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Lighting the Way Home
Over the years we've said goodbye to almost 40 Haflingers as
they have
left for their new home. This is a small number compared to many
large
farms who may sell that many in a year or less. But these are
Haflingers that were specifically chosen by us to be part of our
breeding herd or were born and raised here, so each had a special
relationship with us, and their parting left a small hole in our
hearts
that will never be filled.
And so it was tonight. Our weanling gelding, aptly named
"Artful
Dodger" by his new owner, is on his way south to Oregon.
This
Aristocrat son, out of our imported mare Belinda, will be a
future
dressage mount, something he is very suited for in his
bloodlines,
temperament, conformation and movement. He is unafraid and bold,
with
a bit of a mischievous nature so there is always fun in his eyes
as
well. His training so far has been the essentials only as we
prefer not
to 'overhandle' our youngsters and perhaps create bad habits, yet
he's
adapted well to what is asked of him, whether it is being tied
for the
first time, doing several foot trims, a number of vaccinations
and a
gelding surgery and learning within 5 minutes how to lead--he had
to
make a long walk in the dark up through the back yard past many
scary
looking things to the front yard to load for the first time ever
in a
huge trailer. He hopped right in the trailer without hesitation
and
without a bribe, simply because we asked him to. What a good boy!
It was a mere 6 months ago that I was monitoring his mother in
the barn
from my bedroom on our closed circuit TV for the better part of
five
days and between my half hour checks during the night, this baby
was
born and already on his feet, without my seeing anything of the
delivery. He doesn't waste time getting where he wants to go.
He is now traveling down I-5 on a starlit night and the aurora
borealis
(northern lights) are predicted. I've not seen them yet, but I'm
staying up late in hopes of seeing them. Though I have a basic
understanding of their origin in space dust and electromagnetic
radiation from solar flares, I prefer to think of them as
mysterious
heavenly lights. Green, pink, yellow, shimmering, scattering,
flowing,
fading and glowing brighter, then dimmer, always changing and
fascinating. This light show represents what I like best about
living on
a farm in the country-- continual change and challenge, mystery
and
miracle, creation and fading away, the awe inspiring and the
awed.
There is never a day that passes on this farm that I don't thank
God
for entrusting to us the stewardship of raising a family here,
raising
our Haflingers here, working together with my husband to do what
we can
with this land and these buildings. And perhaps tonight, the
aurora
borealis will light the way home for one of our babies as he
starts his
new life.
Love him well, Sandy. He is lucky to have you and I hope you'll
soon
know what it is like to have a Haflinger become part of your
family and
a part of your heart.
Emily from BriarCroft