

To continue following Lady & Maark's story, go to www.thepainfuljourney-equinefounder.blogspot.com

In over four decades I've never had a horse founder. I've seen a few over the years, but have never had to deal with a case of my own. I have had two mild incidences of farrier induced laminitis, but both were resolved quickly with ice soaks & anti-inflammatories (& changing farriers!). Unfortunately this week I joined the ranks of those who have dealt with founder, a devastating, often times fatal disease of the hooves. As I journey into the dark depths of founder, I can only hope that what I learn will one day prevent another horse from suffering. And if it doesn't prevent the onset of founder, then at least let me know enough to save the next horse.

On Monday Sept 7, 2009, two registered arabians came into my life. FA Ovaature, aka Lady, is a 22 year old, dark bay mare of outstanding quality. Maarked Crescendo, aka Maark, is an 8 year old, dark bay gelding. They are mother & son, both with wonderful bone, substance, & stunning heads. Lady & Maark had traveled from MN to N CA, never stepping off the trailer in route. This decision proved to be a serious mistake. I had spoke with the shipper a number of times prior to their arrival. He had warned me that Maark was overweight. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine HOW overweight. The gelding that jumped off the trailer into my drive is the fattest horse I have ever seen. If you can believe it, he even has fat on his nose. There are rolls along his sides & back that pull his skin taut, making for a very creepy feel as you pet him. While Lady is carrying some odd fatty pads throughout her body, she isn't technically overweight & her ribs are slightly showing. She came off the trailer ever so slightly sore footed across my rocky drive. Neither appeared to be in stress & I was thrilled with my beautiful new horses.

Fast forward three hours & it was apparent that Lady was foundering. She was beginning to stand in that classical, sawhorse stance. My trimmer, Sally, graciously gave up her Labor Day ride to come see what she could do to help. By the time she arrived, it was apparent that Maark was also starting to crash. He was getting foot sore & not wanting to move much. It was unbelievable & I was devastated. Lady's heels were extremely high & her toes overly long. Sally did what she could to get Lady's feet a little more balanced. By the structure of her hooves, it was evident that she had previously foundered. Maark also got a little work done but with not knowing what was going on inside the hooves, it was like trimming blind. I gave each a dose of Bute (an anti-inflammatory) & soaked Maark's feet in ice. He was so good, standing perfectly still with both front feet in a feed pan full of ice & water. I could only hope that he was suffering from laminitis & not foundering.

On Sally's recommendation I had both horses x-rayed. We needed to see what was going on inside those feet. When a horse founders the coffin bone rotates out of position & it can drop through the sole. The coffin bone can also demineralize. If the damage is bad enough humane euthanasia is the only option. While I wanted to know what was happening, I was also afraid to know. Both horses were so well mannered for the vet. They had to stand one foot on a board for each x-ray. Their behavior was a testament to their wonderful dispositions. I knew they were in pain but yet they were trying to do everything asked of them. Lady & Maark started getting a dose of Bute morning & night while I waited for the x-ray results. I was also spreading their hay out in handfuls throughout their one acre pasture. I didn't want them to stand & gorge on their meals, I wanted them to "graze". Not only would they eat more naturally, they would also have to move around which aids in circulation to those ailing feet. It's so heart wrenching to watch a horse in pain from founder. Even standing still causes pain.

When I got home Friday night I had a phone message from the vet. Maark had laminitis but he was NOT yet foundering. Icing those hooves had just become a priority to keep the heat & inflammation out. I'm going to do whatever I can to keep him from full blown founder. Lady's x-rays showed that she was indeed foundering. She has rotation in both front feet. My heart sunk at the news. The vet went on to say that while Lady was foundering, it was her opinion that Lady could be saved. Her hooves have plenty of soul depth & the coffin bone is nowhere near dropping through the sole. While there are some bone changes & signs of pedal ostisis, her coffin bone is intact enough that she has a good chance of being pasture sound. This was WONDERFUL news. I called to let Sally know & she said she'd be out Sunday morning to begin treating both horses. I was so giddy with excitement that it was well after midnight before I fell asleep.

