Fall has arrived and the trees are changing color. Both Bonnie Blue and Socrates had put on a little heaver coat with dapples showing ever so slightly. The cool days have seemingly invigorated the horse and they want to play more.

A week or so ago I went to groom them with the soft brush. Bonnie as lead mare was first. She brushed out nicely and I moved to Sox. As always I showed him the brush and told him what we were doing. However, on this occasion he grabbed the brush with his mouth and held on tight, refusing to let me have it. So we started to play. Each of us pulling on the brush and shaking it while the other held on tight. After a minute or two, he used his 800 pound advantage and took the brush. He immediately ran off a few steps and proceeded to shake it, spin around, kick, buck and rare up. Then he slung his head and sent the brush flying about 30 feet into the deep grass at the edge of the corral. I laughed, and told him if he wanted to play like that I would get him a ball. So a “Jolly Ball” was ordered that day.

The ball arrived and Rita accompanied me to deliver it to him. We first showed it to Bonnie, but she was totally uninterested. Apparently a ball is far below her station and the lead mare and resident Arabian princess. Sox, on the other hand, was very interested. Right away his over active mouth found the handle on the Jolly Ball and he locked on to it. I would grab the ball and we would tug. Some time he would let me have it and I would throw it. He would walk over to it and pick it up and we would repeat the process. Don’t get me wrong; he was not acting like a dog playing fetch. But, he was interested in playing and interacting with his humans. Since that first day, the ball has been found all over the corral and we have played tug on several occasions.

Sox is a very different horse than Bonnie. Bonnie is the lead mare and intends to stay in that position. Sox wants to move up in the social order but the humans are the only others that he has a chance to dominate. He has repeatedly challenged us only to be shown the whip or given a bump on the nose. So play has given him an avenue to some feeling of power where he can tug and pull on the humans and they accept his behavior. Knowing this is a tricky balance, we are being very careful not to let him get the notion he is dominate outside of play with the ball. That could be bad and dangerous for all concerned.

Every day brings new joys and experiences for all of us. We are all so blessed by one another.

The fall equinox as recently passed and Fall is in the air here.  Bonnie Blue and Sox have had me busy disking, sowing, harrowing and fertilizing part of their pasture so they will have green grass through most of the winter. Bonnie has started her winter coat with the face hair being the first to grow. Sox, on the other hand, is not convinced that it is time to dress for cold weather. Time will tell who has the best plan.

About three weeks ago on a Monday afternoon, we found Bonnie favoring her left rear foot while we were cleaning her hooves.  Vernell was called Tuesday and she advised close monitoring and signs of an abscess.  Vernell visited for training on Wednesday and noted some minor swelling. Bonnie continued to walk on it, but clearly was not fully using it any more than need be. Thursday Dr. Rogers was called and an appointment for a farm visit was set for Friday morning late. Dr. Rogers was accompanied  by Dr. Jeffery Comstock an intern with Pine Belt Veterinarian Hospital. After examination, Bonnie was given an injection of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs. We soaked her foot in a saturated solution of Epson salt for 15 to 20 minutes over the next three days and added antibiotics to her feed for a week. The soreness and swelling were gone after three days of treatment.

While the vets were here, they examined some spots on Sox. He has a viral infection that causes wart like growths on him. The doctors recommended Xterra an irritant which causes the warts to become raw and then heal. After reading about the treatment on the internet, we decided to wait until colder weather when the flies are not so bad. His condition is not serious and waiting will hopefully make the treatment less trying without the flies.

Sox has gained about all the weight he needs. In fact he is starting to get a little heavy at the base of his neck. His feed has been reduced slightly and both he and Bonnie are being kept out of their stalls during the nice weather to eat grass instead of hay.

Here is a recent picture of Sox while working with Vernell. The old boy looks pretty good.

Early September and the weather is still hot and fairly dry. Bonnie and Sox have been doing well with afternoon spraying with the garden hose when the temperature is in the mid to upper 90’s and treats of carrots or pears.

Vernell Falgout visits on Wednesdays and trains us and both horse. Today was interesting. Vernell worked with Sox on basic ground training for about a half an hour. Then he was returned to the pasture and it was Bonnie Blue’s turn to work on the long lunge line. She was doing okay until Sox got fired up and started running full speed in the field right next to where Bonnie was training. This seemed to get her spirits up and she could not keep herself from trotting with her head up. A couple of pictures of her are included.

She may have been an old throw away horse but now she sure looks fine to me.

Blessings to all.

9/3/14 Bonnie Blue working on a lunge line

9/3/14 Feeling good and in High Spirits

On July 26^th 2014, Bonnie Blue celebrated her second year with us here at the farm. For the occasion we all had watermelon to eat. The horses played under the water from the garden hose. The day was hot so the water spray was extra nice.

