Help

When one starts to help someone there is an implied agreement not to forsake them.

A few years ago we had one dog in the litter that was born different. Everything was a struggle.
He couldn't suckle so he was hand feed until he could suckle a bit but always had to have some hand feeding.He was one of the first to eat solid food but it had to be set up just right so he could work on the corners of the food. For the first couple of months it was touch and go with seizures that would happen at anytime. The wife took and made him a home in one of her old oversized purses and he was with her 24/7. He never learned to walk but could prance all over the place, high stepping it where his paws would almost hit his chin. At 5 months he had hormonal overdrive and at 6 months he was healthy enough to be fixed. Things went along pretty good and we thought he was out of the woods. His seizures got lighter and less frequent. A real dog personality was developing. We were begining to hold onto the idea that he would make it. At 8 months he passed away. At the beginning we knew his chances were very slim so was it right to euthanize him or go to what some consider extreme effort to try and help this pup. Right or wrong our belief is that one good day of life is better than none at all. It is remarkable that through this whole process there was a feeling of peace about what was happening. The will to live and grow is so strong that to be part of this will affect one at levels not often visited.

   And when you do not forsake them the rewards will change you. Good or bad it's your choice.

        

Lifes left turns

Over the years I have sent horses to various people for training. I'll admit I have holes in my ability and as time has gone on it has become more of a time and size issue than ability. To correct the situation my oldest and I planned to have her do the training and me take care of the rest. Her with daughters (3 and 1) it became very evident that life loves to get in the way of plans. Mojo had been slated to be kept a stud and run barrel futurities. So when we had Jon a futurity trainer come out to assess Mojo we had some reality checks that were not rosy. Jon has been doing this with fairly good success for years so when he said that Mojo wasn't where he should be and that it would be difficult to catch up and also if he couldn't be at the top of the heap not to bother keeping him a stud. So off to the vet Mojo went to get fixed. Then we would send him up to Justin (reigner/reigning cattle trainer). Again life intercedes and due to infections and such we're set back another 3 months. For the last 2 months MoJo has been at our best friends parent's place where he is being rode daily (when it is above 15 degrees F). Now MoJo is fine and Justin has recovered from AQHA world so off he goes this weekend. In this whole ordeal what makes me sad is since we don't keep studs that we had a stud that was probably better mannered than any other horse we have. It took a lot of work to get him there but very little to keep him there. A program that we have been working on for some 20 years this one was a keeper. If life treats him well he will probably be the wife's last mount. Dear he is one of the smoothest riding horses we have and he will take care of you.

Below is a 2009 picture of our extended family friend who has helped us so much on a horse out of our mare and their stud doing poles low 20's all day long without pushing. Now if she (the horse silly) would just do barrels :)