Thank You

I just wanted to thank everyone, the support from so many people has been overwhelming.  I can't thank everyone enough for your kind words, you don't know it means to me.  All of your comments made me cry and I've read them over several times.  Thank you so much for your support, I know I've never met most of you but it means so much to me.

I've been hiding in my own little hole for the last few days.  I haven't been talking about her much but she's on my mind all the time.  I've been out to the stable twice now.  I know it's ridiculous and silly, but I told both Artemis and Socks.  I know they can't understand what I'm saying but it was just something I needed to do.  There was no reaction from them, of course, since they don't know what I'm saying to them.  I didn't want to be at the stable the first night.  I thought I did but when I got there all I wanted to do was go home.  Seeing Socks was the hardest, not only is she Cas' mother but Cas inherited her blaze.  And seeing that, well it was hard.  Tonight was better.  We were only there to drop off a cheque so we only saw the ponies for a few minutes, but it was much better.  Socks came right over when she saw us and it wasn't upsetting to me this time.  I'm going back out on Friday and I'm looking forward to it. 

I've brought home Cas' halter because I feel like if any horse is going to use it, it should be her little sister.  Artemis is too small for it right now but she'll grow into it eventually.  I do have part of Cas' mane, when I roached her mane a while ago, my sister took what I cut off and braided it for me.  I am very glad for it. 

I've been avoiding looking at pictures but I broke down tonight and did.  I want to share a few and by a few I'm sure it'll be too many. 

This was the first picture I ever saw of her.  I wasn't there when she was born but my sister was.  My sister spent over three hours on the phone to me, describing every little detail about Cas to me, and telling me every little thing she did. 

Nobody believed me that her little tiny spots would probably get bigger and she'd be more spotted as she got older.  Cas showed them.

This is one of my favourite pictures of her.  She was a few weeks old here and I'd been with her for two hours, trying to get a picture of her running around.  I finally gave up and walked away and just before I was out of sight, she started running around, bucking and rearing.

This was the first time I saw her.  She kept running in circles around her mom and wouldn't let anyone touch her.

This is one of my favourite pictures I've ever taken.  Cas had come on the ride with us and by the time we got to the river she was tuckered out.  She took a long nap and only when she got up and started running around did we ride home.

This was from her first summer.  She was almost completely gray but by the fall she was bay again.  She was after all, my rainbow pony.

Cas and Fonda, they were inseperable and he's probably the only other living thing that's going to miss her as much as I will.  They're always together and it break my heart to think of him without her.

This is how Cas liked to have her feet done.  She decided she wanted to take a nap halfway through and just dropped.

 There are so many more I could share.  I'm sorry for all the pictures.  She was such a great horse, with so much spirit and personality.  It still hurts, a lot but at least I know she won't be in pain.  I promised her when we found out there as nothing we could do that I would not let her be in pain and I am glad I kept that promise.

The Hardest Thing About Horses

This post is the hardest one I've had to write.  I've been waiting until I'm calmer but this is as calm as I'll be for a while.  I've had a very long, hard day and I both want to go to bed because I'm both emotionally and physically exhausted but I also don't want to sleep because I know it's all I'm going to think about and probably dream about. 

As soon as I saw her I knew.  I spent time with her today and it just proved that it was the right thing to do.  She's gone through a growth spurt lately and with that, the angle of her leg has gotten even worse.  My dad lives two hours north of me so he doesn't get the chinooks that I do.  Once the snow hits, it's usually there to stay and that can mean several feet of snow just out in the field, not counting how much snow there can be in the trees.  She just wouldn't be able to make it through another long, cold winter in that much snow.  Her leg can't hold up for another winter.  I could put her in a stall and leave her there, but she'd hate her life and it would only delay it.  She can't be healed, she'll only ever get even worse.  She lasted a year longer than the vets thought she would.

She's sick of being bothered.  She tries to bite if you attempt to lift up her bad leg and even with her other ones now, she doesn't want them to be touched.  She just wants to be left alone and to have people stop messing with her.  She's even touchy about being brushed.  She just seems like she's sick of being harassed.

I said my goodbyes to her today.  I won't be there when it happens.  I live two hours away and we cannot wait for me to be up again in two-three weeks.  I spent several hours with her, sometimes it was just the two of us, sometimes Jillian and Sommer were there too.  I hugged her a lot and cried a lot.  I took lots of pictures of her and my sister took some of Cas and I, since I have only a few of us.  I felt morbid the entire time. 

She bit me three times in true Cas fashion.  I've tried her entire life but I've never been able to get her to stop biting.  She bit Sommer once and wouldn't stand still.  She still tolerated hugs though, like she always does.  The whole day I was either laughing or crying.  She was the same Cas she's always been.  She didn't care that I was upset, she was annoyed she couldn't go back out in the field. 

