March 1, 2013

Home (part one)

I was so excited when I saw the trailer coming down our long driveway, and as Michael opened the door, Willow couldn't yet see me... but I could see her stretching her head up when she heard my voice.  I think she could tell how excited I was to see her again.

She arrived with her bandaged leg and soft boots on her front feet, and we slowly led her to her stall which we had heavily padded with warm, dry straw.  It was snowing outside, and in all my excitement, I'd forgotten to put on my coat.  But I wasn't cold. ♥

Willow reacquainted herself with her stall, but not before noticing her handsome new pasture mate who was intently looking at her from the main pasture behind the barn. We had closed the gate to the round pen which is attached to the barn... so there was a good 60 feet between them.  We decided to take baby steps with their introduction.

I know being on stall rest for the first 8 weeks of her recovery will be very hard for Willow, and it breaks my heart.  She is not used to being locked in her stall.  She comes and goes as she pleases, and she likes it that way.   She was frustrated that the bottom half of her outside door was shut... she pawed at the door, and that broke my heart.  I wish I knew for sure that she understood why this must be.

So after a few hours, we let the new guy (still deciding on a name) into the round pen so they could be a little closer to each other. We kept his stall door completely closed so he couldn't get in (it's right next to hers with a 5 foot wall separation).  He immediately came toward her and put his head in side her stall...  well of course she gave him "the look" and pinned her ears like only she can.  Most horses would have retreated, but he just looked at her and didn't move.  She tried a couple more times but to no avail.  The she did it...  she turned around and put her rear toward him (which in horse language means, MOVE or I will KICK you!!).  Well, instead of moving, he rested his head on her rear!!! I  could NOT believe it..... but look!!   OH my goodness, he is SO sweet and cute.  Willow just looked at me, like "What?? Who is this guy, and he doesn't speak horse or what?"  lol!!  And you know what? She never did try to kick him ♥


(pardon the terrible photo... I was laughing too hard while trying to capture this moment!)

39 comments:

  1. I love this photo! Willow has a new bodyguard and buddy, and he will protect her from now on! Hurray!

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  2. Prayers have been answered soooo heartwarming and beautiful LOL the picture is perfect :)

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  3. Are you sure she isn't saying"excuse me darling..but I'm the Queen of this barn"??lol

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  4. Awe! I have happy tears right now! Rejoicing with you! Hope you don't think that is weird that you have complete strangers with such deep emotions following your story! What a relief that you must feel now that she is home. I am sure you were holding your breath with their first meeting! Now, you can let yourself relax a bit now that she is home. The next few months will be hard, but remember this too shall pass! You can handle it! Willow and you have been through so much, together you can do it! <3

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  5. I think the second times the charm- what a great photo! I am so happy Willow is home- happy for everyone.

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  6. how cool is this :)
    the challenge will indeed be having to NOT let them play for a bit, but it will be worth it ;)
    LOVE

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  7. Aww I LOVE this and I love that she is back home!! <3

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  8. I am so excited for you and for Willow. I just read your whole Velvet Willow Blog. Somehow I missed it even existing. I own your beautiful actions and am a horse lover but somehow I just didn't see you had a new blog. What happened to Willow is why I have a hard time even thinking of ever selling a horse. Here they are safe and loved and if you sell them you really never know what might happen to them. A horse trained and with the bloodlines she had she should have never had such a fate, and yet she did. I was an avid 3 day eventer, I gave lesson's, trained horses, and loved it. I had to have my Hannovarian put down and it broke my heart. I can't wait to start all over and work my way up back to upper level dressage but we don't have the money for that right now. For now it's about the kids (Maya adopted from Guatemala and Benjamin from Nevada). Maya is riding her pony now and it's great.
    My parent's live next to use and my mom and I have both rescued starved and neglected horses. Both of our horses and healthy and fine now, but mine had been on the slaughter truck headed to the slaughter house, and I don't know if my mom's would have made it thru the winter because he was so emancipated. It is horrible, I will never understand people.
    Enjoy your girl she sounds absolutley wonderful. Even though we can't ride with the snow here I can still go and smell our horses, there is nothing better then that.

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    1. I am so sorry about your Hannovarian.... and yes, I wrote about how much I love the smell of my horses last night in the 2nd half of this post (havne't posted yet)... and my new one LOVES to breathe on me... it's the sweetest thing. :)

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  9. I love him - he has a peaceful soul - so glad Willow has him :) I'm glad he made you laugh too sister - it's all going to work out just as God has planned it ! xo - kecia

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  10. This is just so happy!! Look at him trying to get to know her! Makes me wish I was there to watch too!! We are back to our happy story in progress!! ...I still can't believe what happened!!! Such good news!! God bless you all.

