Saying Goodbye - Bochica, the Snake and Me

Well, my next interesting experience with Bochica occurred about two weeks after the spooking incident.  I was riding out in a pasture behind the barn, focusing on a spot in the distance. I had been reading some training books and one of the things that was suggested was to focus with your mind on a spot where you wanted your horse to go. Suddenly Bochica began dancing to the side a little. I looked down, and -- Yikes -- there was a snake right beside us, moving parallel to us. Well, in about a 30 second period I remember thinking the following:

"That snake is the length of a yardstick, he's going to dump me on it, I'd better jump off."

 So, can you believe it  (I hardly can), I put my hand on the pommel and vaulted from the saddle,  landing on my knees with the reins still in my hand. Poor Bochica! I was crawling on my knees toward him, all the time wondering where the snake was--Bochica  was backing up, scared to death! Finally, he jerked the reins out of my hands and ran back to the fence by his paddock, where he proceeded to graze. As for me, I was looking around thinking, "Where's the snake?" I'm sure it was long gone by now and wondering what that crazy human was doing. I then realized the foolishness of my action--I should have just slowly guided Bochica away from the snake. I walked back to the paddock and mounted Bochica - back to the arena again. (The arena was my confidence building area.)

The next day we went back out to the pasture and the entire time I was saying out loud to myself, "If we see a snake, we will turn around." During my time in that horse community I ran across several more snakes while riding, but did manage to stay cool.

Next I'll tell you about how I trained Bochica to like the clippers. Stay tuned!

My Brother, Allen

My brother, Allen, died last week. Technically, he was my half-brother, but I never thought of him that way. He lived with us one year when he was in high school. He was my hero then! He taught me how to drive (brave person). I have never forgotten his stress on keeping your eyes on the road!  Back then I was very shy and insecure and he helped me a lot that year. He always was available to listen and made me feel very special. We practiced the jitterbug, learning to do all the fancy moves such as sliding me under him and over his back. I'll never forget the night he came to the Friday night dance after the football game and danced with me! It made my night!!!And when he came home after being in the Marines, he taught me some judo moves.  We lost touch through most of our adult years. Then when I moved back to Texas in the 90s, we got re-acquainted. Even though we hadn't been in touch for years, when I asked him for advice after my husband died, he stepped up and helped me with the final legal work to settle the estate - and listened to me rattle on. :) . He was always so gracious and nice to me and made me feel welcome in his home. Unfortunately shortly thereafter his health began to fail. I had such mixed feelings-sad for him and at the same time, angry because I felt that his lifestyle choices led to his illnesses. At one point he was on a ventilator and not expected to live. I went to the hospital to sit with his wife while they unhooked the machines, expecting him to die, and there he was, sitting up and eating breakfast! A miracle man!! He told me then that every day was a gift!  He would call occasionally and we would have a long talk. My sister-in-law, Liz, and I developed a nice friendship and I seemed to spend more time with her than him.  But he always told me he was so glad I was her friend and how much it meant to him.  Then Liz had a heart attack, and they were both down. They moved to Canada a few years ago to be close to Liz's family. I knew when they moved that I would not see him again and I did my grieving then (I thought). His health deteriorated even more and his quality of life was pretty poor. I talked to him a few times on the phone but kept in touch mainly through Liz. He had several more hospitalizations over the years and last week, finally, was unable to go on. It makes me so sad that his life choices led to his early death. I wish I had understood him better .I wish I had talked to him more about our childhood and what led to his changing as an adult.  I will miss him--I choose to remember him as that boy in high school who was my hero! Thank you, Allen, for being such a good brother!!

Library Learning Patch - Snakes, Praying Mantis, Pesto and Harvest

This week's harvest!

Whew! What a busy meeting. First we heard a very informative report from one of our members, telling us how a snake sheds its skin. (I brought a snake skin last week.) It secretes a milky substance between its body and the skin, rubs its head on a stick and splits the skin before it wriggles out. The milky substance covers its eye while shedding and therefore cannot see while it is shedding. Interesting--we all learned something!, Then we learned about a beneficial insect, the praying mantis. We had actually seen one in our garden. We were served tomato pesto (made from the tomatoes in our garden) and crackers by the Assistant Librarian at our library. Yummy! Then out to the garden for our harvest. Lots of tomatoes and peppers. The sunflowers are huge now!! The children watered, watered, and watered more. This heat is brutal on the garden. All in all, a very successful day!

The workers

Wow-huge sunflower--can you believe it came from a tiny seed?

Next week-more insects and more bounty hopefully! Stay tuned!

Saying Goodbye--Testing Me

When  I first purchased Bochica, I talked to a woman who had taken up Paso Fino horse ownership at age 50. (I was 59 when I bought Bochica). She gave me a good piece of advice--"Start as you mean to go." She also said he would probably test me after a couple of weeks. Well, she was absolutely correct.

Bochica  had beautiful ground manners-very sensitive as far as moving from my touch, etc. Well, one day I was cleaning his feet, and he absolutely refused to lift his back left leg. I tried everything--squeezing his chestnut, leaning on his leg, pushing, tapping his foot with the hoof pick--nothing worked. Keep in mind that I was a new owner, really wasn't sure that I knew enough about horses to know what to do, etc. Finally, I looked him in the eye and spoke to him in Spanish, telling him I didn't like that at all and I wanted him to mind. Lo and behold, he lifted his leg like a gentlemen and I haven't had any trouble since! :) Now I just lean down , say "Lavante tu pata" (it may not be absolutely correct Spanish, but it works), and he lifts his feet for me. He also liked for me to speak Spanish to him when I was riding. Who knew?? I had bought a bi-lingual horse!

Stay tuned for the story of Bochica, the snake and me!

