Little Miss H & Max

Jay took some pictures recently and a couple of them were just so stinkin' precious that I had to share them with you.

As I've mentioned before, we have some friends who have 2 daughters, and our friends sort of "rent" our 2 horses for their daughters to ride. Not only have they learned to ride on them, they now show them in a few shows. Recently they went to a show, and Jay went along to visit with their dad. While there he took the following pictures.

This is "H", and she rides on Max. They are perfect for each other. Max is only 4 yrs old, but he is amazing. He has never thrown a rider and he totally adores little children. He actually listens to kids better than adults and is so gentle with them. H and Max have bonded as you can see:

In the above picture, Jay said he looked over and H was just talking and talking to Max and Max just stood there as if he was really listening to her, and then when she was done, she gave him a kiss.

How sweet are they?

Champ

Recently I wrote a post about our horses here and I also wrote one specifically about our oldest horse Champ here.

As I had written, he had been battling cancer and we knew our time with him was short. Sadly, Champ died yesterday morning. Having to call Ashley with the news was heartbreaking.

Champ has quite a history which speaks volumes about his perseverance, gentleness and forgiving nature. He was raised by a loving family and when those children grew to be more advanced riders, the family donated Champ to a nearby camp where they knew Champ would be ridden daily. Unfortunately, it was discovered that Champ was being abused and neglected at this camp and the family got him back and worked on nursing him back to health. We happened to hear about them looking for a loving family and Ashley had been begging us for a horse, so we drove 3 hours to take a look.

When we got there, I saw Champ, and there was the youngest child (around 3 years old) running around him, flipping his tail and crawling around underneath him, and Champ just stood there. I knew this was a special horse. We talked with the owners and decided he was the horse we had been looking for. It broke my heart when we left to see the children of the family all standing on their front poor with tears running down their faces, but it assured me that he must be pretty special for them to have loved him this much.

Champ was not a "flashy" horse, and I don't think Ashley was instantly in love with him. But you can't help but fall in love with him, and it didn't take long for that to happen for Ashley. He loved attention and was so patient and gentle. Ashley spent hours in the barn and it wasn't long before we knew they had developed a special bond. She often referred to him as her best friend because she could tell him all her secrets and she knew he'd never repeat them to anyone.

This picture below shows Ashley helping out a little girl. It was the girls first show and she was really struggling with getting her little horse to cooperate. Ashley rode out, and Champ let her slowly side-step close enough so she could get ahold of the reins and help the little girl. That's how patient he was. The little horse was flitting around, but Champ just stood there. Nothing fazed him.

Champs cancer is not something he just got a couple of months go. The vets told us that this is something he's probably had for at least a year or so. I believe God knew how much Champ meant to Ashley. I also believe he knew how much it would mean to her to finish out her 4-H horse showing career with him. She showed him for the last time this past July. In August she moved to college and in September we started noticing him getting weaker. I believe God granted Champ to have the strength to be well long enough for them to have this past Summer together. He knew it would be hard for her to lose him, but at least she would have the memories from that last show. For that we are so grateful.

Enjoy your time at the Bridge ol' boy.
And know that you were very loved.

Our "Neigh"-bors In The Barn

We have 5 horses...although 2 are minis, and as my son says "When a horse is smaller than some dogs, they just don't count."

Our 3 full-size horses are Champ, Max & Doc. They have registered fancy-shmancy names, but these are their barn names.

Max is the baby of the group. He is 4 and a very sweet horse. Ashley got him from us as a Christmas gift when he was only 6 mo old. He was broke at age 2 and he's never thrown a single person. He's so calm and easy going, and he's got a sweet disposition.

Doc is 16, and like a rebellious teenager. He is a great horse and knows what he should and shouldn't do, however when Chelsea gets on him each Spring (after he hasn't been ridden most of the winter), he acts like a little brat. He won't listen and he misbehaves horribly. We then take him to a cousin's acreage where they train horses, and while he's there for a couple of weeks, Doc gets an attitude adjustment. He is forced to mind! When he comes back home he then behaves wonderfully. He is a sweetie, but boy can he be a stinker.

Champ is the "grandpa" of the group. I wrote about Champ and his health issues here. He is still going downhill slowly and the vet is pretty sure he has cancer. He is eating fine and the vet has assured us that he is not in any pain. If/when the time comes that he does have pain, a decision will have to be made, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

With the bitter cold we've been having, all 3 horses have stayed inside the barn most of the time. The other morning I was leaving and there stood all 3 as if in a line-up for inspection or something. I stopped the Vue and grabbed my camera phone because something about the way they just stood there, not moving, cracked me up. Maybe they are tired of winter as much as I am and were waiting for me to back up the trailer so we could head to a ranch in Arizona or something.

I sent the picture to both of my girls and one texted back: "That's funny! They remind me of the 'more bars' thing you see in commercials."

Here's our "more bars" horses:

Left to right: Grandpa Champ, Baby Max, and Teenager Doc

Here's a clearer picture of the 3 taken last summer.