I brushed her one last time and fed her some sweet feed.  I took pictures of her leg to remind myself that this was the right decision, because I know there will be times when I doubt that.  I took her out to her field and hugged her one last time.  I let her go and she didn't run like she used to, she just walked away calmly.  She didn't look back at me.  I watched her go until I was distracted for just a second.  I looked back and she was gone, down over a rise.  I kept hoping she'd come back  up but she didn't.  I told myself it was very metaphorical and then I hated myself for thinking that. 

I just keep praying that this was the right decision.  She wasn't even three yet and it'll always bother me that I'll never get to know what she would have been like when she was older.  I'll never know what colour she would have ended up to be, I'll never know if I could suceed in getting her mane to grow.  I'll never know if I could get her to stop biting.  She was the first foal I've ever dealt with, she was my first foal and she wasn't at all what I expected.  She truly taught me that you get what you need, not what you want.  She wasn't the foal I imagined but she let me know she cared in her own little ways. 

I could go on forever about this horse.  She has more personality than any horse I've ever met.  You don't have to get to know her well to know exactly what she's like.  She became known as The Demon, both for her "tempermental" disposition and for her long and interesting namesake.  I keep going through moments where I feel like I've made the right decision, and moments where I'm certain that she would be fine and a miracle would happen. 

I love this horse and I will always love her, no matter how much time passes.  She was a nobody to the horse world, a crippled, mean, "fugly" animal but she is amazing.  This wasn't how it was supposed to happen, it shouldn't have ended this way.

Time Out

I'm going to my dad's this weekend so I'm sure I'll have a lot of updates which is why I wanted to get this post out of the way.  At least now I won't have an insanely long post to write when I get back. 

On Monday my sister dropped me off at the stable early and then helped me bring Artemis in.  There six deer out in the field, hanging with the ponies.  Four ran off when we got close but one doe and one buck, and eight-pointer, just hung around, completely oblivious to us.  Artemis was in a hyper mood.  Leading her back to the barn was a bit of a challenge as she kept trying to run ahead.  I didn't do much with her but I wanted to see her since I was sick on Sunday and we couldn't go out.  I just groomed her and then put her out.  Considering she was so naughty when I brought her out, she was perfect.  I was leading her, trying to open the door (which can be difficult sometimes) and holding her lead rope and another halter (which for somer eason was so much more difficult that it should have been).  It was dark so I couldn't see very well and of course I led us over a patch of ice.  We both almost faceplanted at the exact same time.  Luckily we didn't so we kept going.  She was pefect.  Although, Socks got excited when we went by her and then electrocuted herself on the fence, and then when Artemis didn't stop to see her,  my horse started running around screaming her head off. 

I ended up riding Jimmy that night Socks was distracted by her baby ignoring her and Jimmy came trotting up, practically begging to be caught.  It was nice to ride him.  He was stubborn at the beginning and he didn't want to do what I was telling him but we worked through it and by the end he was listening nicely.  My mom came halfway through the ride and decided she didn't feel like riding, but she brought Socks int o groom her.  After my ride and after both horses were back out in their paddocks, we ended up talking to K for a while. 

A funny thing that happened, we were talking to K about her horse, Tango, who had a rough life previously and was actually deemed basically unridable by the training program at my brother's college (which if you knew this horse, is unbelievable, she is amazing!)  Feline's owner was riding Feline in the arena, and Feline's, owner's mother, was standing near us, watching Feline.  I asked K what breed Tango was, and K mentioned who Tango's sire was.  Feline's Owner's Mother laughed as soon as she heard.  Apparently Tango and Feline have the same sire.  They've been at the stable together for years and they never knew.  It was pretty cool.  It  make sense, both Tango and Feline are such nice, sweet but quirky mares. 

On Wednesday I was dropped off early again so once again I brought Artemis in.  She was much better than she was on Monday.  Zanza and M were in the barn so at first, Artemis was calm.  Zanza and Artemis both really like each other (they look funny together since he is a GIANT Thoroughbred and she's a cute, fuzzy little baby) so when Zanza went in the arena for M's lesson, my baby pony reacted by throwing a temper tantrum.  She got time out in the round pen for that.  The round pen is outside near the outdoor arena.  She can see other horses but it's far enough away that she has a panic attack about being alone, and it's much safer for her to throw a fit in there than in the barn.  And throw a fit she did.  She threw an even bigger fit when I walked farther away from her.  Then she seemed to realize that throwing a fit didn't work for her so she tried seeing what standing still without all the yelling like a good pony would get her. 

That worked great for her until E started up the truck and began feeding the horses.  The second her focus is lost, you're just done.  It's so hard to get her to focus.  When he started up the truck I had been in the outdoor with her, working on leading but she started running in circles around me.  So back into the roundpen we went.  It only took a few minutes for her to calm down this time, once she realized E wasn't going to come save her. 

