(no subject)
If I mourn anything, it's a loss of the possibility of the easy path. Easy isn't always bad...
Speaking of mourning - Princess passed away today. From Buckaroo Bob:
To all who knew her or at least should have,
Our mini horse Princess died last night. She had been colicky off and on since late January of 09. I thought I had helped her condition by keeping her on a less rich hay. and she hadn't been manifesting obvious symptoms for a little while. She showed up for dinner in her usual aggressive way that evening. But, this AM I found her lying near the gate where she was usually fed. I am sure she had some sort of internal tumor or the like that the too rich hay had just been aggravating to produce colic type symptoms as she had never been food intolerant before this year.
She was sold to me in 1998 due to having problems with her uterus which prevented her from carrying a baby to term and, hence, made her unsuitable for the breeding farm where she had lived. Maybe this condition had something to do with the current problem - or maybe not. I drove to Oregon to get her because she was supposed to have a great temperament for kids. She more than lived up to the hype.
She was a good horse and a good person, although uppity was never far underneath her polite social veneer. Her specialty was carrying kids 35 pounds and under and being brushed if no one that small was around. I think she had the highest IQ of all my ponies/minis, at least in a way a person would understand IQ.
When I got her she started out as the third out of three in power in our small herd. She was far smaller than the other two ponies and moved into their pasture - a definite disadvantage. Within a month she was suddenly # 2 and my pony Simba didn't know what had hit him. I hadn't noticed this change building. But I watched carefully after that. She immediately started working on Bambi - who was a very bossy and mean mare. Bambi was a much tougher target than Simba. But, Princess started moving in on her space in ways that were not overtly offensive. Bambi got more and more distraught as Princess took small bites out of her area of control. I don't know how this would have played out if circumstances hadn't changed. We moved to our current location in the middle of this contest of wills and I started adding more ponies and minis and then separated the minis from the ponies so the minis wouldn't get too fat. But, Bambi always saw Princess as a serious threat after that so I had to very carefully keep them apart when at events. Eventually, Bambi died of old age and a new pony, Dakota, took over as lead. But, Princess had become the lead mare of the minis in the smaller field and she protected her power with ferocity when needed. I learned that as mean as Bambi had seemed, which ever pony became lead (if they were separated into smaller groups), they acted exactly the same way as she had when they had power to protect. And in any group of two or more ponies, some pony is always the lead. Even if they are only a group for a few days.
Sweet Princess was the only pony/mini to bite a kid, to kick a kid, to kick a pony handler in both shins at once, to rear straight up with a three yr old on her back, and to lead the minis on an outing through an open gate, up the driveway and down the road towards Duvall (presumably for a mocha). She was the only one who, for sure, knew her own name. On the other hand, she gave a gazillion wonderful rides (often trotting) to smaller children who normally wouldn't have gotten on a horse. She was 32 inches tall at the shoulder with the persona of Black Beauty and deserves her own star on the pony trail of fame.
If I put her into the pony pasture (where she was the smallest, but still had enough chutzpah to beat up all but two of the ponies) she wasn't happy until she was returned to her own smaller pasture with the other minis. Here, her power was secure and feeding order was all worked out to her advantage and she had definite friends (at least by horse standards).
I hope she moves up the ladder of life to being a human (if that is higher in the hierarchy than being a mini horse), though her new parents had better be seriously on the ball. I will look for her spirit in a small body coming in for Santa Pictures or going for rides at a pony party in the coming years. However, I am sure she will not give me the time of day even if she has some recognition of me.
She was foremost a classy babe and will be giving her all to her new life - as she always did.
If you have a moment, a verse or two from Happy Trails would be appropriate.
"Some trails are happy ones, others are blue.
Its the way you ride the trail that counts.
Here's a happy one for you"
Buckaroo Bob
Sad. Not unexpected, but we'll miss you, Prin.
On an upside, it was great hanging out at the Abbey with the old gang tonight. I feel like I'm really beginning to slow down, which makes me very happy. And it looks like I'll be redoing my mother's illustrator friend Tanya's website, which also makes me quite happy. I mean, it'll be a nice thing to have in my portfolio, but mainly, I like her art a lot, and want to do what I can to make it accessible.
