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| A Horse is not a Possession but Rather a Gift |
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I have a 17h, 11 year old chestnut thoroughbred gelding named Silent Patrol. We call him Bud though. Bud began racing when he was very young but took a break after he stepped in a groundhog hole and bowed a tendon. Many vets said he would never make it on the track and would not even be able to be a pleasure horse. But Bud's extreme determination proved them wrong, and with help from his previous owner he returned to racing and even set records. Bud ran 13 races and won a few but placing in at least seven of them. After retiring at seven Bud and his half brother, mother, full brother and another mare took a well needed break for three years. Last year when Bud turned ten his owners decided that it was unfair for him to sit in the field and be unhappy when he had so much talent and ability, not to mention the looks. That was when I found Bud.
On September 11, 1998 Bud came to my barn as a skinny and unbroke horse that I knew right then and there that I had to have. From that moment on I knew that I had found the horse that I was dreaming about. The next day I showed my parents him and they too had fallen in love. Many people wanted Bud because of his looks, temperament and ability, but my trainer kept him because she knew my parents were going to buy him for me. On October 13, 1998 my parents brought him to a show that I was competing at with my friends horse and they told me that he was mine as long as he passed the vet. The following day the vet came out and examined him quickly and told me to ride him almost everyday for a week a week and that in a couple days she would come back and perform a prepurchase exam. The day after the exam I waited for hours for her to call ,everytime the phone rang I ran and answered it. After about four hours of waiting she called with the greatest news I could have ever heard. The X-rays came out better then she had expected and the next day on October 23, 1998 I had my first horse.
Since then my horse has been wonderful. He is loving, sweet and extremely willing. He will do anything I ask him to do and we are very much attached. Infact he can be very jealous and overprotective of me. My friends have to be careful around him when I am there because he feels that they are taking me away from him.
I hope that everyone who has a horse can have the trusting relationship that Bud and I have. People need to remember that a horse is not a possession but rather a gift that we should never take for granted.
Story Submitted by T. Hayes November 1999 |