We Will Miss You, Sweet Girl

Last year my friend Bennett brought Midnight and Jewel to live with Abbey at his farm. Midnight was the type that just went catatonic if she couldn't deal with what was happening to her, and when she got there she was like that a lot. You could hardly touch her, she wouldn't look at you, never really responded to anything. One day when Brandon was at the farm she seemed to take an interest in him, and Bennett had told me that she used to let kids ride her all the time, so my guess was that she had a lot more confidence around kids, that they wouldn't mistreat her. So Brandon came out to the farm pretty regularly last year and he spent a lot of time standing near her but facing away from her, waiting for her to get enough confidence to approach.

She came a LONG, LONG way. She not only let herself be touched, even haltered, but lately started seeking human contact and following me around like a puppy when I went to feed. She got really attached to Bran but he hasn't had a lot of time to come to the farm lately and hadn't been there for months and months.

Last week he came to help me haul some water for the herd when the weather was bad, and when she saw him she RAN to him, nickering "It's you!!" It was one of the most touching things I'd ever seen. The next day when he came again (the day that picture was taken), she followed us all over, and when we left she followed us all the way back to the car, and the rest of the herd followed behind her.

I didn't realize she was saying goodbye. This morning Bennett found her curled up in a pile of hay, and she'd breathed her last. A month or so ago when the weather got bad he'd found her down and she wouldn't get up, so we thought she might not last the winter, but she'd been so full of energy recently. I personally think she was waiting to say her last goodbye, to Bran, and then she was ready to go.

Enjoy the green fields wherever you have gone, my sweet friend. You will be missed.

Moo.

It's cold. I bet where you are you're saying the same thing. It wasn't the best time to buy a new horse! It's depressing not to get to hang out with her. She was pretty shy the first few days, but despite the fact I haven't been able to spend much time at the farm, Storm followed me all over the farm yesterday (and Abbey's letting her!). Apparently the source of apples and cookies and neck rubs can't be all bad.

However, we had a little break in the cold on Monday, and as a result, Brandon and I spent two hours at the farm with Bennett. That's his pretty paint mare, Jewel, in the picture. She's obviously very intelligent but she has very little respect for space, either horses or people. We don't know anything about her training history, but we did a little friendly game with a bareback pad with her on Monday, and she did pretty well with all of it, until it was on her and he went to put the cinch on (not tighten it). She wasn't bad but I think if you tightened the cinch all at once and her feelings weren't respected she'd be one of those that nips when you tighten. I do think she'd enjoy some work to do, though.

Midnight, his other mare, has been abused and neglected, and when she came to the farm she was the champion evader. She wouldn't come near anyone, and you couldn't get near her either, except if she had her nose in a feed bucket. One day when my son Brandon came to the farm she decided she liked him, and they've been sort of bonding ever since. When we got to spend some time there Monday, I was really struck by the transformation in her over the past three months or so, especially when Bran's around. She actively comes over looking for cookies and attention (especially scratches, which she likes more than the cookies, if you stop she'll lean back into your hand), with her ears pricked and an expression on her face, where before her expression was just dull all the time and she wouldn't look at you. She's filling back out, too. Bran can't wait to ride her.

Oh, and since we couldn't keep the horses from shoving the cows out of their feed and stealing it, I've taken on new responsibilities - after the horses are fed and locked in the back pasture I'm feeding the cattle. Not something I've ever done before! When I let the horses out Monday after the cows were done eating, Abbey went over and spent half an hour licking an ice block in their trough that was covered with corn, and when she was done Jewel ate it :)

Moo.