I have been warned that founder can be an emotional roller coaster to treat. As soon as the horse appears to be on the mend, another crash can come. Lady & Maark both shows classic signs of Insulin Resistance. They have fatty deposits, crested necks, & even the non-existent hollows above their eyes are marshmallow puffy. IR horses need to be fed special diets to control the disease & their weight because obesity is one of many founder causes. While both have IR & Maark is morbidly obese, I believe it was the long, continuous trailer ride that pushed them over the edge.


Tomorrow brings a new day & I can't wait to see what Sally has in mind to help these two deserving horses. While I'm riding an emotional high tonight, I am aware that I could be on the downhill slide at any time.

Common Bond

There have been untold numbers of horses impacting my life through the decades. Horses have been the common bond in bringing so many wonderful people into my life; people I wouldn't otherwise have met.

It must have been 10-12 years ago that I found a horse rescue site called TIER (True Innocent Equine Rescue). This rescue was, & still is, located in S CA. Although I was living in N CA by then, I hadn't left my S CA roots completely behind. At the time, TIER was pulling horses out of a horsetrader's "feedlot". The "feedlot" comprised of all manner of horses who were headed to slaughter. As I read through the website & message board, I realized the horsetrader in question was the same person from whom I, & many other young girls at my childhood stable, had gotten so many horses. I became a follower & supporter of TIER. There were many wonderful people on the message board, most with the same goals of saving horses from uncertain & cruel fates. Even after TIER's efforts to pull horses from the "feedlot" were ended, I continued to not only follow TIER, but to occasionally correspond with some of the people I had met.

In August 2009, I had an email from Heidi in MN asking all her email friends to vote for her dog in a cutest dog contest. I hadn't heard from her in a very long time so I emailed to ask how she was doing & to catch up on what was going on in her life. Life isn't always easy & Heidi had been going through some really tough life changes. She told me that she only had two horses left that she wanted to place in loving homes. The only problem was that no loving homes could be found. The current economy had all the rescues full with waiting lists to take in horses. I told Heidi that I wished we lived closer because I'd give her horses a home. A flurry of emails followed.

Soon a shipper had been found & arrangements were made to transport Heidi's two horses, Lady & Roo, to me. While there was excitement on my end, my heart was also saddened. A very special lady was sending her two beloved horses into my care, & I could only imagine the heartache she was suffering on her end. It was going to be a long, cross country trek for Lady & Roo with people on both ends thinking of them day & night. Their trip went well & they arrived at my drive 48 hours after their trip began. They had traveled well & settled right in. Both have fabulous manners & super dispositions, a testimony to Heidi's love & care. Lady is such a love, laying her head on my shoulder as if she's always known me. Roo is such a character who stays close to Lady as if he's protecting her. Both are wonderful horses who deserve this chance at life in sunny CA.

A few days before the shipper was due for pick up, I received their paperwork by FedEx. There was a wonderful note from Heidi & I found it hard to stay dry eyed. The following is a small excerpt:

"It's so strange how, so many years ago we met through TIER's forum and shared many email and discussion board conversations as I embarked on private rescue. You've heard the tales of my horses and watched as the numbers grew and dwindled. Now, 10+ years later, two pieces of my life will become a part of yours by God's grace. I feel comfortable turning the lead ropes over to you."

It is strange that this is how our lives have come together. Who would have thought that Lady & Roo would one day shorten the gap between MN & CA? Who would have thought that people on opposite sides of the country would be brought together by these two beautiful horses? Life with horses works in such mysterious & amazing ways. They've brought people into my life that I otherwise wouldn't have met. They've brought Heidi & I together in a friendship that will last a lifetime.

Topaz Gold

Registered 1/2 arab, palomino mare, born circa 1968

I've been browsing horse ads for decades now. It's just something I do on a daily basis. Forget the headlines, comics & sports pages. Forget watching Wall Street jump up & fall down. Just give me the classifieds & I'm happy.