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  11. So Happy she's home and has Handsome new Friend ! I love following your story it's so a heart warming ! You are so very Talented and I know you must have the Biggest Heart in your Sate ! Thank you so much for being a Friend to Animals !

    Peggy

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  12. Wow what a moment you captured!! So beautiful!

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  13. i love seeing the two of them together, puts a big smile on my face. so glad she's finally home.

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  14. OH..they are perfect for each other..a match made in heaven : ) So happy for all of you!!

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  15. Shana, I've been following Willow's story from the beginning. I'm so happy that she is home and that she appears to have accepted the new horse.

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  16. Such a relief! And what a perfect homecoming for Willow, her loving Shana and a very cute boy to keep her company. The photo is priceless, and so happy :-)

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  17. I love your photo Shana - and I'm so happy that you have Willow home again! It looks like the new horse is a sweetheart and I hope he will become Willow's best friend! Maybe you could call him "Shadow".

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  18. I am so happy that Willow is finally home!! What a great picture of the two of them..so sweet! It makes my heart happy!

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  19. This put a grin on my face! I keep coming back to this photo. I love how your new horse isn't wasting any time checking out Willow. The way his head is in this photo is so darn adorable!

    You may already know this, but I did not...I just read that horses like music - they prefer calming or cheerful instrumental music, not the loud rock kind. Maybe Willow would enjoy some music while being in her stall during her recovery. LOL
    Barb M :)

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    1. Hi Barb... yes Willow seems to be comforted by music... we have it playing in the barn for her... :)

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    2. Sweet! I never heard about horses liking music before, and it's nice to know it's totally true since you already do that! lol

      Sorry to hear Willow had a choking episode again. I can't imagine how hard it is to watch and wait for it to be over and so helpless you must feel. Hopefully now that she is back home and things get back to normal for her, she will be more relaxed which will help somewhat with the choking. Prayers for healing from this choking issue for Willow..

      And once again - I can't help but grin when I look at this pic of your "no name" horse. For some reason, it cuts me up ! You need to post this one to Flickr so I can fave it! lol
      Barb

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  20. Love it. Great way to start my day

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  21. What a great homecoming. Everyone needs someone who loves like you do in their lives. You never give up when others myself included would have.
    I want to give one word of caution from experience. It looks like you were in the stall when you took the picture. Be careful with her when other horses are present. They will react differently than usual when a new horse is present. My granddaughter and I both were kicked by my kindest sweetest mare because we had food in the pasture and there was another horse in the pasture with us. God's grace kept us from being seriously hurt. She whirled and kicked with both feet. One hoof grazed the back on of her little neck when she ducked and then caught me on the head and I fell in a lake. Could have been disastrous. The horse was just acting like a horse. I should have known better.

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    1. Oh Brenda, how scary!! Especially the part about your daughter and then you falling in the lake! Actually on this shot I was outside the half door that goes into the inside of the barn... but I have been in there a lot with her and have been careful. She's moving real slow right now, but still I know she could probably manage to kick him if she really wants to. And for sure I won't let the kids in there.. :)

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  22. I'm glad she made it safely home......now on to the recouperation!

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  23. So glad she is home!! Oh my, why does reading about her still brings tears to my eyes?! After all she is doing great!! Thank you for the updates and bless both of you ;-)

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  24. I am glad you are careful. We sometimes think they are like our dogs and we trust too much. My experience makes me want to make others don't make the same mistake. I love my horse, Gracie but will always be cautious. There is a Bible verse..God spared me sorrow upon sorrow...that is what He spared me of.

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  25. awwwwwwwwwwwww how cute! She has a new friend!!!!

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  26. Aww! I think he has a great personality already! He's going be the perfect pal for her to boss around :)

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  27. I hope they will get along splendidly soon. Hope it with all my heart.

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  28. hahah I love this.. I think they will become best of pals...

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  29. Seriously, this needs to be scripted and a book written... She truly is the horse with 9-lives, let alone how other animals who connect with her r e a l l y connect. It is fabulous!! ...and such a wonderful story of the power of love, hope and dedication!!

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    1. ...and so many people need to hear and experience stories like yours/hers. Thanks for sharing!!
      ~Dani R

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  30. Shana, I have had an extremely stressful few days work-wise, and your stories about Willow and her new friend were making me laugh out loud this morning, which I really, really needed. Give them both a hug from this stranger from Arkansas...and let them know that they helped brighten my day today.

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  31. I'm still thinking Rhett would be a good name for new guy--he looks like he's looking at Willow and saying "You, my dear, need to be loved and loved often" in true Rhett fashion! :)

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  32. How sweet is this?? Made my day!

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  33. Such a sweet moment and you captured it perfectly!

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