by Connie Foss
“Ya know, John? You and Ted have become pretty necessary to the operation here, what with your composting, trail building and helping with the breeding. I’m sorry I haven’t thanked you enough for all you’re doing. It’s great, and I’m ready any time for the bedding switch. As to the new idea for the trail, ask Jack about that and see if she has any other ideas to incorporate in the trail. I noticed the other day how good it looks.
“Let me ask you something, John.You’ve been coming to the farm now for about a year.What do you think? Has it helped you?” John seems a little taken aback, and looks down at the ground,
feelings into words, but maybe what my wife said the other day will answer your question. She said that The Chocolate Farm has given her husband back to her.”
With that, John turns and is blowing his nose as he heads over to the therapy stable.
“Well, what do you think about that, Bubba.That is good news. Won’t Meg be tickled, though?” and Bill heads toward the tack room to begin his training work, while I have the rest of the morning to think about that Friesian mare. Not a bad way to pass the time.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT:
Another Wrinkle
Word spreads quickly on a farm, and when John puts me in my therapy stall next to Annie, she already knows that Hap is leaving us.As we are catching up with each other, she asks,“Bubba, when we get old will someone make us move, like Hap’s daughter is making him move, and put us in a home?”
“Gosh,Annie, I hadn’t even thought about what it would be like to have it happen to us. Come to think of it, maybe that’s what Milt is talking about starting here, you know that horse rescue? When a horse is no longer useful or becomes a burden, then you put him in a rescue place. I guess Betty was just lucky she could come here, when her family didn’t need her any more.”
“If the rescue place that Hap goes to is nice, would that be alright then?” Annie with her usual caring heart is worried about Hap.
All of this has my head reeling, thinking about having no one loving me any more and nothing to do but wait to die. It brings back that awful feeling of uselessness to know I can’t jump any more.
“Oh, surely that won’t happen to us, Annie,” I say brightly. By trying to reassure Annie, I am trying to reassure myself. “What Milt is planning sounds pretty nice.”
The usual fun afternoon with Annie is instead a dark, sad time.The only bright spot for me is Brett and how well he’s doing with his riding.
As Meg and Brett leave after his ride, Milt, who is getting ready to ride Annie, says to Meg,“I’ll be up in about an hour, Meg, if that’s okay.” “Sure. I’ll have the coffee on.”
rescue thing Milt is proposing. I don’t get to hear about that until the following day when Milt and Bill are talking in the tack room.
“You were right, Bill, Meg did have a lot of questions,” Milt says. “She is a good thinker and had some sound ideas about the whole thing. I think we have an agreement. But something else came up in the course of the conversation that has gotten me to thinking of another angle. If I am to be an informed trustee, I need to be here.What would you think of my adding an apartment over the rescue horse shelter for me to live in?
“Meg said that Hap is quitting, so I could even take over his night watchman job if I were needed.”
“Wow! That is a blockbuster of a thought, Milt. Hmm. That would mean you would be selling out at home? That’s a major change of lifestyle.Are you sure you really want to do that?” Bill is obviously a bit incredulous about this.
“Actually, I was already thinking about selling, for with Becky gone as well as the horses, there’s not much going on at home. This would be a fresh start for me. However, I need to emphasize that this horse rescue, “Annie’s Friends,” would be a separate thing, not encroaching on The Chocolate Farm in any way.The only connection would be that you would manage Annie’s Friends.The fact that Hap is leaving is what made me think about adding an apartment for myself, whether I am needed as night watchman or not.”
They are still talking when John comes to take me for our ride in the therapy barn, so I don’t get to hear anything more. Maybe tonight Mr. O and I can have a good talk about what all of this means. I still need
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE:
A Decision
I don’t have to wait until evening to get an idea about Tom.While I’m watching Dotty ride Betty, I hear the most grating yowl. It’s not loud, and I doubt if Dotty and Jack heard it. Soon after the yowl I hear Tom’s calming voice, as he and a strange cat jump up on the tailboard in my stall.
“Bubba, this is my new wife Cleopatra, a most regal Siamese, who has an amazing voice. Cleo, this is my old friend, Bubba.” I want to ask Tom about Angie and whatever happened to her,
Obviously,Angie is no longer Tom’s wife.
