Sunday, August 30, 2009

They've Multiplied!


No, Aeolae wasn't pregnant but now it looks like not 1 but 2 horses will be moving in within the next few weeks. A little more than a week and a half ago the idea of having a horse around here was nothing more than a pipe dream we took down occasionally, dusted off and re-realized that it wasn't going to happen anytime soon. My, how life can change quickly.

Aeolae's companion, who was known as Blaze (we're changing his name), originally was going to go home with a friend of my friend but unfortunately life has dealt her a bad hand and she can't take him anymore and my friend's husband is afraid of her acquiring too many critters to look after. She's got fibromyalgia like me and although sometimes those who care about us irritate us by trying to take care of us, which sometimes comes across as interfering and a lack of faith in our abilities or knowledge of ourselves, we had to agree today that we do appreciate our menfolk trying to take care of us and not let our expectations of ourselves as superwomen get out of hand. She's got 2 llamas, a horse and lots of Angora and other long haired bunnies, whose fur she spins aqnd weaves, so she might be close to hitting critical mass in what she can take on while working 2 jobs, training 2 horses andtheir people and pursuing her multitude of hobbies. Those of us with fibro, and probably people with other chronic pain/fatigue conditions, have to keep busy though otherwise we really feel the pain and tiredness and it truly runs us into the ground. In fact, the worst time for me is at night when I stop doing stuff and try to go to bed and really ache. One can only take so many pain meds. But I digress.

Back to Blaze or rather Samwise as we're going to call him. My friend asked me yesterday whether we would be interested in taking him. It would make life easier in many ways - the 2 horses are herd bound and it was going to be time consuming and difficult to get them separated without them grieving for each other which would cause problems; fall is soon to be upon us (if it's not already here) with winter hard on it's heels this year. Also there's the fact that where they are now is not exactly on the way to anywhere for either my friend or Mark and I and both of us are burning a bit of gas going out there; moving them within the next couple of weeks would save on gas and make training easier. Means I have to get my butt moving though to get their accomadations ready especially as they'll be ready to move much sooner than Aeolae by herself would be. Way too much to do; I could really use the rain to hold off.

Samwise (pictured above) is a Quarterhorse cross gelding approx. 15.2 hh (~62" at the shoulder). He's a chestnut roan (white hairs mixed in a reddish brown coat) with a white blaze and stockings. Although Blaze is a good descriptive name for him, he needs a new name since he bears several scars and almost no hair on his face from the trauma he suffered at the home he and Aeolae were rescued from; the one before where we're getting them from. Aeolae has white lines on her face, scars where the straps of her halter were way too tight, and we are told that the scarring on Samwise comes from the family's disturbed child soaking a rag on a stick in gasoline, lighting it and pushing it into his face. I suppose we could call him Socks or Buddy for his other prominent markings or personality since he is so friendly, but something more dignified seems in order.

Buddy made me think of friend and the phrase "speak friend and enter" from the inscription on the west gate of the Mines of Moria in the Lord of the Rings jumped into my head. Mellon is the elvish word for friend which sounds kind of cool if you put the accent on the first syllable but I know that too often he'd get referred to affectionately as a melon-head or something similar which kind of shoots the dignity objective. Anyway, Samwise in LOTR is a very homespun character who has great heart, loyalty beyond measure, and no small number of smarts; not a bad description of this horse. I've probably really over thought this but names are important.

It didn't hurt Samwise's chances of us taking him any either that he is a bit more bidable and less willful than Aeolae at this point which, although he definately needs training, means he just might be useful this fall in helping around here. The fact that he is a larger horse than Aeolae and prefers women to men also means he'll make a better mount for me as I am not what one would call petite and frankly I was getting a little jealous of the attention Aeolae was lavishing upon Mark while I'm putting in at least as much work as he is working with her and getting her home ready. In any case, I couldn't see Samwise facing the same fate Aeolae was of getting put down because another home couldn't be found. I don't see him as being that much more work but this is going to be something of an adventure and a bit more of a strain on the budget than we planned on. It's all a matter of what's important though; hay vs going out - is there really any question?

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