Sunday, July 26, 2009

Apache Dream


Registered bay, arab gelding, born 9/22/2003
(DreamCatcher Rajiyyah x Waraja Flashdance)

In 2002 some people I knew bought a pregnant mare from me, bred to one of my stallions. In 2003 the mare had a gorgeous, bay colt. I saw Apache almost daily as I drove by to & from work. He grew to be a flashy gelding. When he was 2 years old he injured an eye & spent a few weeks at UCDavis. I was there with one of my horses one day so stopped by his stall. What a personable youngster & the vet students said he was a favorite. As a 3 year old he was gelded & started under saddle for 30 days. As a 4 year old he went back for another 60 days of training. The people never did anything with him & he just sat in a paddock. It was such a shame because Apache's not only a pretty horse, he's athletic with a fabulous trot. As I drove by, I occasionally wondered if they would ever do anything with him. I did know that he was more horse than they needed.

It had been almost 2 years since I'd talked to Apache's owners. Then about a month ago I had a phone message that had an urgent tone. I called & spoke with the wife, who told me that they had tried to sell Apache but no one was interested. They'd also tried to give him away but no one wanted him. They wondered if I knew anyone who'd take him because they were going to euthanize him. I later found out this was because they wanted his paddock for another horse. To say I'm still furious is an extreme under statement. Anyway, even though I wasn't in a position to add another horse on my checkbook, I told them to bring him to me. I spent the next couple hours rearranging my pastures so I could put Apache by himself to settle in. It was very hard to bite my tongue when they dropped him off. I had so many things I wanted to say, starting with "WTF do you mean you're going to kill him so you can bring a new horse home?" I still can NOT believe that's what they said. I bit my tongue for Apache's sake. He needed to come to me to be safe.

I was on the phone to friends before Apache was even dropped off, & I'd already found him a home. Who wouldn't want a 6 year old, gorgeous, under saddle horse with a super personality? Once he goes to his new home in S CA, he'll begin conditioning to start his endurance career. It's going to be so fun seeing him go down the trail. He has such a fabulous trot & I love watching him fly across the pasture. And some day I'm going to take endurance ride photos by to show those people the horse they were going to euthanize so needlessly.

2 comments:

  1. What a beautiful picture. So the big question is how many stitches did you need for your tongue???? LOL

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  2. I'm just now getting my teeth out of my tongue.Grrrrr..... He's such a darling horse. I think his new mom is going to love him. :)

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