That day in the early 1970's when I found an ad in the paper for a 6 year old, palomino mare for $100.00 was just like any other day. I was bored & needed something to do so I was barn shopping (my version of window shopping). I called, got directions & off I went to check the horse out. When I got to the place I was met by a family desperate to get rid of their horse. They hadn't had the mare long & no one had been able to stay on her. She was a shaggy, cream colored horse with long feet, a few ribs showing, & her expression was a defensive one with constantly pinned ears. They told me I could have the bridle, complete with its upside down hackamore, & what turned out to be a bareback pad. They said she always bucked when the pad went on. No wonder! They were putting it on backwards so the cinch strap was sliding into her flank. It was all I could do not to burst out laughing. That poor mare. Even though I didn't want her or need her, she needed me so I handed over $100.00. It was a pleasant surprise when they handed me registration papers that identified her as Topaz Gold, a 1/2 arabian.

I brought Topi home later that day, having a friend haul her for me. She stood about 14.2 & had a cranky disposition. At feeding time she was like a piranha, pinning her ears & snapping at anything or anyone coming within reach. What had a I done bringing this nasty mare home when I didn't even need another horse? It took a week to convince her no one was stealing her feed & that I was to be allowed in her stall. As she started to fill out she started to look surprisingly decent. Then she began to shed out the dirty yellow coat & what was underneath was a stunning, golden dappled mare with an almost white mane & tail. Topi the ugly duckling turned into a gorgeous mare. She was extremely green under saddle but learned quick & was a nice mare to ride on trail. Her gaits were smooth & she enjoyed getting out. Her only bad behavior under saddle was an occasional buck, but we were working that out. After a few months I decided Topi was ready to go to a new home. She had become a nice mare & I had no doubt an intermediate rider would do well with her.

The first person who came to look at Topi was looking for a show prospect. She declined to buy her because Topi was greener than she wanted. Later this gal called to say she'd like to buy Topi because she was the best of the worst that she'd looked at. If she had to settle for less than she wanted, Topi was at the top of that list. I told her in no uncertain terms that Topi was not then, or ever, going to be for sale to her. She deserved better than someone who didn't value her before even owing her. HUMPH!

I had advertised Topi very specifically as NOT a beginner or kids horse. She was still green & had some quirks. She still didn't like people all that much either. There were some people who called looking for their 9 year old daughter's first horse. I hated to disappoint them but had to tell them I wouldn't even let them see Topi. They called again, & again, & finally I agreed they could come look. They had looked at over a dozen horses & none had been right for their daughter. When they arrived I had the daughter put the halter on Topi & lead her around. I was ready to grab the lead if needed. I then saddled Topi & rode her some. She was on her best behavior so against my better judgement, I let the daughter get on. After placidly walking around for a few minutes Topi began to buck. The girl dropped the reins & grabbed the saddle horn. I yelled for her to pick up the reins & pull back. Luckily she did & Topi immediately stopped. Whew, that was close. While I talked with the parents I had Topi tied to a hitching rail. I was explaining all the reasons why Topi was not the horse for their daughter. I even offered to help them find a suitable kids horse. As I looked over at Topi, I was horrified to see that young girl climbing up Topi's leg to get back on. To her credit that mare never moved a muscle & allowed herself to be mauled. The parents practically begged me to sell them Topi & after her incredible hitching rail behavior, how could I say no.

A few weeks later I got a phone call from the girl (I wish I could remember her name) to tell me how much she loved Topi. She said Topi had run away straight back to the stall, throwing her, but she still loved her. Every year for the next few years I would get a call on Topi's birthday. I had to send Topi my birthday wishes & get an update on how they were doing. That scruffy yellow horse blossomed into a beautiful golden mare who taught a young girl how to ride. I NEVER would have thought of Topi as a kids horse, but she proved me wrong. I have never again underestimated the desire of a girl to have a horse; nor have I underestimated the understanding a horse can have towards a young girl.

Wraff Tales-Yellow Slicker Adventures

I no longer ride if it's raining. I won't even consider riding if there's rain in the forecast, even if it's not yet raining. I really have a fear of the rain. If it rains & I'm riding, I might have to put on the Yellow Slicker.

