I’m like an old dog—I tend to crawl away when I’m grieving, sick, about to die, or afraid someone is going to yell at me.
Daughter #1’s dog Aski died last week. Daughter is so sad. She worked so hard trying to save him, but alas his kidneys were just too damaged. We all miss Aski’s lovely presence. A dog really makes their place in your heart and life don’t they?
To Daughter #1 and her beloved Aski: We love you. I see Aski running on the beach, frolicking in Iris studded meadows, and there to slather you with kisses when you see him again. My thought about death is that the spirit is poured from one broken urn into a beautiful new one.
I have another heartache.
My horses.
At first I was sure I was going to ship them to Hawaii. Now I am having second thoughts.
A number of people have said, “They have horses in Hawaii don’t they?” They don’t get it. One doesn’t just exchange one horse for another. A personal horse isn’t a tool to use or to turn in for another.
I thought that giving them to my trainer/mentor Pat Parelli would be a fitting ending for my horse saga. I wanted to give them to him, and he in turn could give them to some deserving student who would love them the way I loved my childhood horse Boots. Alas he doesn’t take horses anymore.
You who have read my book , It’s Hard To Stay On A Horse While You’re Unconscious, probably thought, as I did, that I would never part with my horses. Now I am re-thinking that.
Do I want to put my mares through the trauma of shipment? I am told that mares need to be quarantined for two weeks to test for CEM, a venereal disease they catch from stallions, but they have never been near a stallion. Should I frighten the be-jesses out of them to get them there? I wonder if our 10 acres in Hawaii will support 4 horses. (My daughter has two geldings and I wouldn’t ask her to part with them.) Grass reseeds every three weeks on our Hawaiian property and I wonder about importing horses to such green grass after they have been on a hay diet their entire lives. Horses can develop grass laminitis from eating a too rich diet. Laminitis is a dangerous disease that damages their feet. (Horses like the lowest quality grasses when grazing. That’s the reason the cattle people who object to wild horses ought to rethink their position.) The price of hay in Hawaii is prohibitive, so if our property won’t support 4 horses I would be forced to sell them after hauling them all the way to Hawaii.
And, another thing—is this more than you want to know? I haven’t been on a horse for almost two years. Yes, I built up fear after I cracked my pelvis two years ago from a fall off Sierra. (And you who know me know I’m no spring chicken, although I like to think I am.)
So now you know why I have been quiet for a time...
