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Wachiwi
#294
Sorrell QH Mare. Strip, white on right rear. Appx. 20 years
old. Appx 15.2 hands. This mare has done alot of roping in her
younger days and won!! Due to years of hard work, her right knee
was affected. It is much larger than her left knee. She does favor
that leg when she walks or trots, but her heart is so big that
she loves to work. She was recently owned by a 5 yr. old girl
who rode her on trails, in the arena, up hills, down hills and
the mare loved it. We do not usually label any horse bombproof,
but this mare is an exception. Any novice beginner can ride this
beautiful girl and she would enjoy it.
Update
9/27/01 -We named her -- well, my husband did -- Wachiwi,
which is a Native American word for "Dancer". We call
her Chiwi for short.
She seems
to be adapting to her new home very well. She showed some tension
during the first couple days, a little pacing, etc., but only
a little, and I don't see it now. She would really like to be
nearer the other horses, but we are waiting out the requisite
3 weeks. The other horses would like to meet her more "up
close and personal" too. But we walk her near them so they
can all see each other.
She's really
stiff and seems to tire quickly, though she also seems to be improving.
We hand walk her every day, and the terrain here is rolling. At
first she got tired so fast she couldn't go far. But now she can
walk around the whole 5 acres. She's much much better going uphill,
but she is still very cautious and careful going downhill. We've
had her on the Corta-Flx and B-L solution since the second day,
and yesterday was the last day of her double-dose of Corta-Flx.
We mix it with double handful of the Evergreen Revive. She thinks
this is a VERY good idea. She's been all for it from the start.
In fact, she's strongly in favor of food in general. I've never
had a horse put so much energy into directing my attention to
his or her empty feeder.
She is also
enthused about carrots, but is not interested in apples or pears,
both of which we have growing here on the property. My husband,
Vic, is working on changing her mind, though.
She thinks
I'm okay, but she just loves Vic. On the third day, which was
the first day that she really seemed to start feeling at home
and show us her personality, she politely tolerated my scratching
her face, and then when Vic came into the gate, she went right
over to him and thrust her face into his arms! Well, fine!
Besides her
obviously bad right knee, she also doesn't seem to like to stand
square on her left hind, and we can't really tell where that's
coming from. I haven't had the vet out yet, though. I haven't
done anything yet except work on getting her acclimated. But I'm
calling the vet and the farrier this week. Her feet are truly
awful, so maybe hopefully a trim will do some good. Not sure how
that'll go because she's not comfortable bending that knee very
far and only wants to do it for a minute or less at a time. Also
she doesn't like to stand on any 3 legs for long, and I don't
know whether that's because of pain or nervousness or what, but
we pick her feet out every day, so we're working on that. I also
just started (yesterday) trying a little Tellington-Jones stuff
on her, in hopes maybe a little stretching, etc., will help. Naturally,
she thinks I'm insane, but she attempts to cooperate.
The cute picture
is of her giving us a huge yawn, so I guess she's reasonably relaxed!
Update
1/7/02 - I saw the collage posted on the TIER site around
the holidays, and I read your comments. I know the rescue is so
much hard work that I can't believe you don't feel overwhelmed
more often than you do, or at least than you admit that you do.
You are a person of incredible energy and resilience, and people
like me, and horses and other critters in need are inexpressibly
grateful for people like you.
Your comment
that seeing horses go to good homes and seeing them happy in their
new homes is your reward reminded me that I haven't updated you
on Chiwi, whom my husband and I adopted last August. I've been
wanting to get some good pictures to send you, and I'm rotten
with the camera, but here are some I'm attaching to this email.
They're in a ZIP file to make them easier to send and receive.
If you're not familiar with this, just click on the file, say
"yes" to their agreement and then choose "extract".
Then you can view the files. If you need any help just let me
know.
Just to remind
you, #294 was the little old sorrel mare with the blown-out knee
from the feedlot in Chino Hills . Vic and I adopted her August
21 (our anniversary!) and Vic named her Wachiwi, which is Sioux
for "dancer". Dr. McNeel says she's AT LEAST 25, and
he said it with such conviction that I think he thinks she's much
closer to 30. We've put some weight on her (probably too much)
and she's living in pasture with my 21-yr-old TB, Teddy. She tends
to be reserved, but she lets you know when she wants a little
love, then she lets you know when she's finished. :) She's just
as cute and sweet and funny as can be. Teddy is madly in love
with her, and she loves him, too, though she's not as demonstrative
about it as he is. She looks like a little woolly mammoth right
now. Whenever you see her, you just get this big urge to hug her.
As my best pal would say, "I just want to hug 'er 'til she
pops, she's so cute!"
Chiwi's having
a happily ever after, all thanks to you. Oh, and Teddy says "thanks"
too!
We hope your
holidays were happy! :)
Susan and
Vic
Update
10/18/02 - Chiwi is doing really well, too. You remember I
told you she is very reserved. I've just been hoping that she's
happy. Her eyes seem soft and she seems relaxed --that's the most
I could tell. Well, lately she has been showing some more personality
and affection. I keep my horses on the side of my property near
my neighbor so they can socialize with her horses, and she and
I will stand and chat over the fence when we're both down there.
Recently Chiwi has come up a couple times to just stick her head
in. For her this is a huge thing. She never showed curiosity or
went out of her way to be sociable with people (unless food was
involved). But lately she's been coming up and just sort of hanging
out. I've been so pleased. And the other day I went to pet her
and she was just all over me! Nibbling my neck, thrusting her
head into my arms... wow! She's never been so demonstrative. Hopefully
this is the start of a trend!
Recently the old cowboy that trims their feet for me looked at
her teeth and says she is surely 30, and could be as much as 32.
So she's been around for a while, and only with us for a year,
so I don't blame her for taking her time before she unwinds with
us a little bit. :) She looks so good for her age, though, and
the vet was really making a big deal over her the other day, saying
how good her condition is, and all. So she's doing great, we love
her, Teddy REALLY loves her, and now I think she's starting to
be happy. :)
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