That's when she tried to approach of being the sweetest horse ever to walk the face of the planet.  She followed me all around the roundpen.  I stood at the gate, with my back facing into the roundpen, listening to the coyotes howl, and she came up behind me and slung her head over my shoulder, just resting her nose against my shoulder gently.  And she just stood like that for a while. 

I took her back in once it was too dark to see anymore and she was fully calm.  When my mom got there we put Artemis back out and grabbed the big guys.

Socks and I worked on barrel racing while Jimmy and my mom worked on Jimmy listening.  Socks was doing everything I wanted, just not quite to my satisfaction.  I didn't really push it, she hadn't been ridden in a week and that always makes a huge difference.  And she was listening to me, I just felt like we could have done better.  K and Tango were riding with us again and she took Tango around some of the barrels, at a walk, to see how Tango would do.  It was good for a few laughs.  Tango is awesome but she'd have a long ways to go before she could be a barrel racer. 

Here's a little video of Artemis.  Sorry it's bad quality but I took it on my Ipod.  She's not that easy to get a picture of.

Also, Artemis is seven months old today and almost 14 hands.  I can't believe she's that old.  This seven months have flown by.  And I have no idea if 14 hands is average for a seven month old or not.  I know Cas wasn't anywhere near that at seven months, considering she's only an inch and a half bigger than Artemis now, but Cas was an extremely small foal.

In Loving Memory: Two Years

I am a day late with this but I'd rather write this when I'm not as upset about this.  This little girl was Sisco.  She was my sister's foal and Cas' half-sister.  We had three foals born that year and it was a horrible, horrible year.  I came out and I was the one who found Sisco.  It was a cold night that first night and I went out so many times to check on her and rub her over with our giant pink towel. 

She was the sweetest little thing right from the start.  I went down in the field and saw her, and then I came running up to tell my dad.  She tried to follow me, much to her mother's dismay.   She often left her mother to try and follow people and would have been quite happy if she had been able to live in the house with us.  She was the nicest foal in the world, until you tried to tell her what to do. 

She did not like authority and trying to train her to lead was nearly impossible.  She'd dig in her heels and refuse to move, no matter what.  The second the halter was off though, she'd follow behind you like a little puppy.  She was the smallest foal, even smaller than Cas but she was adorable. 

We only knew her for 37 days.  She came down with pneumonia and our usual vet was out of the province.  The only vet we could get a hold of wouldn't come out because as he said, "She was as good as dead" so there wasn't any point.  I'll never, ever forget that day, November 23rd because it was honestly the hardest day I've ever been through.  We covered her with blankets and tried to keep her warm.  We milked both her mother and Socks for milk and then force fed Sisco through a tube.  We tried all day in the cold to keep her alive but we couldn't.  Even now I have a hard time when I think about it.  Just to try so hard to keep something alive and then fail, it's not something I ever want to deal with again.  I try hard to be positive and remember how great she was, but it's still really hard to remember that day.  Sadie knew something was wrong.  She stopped letting Sisco nurse but then when Sisco went down, she wouldn't leave her side.  After Sisco was gone she searched for her for weeks.  When Socks came up with Cas from the back pasture and saw sickly Sisco my usually calm horse panicked.  It wasn't even her foal but Socks was freaking out.  She was running in circles and neighing what I could only describe as a truly worried niegh.  She stayed at the fence next to Sadie through it all. 

She was an amazing little girl even though we didn't have much time with her.  We'll never forget her.

Nothing Can Be Done

I finally got news about Cas and it isn't good.  There isn't anything can be done so now the only thing left is to see if she's in pain or not.  If she isn't in pain, then the advice we've gotten is to leave her for now and watch her carefully.  If she is in pain, well, I'm not going to let her keep on living in pain.  I'm going to go see her next weekend and we'll decide then I guess. 

I don't really know what to say.  I've known almost her whole life that we would have to put her down early and I've always tried to prepare myself for this, but I guess I didn't do a very good job.  I never got to hang out with her or work with her like I do with Artemis, but she's still Socks first baby and she's still one of the greatest horses I know.  Maybe not the nicest but I love her for her big and extreme personality. 

I've been trying really hard not to think about this lately because it's just, too painful to and I honestly don't know how I feel about it.  I hate knowing that she'll never get to live her full life and I'll never know what she'll be like once she's older, but I just can't let her live in pain. 

I don't know how much you guys know about her injury because I don't like to talk about it and the vets who have seen her don't agree on the same cause.  Basically though, she likely broke her fetlock when she was young, but in a way that she was still able to move on it.  We had no idea, it didn't look strange or anything, and since I don't get to spend a lot of time up there, if she was limping, I had no idea. 

Her fetlock than healed wrong and it began to fuse together.  This is where it gets a little bit confusing, and I'm sorry but please bare with me.  It's been over a year since the vet told me and I was pretty upset when he did.  Basically because of the injury, on one side of her leg, the bone began to grow faster than on the other side, which is what has caused the angle in her leg. 