I bought the yellow slicker about 20 years ago. For a long time it sat packed away in my truck as insurance against the rain. Surely if I carry a slicker it won't rain. My reverse psychology on Mother Nature hasn't always worked. I don't know how many times I've had to put on that yellow slicker. For anyone who doesn't know, I'm an endurance rider. I used to not care what the weather was, I was going to ride. I've even been known to drive over the Sierras in snow flurries just to get to a ride. Ok, I'll admit that one time I tried to get over in a blizzard. Good thing the CHP had more sense than I. Anyway, back to that yellow slicker.

Hindsight has established that my love-hate relationship with the yellow slicker might be because I'm 5'1" & that slicker is 6' long. Don't ask why I've never cut the bottom off because I've thought about it many times. Just never got the scissors out.

I think the first time I wore it was at the Koche Kobee ride many years ago. I had ridden in trash bags before I got the yellow slicker so Wraff wasn't bothered by the large, flapping, yellow plastic flying in the wind. He was less than happy with it touching him however. Wraff was a horse who hated anything that tickled him & he'd buck to get his point across. I'd even had him buck when sweat ran down his side so if you ever saw me doing all kinds of weird gyrations with my legs, that's why. I had to keep the sweat wiped away. But now I digress so back to the yellow slicker. At the start of the ride I realized that I couldn't let the slicker touch Wraff's butt or he'd buck so I had to sit on it. That extra foot of length bunched up under me quiet unpleasantly. And because I was sitting on the slicker, water ran down my back underneath me. So much fun riding in the rain with wet pants. At the first vet check I didn't stop to think about the situation before I got off. Before I knew what happened I'd stepped on the bottom of that slicker & out my feet shot, sending me into the mud. Then I had to trot Wraff out for the vet & wouldn't you know it, I tripped over that slicker & fell on my face. I can't say the day got any better as I battled rain, mud, & the yellow slicker. Maybe I should be glad they no longer hold the Koche Kobee ride.

That yellow slicker did come in handy when I woke one morning at the Washoe Valley ride to snow covering the ground. I hadn't packed a heavy jacket so it was just me, Wraff, & that yellow slicker. I did better in the battle that ride. I used the wonderful fix all, Duct Tape, to tape the bottom of that slicker up so I wouldn't trip. The only time it almost got me was when I got off to walk down the SOBs & Wraff thought it would be great fun to teach me to ski. I slid 1/2 way down on my butt but at least that slicker kept the mud off me.

Many years ago my friend Laurie & I rode the American River 70. The first 30 miles were a great ride. Then at the first hour check the rain started. I couldn't believe I was going to have to wear that slicker for the next 40 miles. Off we went after our vet check, braving winds, storming rain, & the freezing cold. I was glad that day that the yellow slicker was very heavy, thick plastic because at least my body was dry & out of the wind. I wish the same could have been said for my frozen, blue hands & feet. The trails were getting muddier & slipperier as we rode. We were so cold with chattering teeth that we didn't talk. We just plodded on one behind the other. It was so bad that at one point there was a new easy boot on the trail & neither Laurie nor I could bear the thought of getting off to pick it up. We came to a steep hill that we could see horses had struggled getting up. Laurie & her horse Emblem were in the lead. Half way up that hill Emblem stalled & couldn't get traction to go on. Wraff caught up with him & turned to go around. That proved to be a very bad move. As Wraff turned across the hill, all 4 of his feet slid out from underneath him. As he was going down & stepped off to the high side. Minor problem was that I stepped on that damn yellow slicker. The next thing I knew Wraff was sliding down the hill on his belly with me rolling right behind him. The slicker had pulled over my face so I could see nothing. Twice as we slid down that hill Wraff would stop sliding & I'd slam into him, between his front legs. Never did he try to get up. He just stayed as still as he could as we slid. That slicker was like being on a Slip N Slide. At last our momentum stopped & I was able to crawl across the mud slide area & into the brush. Wraff managed to get up then & continue up the hill. Laurie was at the top yelling to see if we were alright & I just yelled back to catch Wraff. I finally managed to pull myself to the top, through the brush. As I was finally able to get untangled from the slicker, Laurie & I just burst out laughing. How funny that had to have looked to the poor guy at the bottom of the hill. I'm sure he was terrified to come up but he had no other option. The remaining 20 miles was as miserable as it gets. By the time we finished that 70 mile ride we were both close to tears from the cold & misery. But to this day the memory of that yellow slicker Slip N Slide sets us off into uncontrolled laughter.

