How a girls still loves her horse!

It was 1998 and being in a different country (Canada), speaking a different language was not easy, but manageable. A bit harder to manage is riding 15 horses a day, cleaning stalls and look after the mommies and babies. But given there are 24 hours in a day, it is doable…


Nice thing about working with babies and mommies there are usually daddies too! And daddies make a difference! Since i was a little girl I had a soft spot for Walt Disney movies, you know the ones that always end right, the good guy gets the pretty girl and no animals die, ever, or the go to doggy heaven.

So being in a foreign county with all these beautiful horses was just fantastic! There was one in particular, a Morgan stallion named Fox Trim Classic. He was just like the Black Stallion, but sweeter! Basically he was just big pup, but nobody had the guts to compare a horse to a dog, so i just thought he was fantastic. I had the pleasure to ride him in a big show two weeks after i got to meet him and every day after that. I just loved the “big”  (only 15.2 which is really not that big) boy. 


I grew quite fond of his owner as well and I told her if I was EVER going to move to The States and if she EVER wanted to sell him for whatever reason I would take him! Off course being 19 years old and very optimistic and naive about live, I thought it was a reasonable suggestion...

And live goes on.


When we moved to the States in 2006 it never occurred to me that Classic, would still around. He had to be in his twenties and after a full life of breeding every mare presented to him, I didn’t think it was a possibility, of him being alive and kicking… 


I was wrong (in a very good way, wrong)!


In April of 2008 we got the earth shocking news that I had cancer. After that news I was very lost and lonely (even with all my loving family and friends surrounding me) and it was a hectic and stress full time. 


Two weeks after I received the shocking news I got another phone call. From the woman who had Classic!?! If I would be interested in having him, he was all retired and she needed a good home for him, she was getting a divorce and needed to find him a good new home.

After 12 years I said YES right away! It was just a gift from heaven, to let me know that I didn’t have to battle cancer all by myself …


So he came, a little more gray, being beautiful, understanding, sweet and powerful and during chemo, every time if I felt I just couldn’t do it no more I just had to look outside the window and see my black stallion and I know I could…

This all happened three years ago and i STILL look out the window every ten minutes to see if he is there. If we are at the farm and i know bad weather is coming, i will run home and make sure a he and his buddy Jones are ok. And yes, i will make Bastiaan go outside, right before we go to bed, and check up on him. Just in case... And i know Bastiaan doesn't mind...

I am also pretty sure that just like us, he's ready for round two and kick some cancer butt again. He sure is my Black Stallion!

This was one of my first posts from 2009 a little bit changed (no new pictures i just didn't have the time...), i hope you liked it (again)!


...
We got home from Chicago and it is decision making time. What doctor, which hospital and what treatment... All of these different decisions make my head spin... Though choices are never easy ;-)

The consequences of riding your horse

As a real farm girl having a horse, the whole idea is to actually ride your horse every now and then …

Oh yes, he's so handsome!

And whenever you’re done with work on the dairy, which really never gets done, but you just feel the need to ride your gorgeous stallion (see: How a girl gets a horse), you really don’t think about anything else anymore. You just hurry down from the farm, grab your; “ I’m standing in my pasture enjoying my nice green grass”, horse and you don’t make yourself go into the house, change into good durable underwear and comfortable riding pants, NO you just wear your G-string and jeans and jump on your horse and GO!

After one hour of hobbling around you think, "hmmm, my bottom really hurt’s…"

Chilling in his pasture

And after you get done, and you actually make it into the house, and you find out by looking at your refrigerator (and the little magnets with appointments) that you have to go to the dermatologist for a checkup the next morning, there isn’t really anything you can do anymore to prevent you from disaster…

So, I knew I got myself in an awkward situation and because of that I took my mom with me to the appointment for support.

The dermatologist had to check my ENTIRE body every three months for abnormal spots/molds and I knew I had to go to this appointment I just forgot it was the next day.

 And yes, he is 28 now!

Lucky all my little molds were fine but when she had to check my buttocks, she said, "well…. looks like it’s a bit irritated in this area!" I’m telling you I could just dissapear into the ground right there and then. And it didn’t help that my mom was sitting in the examine room with me and while I was trying to save my dignity by telling the doctor, “no, my husband and I don’t have a crazy sex life, I was just riding my horse yesterday in the wrong underwear”, she pretty much fell off her chair!

Saving my dignity wasn’t really an option anymore….

The nurse practitioner, the doctor AND my mom were all laughing very, very loud and just couldn’t stop laughing while I was trying to hide my red face.

Oh, so much fun!!!

So I decided right there and then I’ll NEVER go horse riding again wearing a G-string, I’ll NEVER forget to look at my little magnets at my refrigerator for appointments and by doing that I make sure I’ll NEVER have to explain why I have blisters on my bootie anymore!!!

How a girl gets a horse...

It was 1998 and being in a different country, speaking a different language isn’t that easy, but manageable. A bit harder to manage is riding 15 horses a day, cleaning stalls and look after the mommies and babies. But given there are 24 hours in a day, it is doable…

Nice thing about working with babies and mommies there are usually daddies too! And daddies make a difference! As a little girl I always been and have been a real sucker for Walt Disney movies, you know the ones that always end right.

So being in a foreign county with all these beautiful horses was just fantastic! There was one in particular, a Morgan stallion named Fox Trim Classic. He was just like the black stallion, but sweeter! Basically he was just big pup but nobody had the guts to compare a horse to a dog. Anyway, I had the pleasure to ride him in a big show and every day after. And I just loved the “big” boy. After talking to his owner I told her if I was EVER going to move to The States and if she EVER wanted to sell him for whatever reason I would take him! Off course being 19 years old and very optimistic and naive about live, I thought it was reasonable suggestion.

And live goes on…

When we moved to the States in 2006 it never occurred to me that Classic, was still around. He probably had to be in his twenties and after a full live of breeding every mare presented to him, I didn’t think it was a possibility of him being around and alive and kicking…

In April of 2008 I got the terrible news that I had cancer and I was very much lost and lonely (even with all my loving family and friends surrounding me) so it was a hectic and stress full time. But two weeks after I
received the news I got another phone call. From the woman who had Classic!?! If I would be interested in having him, he was after all retired and she needed a good home for him, because she was getting a divorce and needed to sell him.

After 12 years I said YES right away! It was just a gift from heaven to let me know that I didn’t have to battle cancer all by myself …

So he came, a little more gray, being beautiful, understanding, sweet and powerful and every time if I felt I just couldn’t do it no more I just have to look outside the window and see my black stallion and I know I can…