May 6 will be the 5 month anniversary of Scotty's rescue. This morning as I was leaving the barn I stopped to watch him in the pasture. Nearly completely free of his curly winter hair, his chestnut coat seemed to glow even though it was cloudy.. His coloring reminded me of a shiny new penny. I thought to myself how blessed I am to have this horse in my life. Why he is so much more special than any of the other horses I've rescued is beyond me. There have been so many horses - all rescues, and none of them have touched my heart in such a way that Scotty has. I gush about him any chance I get, almost like a new relationship still in it's "honeymoon" phase and I brag about him nearly as much as I do about my own daughter. I truly adore this horse.
As I was watching him play in the pasture - running and bucking, I thought back to 5 months ago when he was too weak to load himself in the trailer. I remembered how emaciated he was and how dull his coat appeared, how I could see every bone in his body and how he was trembling due to the harsh Minnesota cold. He had lost his will to live, given up on people - yet there he stood in the pasture when I came to pick him up, ears pricked forward.... hopeful.
It is still difficult for me to talk about - why and how he got so skinny. It saddens me that he was allowed to get within a week from death and nobody seemed to care. Nobody did ANYTHING! In my heart I have forgiven the people involved and I try not to hate them. Hate is a strong word and does nothing but bring people down. If anything I am grateful to them. If events hadn't played out as they did - I wouldn't have the most wonderful horse in the world.
3 comments:
Isn't it amazing what tincture of time, plenty of TLC, and lots of groceries will do. I commented on your last entry on how fantastic Scotty looked--and compared to today's pictures, well, it doesn't even look like the same horse!
Scotty is a lucky LUCKY boy, and I'm thinking he knows it. You are going to have a best friend forever with that guy, I bet.
I adopted a rescue for my horse a year ago this coming Saturday. He has gotten so much calmer and confident because he too has adequate groceries, a pleasant and safe place to "live," and a nice friend right next door. It has been an amazing journey for us both, though his body condition was nowhere near Scotty's at rescue time, and his major issue was one of abandonment.
He had lived in the same barn for most of his life (he's about 20 years old) and his owner died and for 18 months he was fed, vetted, hoof-trimmed and "dentaled."
It has been a wonderful journey, however, because he's so much happier. And I'm sure you've found the same to be true of Scotty.
Keep up the good work and keep blogging. I check every day ;o)
I will try to get more religious at posting. :-) I always look forward to your comments and find it amazing that anyone even cares about Scotty's story. I started the blog pretty much for my own benefit, as a journal. This spring I will start bringing him to some of our Mounted Patrol practices. Although he is nowhere near ready for actual patrol work, he can "pretend" at our practice sessions.
I saw the pictures you posted on ER and I have to tell you he looks magnificent. Scotty is one special dude. Thank you for caring and taking him in.
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