Yes, after all these years I still have that yellow slicker. It's tucked away in my truck & I hope it stays there. As for Wraff that day, he was a hero. If he'd panicked when I kept crashing into him I would have been trampled at the very least. The guy behind us was amazed because he could see that Wraff was protecting me. I like to think Wraff was my superhero that day, battling & winning over the yellow slicker.

Those Passed By

Through the years there have been many horses who I've look to buy. For every horse purchased there were probably a dozen who were passed over for various reasons. A few of these horses left lasting impressions.

I don't know that I ever heard her name, but that little, blue roan mare was one of the prettiest horses I'd ever seen. She was a registered Quarter Horse, newly arrived from Stephenville Tx. She was 5 or 6, supposedly broke to ride, & boy did she glistened in the sun. She was also heavily pregnant, bagged up & foaling was immanent. I really fell for that beautiful blue roan, but after just having a mare who foaled I didn't want another. I wanted to ride now, not months from now when the foal was weaned. Several times that day, as I walked among the horsetrader's horses, I went back to look at that mare again. The horsetrader finally told my mom that if I wanted the mare & not her foal, he'd foal her out for us & give the foal to the dog ladies. He said that most people didn't want foals so he usually waited to sell the mares until after they foaled & he'd given the foals away. He didn't have to explain what he meant by that. Even at my young age I knew what he meant. That beautiful mare's foal would become dog food. I didn't take that pretty mare home that day. While it sadden me to know she would lose her foal if I didn't get her, I also knew that I needed a horse to ride. That pretty, blue roan mare was the first time I had to make a decision based on logic & not on what my heart said. Because of her I learned what it meant to choose a horse based on what I wanted to do, & not just because it tugged at my heart. A profound lesson for a young girl.

I was looking for a jumping prospect & my search began in Hemet Ca. In the late 1960s Hemet was a haven of Thoroughbred farms. Black Shank was a registered Thoroughbred gelding off the track. I believe he was 6 & he was black as night. He was at a farm in Hemet & he'd come off the track with a bowed tendon. He didn't have the best disposition, pinning his ears as we looked in his stall. What I remember most about Black Shank is that one of his front cannons looked like someone had precisely painted it white all the way around. I can't remember now what the treatment was, but whatever they did to treat his bowed tendon had turned his leg white. It looked odd to see him with a permanent bandage mark. With his disposition & the loss of pigmentation on his leg, Black Shank wasn't the horse for me. Years later I was visiting a friend at her stable when I saw a black gelding standing in his stall. Imagine my surprise when I saw that leg. It was Black Shank & he belonged to a young girl who rode him on trail. I lived at least 100 miles from Hemet. Seeing Black Shank after all those years made me realize that the horse world is indeed very small.

Ricky's Sister was a pretty, 6 year old, bay, off the track, Thoroughbred mare for sale in Stanton Ca. My mom & I arrived about 45 minutes early for our appointment to see her. When we got there a groom was walking her around. It was quite obvious that she was lame. As we waited & watched, she began to come sound. There was no doubt in our mind that she'd been drugged in anticipation of our arrival. Ever since that day I have always arrived early when looking at horses. Never have I come across another drugged horse, but it never hurts to be early.

