I have been grieving quite a bit over the loss of Angel Spirit recently. I guess I am blaming myself for her existence and, consquently, her early death. You see, way back in the beginning was Land Of Witches. She came to us as a lame mare - I believe she had a racing injury but cannot say that for certain...it was many years ago now. My husband could not believe the size of her hock....and we knew that she would certainly only be suitable as a brood mare (could she carry the weight of a foal inside her?), or as a companion horse.
We felt as though it was a blessing when we ran into the equine professors from UW in Madison at a horse fair. They had come to our booth and were looking for horses that they could study from. I was immediately skeptical, thinking they would perform harsh experiments, but she showed me the pictures of horses on a treadmill, where they took pulse and respiration data. They said that they did reproductive studies on horses as well, so mares would be desired.
Two horses went to UW, with one of them being Land of Witches. She was there for at least a couple of years before we got the call that they were no longer needed for study, and would I like to have the two mares bred before we took them back to ASAP? I thought it would be extremely exciting (most people do) so I agreed to have them bred by a STB stallion that they had at UW.
The following year two beautiful little fillies were born to the mares, and we named one Angel Spirit (to counteract the name Land of Witches!) and Mercy, or Mercedes.
If I had never said "Yes", Angel would have never been born, and I wouldn't be feeling the guilt over the fact that she NEVER was adopted by anyone, but thankfully Carmen and Kim in Minnesota gave her heatlh and happiness and love. Because of my own selfish thoughts of having another foal and the excitement related to it, she came into the world but never really had a place. I am so sorry she is gone - we will truly miss her.
On a more positive note, we had a grand day on Saturday with teens and adults coming together and Will having his weekly lesson, and lots of hugs, kisses, and attention for all of the horses here at ASAP! I want to include pictures for your enjoyment!
One more thing: I have two five month old chickens that have weathered the winter quite nicely and have been healthy. Suddenly on Saturday, my rooster who is only about 1.5 pounds or so, decided to quit walking. He is eating and his eyes are bright - no respiratory distress - but he cannot walk on his legs. Does anyone have any ideas on what this could be? Any ideas are appreciated and, for now, the chickens are in a cage in my sun room (ick)
I'll write more later!
Susan
