Returning Home

I am saddened/gladdened to share that my Aunt passed away yesterday afternoon.  I was there holding her hand at her bedside when...........she opened her eyes as wide as they would go, smiled hugely and gripped my hand very hard ( reminded me of when Trev was born and I squeezed Bru's hand so hard I left a mark!) and then.........she simply stopped breathing.  I feel positive she saw my Dad and he was calling for her to join him and the rest of her immediate family.  It was very peaceful and surreal and I'm SO glad I was there. 

                                            Katie and her boys in Chillicothe, Ohio

 

                                       Katie and Bru at Westminster Thurber in Columbus, Ohio

 Barb and I will head for Ohio in the near future and make sure Katie is laid to rest with her parents - as were her wishes. It's hard for me to believe that I'm not going to see her today - as was our routine -almost every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at lunch time.  I would help feed her and we would chat and look out the window AND laugh.  It didn't matter why........we just always found something to chuckle about.  I will miss her terribly.

 Memories of her love and humor will long out last her 90 years spent here on earth.  Sakes Alive!!!!!!

Circle of Life.......

I wanted to share that Bud's Ballad will be on hiatus for an indefinite amount of time due to a very ill relative.  My Aunt Katie is gravely ill and I will be spending any extra time at her bedside. 

                           Katie sitting in the Moorings gardens after I brought her to Illinois in Sept.'08

                                               Katie showing off her Birthday sweater in Nov. '09

                                     Katie with her nieces on her 90th Birthday watching..............

                                        Ms. Layla with her Mom enjoying the B'day  ice cream.

                                  

Our First Field Trip

After only a few weeks of Bud under my belt , my niece suggested trailering our two horses over to a friends property for a day of fun in the sun.  The ride was only 20 minutes long and Bud had plenty of treats and hay to enjoy while in route.  When we arrived, the horses were unloaded and tied to the trailer to be groomed before being tacked and each had their own hay bag hanging off the side.  Well, Bud was beside himself trying to get to his hay (and not succeeding) and I actually had to show him how to pull it through the netting.  I will admit he was a quick learner and was happily munching away within a few minutes.

 Once groomed and tacked, we began our 1/2 mile walk to the pasture designated for riding.  As we were entering the gate........the bray of a donkey was very loud and stopped our horses in their tracks.  They watched and listened  ( without moving ) and slowly approached this noisy beast.  His name was Charley  (sorry no photos) and apparently he was just greeting his fellow equine.  Pardy and Bud - very slowy and I mean one leg at a time slowly - made it over to Charleys' side of the pasture.  They exchanged looks and smells and decided this long eared creature was not a threat.  It didn't take long and we were blissfully riding our hearts out with our equine frequently checking on the whereabouts of their newly aquainted friend.

                                                           Bud looking for Charley

The Illinois to Wisconsin........... Connection

One might wonder how my relationship with The Buddha began and I 'm happy to say I have my niece and her horse to thank.  She boarded her horse, Pardy, there for show training.  I was invited to accompany her one Saturday and happily agreed.  Several people and their equine were to arrive at 10am and have a faux horse show with a BBQ to follow ( I couldn't even  eat because I was so excited.)   The owner had agreed to let me ride Bud since I was related and had professed my undying love for the equine.  After waiting for what seemed an eternity - it was finally time to mount up and have some fun.

                                                  Bud and I meeting for the first

Pardy and I meeting for the first time

That first ride was unforgetable........and I mean ......unforgetable!!!  We argued constantly on the track - walk was trot, trot was walk, slow was fast - you get the picture.  He had not been ridden on a consistant basis and the fact he had just finished a " show " -  he was testing me BIG time.  I, however, had a great time just being in the saddle again and takng it all in.   After our less than  stellar performance - I was asked to release Bud back into his stall ,that has an ajacent run, and I did so gladly.  When I exited ,with just the lead rope in my hand, my niece asked where his halter was........well, on his head - where else?  Long story short -they do not release horses with their halters on since they could get hung up on something and cause damage ....so I was asked to retrieve it.  Back in the stall I go and Bud took one look at me and bolted out the door to his run - where we played catch me if you can for awhile.  I did grab the halter once and he about tore my arm off!  Luckily my niece came along and slowly approached him with a treat in hand and slipped off the elusive halter.  He and I stared at each other and I swear he was thinking " one for the equine and zippo for you lady".  I knew from then on.....my work was cut out for me......and I was going to love it.

Meet the Buddha

For the last 6 years, I have had the priviledge of having a horse in my life.  His name is Buddha - tranformed from Bud who was transformed from AB Dazzle as his papers state.  He is soon to be 19 and is a no spot  or solid Appaloosa.  A wonderful lady in Wisconsin purchased him for her son when he was 3, hoping to have a horse he could show. She had purcased  him from an auction in Florida and said  at the time he looked straight into her eyes (and soul) pleading to be rescued from his heavy handed trainers.   Turns out the young horse and the young son basically hated each other.  Luckily for me she decided to keep Bud and show him herself.  They did okay, but, she had to retire him early due to issues in the show ring.  Apparently,  he got so jazzed after performing ; he could/would not calm down and stand still as the judges prefered.  Ergo, his show biz career came to an abrupt stop. 

He resides on a 10.5 acre farm in Wisconsin and shares his space with several other equine.  One of which was an elderly gelding by the name of Piedmont. They had been together almost 12 years as Piedy's mate had passed away shortly after coming to the barn and Bud was there to pick up the slack.  They often grazed together, groomed each other and Bud would protect Piedy from any youngin who thought he would test his ego out by bothering this elder statesman.  They were quite the dymanic duo.

When I first met Bud, he was a tad untrusting and never the one to make the first move to greet - stranger danger - was his credo. We did alot of ground work in the beginning, walking around, lunging ( I hung on for dear life some days ) and especially grooming.  I recall our first session and he had one eye on me the entire time.  He was so unsure of what I was going to do next - he just could not relax...........now I have to remind him to stay awake!!!  I

OOPS!!!

As you can see I'm new at this and I'm having technical difficulties - ergo the added photo of Silver.  I hope to improve as time passes.