Here was her foot in the summer of 2010.  You can already see that her leg is a little weird (right front). 

Here is an X-ray of her leg that was taken in October 2010. Her leg is at a 14 degree angle, which is not good, at all.  The vet was surprised by the angle of her leg. 

This was from either Febuary or March 2011, I forget which one.  I apologize because it isn't quite straight on so you can't get a good idea, but even so you can see a difference from the picture taken in the summer of 2010.  And her leg is worse now, but I couldn't bring myself to take a picture of it lately. 

She is owned by both my brother and I, and long ago we decided that as long as she was painfree and happy, she could live out in the pasture and be like any other horse.  But once she was in pain, we weren't going to let her suffer.  My brother saw her last weekend and now it's my turn.  He's waiting for what I think about it and honestly, I just hope I'm strong enough to make the right decision.  I love her and I really don't want to let her go, but I promised her I wouldn't let her be in pain.

Right now that is the biggest question.  I get told all the time that she is doing horrible, but it doesn't add up to what my siblings and I see, and what I am told by other people.  Unfortuantly my main source of information comes from somebody who doesn't believe you should keep a horse that is not rideable, so the information I recieve from them is not entirely accurate and never has been.  Hopefully next weekend I will see for myself.

New Boots

After being dewormed, probably her most unflattering picture.

Artemis has been really good lately, but I've also become a bit frustrated.  It's not really her fault, it's my lack of knowledge.  I've never worked with a horse her age before so I'm not sure how good she should be or how far along her training should be.  She'll throw temper tanturms sometimes, like when she's alone in the barn, and that's not something I would accept from Socks or Jimmy, but her mental state is just not where theirs are.  She's fairly good about respecting space, but as soon as she gets distracted that kind of goes out the door.  She does get disciplined for it since I don't want this to be a behaviour that continues, but can I discipline her with the same intensity that I would with Socks or Jimmy?  I knw this is a very good learning experience for me, but it does get frustrating at times.

Socks, April 2008.

Socks has been pretty good lately, but I can definitly see where Artemis gets her temper tantrums from.  I bought a pair of skid boots for Socks to help protect her legs while we barrel race.  We've moved up from the trot to a fast lope, so I figured it couldn't hurt to get her a pair.  When I first put them on she kept lifting her legs up high and kicking out, not far, but like she was trying to shake them off.  After she walked a few steps though, she was fine. 

However, a few times going around the barrels she knocked her back legs together (which makes me extra glad I bought these boots to protect her legs) and my reliable, awesome horse started to throw a little temper tantrum.  The boots make a noise when they knock together and I think that with the feeling of when she knocks her legs together just made her angry.  She crowhopped and swished her tail as her ears went flat against her neck.  She did it twice so after that we worked on circles.  We started out large and then slowly got smaller and smaller.  We worked on Socks being aware of where she put her feet down and she hasn't been hitting her legs in the last two rides.

These are the boots I got her,

http://www.horse.com/item/professionals-choice-ventech-slide-tec-skid-boot/E000519/

We have them in the red, since that's her colour and I'm a little crazy about getting everything in her colour.  I have a picture to post of her but I'm too lazy to go get my camera so that'll have to wait.  She has a red halter, red boots, red saddle blanket and a red saddle pad.  And a red bucket. 

Jimmy, April 2008

Jimmy's been pretty good lately too.  My mom had one really good ride on him and then the next time I rode him.  He does listen pretty good until you want him to trun right.  He just...doesn't.  Most of the time, some days he will, most of the time he doesn't.  E worked with him a little bit.  We had just finished our ride and were letting Socks and Jimmy finish their sweet feed when we began talking to T and E.  E checked the ponies teeth for us and they both need to be done pretty quick here, so hopefully within the next week or so we can get the vet out.

Ever since my brother last dewormed Jimmy, Jimmy's had issues with his mouth.  I'm not sure if you guys remember, but Jimmy is not that great to deworm.  When my brother did it...he was even worse and though my brother is good with most horses...he just doesn't get Jimmy.  My mom and I have been working on this with him.  We take time each time we see him to play around with his mouth.  He doesn't like it but then he calms down and lets us.  However, when E was trying to check his teeth, Mr. Stewert was not a fan of it.  So E had to carry through, and he did.  He was able to check Jimmy's teeth and then he kept working on it with Mr. James while we talked to T.  He also decided to work with Jimmy on backing up, which we didn't mind since that's something we're also working on. 

In all honesty, E working with Jimmy was a little random but I was grateful.  He does know what he's doing with horses and I know he would never hurt them.  And his own observations about Jimmy only confirmed what we were already thinking.  Jimmy does rear, as you know, but they did agree with us it's not out of aggression but out of fear.  That's how he tries to get out of a situation.  That doesn't make it less dangerous, but it helps us to know what will trigger his rearing.  They also agreed with us that he's a very smart horse and he learns extremely quickly.  E worked with him for ten minutes on backing up and the next time we were out when my mom did it with him, he remembered.  The combination of us working with his mouth and E working with his mouth has made a huge difference in him.  It's going to be time to deworm him again soon but this time I'll be doing it, not my brother so hopefully it'll go well this time.  I didn't deworm him last time because of my concussion and I honestly regretted it. 