Culling Time was a 3 year, bay with a lot of white, Thoroughbred mare at a farm in Hemet Ca. She was, & still is, the tallest horse I've ever considered buying. At 3 years of age she stood 17.2. At the time I was 4'11" & had no idea how I would get on her. I could swing up on my mom's 16.2 hand mare bareback, but was quite sure I'd never get up to 17.2. She had never made it to the track because she was too tall to be coordinated at that young age. She was very short coupled & forged as she walked. As the groom led her out of her stall, I could only gape at her long legs. As sure as I was of not being able to get on her bareback, I was just as sure that I could quite literally walk underneath her because her legs were as long as I was tall. I'm too old & stiff now to want a horse over 15 hands, but I sometimes wonder what it would have felt like to ride Culling Time.

I named her Sunshine Company even though she wasn't yet mine. She was probably a Quarter Horse or cross, fairly young, & a very bright chestnut with flaxen mane. We were walking through the horsetrader's, window shopping. When I saw her she had her head tied back to the saddle so tight she couldn't move. I felt so sorry for her that I told my mom we had to buy her. We went looking for Leonard to tell him that Sunshine Company had just found a home. To his credit as a horsetrader, Leonard told us that mare wasn't the horse for us. She was a rank bucker, even bucking off his nephew Eddie. No horse threw Eddie so we knew she must have been quite the bucker. Still I wanted to "save" her from the cruelties of Eddie's handling. But try as I might, Leonard insisted she would hurt me & wouldn't sell her to us. It was such a shame because we knew where she would end up. I have to say that to this day I know that not all horsetrader's are slick & just out for money. Well, maybe they are & Leonard was just smart enough to know that if I got hurt we wouldn't be back for more horses.

Supper

In 2003 a very special mare came to live with me. She had been through hell & back, & I promised her she would never know another moment of pain, suffering & starvation. When she was re-rescued from CHP Sanctuary I offered her a home. When she arrived all I could do is cry at her condition, knowing she had been at death's door just a few months earlier. CHP turned out to be a nightmare place with horses being killed by plastic bag suffocation (so the reports said) when they were starved near death. How Supper survived is a miracle. I've lost count of how many horses had to be euthanized during the seizure. There was somewhere close to 90 horses involved & a dozen or more who didn't even make it off the property during the seizure. Supper filled the hearts of everyone who met her. She became my folks' horse & they enjoyed watching her wander the pasture with her weanlings. Today there is still a large, soft sand pile that is still called Supper's Sand. There are 3 fillies who now enjoy Supper's Sand & I know she's looking down on them with love. Rest in peace Supper, you are not forgotten. Below is Supper's story as it happened.

On The Feedlot
#179. Bay TB mare, Irregular Star. 23 yrs. old. Appx. 16 hands? This is really nice mare. She recently had a foal that died. They do not know why the foal died. Yes, she is older, but she is the Dam of 8 registered racing TB's, 4 of which are winners. She was originally owned by N.B. Hunt of Kentucky. It is my understanding that Mr. Hunt has passed away. Papers will go to new owner. Foaled 3/16/76
Socializing
Supper
Noble Decree

Supper is a granddaughter of Vaguely Noble, who was the sire of Exceller. Exceller died in a slaughterhouse in England in 1997 because his owner didn't want to pay for his upkeep anymore.
Several wonderful people banded together to send funds to pay Supper's ransom! We were finally able to come up with her ransom, but the problem was where was Supper to go? RESCUE has absolutely no room and all the rescues in the area I contacted were in the same boat! All of us are at full capacity. After doing some checking, we contacted a fairly new rescue in the area. We received affirmative feedback from various sources about this rescue before we asked them if they had room for Supper. Thankfully, California Horse Protection not only passed our screening, but they had room! Yes. Supper arrived at CHP bright eyed. It was determined that she has no back teeth (big contributing factor to her lack of weight gain) and that she also has a uterine infection which is being treated! (No wonder the gal couldn't put on any weight!). Thank you CHP!