Both horses are the picture of health, about the ideal weight, no skin or hoof problems and serviced by two humans who love them way too much (if that is possible). Sox has turned brown once again but this time with a hint of dapples on his rump. Bonnie remains the slick chestnut with the long mane. A few gray hairs have started to appear in that mane but she is otherwise only changed for the better in the two years here.

Bonnie Blue 07/26/2014

Sox 07/26/2014

It is hard to believe how completely these two have woven their lives into ours. I look forward to working with them every day. Never knowing what antics the two of them may be up to on any given day.  At least twice a week Sox will pull down the down spout from the stall and play with it. Sometimes he will carry the 10 foot section around in his mouth like a baton, leaving it far from the stalls. Some mornings they are standing together in a stall eating hay side by side. The next day Bonnie may be after Sox with her mouth open, ears back and reaching to try to bite him on the butt as he runs away at full speed.  There is rarely a dull moment with the two of them. They are always just horses but they are always just wonderful to watch and learn from. They are a blessing to our lives.

April 6, 2014 marked Socrates first year with Bonnie Blue here at the farm. They celebrated the occasion with apples and carrots. Sox was well dressed for the event wearing a shiny black coat with a slight hint of dapples. Dapples are new for Sox. ( Bonnie Blue sports them most of the time.) These are not bold markings on either horse and can only be seen with a clean coat and good lighting, but they are there this spring.

Dr. Lowell Rogers visited both horses a few days ago to immunize, worm and test for Coggins.  They were found to be in good health and near ideal weight.  Sox teeth were fine but Bonnie’s need a little floating work. Dr. Rogers will revisit later this spring to take care of that.

We have experienced some heavy spring weather here in late April, but there have been some really nice days also. We have taken some pictures to show off these horses that were discarded and abandoned. We think they are wonderful and deserve a chance at life. They have certainly enriched our lives.

 

Bonnie Blue and Rita 4/30/14

Bonnie Blue 4/30/14 ...Looking at you

Bonnie Blue 7/26/12 upon arrival from Rescue

Socrates (Sox) 4/30/14 in his new spring coat

Sox and Robin in the spring sunshine

Socrates late Feb. 2013 at time of rescue.

A friend sent us a catalog that contained a T-shirt that had a picture of a horse in a barn stall. The shirt reads “My Therapist Lives in a Barn”.  This is very apropos, as my spirit is lifted every time I am in their presence.

Blessing to All.

Rita is taking a wrighting class this spring and she has written a short story about how Bonnie Blue came to be with us. I have copied (with her premission ) the story below. Some days we can hardley believe how wonderful it has been and is to have these wonderful creatures in our lives.

How a Funky Monday Change My Life

By Rita A. Clark

My husband, Robin, and I retired to Mississippi in 2011. We moved into a 100 year old farmhouse waiting to sell our house in Memphis in order to finance our retirement home.  Behind the farm house there is a two car garage and attached to the garage is three horse stalls with a paddock adjoining a two acre pecan orchard. Realtors would call our abode a transitional home, I called it a dump. To add insult to injury we were forced to share our very small house with our three Weimeraners. Note, when you share a small space with pack animals and there are three of them and two of you, the pecking orders are constantly changing. Frustration gave way to the funky blues which led me into my next adventure.

On Monday July 23, 2012, had culminated in a very bad day. For weeks,   I had tried to entertain myself with projects only to discover that I have no talent nor patience for crafts. All my endeavors ended in the trash. My husband and I had started going to yoga classes but on this Monday I was in no mood to stretch my body or calm my mind. Robin left for yoga fleeing the storm that was brewing around his wife.  At 10:00 AM I was surfing the web in my pajamas when I remembered an article I had seen in the Hattiesburg American about an animal rescue in Moselle named Two Ton Ranch. Since we lived in Moselle, the rescue would be close by.  I looked them up and called asking if I could just come over and muck out their stalls.

The owner, Rene, gave me directions and said” come on over.”

The direction were clear, but when I arrived I discovered that what I thought would be a well-run operation with barns and pasture gave way to a reality that was quite different.  The dirt drive leading up to the house was littered with trash and there were three serious mud puddles between the road to the house.  The front porch of the house was   weighted down with a jumble of tools, equipment and a refrigerator of uncertain age. There were neither barns nor pastures.

As I pulled up, Rene came out to greet me. She was a short bare footed bleached blonde woman wearing a peasant blouse and shorts of cutoff jeans As I noticed how the peasant blouse struggled  to cover her midsection, I wondered if Faulkner’s “pussel gutted” only referred to men.  She said “Come on in and meet my husband”  “Sure” I said.  As opposed to the outside, the inside of the house was quite neat.