As a little side note, there's a chance Thor might be coming down to the stable in the spring for me to work with.  It's not for sure, as a lot can happen between now and then, but my dad's plan is to sell him.  Alex and I don't really want to but we'll worry about that when it comes to it.  My dad doesn't really have the time or patience to give Thor the desensitization training that he needs.  The training my mom and I did with Jimmy has made a huge difference with him so hopefully it would do the same with Thor.  Either way, anything I did with him would make him more appealing to potential buyers or it would make him more appealing to my dad to keep as a reliable trail horse. 

Jimmy and Sev when they were 7-8 months old.

Fearless

I haven't had any news about Cas.  I'm not sure if my brother has talked to who he was supposed to or if anything is going to come from it.  I'll let you know as soon as I do.  Right now I'm just trying to avoid thinking about it as much as I can.  I'm going to continue blogging because it helps keep my mind off of this.

I just want to start off by saying that I am not afraid of wild animals, not even a little bit.  However, this doesn't mean I'm stupid about them.  I've been raised to respect animals, both domestic and wild.  I do live in a city but seeing wildlife on my way to school is not unusual.  Coyotes are always around, my best friend who lives just a street over from me had a deer in her backyard.  This past year we had a lot of Moose find their way into the city and one even got lost downtown.  There's plenty of wild animals at my dads, lots of coyotes, deer, moose and cougars.  Even a few bears.  I'm not afraid of them but I give them space and try not to end up in a conflict with them.

That said, I had an unnerving experience at the stable last night.  When we got there it was already pitch black outside.  D was the in the barn soaking Spirit's hoof (she had a major infection in her hoof and part of it fell off) and K was inside the ring riding Tango.  There's a new door that's been installed in the barn that faces where all the cars are parked that we have to use for the horses now, and it's on the opposite end of the barn from where Socks and Jimmy's paddocks are.  There is a light near them, but it doesn't throw that much light.  Jay, the barn dog, came with us, and she immediatly ran past Sock's paddock and began barking.  I didn't think anything about it because she barks at the neighbour's dogs all the time.

We caught the ponies and began leading them back around to the door.  We were halfway there when something white ran in front of us and into a turnout paddock right in front of us.  I actually had a moment of panic because it was really long and I thought it was a cougar.  (At my dad's when you see an animal at night in the barnyard, 9 times out of 10 it's going to be a cougar, and I DO NOT hang around to see what they're going to do).  Then I remembered it'd be extremely rare for a cougar to be this south, and I got a better look at it.  It was a coyote. 

Now here's a little side note, Western coyotes are not like Eastern coyotes.  My cousins live on Prince Edward Island and they bascially live in fear of the coyotes on the island.  They have some pretty scary stories of encounters with coyotes.  The difference between Western and Eastern coyotes is that Eastern coyotes are often coyote-wolf hybrids.  They breed with the Red Wolves, and this creates a larger, more aggressive coyote.  Western coyotes aren't usually mixed with wolves so they're smaller and not as agressive.  So in short, I'm cautious around coyotes but I've never had reason to fear them because they're usually running away from you by the time you see them.  However, lately around my city we've been seeing bigger and bigger coyotes. 

Anyway, back to the story.  This coyote was BIG.  Probably the biggest coyote I've ever seen.  It was around the size of a German Shepherd.  Not as bulky looking, but as tall.  It circled the pen in front of us and then it ducked into the pen beside us.  I was hoping it would keep going through the pens, but the little bugger turned and began trotting right at us.  Socks and Jimmy were great, thank god.  They're so used to coyotes and it would have been a much worse situation if they had started freaking out.  But the coyote was still coming right at us.  I yelled at it but it didn't stop.

What I did next was probably not the smartest thing in hindsight but it was all I could think of.  When dealing with an animal like a coyote, you want to make yourself seem bigger than it.  Coyotes mostly feed on mice and rabbits, they rarely take down prey larger than themselves unless they are in a pack.  The absolute worst thing you can do with a coyote or wolf is flee, since that triggers their hunting instincts.  So I threw up my arms, yelled, and jumped forward about a step.  The coyote jumped and ran back a step, but then turned around and started coming back towards us.  So I did it again, but I stamped my foot harder on the ground, making a louder noise and it turned and ran back to then fence.  It didn't leave but it at least started going in a different direction.  We took the opportunity to get into the barn. 

We immediatly told D what had just happened and she in turn told K once K was finished riding.  Jay was still outside barking away so K, being the fearless person she is, grabbed a shovel and went outside to chase the coyote away.  I personally didn't think it was a good idea and I was giving her five minutes outside before I went to make sure she was okay.  Luckily, she came back pretty quickly with Jay.  This was the story she told us.