Update 9/24/00 - On September 24, 2000 my husband and I went to California Horse Protection to visit Supper! She is looking remarkably well and happy considering what she has been through! Once Supper arrived at CHP a vet determined that she had a raging uterine infection! Not surprising considering she had just had a foal.....not sure whether it lived or not. They had tried to breed her again, and when she didn't take, they dumped her at a feedlot. From there, a wonderful group of people got together, stepped in and saved her life! CHP is providing her with a wonderful new home. The infection is now almost completely gone, but since it had been left untreated for so long, she is still, understandably, thin. But, she is bright eyed, curious and quite loving! She also managed to get an abscess on her right ankle which has been treated and is healing also. To ensure the wound stays clean, she has a wrap over the area which is changed daily. Supper has a big gray TB mare as a roommate in her big living quarters. She is the sweetest thing! Comes right up to the fence when you call her name. Thank goodness she is still living and breathing and someone calls her name! CHP has said visitors are welcome to visit at any time. Although I know some of you aren't close enough to do so, the others that are close enough can call CHP (the website is listed above and their phone/address should be there) and schedule a visit.

Update 11/4/00 - Supper continues to improve. No one has ridden her yet, and with all the other activity, she probably won't be ridden soon.
JUST IN TIME FOR SUPPER!!!
Supper was seized by Animal Control on 10/04/2002 during a raid on the organization that had assured RESCUE & RESCUE supporters that they would provide a safe, healthy home for life. RESCUE picked up Supper approximately 2 months after the seizure upon approval by the authorities. She was still emaciated after being fed properly during the time she was in Animal Control's custody. She was severely underweight, had rain rot along her spine, thick/dull coat, runny - swollen eyes and nose due to her weakened immune system, and vaginal discharge, which she also had in August 2000 at the time of her placement with the organization.
WARNING! Graphic pictures below! (I was unable to upload these pictures 8/25/09)

A vet was called prior to her arrival at RESCUE and an appointment made for an immediate full check up. Blood was drawn and samples of the discharges taken for analysis. At that point, the vet indicated that due to her emaciated condition, he was hesitant to prescribe antibiotics as the impact to her liver & kidneys might cause damage. Amazingly, results of the blood panel were normal!! Discharge fluids (eyes, nose, vagina) results indicated deficient immune system. She was immediately placed on a diet of Orchard hay, Timothy hay, alfalfa, vitamins (Pawier vitamins for the first few weeks and then Evergreen Insure vitamins) and Timothy/Bermuda/Brohme pellets. When we had contacted the owners of the organization immediately after the seizure, we were told, "You know, Supper is a hard keeper?" This statement was/is completely erroneous!! When we bathed this beauty, the water that ran off her was a dingy gray and oily. She was washed 3 times in one session! Her coat was matted with quite a bit of unhealthy hair that had finally begun to shed.

2-2003 Supper has gained weight nicely. We have wormed her with Panacur, as her system is still fragile. She is shedding out the dull/unhealthy coat, which was the result of starvation. Her vaginal discharge has cleared up considerably (although she does have a failed caslick), as has the 'weeping' from her eyes and the runny nose. Our lovely Supper is a favorite with the youth groups who visit ever week. She absolutely loves being groomed by those small hands. She is very careful about accepting treats from the youngsters and will lower her great head for a rub/pat from the children. The children were saddened when they first saw this regal lady upon her arrival at RESCUE. The children asked questions as to "Why would someone do this to this sweet girl?" "Why do people do this?"; "What did Supper do to deserve being starved?"; etc. Unfortunately, we do not have an explanation. Supper's magnetic personality not only drew the children to her right away, but she became Grace's best friend! Grace has not tightly bonded with another horse at RESCUE prior to Supper's arrival. Although Grace does get along with everyone, it was Supper that she loved to be with. They would frolic together; eyes alight with joy as they dashed around the pasture area. They would do a "rolling duet" when turned out together. It almost seemed as if they had choreographed their movements as they would drop to their knees at the same time and then roll on one side, get up and then roll on the other side. They would then jump up; throw those tails in the air and run, run, run!! Finally, they would drop their heads and graze side by side or stand together for hours.

