good memories

I read your post, and flashed to 2 of my horses...
Miss Daisy and Small One.
When I first met Miss Daisy she had just been bought, out of the meat pen at the auction...
that's where they put horses that won't sell for use...so they go for the going meat rate and are sent to the slaughter house. What makes that even more repulsive is that she was over 30 years old, emaciated, had body lice and open sores over her body. She had slippered hooves...and was mostly blind. But she had a beautiful face, soulful eyes, and she loved kids...she loved having them fuss over her, ride her and groom her...she didn't even need a saddle...her back was so swayed they fit perfectly. In about a year, and several episodes of bad luck for her rescuer, she became mine because no one else wanted to waste the money.

 About the same time a small pony came to the farm, terribly abused, starved...but he had spirit. He played tag with my kids...running after them and stopping abruptly when they did. He was also seen as a liability...so I came to assume ownership. My youngest was rode this pony on trails for hours at a time. He loved him so much...

When the two of them were put into the same pasture Small One became Daisy's guide. They just clicked and locked. He led her from the barn to the pasture and to the grass. They were inseparable.

4 years ago Small One colicked and I had to put him down. I would not have had the courage to do that except that he looked me in the eye and "told" me to "let me go". Miss Daisy was nearby when we injected him, as were all of his pasture-mates, and she was calm. We all grieved. The following summer she punctured her eyeball, she no longer had a guide...Rusty protected her, but didn't lead her the way that Small One did. The eye healed, but now she was totally blind, she wasted away and died the next spring.

I love the fact that they bonded...and I love bonding with them. Even if it means having patience and letting them live out their days with dignity and love.

I am so engrossed in this memory...
it's a good place to settle for the night.

Love you...
Maggie