Saying Goodbye-Finding Bochica

As I told you in one of my earlier posts, I decided to buy a Paso Fino after riding one in Colombia. When I returned home from that trip, I immediately began checking out breeders in Texas. I visited a breeder and rode the horse for sale. He was probably bomb proof (as much as a Paso Fino can be), but it turned out that he was a cribber, so I decided to look further. Then I had a recommendation for Bochica's breeder. First I went to their web site--and fell in love with that little boy, Bochica Tejas Santo. I called and set up an appointment to visit. He lived about 4 hours away, out in the country, down a dirt road and pretty secluded. He seemed like a sweet horse--I liked him, but wasn't sure. The owner told me to look around some more and not to be in a hurry making a decision. So I made an appointment with another breeder, but thought their horse wasn't the one for me. I then went back to see Bochica, and still just loved him. I took a test ride down the road--he seemed a little nervous, but so was I. I had a quick lesson on riding a Paso Fino--he was very sensitive to my slightest signal). His owner told me he was recovering from a bout of strangles--he was a little thin but gaining. She also told me that she bought him sight unseen for his bloodlines, but didn't think he was stallion material so had him gelded. He was then sold to a man who sent him for training as a buggy horse. Apparently he came back to him spooky and very thin. So she took him back. Anyway, there was never any doubt that he was definitely the horse for me.

What an exciting day!

 So I bought him and took him to a boarding facility at a very busy 18 stall barn  (my first mistake). Little did I know how much my life would change. All of a sudden I couldn't wait to get up every morning and drive out to the barn.

What a sweet little boy!

 I don't know who was more nervous, Bochica or me.Everything at the barn made him nervous. He was so afraid of anything that moved (or didn't move).  I spent the first few days just hanging around him, brushing him, getting used to him. We slowly bonded (he hadn't tested me yet). I rode him in the round pen a few days and he did fine, then in the arena and he did fine there also. Then I took him out through some woods--another mistake--we weren't ready. I was nervous, which made him nervous, and all of a sudden he spooked and jumped sideways. I didn't even know I had fallen off until I was sitting on the ground. Luckily I wasn't hurt (even though I had a hoof pick in my back pocket). He immediately began grazing. I picked up the reins, got back on and rode back to the barn--more arena work. Not a great beginning.  Stay tuned for my next post-the first test!

Saying Goodbye-First Colic

The moment I dreaded came to pass last week-I was sitting on the porch in the late afternoon, chatting with my mother. I glanced out at the barn, and saw Bochica standing in his stall with his head down. Uh, oh. Then he began pawing and kicking his stomach. I knew immediately it was colic. I went out and checked him--he looked absolutely miserable. When I called the vet, he told me to give him an injection of Bantamine and if it didn't resolve in a few minutes, to call him again.. The only problem with that was that I had never given a horse a "shot". He explained where to give it--a hand's width in front of the shoulder and halfway from top to bottom of the neck. Well, I nervously went out with my syringe. Bochica thought it was wormer at first and began backing up. But I soon calmed him (and myself) and managed to give it. Whew! That little horse seemed to know that I was trying to help him and stood perfectly still for me. I walked him around a little and the colic did resolve. Well, the next morning I went in to the vet's office to discuss the situation with him. He said we would just have to wait and see if he has another one. But imagine my surprise, as we were discussing my giving him the injection, he mentioned that I should have given it between the top of the neck and the spine! Wait a minute--isn't the spine at the top of the neck??? As it turns out, NO. I can't believe I have had horses all this time and never realized this. The vet even drew me a picture. Well, I immediately went to the library and checked out our new animal anatomy book. Sure enough, there it was--a drawing of a horse's skeleton. Check this out!!

Who knew!

It's a thousand wonders I didn't place the needle right in his spine. Luck was with me, though. I hit just the right spot!! I just can't believe I've been around horses all my life and didn't know this. I have talked to several others who didn't know either. Did you know this??? What wonderful creatures horses are!

Stay tuned!

Library Learning Patch-Insects, etc.

Today we began to learn all about insects. We borrowed the library's laptop and watched an informative video. We all learned a few new facts about insects.

My mother had been kind enough to make pesto from the basil that we grew from seed. So we had a tasting.

Something we haven't eaten before

I brought a snakeskin I found in my pasture. They were enthralled by it. One of the children volunteered to tell us all about snakes shedding their skins next week.

Neat!

Then out to the garden. Harvest time!! Tomatoes galore!!

Just a sample!

We also had a giant cucumber that we had missed before. Next week we should have squash also. Now the fun begins. The fruits of our labor! Stay tuned!

Saying Goodbye

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened."

Anatole France

Bochica Tejas Santo

I've begun to say goodbye to Bochica. A few months ago he was diagnosed with cancer--cutaneous lymphosarcoma-- and it is spreading. He has meant the world to me!  Be careful what you ask for in prayer--I had prayed that I would outlive him because I was so concerned that he would get an owner that wouldn't take good care of him--and now it looks as if I will. He has tumors that are spreading along his side and under his jaw. He also is gaining weight rapidly and we aren't sure if that is fat or fluid from the tumors. The vet tells me that the favorite place for these tumors to spread to is the lining of the intestines--in that event, he will colic and I will have to "put him down". Or it could spread to his esophagus and he will begin to choke. It's as if I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Each day I look for signs that it has spreading more rapidly.  I try to enjoy my time with him, but it is difficult. He is much more loving these days--almost as if he senses what is happening. I'm sure he does--horses are much more intuitive than we know.

I think the best way to say goodbye is to remember the good times we've had. I've said many time that I believe Bochica saved my life. I have serious lung disease and have outlived the statistics by many years. Bochica is partly to thank for that. When I bought that little horse, my life changed in so many ways! We've had quite a journey together. So I will share with you some of my fondest memories of my journey with Bochica. Stay tuned!