Supper's personality is so kind and gentle that we felt comfortable with letting her out with Pearl. Being that Supper was such a big girl and sometimes so full of energy as she became healthier, we were hesitant for Pearl to be around her as she is so much smaller and cannot move quickly. But, Supper being Supper, was careful and loving with Pearl. Why......Pearl never once yelled at her or had a bad thing to say about her!! This lovely girl's gigantic heart and willingness to survive is amazing! Officials told us that when she was originally seized from the organization, one of the officers recommended euthanasia due to her obvious condition. The attending veterinarian made the decision to not euthanize her as he "saw something in her" that indicated she was a fighter. We are so grateful! The gentleman who went with us to pick Supper up from the facility where she was being held recently told me he had thought that she would die shortly after we brought her to RESCUE. This gentleman has been around horses for decades and has seen a lot. In fact, when he came to RESCUE a few weeks after Supper's arrival, he asked us "Where's that starved Thoroughbred mare we picked up?" When we pointed her out to him, he was surprised! He didn't even recognize her anymore! The statement "You know, Supper is a hard keeper?" is so very untrue!! All we had done was fed her properly, gave her fresh water, vitamins, had her teeth and feet done, wormed & vaccinated her (after she was healthier); hugged on her, brushed her, turned out to socialize and play. Felt her warm, loving breath on our faces and looked into her knowing eyes. We gave her normal horse care.......all the rest came from Supper!! She blossomed and gave us so much more in return!

3/22/2003 - Supper has gone to her new home where she will remain for the rest of her life. A wonderful RESCUE supporter adopted her for the express purpose of providing her with a safe, reliable, loving home for life. A Mom who understand the commitment and the gift of having Supper in her life. Thanks so very, very much Mom!

Our thanks to Riverside County Animal control for being there........Just In Time For Supper!!
A BIG thank you to the RESCUE supporter who helped to arrange transport for Supper to go to her new home! You know who you are my friend and we thank you so very much for your continued support!!

Update 5/14/03 - Supper is doing good and will be even better after Fri. She's scheduled to have her failed caslicks fixed & her teeth floated. Her vulva stays irritated & she has a touch of vaginitis (plus who knows what else). My vet says our ol' girl will be a lot more comfortable once she's repaired & cleaned up. We love seeing her roam around the house w/her little charges tagging along. She seems to be happy & content wandering the pasture at her leisure. Plus she comes in & helps mow my yard occasionally.

Update 7/25/03 - Supper's doing really good. I've included photos of her repair job just moments after it was done. It looks great today & she no longer has any discharge. She's had her teeth floated, hooves trimmed and must feel like a new mare. The heat's taken it's toll on all my oldies. Supper got a stylish haircut to help her cool off since she never finished shedding her winter woolies. Left the midline to protect her from belly flies and her topline & sides to protect the old bones & skin while resting & rolling. The clip job did make a difference in keeping her cooler. And she loves for me to hose her off. I think she'd stand for hours if I'd keep hosing. But even in all our 100+ heat, the silly ol' girl likes to lay in her sand pile in the sun. My dad put a couple tractor scoops of sand out so she'd have a soft spot to roll. My folks have quite a soft spot for "their" horse.Supper's Mom

Update 10/13/03 -Dear Friends,It is with much sadness that I forward the following update on Supper to you. Thank you for being there for her. When I told the horses of RESCUE that Supper was no longer with us, they all became very quiet. As I turned out a few of the residents, they congregated in the center of the arena for a bit. Almost as if they were having a moment of prayer. Suddenly, heads raised and they were off!! Tails flagged and dust flying! I feel that Supper was there running in the wind with them as Grace stopped, lifted her beautiful graying face and nickered to the wind! Supper was very much loved!!!

"On the morning of Oct 3rd, a very gracious lady crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Supper was a most wonderful old soul who deeply touched everyone who met her, and her passing has created an empty spot in the hearts of all who knew & loved her. My senior parents had taken Supper into their hearts as "their horse", providing her with goodies and a sand pile for rolling & sun bathing; she was the perfect nanny and her little charges are lost & can be seen looking up the pasture, wondering where their foster mother has gone; Supper was a constant joy, always loving & looking for attention, never letting her past destroy her gentle nature & kindness; maybe my shoer said it best " a wonderful old mare has finally found the green pasture she so deserved". To everyone who worked so hard to save Supper and send her to me, THANK YOU!D