The coyote was still in the turnout pens, closer to Socks and Jimmy's paddocks.  Jay was backed up against the barn barking.  K threw a rock at the coyote and she missed.  The coyote began to growl at her so she hit the shovel against a fence post and the noise was enough to finally make the coyote run off.  She agreed with us that the coyote was larger than usual, and unusually fearless.

When it came time for us to put Socks and Jimmy out, we were the only ones at the stable.  Jay came outside with us and began barking right away again.  We didn't see the coyote again, but I'm sure he was still hanging around there.  Coyotes aren't usually a problem.  There are records of them attacking small dogs and children, but they rarely go after adults.  There are only two recorded cases of coyotes killing people, three-year-old Kelly Keen and nineteen-year-old Taylor Mitchell (which was an extremely strange case).  But the fact that this one was so fearless and even went as far as growling at K, was not alright.  We'll be letting everyone at the stable know just so they can be careful.  It gets dark around 5:30 now and lots of people have to go out into dark paddocks to get horses. 

Sorry for the long story, but as you can tell, the encounter bothered me.  I'm not afraid of coyotes but I respect them.  I realize that we're building into the territories and encounters with them cannot be avoided.  However, I do not like when they aren't afraid of me because if they aren't going to run from an adult, they're certainly not going to back down from a child. 

Sad

I should find out tomorrow if we have to put Cas down.  My brother is speaking to some experts tomorrow and depending on what they say, we'll know what we have to do.  I hope next time I write it will be with good news. 

What's in a Name?

Here's a filler post for you.  I've been thinking a lot about names lately.  We now have three Charlie's at the stable.  We have Charleston, the rose gray Arabian/Warmblood cross gelding, Charlie the steel gray Arabian colt and Charlie the chestnut mare whose breed I don't know yet.  It just reminds me how common Socks' name is.  I actually hate her name and if I could go back, I would not name her that.  It has to be one of the most common horse names out there.

Naming horses is a big hassle in my family.  My brother and I think we should just start numbering them off, it'd be much easier.  We can never agree on a name.  My dad has two rules for naming, 1) Everyone has to agree on it and 2) It has to have a meaning behind it.  This really means, 1) He needs to agree on it and 2) He'll decide if that meaning is real or not.  My sister and I have one rule for naming, 1) Everyone gets to name their own horse except for our dad because, with one exception, his names suck.  Like, really, really suck.  My brother is just the guy who disagrees with any name you come up with that isn't Clint Eastwood.  So here go, here's the story behind each of our horse's names, and the few we've helped name.

I know what you're thinking, what could the meaning behind her name possibly be?  I mean, Socks is pretty straight-forward isn't it?  The answer is, yes, yes it is.  Despite my dad's rule, there is no greater meaning behind her name.  She's Socks, simply because she has two socks.  When we got home from the auction we bought her at, I was on cloud nine.  I wasn't listening to anything anyone said because all I was going was, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, I have a horse!  So when my dad said, "Hey!  Let's name her Socks since she has socks!  It'll be cute!"  I smiled like an idiot and nodded.  I guess it could be worse, he could have suggested Bob or Jim.  Or Rainbow.  Considering the state I was in, I probably would have agreed to one of those too.  And at any rate, Socks is still better than her registered name, because trust me, that is awful.  On the days I decide Socks' name needs a real meaning, I tell people she's named after the wolf, Two Socks, in Dances With Wolves.  It's not true but I can pretend.

I know you probably haven't seen this horse before, unless you've looked at my Never Forgotten page.  This was my brother's first horse.  We bought him at the auction along with Socks.  His name was Target and there's two stories to his name, my dad's and the true story.  My dad claims we named him Target because if you looked straight at him while standing behind him, his black tail in the middle of a while hind end looked like a bullseye.  The true story is that his registered name is Targets Easy Rider and we decided to keep Target as his name.

Pawnee is the only exception to my dad's awful naming history.  My dad saw him and decided he needed to have a Native American name.  I'm not sure why, but Pawnee was supposed to be his horse so we were letting him name him.  At first my dad called him Blackfoot because he said Pawnee was almost black (yeah, my dad is really, really bad with horse colours...) but none of us liked calling him that.  Then we got to know Pawnee and he was awful.  He was the scariest horse I've ever met.  He'd literally attack you.  It was always bad when he showed up and that's where my dad got the idea for his name.  The Pawnee are the villianous tribe in the movie, Dances With Wolves.  It's always bad when the Pawnee show up, as it was with this horse.  He no longer lives up to his namesake, thankfully, but it's stayed with him.

