 When Cabot first came to our house as a foster she was still thin, wet, and cold - it rained and snowed that whole weekend! From the beginning she would follow me around with a sad face and wait for attention. Her gentle, quiet manner was a delight to deal with and I fell in love with her. As her coat and and weight filled out she became spunky and full of energy considering her age (20+). I was sure she was well broken and would make someone a wonderful riding horse. I was right - and that someone was me! Cabot is well trained, quiet and easy to handle and I quickly realized she was the perfect ride for my four year old granddaughter who very much wanted to learn to ride and loves horses. Cabot is responsive to the child on her back, never goes too fast and will quietly accept the loving and sometimes not so gentle brushing applied by young riders. Because Cabot has no top teeth we have had to search for appropriate treats which allow the young riders to reward her care of them. Crushed up peppermints have become her favorite. Cabot has definitely earned a forever home and love of all who care for her - young and old.
Tribute ("Tribby") came into my life about a year and a half ago. At that time, I already had 2 horses~Star, a very gentle older Quarter Horse and Chief, a young aggressive, but lame thoroughbred. I needed to send Chief off to a clinic in SC to address his lameness and was concerned about how Star would manage alone. I knew that it was not a good idea for horses to be alone (they are after all herd animals, and they quite possibly coined the saying "there is safety in numbers") So I was desperate to find a way to get Chief the help he needed without compromising Star's well being.It was suggested to me by owner of the clinic that I ask the rescue league to bring in one of their horses as a temporary companion for Star. It would be a win /win situation~Star would get a new friend and the rescue league would place a horse in need of a foster home. So that's what we did. The bond between Star and Tribute was immediate and to this day, they are never more than a few feet from each other. The bond between Tribute and myself however was not immediate. He was afraid of me..actually, he was afraid of EVERYTHING! I had heard from the league that he wasn't abused by his previous owners, but more that he was neglected and left alone. ( there's that alone thing again). I took his distrust very much to heart and was determined that I would find a way to earn it, no matter how long it took. What ended up happening though, is that Tribute taught ME how to be trustworthy and how to look at things from a different perspective. After about 6 months into our life together, Tribute's fearfulness got him into trouble and he tried to run through a half open stall door and tore the flesh from the side of his body. The wound required a lot of attention, so 2-3 x a day for about 3 weeks, I would go to the barn to take care of him. Incredibly, he seemed to sense that I was there to help and not to hurt him and he allowed me to do what I needed to do for him. Our time together was a gift to me. I would sing to him and his ears would perk forward, I would put my hand to his nose and let him smell me before touching his wound and he would turn his head and nuzzle me to remind me to be gentle, and sometimes I would just sit quietly with him, as an offer of companionship so he could let down his guard and rest. I learned so much about trust and compassion during those few weeks, and today Tribute actually runs to me when I pull up. He loves for me to rub his head and hug his neck and when I take my 2 and 3 year old grand daughters over to the barn, he lets them sit on his back and seems to delight in the way they smell (he puts his nose right on their little heads and breaths in really deep and they laugh because it tickles!) The horses at our barn are our pets.. gentle giants we like to call them.. we don't often get to ride them, but that was never the intention anyway.. we just want to love them and give them a safe place to be horses Tribute has become part of our family and we actually adopted him from the recue league about 6 months after he came to us.. His presence brings comfort to Star and Chief, and his trust in me is a gift that I cannot describe.. there are just some feelings that you can't put into words. "Between whom there is a hearty truth, there is love" ~Henry david Thoreau  I was there the day Lightfoot arrived at his rehab home. Lightfoot, Whipple, and Caesar were all three in a 2-horse trailer, huddled together. They did NOT want to come off the trailer. It took a good deal of persuading, and Lightfoot was the first to make the leap. Since Lightfoot was a stallion, he had to go to a special foster home and wait until he was strong enough to be gelded. I did not see Lightfoot again for about one and a half years. He was labeled as a troublemaker and sent to a trainer. He was apparently not getting the attention he felt he deserved. I started to work with Lightfoot and decided he was so brave he would make a wonderful driving horse. I thought that would make him more adoptable, considering his small size. Once I started to work with Lightfoot, I fell in love with him and when a potential adopter in Pennsylvania was looking at him, I decided I had to adopt him! He was 'the one'! Lightfoot is now four years old and being trained as a trail horse. He has also learned a lot of tricks. He is Very smart and has a great personality. I amlooking forward to a long life with Lightfoot as my forever friend! |
