This deserved a separate post.
I had avoided seeing Filly since being asked not to play with her as I felt it would break my heart. But as we are moving yards tomorrow and I doubt I will be welcome back at Manor Farm afterwards I decided to spend a last hour alone with her in her field.
It was a beautiful sunny day and so armed with some carrots and a parting gift of banana I went to visit her. As usual she came straight up to me and we walked around the field together. I then just spent a long time watching her graze and just enjoying her company one last time.
I am a 48 year old testosterone filled male but I am not ashamed to say I cried, and doing so again writing this blog. We did not play at all, I just wanted some moments to remember all we had been through.
If you remember back to the beginning of our time together she was quite scary. I even remember Ritchie and I discussing who was going to do up the straps under her belly on the rug. Play sessions felt like a fight for survival !
Slowly we gained trust of each other and play became fun, but we had the problem that she could not go out in a field. Now she was under some semblance of control I could take her to fields and get her used to the great outdoors. This finally resulted in her being able to live out in a field.
Then came the ring worm crisis, with Filly one of the worst effected. She was quarantined in a field and I was banned from playing with her, rightly, to reduce the risk of it spreading.
Whilst there she somehow split her hoof in half and could hardly move. I still remember the trust she placed in me as she went through tremendous pain walking back to a box to be cared for. Weeks of worry then ensued as we were not sure if the infection in the split had gone so deep into her hoof that her bones would become infected which would have been the end of her. During this period I spent many hours just being with her in her box and the bond deepened.
With this crisis over we then enjoyed a period of real fun and progress, with Liberty being our joint favourite activity. She would get really excited if I approached her stable with the halter knowing we were going to play.
Then I came off Billy and broke my hip. Several weeks apart as I was in hospital and I wondered what her reaction to me would be. I did talk to her one day on the mobile phone which apparently fascinated her as she could hear voice but not see me.
The day after I got out of hospital I was back at the yard on crutches which she found very fearful objects. I would just sit in the sun in a garden chair and watch her in her field while Ritchie played with Bonitao.
Eventually I decided I had to play with her, so the chair was placed in the school and Filly brought in. Amazingly she went straight to my injured hip and sniffed it. We then had many sessions of me playing with her whilst sat down. This really helped my savvy as I had to keep my feet still !
Once back on my feet we were back to our old fun.
I am pleased that my last play time with her was nearly all done at Liberty, with Ritchie and our friend Claire watching. She was very moved by the spectacle saying how beautiful it looked. I have to say it felt beautiful as well. In a way I am happy that I did not know this was the last session. There was no pressure and so it was amongst one of the best session we had ever had. I think the pressure of knowing it was a last session could have made it turn out otherwise. But now I have a fantastic memory to live with, not a disappointment.
I had avoided seeing Filly since being asked not to play with her as I felt it would break my heart. But as we are moving yards tomorrow and I doubt I will be welcome back at Manor Farm afterwards I decided to spend a last hour alone with her in her field.
It was a beautiful sunny day and so armed with some carrots and a parting gift of banana I went to visit her. As usual she came straight up to me and we walked around the field together. I then just spent a long time watching her graze and just enjoying her company one last time.
I am a 48 year old testosterone filled male but I am not ashamed to say I cried, and doing so again writing this blog. We did not play at all, I just wanted some moments to remember all we had been through.
If you remember back to the beginning of our time together she was quite scary. I even remember Ritchie and I discussing who was going to do up the straps under her belly on the rug. Play sessions felt like a fight for survival !
Slowly we gained trust of each other and play became fun, but we had the problem that she could not go out in a field. Now she was under some semblance of control I could take her to fields and get her used to the great outdoors. This finally resulted in her being able to live out in a field.
Then came the ring worm crisis, with Filly one of the worst effected. She was quarantined in a field and I was banned from playing with her, rightly, to reduce the risk of it spreading.
Whilst there she somehow split her hoof in half and could hardly move. I still remember the trust she placed in me as she went through tremendous pain walking back to a box to be cared for. Weeks of worry then ensued as we were not sure if the infection in the split had gone so deep into her hoof that her bones would become infected which would have been the end of her. During this period I spent many hours just being with her in her box and the bond deepened.
With this crisis over we then enjoyed a period of real fun and progress, with Liberty being our joint favourite activity. She would get really excited if I approached her stable with the halter knowing we were going to play.
Then I came off Billy and broke my hip. Several weeks apart as I was in hospital and I wondered what her reaction to me would be. I did talk to her one day on the mobile phone which apparently fascinated her as she could hear voice but not see me.
The day after I got out of hospital I was back at the yard on crutches which she found very fearful objects. I would just sit in the sun in a garden chair and watch her in her field while Ritchie played with Bonitao.
Eventually I decided I had to play with her, so the chair was placed in the school and Filly brought in. Amazingly she went straight to my injured hip and sniffed it. We then had many sessions of me playing with her whilst sat down. This really helped my savvy as I had to keep my feet still !
Once back on my feet we were back to our old fun.
I am pleased that my last play time with her was nearly all done at Liberty, with Ritchie and our friend Claire watching. She was very moved by the spectacle saying how beautiful it looked. I have to say it felt beautiful as well. In a way I am happy that I did not know this was the last session. There was no pressure and so it was amongst one of the best session we had ever had. I think the pressure of knowing it was a last session could have made it turn out otherwise. But now I have a fantastic memory to live with, not a disappointment.
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