Speaking of mourning - Princess passed away today. From Buckaroo Bob:
To all who knew her or at least should have,
Our mini horse Princess died last night. She had been colicky off and on since late January of 09. I thought I had helped her condition by keeping her on a less rich hay. and she hadn't been manifesting obvious symptoms for a little while. She showed up for dinner in her usual aggressive way that evening. But, this AM I found her lying near the gate where she was usually fed. I am sure she had some sort of internal tumor or the like that the too rich hay had just been aggravating to produce colic type symptoms as she had never been food intolerant before this year.
She was sold to me in 1998 due to having problems with her uterus which prevented her from carrying a baby to term and, hence, made her unsuitable for the breeding farm where she had lived. Maybe this condition had something to do with the current problem - or maybe not. I drove to Oregon to get her because she was supposed to have a great temperament for kids. She more than lived up to the hype.
She was a good horse and a good person, although uppity was never far underneath her polite social veneer. Her specialty was carrying kids 35 pounds and under and being brushed if no one that small was around. I think she had the highest IQ of all my ponies/minis, at least in a way a person would understand IQ.
When I got her she started out as the third out of three in power in our small herd. She was far smaller than the other two ponies and moved into their pasture - a definite disadvantage. Within a month she was suddenly # 2 and my pony Simba didn't know what had hit him. I hadn't noticed this change building. But I watched carefully after that. She immediately started working on Bambi - who was a very bossy and mean mare. Bambi was a much tougher target than Simba. But, Princess started moving in on her space in ways that were not overtly offensive. Bambi got more and more distraught as Princess took small bites out of her area of control. I don't know how this would have played out if circumstances hadn't changed. We moved to our current location in the middle of this contest of wills and I started adding more ponies and minis and then separated the minis from the ponies so the minis wouldn't get too fat. But, Bambi always saw Princess as a serious threat after that so I had to very carefully keep them apart when at events. Eventually, Bambi died of old age and a new pony, Dakota, took over as lead. But, Princess had become the lead mare of the minis in the smaller field and she protected her power with ferocity when needed. I learned that as mean as Bambi had seemed, which ever pony became lead (if they were separated into smaller groups), they acted exactly the same way as she had when they had power to protect. And in any group of two or more ponies, some pony is always the lead. Even if they are only a group for a few days.
Sweet Princess was the only pony/mini to bite a kid, to kick a kid, to kick a pony handler in both shins at once, to rear straight up with a three yr old on her back, and to lead the minis on an outing through an open gate, up the driveway and down the road towards Duvall (presumably for a mocha). She was the only one who, for sure, knew her own name. On the other hand, she gave a gazillion wonderful rides (often trotting) to smaller children who normally wouldn't have gotten on a horse. She was 32 inches tall at the shoulder with the persona of Black Beauty and deserves her own star on the pony trail of fame.
If I put her into the pony pasture (where she was the smallest, but still had enough chutzpah to beat up all but two of the ponies) she wasn't happy until she was returned to her own smaller pasture with the other minis. Here, her power was secure and feeding order was all worked out to her advantage and she had definite friends (at least by horse standards).
I hope she moves up the ladder of life to being a human (if that is higher in the hierarchy than being a mini horse), though her new parents had better be seriously on the ball. I will look for her spirit in a small body coming in for Santa Pictures or going for rides at a pony party in the coming years. However, I am sure she will not give me the time of day even if she has some recognition of me.
She was foremost a classy babe and will be giving her all to her new life - as she always did.
If you have a moment, a verse or two from Happy Trails would be appropriate.
"Some trails are happy ones, others are blue.
Its the way you ride the trail that counts.
Here's a happy one for you"
Buckaroo Bob
Sad. Not unexpected, but we'll miss you, Prin.
On an upside, it was great hanging out at the Abbey with the old gang tonight. I feel like I'm really beginning to slow down, which makes me very happy. And it looks like I'll be redoing my mother's illustrator friend Tanya's website, which also makes me quite happy. I mean, it'll be a nice thing to have in my portfolio, but mainly, I like her art a lot, and want to do what I can to make it accessible.