“I’m happy to meet you, Cleopatra. I heard your voice and Tom
is right, it is an amazing voice,” and grating, I want to say but don’t.“We’ll
expect to hear that voice up and down the aisles. Have you met Mr. O
yet, Cleo?”
“We were just over there, but Mr. O was too grouchy to talk,”
says Tom. “We’ll catch him sometime when we’re all having our nightly
fun,” and Cleo and Tom are down and gone.
There have been a lot of changes at The Chocolate Farm this past
year or two. In addition to the training and the showing, the therapy and
breeding have been added, and now there’s a rescue operation about
ready to kick in.
Though summer was originally when the outdoor trail was to
be built, because of the help given by John and Josh, Jimmy was able to
call his Eagle project completed while summer still felt new. Whysper,
Dotty, John and Ted are some of the riders who use it, but Brett and I
Brett handles it well; he just isn’t talking much yet.
Ted is our night watchman now that Hap has moved to Florida,
and I have met a lot of new girl friends this season. Meg says there’s
are busy with the breeding in the mornings and the therapy in the afternoons.
Annie is beginning to feel our baby moving inside her tummy, which is fun for both of us.The two of us have a nice-sized family already. With Milt here all the time now as Annie’s Friends facility is being built, he is getting to enjoy our family, too.
Everything seems to be going along quite well, but Meg is still not here with us. Brett is getting better and Bill and Meg plan to put him in school this fall, yet there is a lot of uncertainty about him.
Meg is not all that happy about adding the rescue operation to the duties of the crew, but Bill is trying to win her over. I’m sure she would have put her foot down a long time ago if it were anyone but Milt doing it.
What is going to happen next at The Chocolate Farm is anybody’s guess, for it’s always something. I’d love to chat more with you, but John is taking me down to meet a most glorious creature. She is pure white, 17 hands tall with an elegant way of moving. I was at the breeding shed
should say. How lucky can one guy be! See ya’.
The End
Glossary
Basilar skull fracture: a fracture at the base of the skull Bay: a reddish brown color with dark mane tail, muzzle and lower legs
Conformation: structure
Cribbing: a nervous habit
Crossties: Ropes or chains coming from two opposing walls to allow a horse to be restrained in an open area facilitating grooming or tacking
Crupper: a strap the generally goes under the tail head to secure the harness
Curry comb: a hand tool for grooming a horse’s body.
Direct rein: Pulling on the right rein to go right, the left to go left Dished face:
between the brow the nostrils generally seen in Arabians Dressage: horsemanship in which the horse in controlled in certain
Dry face: a face that shows the tendons
, ligaments, muscles rather than fat
Equitation: horsemanship
Euthanize: to kill in order to stop suffering
Farrier: someone who shoes horses
Fetlocks: lower leg joint
Fine Harness class: a competition for horses pulling buggies Fledged:
Foundering: a sickness in a horse caused by too much rich feed or possibly moldy feed
Gelding: a neutered male horse
Girth: The part of a saddle that goes under a horse’s belly fastening on both sides
Halter Class: a class at a horse show in which the horses are judged by their conformation and attitude rather than performance Hands tall: a horse’s height measured from the withers to the ground by “hands.” A hand is considered to be 4 inches.
Hunter Class: horses and riders move as Jumpers but without the jumps
Laminitis:
Lope/canter: a gait of long easy strides; lope used in reference to Western and canter referring to the English style of riding Longe line: A lengthy rope or line used to exercise a horse, circling around the handler
Neck-rein: the method of stirring a horse by pulling the right rein across the neck to go left and vice versa.The opposite of direct reining
Pinto: spotted horse
Poll: the area of a horse’s head between the ears
Sorrel: a light brown color
Sulky: a horse-drawn vehicle for one person
Tacked up: a horse wearing a bridle and saddle or harness Tail board: a protruding board that is secured to the walls of a horse stall to prevent the horse from rubbing his tail
Three-gaited: a horse that executes walk, trot and canter Withers: highest part of a horse’s back, at base of neck.