She introduced me to her husband, who was a very tall, skinny man with a beard and  dreadlocks.  He was lounging on a sofa eating a banana. Rene left the living room saying that she would be back in a minute. No eye contact from her husband who was watching a dance program on television so conversation was nil.

Rene came back and said, “Let’s go see the horses.”

To the side of the house, there was a two strand barbwire enclosure with about 10 horses milling around. My mind was working overtime trying to get my head around this situation. “If the horses had already been fed, where did they store the hay?  While I was trying to sort out this puzzle, Rene said, “Here is the horse whose picture was in the paper. She was tied to our gate, we call her Bones.”

The horse was tied to a tree trying to graze on sparse patches of green.

I walked up to her and she nuzzled me. I only saw her hip bones jutting out like blades, ribs bones with fist size knots. I turned to Rene and said, “I have to have this horse and her name is Bonnie Blue.”

When I got home, Robin was there.  I told him about my excursion and ended with “Robin I have to have this horse. I don’t know if she can survive but I can’t leave her there to die.”

“Robin looked at me and said,”You know we have to fence in that orchard.”

Did I say “I love this man?”

I got on line and researched how to feed a starved horse.  We were to give her 2 coffee cans of alpha every 4 hour.

 

We took delivery of Bonnie on Thursday with the vet to come on Friday.  Robin asked Rene how old Bonnie was.  Rene said, “She is about two years old.” Robin looked at me in alarm and said, “Who’s going to hold this horse’s reins when they scatter our ashes?”

Dr. Rogers came the next morning.  We told him what we were doing and he approved. He floated her teeth and gave her a couple of shots. Robin asks him how old he thought Bonnie was.  He said, “From the looks of her teeth, she is about nine years old.”I could see Robin breathe a sigh of relief. As Dr. Rogers got ready to leave he said, “I’ll come back in three months and test for pregnancy.”

Robin said,” Pregnant!?”

Dr. Rogers looked at him and said, “You don’t know where this horse has been.”

Well, that was a year and a half ago.  Bonnie wasn’t pregnant to Robin’s great relief.

 It turns out she is a pure blooded chestnut  Arabian.  She has put on two hundred pound. Her coat now looks like burnished copper. When I go out to the paddock and scratch her ears I whisper to her “Who loves you?  Who came and got you?” Her response if to pull on my jacket.

2/16/2014

The winter weather as moderated and we are enjoying the sunshine and warmer temperatures.

Bonnie and Sox are enjoying the appearance of a little spring grass and the warmer, dryer weather also.

Sweet Kisses from Bonnie Blue

 

Bless the sleepy horse.

Bright eyed Sox in the sunshine

The little church we attend has a monthly newsletter. Below is a copy of a short article inspired by the horses. I hope you enjoy it.

Horse Sense

By Robin Clark

Many of us have some relationship with a creature or creatures of another species such as domestic social animals like dogs, cats or horses. Evolution and recent genome sequencing tell us that not only did we come from the same primordial stew, but as warm blooded vertebrates, we share a lot of the same DNA coding with our furry friends. We are more akin to these creatures than what we might first think.

Consider this; if as mammals, humans and horses share 85% common DNA (the percentage in likely a little higher) and 70% of what we are and do is controlled by our genetics, then we are about 60% the same as our fellow equine friends. That is a lot of commonality. Dogs or cats would have similar numbers. Now we are not talking about what we talk about. No. Language is special to humans. What we are talking about are the emotions and behavioral patterns like forming groups, selecting mates and establishing social hierarchies, much of which is controlled in the mammalian brain and not the neo cortex where language resides.

You have heard the expression, “horse sense”, e.g. “She has good horse sense.” The common definition of horse sense is the same as common sense, i.e. sound practical judgment independent of specialized knowledge or training; normal native intelligence. A less colloquial expression which has roughly the same meaning is, “She has good situational awareness”.

Horses are herbivores and therefore animals which are preyed upon. To survive they developed keen senses to alert them of danger and predators. They are also constantly observing other herd members regarding social structure, where the herd is going and if someone else has sensed a danger.  In the corporate and social worlds we need good situational awareness or horse sense to decipher complex social and business interactions and  play the games with in the games.

So the next time someone says you have good horse sense, consider it a great compliment. Or even if they call you an animal name like turkey or jackass, do not take offense. These creatures have survived and thrived without the benefit of logic, language, math or science. So maybe being equated with them is not such a bad thing.

 We are all part of the web if life and we are more connected to one another and other life than most of us ever realize. Maintain a reverence for all life. Embrace and learn from our fellow creatures in this wonderful and complex world.

Strive to be happy and May Peace be with you.