Sev, or Seven, also has two stories behind his name, my dad's and the true story.  My dad's story is that he was our seventh horse so we called him Seven.  He wasn't actually our seventh horse, he was our fourth.  I had been on a horse rescue site years before and I saw a black mare named Seven.  She was really pretty so the name stayed with me.  I suggested the name to my brother and he liked it so he decided to call his horse that.  Again, Sev's name really has no meaning other than my brother liked it.  Although we never call him Seven, it's always Sev or Sevie.

Jimmy was originally named Rush.  Rush is the name of a Canadian band my dad is obsessed with.  I have been listening to Rush since I was a baby and while I can admit that they are very good musicians, after listening to them straight for most of my twenty-years, I can hardly stand to listen to them when they come on.  Needless to say, I hated the name Rush.  My brother didn't like it much either and eventually my dad decided it wasn't a very good name for a horse.  So the three of us decided to rename him Jimmy.  Jimmy is named after three things, Jimmy Stewart (which is Jimmy's full name, his show name is Mr. Stewart).  My cousin, and the horse in the movie, An Unfinished Life.  We all agreed that everybody needs a Jimmy.

Sadie was originally called Agate by the rescue who bought her from the auction.  When we adopted her we really didn't like the name and wanted to change it.  My dad wanted to call her Nikita, after a song by, and I might be wrong about this, Elton John I believe.  His reasoning was that her face marking looked like a Russian farming tool...a scythe I believe (you can't see it well in the picture because of her mane) which I guess had something to do with the song.  I don't actually know the song so I'm not sure.  My sister hated both the name, and absolutly despises the song so Nikita was not going to happen.  She then wanted to call her Esme, after one of the vampires in Twilight.  I talked her out of it, something she is very thankful for now.  Eventually we decided on the name Sadie, because it reminded us of a princess and this horse is very much a little princess.

Fonda isn't ours but we did help name him.  His owner was debating calling him Jude but didn't really like it for him but couldn't think of anything else.  Fonda (Henry Fonda) was a name I was saving for Socks' first colt, if she ever had a colt, but my dad convinced me that it would be a good name for this colt and so we suggested it to the owner.  She loved it and he became known as Fonda.  I'm not too upset anymore, two foals later and Socks only has girls.  Not that I'm complaining.

Cas probably has the most messed up meanings behind her name.  She was by far the most complicated to name, and the reason my sister and I decided that each person gets to name their own horse.  I call Cas mine and most people refer to her as mine but in reality, my brother and I co-own her.  The day she was born we decided on the name Scout, after the narrator in To Kill a Mockingbird.  We both liked the name but my dad was deadset against it.  He likes the name Socks but Scout was too plain.  He wanted to call her Abby (I repeat, he likes the name Abby but Scout was too plain...) and it had special meaning because she was born the dady the Beatles released Abbey Road.  I neither really like the Beatles nor care about them that much, and neither does my brother.  And we hated the name Abby for a horse.  We tried so many names but he shot them all down.  I suggest Cas, he said no.  At the time my favourite show was Supernatural and my favourite character was the angel, Castiel, affectionatly called Cas.  My dad didn't like it so I then came up with the most messed up way to call her that.  I named her Cassidy after Katie Cassidy, an actress who plays Ruby, a demon in Supernatural, but we would call her Cas for short, therefore naming her after Castiel.  I told my dad he could just tell people she was named after Butch Cassidy.  He then loved the name and she became known as Cas.  I told you it was complicated.

Another horse you'll only recognize if you've been to my Never Forgotten page.  Sisco was my sister's and she was named after the buckskin horse in Dances With Wolves.  My sister always wanted a horse named Sisco.

Trooper is the last horse from my Never Forgotten page.  He was my brother's horse and Fonda's little brother.  He was named after the band.  We decided before he was born if he was a colt he'd be called Trooper and if he was a filly he'd be called Hollywood.

Thor was originally called Gus and we did not like that name for him.  Once we were given him my dad decided to call him Thor, because when he was younger, my dad had played in a band called Thor.  And since Thor is the god of thunder, his colouring kind of worked.  It's slightly ironic too, since Thor was supposed to be a great warrior and our Thor, as much as I love him, is terrified of everything.  It's not my favourite name but it did start our Godly theme.

Hades name came around because at the time he was born, I was obsessed with the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series (still am and proud of it!).  Our description given to us by our dad was a pure black colt with one sock and no face markings.  Going off of that, I suggested a name from Greek Mythology.  My mom then suggested something ironic, like Hades.  The reason it's ironic is because Hades is the lord of the Underworld, and genrally protrayed as a bad, scary guy.  And when this foal grew up, he'd probably be a tall (judging by his parents) jet black horse so he might look intimdiating, but as he comes from the two nicest horses in the world, he'd actually just be a giant puppy dog.  Now when we saw him he really was a seal brown colt with one sock, a star and a snip, but the name stuck.  And so far it has remained to be an ironic name.

