Horse stories

Today is Wednesday. On this Friday my Beloved Pokey (the white horse)  goes to get a tumor removed from his penile sheath. It’s totally gross, to quote the vet “that’s gross.” He is 27 years old- old for horses, and they will sedate him to make sure that they get it all.

 Two weeks ago  I re homed Rainey (they are working on  a new name for her- I am  so  excited for her!),  so  it has just been him  and me.  And it feels so incredibly peaceful. I brushed him today. Got home after work and went right out to the pasture. On one side he was white and pristine, on the other he was green- it is the side he sleeps on.

14 years ago when I got him, I never thought that we would be here. In this place, together.  

It is funny where relationships take you. 

Rainey and I ever really gelled; it just took me 5 years to admit it. I was embarrassed by what I felt to be a failure on my part. How could I, an experienced horse person, have made such a mistake?

Rainey used to isolate Pokey. She would move him away from me when I came over. 

But now, with her gone, we can just be together again. Just quietly.

The other day when I had to worm him, he was having a tough time. He was shaking his head up and down and away from me. And then the most amazing thing happened. I started talking and he started listening.  He quieted down as I talked to him. And slowly let me stick the wormer in his mouth and down his throat.  

I had forgotten that about me and him.

With all of the noise that was Rainey in her beauty and slender, I had forgotten how Pokey and I have always connected in our silence, in our soft conversations where we both talk-

I don’t know what Friday will bring.

I do know that Pokey in my life is a blessing and I want for him all the joy and peace that life can bring.

And hay.  He would want the hay.