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August 27, 2009 ~ Pritchard, B.C.
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| Mischief telling the world there is a fire coming down the mountainside! |
With the fires burning teasingly down the mountainside, it was not a time to make for waste. With most of the horses loaded and gone, taken away by unknown individuals that brought in their own stock trailers to haul horses to safer ground, a small group of horses still remained including two, left behind because they would not willingly load onto these trailers.
One of these two horses was Serenity, a beautiful quarter horse paint mare who after 45 minutes of trying to coax her into the trailer mid afternoon, simply refused to load, for whatever reason we do not know. She was getting pretty stressed out and with the hot afternoon sun beating down her painted body, she glistened in a warm sweat. I took her aside and did some relaxation work with her that calmed her down nicely, but it was not enough to convince her to load and be taken away to a fire free zone. Disgruntled with this, the driver of the rig left without Serenity who was just happy this exercise was all over and who was then returned to her paddock. Sadly, all of her companions had been hauled out earlier this day so she was left on her own in a place that was now barren and empty.
Later this afternoon another horse trailer pulls in to take four of the other remaining horses left aside from Serenity. All loaded but the last little one; just being a yearling he was quite curious about the trailer as he had never seen one quite like this before and wanted to explore more, before jumping on board. The impatience of the driver and sense of urgency they were experiencing, gave only 30 seconds of her time and became quickly aggravated, threw down his lead rope and mumbled “sorry, but you stay and good luck to you!” The trailer then sped away up the long driveway leaving myself and this young horse standing alone, except for Serenity who peered over her fence line, probably still wondering where her other herd mates were.
I put this little horse back into a paddock close to the indoor arena with hopes another hauler might come by. The colts name was Mischief and he turned out to be the one who claimed my heart after putting down my 21 year old thoroughbred Jimmy, later that fall.
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| There was no mistake that Mischief was right on the mark here! |
Eight o’clock in the evening rolls around and another trailer has arrived to assist and get these last two horses moved out to a fire free zone. These people were friends of the Mackenzie's whose equestrian center was on evacuation fire notice where our horses were boarded. Their ranch was in a safe zone from the fires and they had the space available to take in two more horses which they were very happy to accomadate. Serenity is brought out first to the parking lot where the truck, trailer and driver were waiting. It did not take long to figure out that once again this mare was not going to be cooperative. Patience was becoming short for those involving themselves in assisting to get this mare safely loaded. When they took a few moments to break, I suggested we load Mischief first which might encourage Serenity to follow suit. Mischief hardly took the time to check out this new trailer, hopped in and made his way to the front end of it where he tied nicely and waited in patience.
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| Finally hauled out to safer ground. |
Another 20 minutes has gone by, nerves are truly on edge now as the paint mare wanted nothing to do with this exercise. It was decided that the best course of action would be to drive the trailer into the arena and back it up against the round pen, put up a panel so as to contain her in a small space, with little choice but for her to load more easily. Was this about to happen? Not as far as Serenity was concerned. By now there had been several handlers giving it their best shot to get Serenity safely loaded but to no avail. Someone even grabbed a cattle prod which worked as an electric shock to the horse when contact was made with it to help in getting her to move forward. Still, this electric current was not enough. The mare was getting more tired and exhausted; we could see it not only in her body but her eyes, which also showed much distress. Why she would not load we could not understand. In the meantime Mischief stood quietly still in patience. He was not reactive to Serenity’s energy but rather exuded more of an inner strength where he remained grounded. He watched every moment of this exhaustive experience Serenity was going through and still stood in peace, with me beside him. It came as a relief when all the helpers walked away to take a break from this exhausted and what had now become, an almost dangerous mare. Moments after they left the indoor arena Serenity lowered her head, still breathing heavily. I left Mischief’s side and walked to the bumper of the trailer and sat down on it. I picked up Serenity's lead rope and told her she would be okay but it was really important that she come with me into the trailer. This had been no more than a thirty second conversation when Serenity decided to pick up her front feet followed by her hind, and quietly walked into the trailer behind me. It was as if Mischief was also waiting for this moment as he let out a deep, long breath of relief. Serenity pushed her body up close beside Mischief; this young yearling who objected not, to her closeness. Soon his left side glistened in the warm sweat from Serenity’s right side, as this was how close she obviously felt she needed to be, to feel secure in what was to become, her safe place.
I will never quite understand what all took place this day. But what I do know is that this one special little horse, who exudes in his daily life a joyful outlook in every waking moment, new where he needed to be that night. It was to be there with Serenity holding space for her to take her to safer grounds where no harm would come her way.
Voice For The Horse warmly invites you to join us in this grassroots effort to support and promote horses through the advancement of equine education.
Click here to visit "Voice For The Horse" documented experience of the horse rescues during the Pritchard Fires
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