When Artemis was born I ws still very much in my Greek Mythology mode (as you know, I've never gotten out of it).  I wanted a strong name for her since she was Socks' daughter, and Socks herself is very spirited and strong-willed, as is her big sister Cas.  However, as I had previously named Cas after a demon (just a TV one but still) and my silly horse took that to heart, I didn't want to pick a figure with a dark story to name her after.  Artemis has always been one of my favourite gods and she is a very strong figure.  She's the Goddess of the hunt and the moon and can definitly stick up for herself.  There are countless stories of her fighting off mortals and monsters.  It seemed perfect, since Artemis was strong but still considered to be a good god.  Her show name is Artemis Areia, which is an epithet for Artemis meaning Warlike.  Again, I thought it was very fitting for a daughter of Socks.

So there you go, there are the very strange meanings behind our horses' names.  We all have very different tastes in names.  My sister's next choice is Rowan, my brother still wants a Clint Eastwood and I don't even try to think of what my dad will come up with.  For me, you can be sure that it'll probably be found somewhere in my Greek Mythology books.  Apollo and Hermes are pretty high up on my list, as are Ariadne and Leto.  I know, for someone with a horse named Socks, my taste in names has definitly changed. 

How about you guys?  Any meanings behind your horse's name?  Or any of your pets?

And the pictures of Fonda, Pawnee and Thor weren't taken by me, they were taken by my friend.  I stole them off her facebook, I hope you don't mind Ally!

Artemis and Her Blanket

I've been focusing a lot on Artemis' desenitization training lately.  As I told E, I spent a good year torturing...er...training...her mother so she gets to have the same things done to her.  First we started with the blanket.  I used my english saddle pad and got her used to seeing it and smelling it.  Once she was comfortable with it, I put it on her back.  I flopped it around and she danced a bit.  Once she stood calm for me moving it around, I brought it up onto her neck.  Then onto her ears and I finished with the english blanket by tossing it onto her and then pulling it off of her quickly.  Once she was completely fine with the english blanket I grabbed Socks' western blanket and repeated the process with her.  This time however, I brought the blanket up over her head so it covered her eyes.  She was not very impressed but she didn't do anything to lower her head.  Slowly I began leaving it on longer and longer.  I was able to leave it on her head and walk over to Jimmy (he was right beside her so don't worry) and she didn't move a muscle. 

After that I brought her in the arena and led her around.  I kept the blanket on her neck and kept her walking.  Slowly I raised the blanket so it was going higher and higher up on her.  She was a little trooper and didn't care.  Eventually I covered her head with it, so she couldn't see anything.  At first she didn't move.  She didn't want to go forward so I pet her and talked to her softly.  She took a tentative step forward and nothing bad happened.  She took another and again, nothing bad happened.  She decided that even though she couldn't see, it wasn't that bad.  She followed me around the arena, her head at my elbow.  I talked to her the whole time.  E came to watch for a while and laugh at my poor tortured pony.  Once I finished with the blanket I tossed the lead rope over her head, her neck and around her legs.  She could have cared less.  I left it over her neck and picked up all her feet.  I moved them all around and held each of them up for two minutes.  Artemis didn't move.  I took her back in the asile and picked up her feet again.  She was horrible.  We took her back outside.  We need to lead her by Socks' pen now to put her out and, poor Socks, but Artemis doesn't give her mother a second glance.  She's more concerned about getting out in the pasture with all her new friends.  Socks on the other hands calls to her each time and follows us down her pen, but her baby doesn't care.

On Sunday we brought her in the barn again.  I did her feet again and she was absolutly perfect.  I talked to her more when I did them and that seemed to keep her calm.  We brought her in the arena and this time we brought out the balls, not the blanket.  We have a few plastic, beachball-like balls that we used for Jimmy.  This time it was Artemis' turn.  She does NOT like when you kick it.  I rolled it under a few times and sometimes she stood still, other times she tried to kick it.  I rubbed it over her and bounced it against her lightly.  By the end she would stand still for a few seconds and then walk forward.  She did great for her first time with them.  We'll definitly be using them again.  By the time she's ready to be ridden, I hope that there's not much that will spook her.  She's had a cat on her back and she's completely fine with it.  She, however, does not like to be alone in the barn.  We're working on it but she still likes to throw a little temper tantrum.  She's great about a lot of things but everyone now and then she likes to remind me that she's still a baby. 

RIP Hickstead

We lost one half of the one of the greatest partnerships today.  Eric Lamaze's great horse Hickstead passed away after their course at the World Cup in Verona.  Out of respect to the Olympic Champions, the rest of the riders did not finish the competition and they had a minute of silence for Hickstead.  Hickstead wasn't very old, only fifteen, and right now they don't know what caused his death.  I can't even imagine what that would be like and my condolences go out to Eric Lamaze.  Hickstead truly was a great partner and athelete.

He does leave behind a little more than his memory though.

This little guy is named Fort Knox and is already owned by Eric Lamaze.  He's not the only one either, Hickstead has left behind several sons and daughters as his legacy.