There are some friendships that are meant to last for a short while, and then there are those that are simply "meant to be". "Rhea" (a 33 yr old purebred Lipizzan mare) and " 'Lil Beaver" (aka "The Beav", a 39 yr old (yes - 39!) Pony of the Americas) have been together for 10+ years, and have a "marriage" made in Heaven. Rhea and Beav are inseparable, and truly act like an old married couple - they can't be apart, yet they do bicker every once in awhile. They are allowed privileges that are bestowed upon no other horses at Blue Fountain - that of roaming the facilities at will when there are no other horses out or being ridden.
If they have been in their stall (they share a 12 X 24 stall) due
to inclement weather,
stand back when you open the door - they run out as soon as they can, and the first stop is the grain room. Beav always gives the door to the grain room a nudge, just in case......it smells so good in there!
Then they meander down to the covered arena for a good roll (monkey see, monkey do), get up, give a huge buck, and run out the other end. (Yes, run!!)
They then wander around the property, grazing and checking to make sure everything is in order. Sometime Louie and Jake help them. And then there are those times when Rhea and Beaver lose sight of each other, and then all h**l breaks loose - lots of running around and calling for each other. It's pretty funny, 'cause most of the time they're only about 20' apart, and they can both see and hear each other, but they get "confused" (senile might be another word?). When they finally meet up it's "Honey, I was so worried about you - don't you ever do that again!" They can both hear a pepperment wrapper from 2 miles away, but somehow they can't locate the call of their closest mate!?
They had a great time this winter when we had a very unusual snow, and they were allowed to go out to play and make snow angels
.Rhea and 'Lil Beaver were school horses here for many years, then went into semi-retirement, becoming part of the Saddle Pals Therapeutic Riding program. After helping many young people in the program, they were totally retired, until this last October, when they were pulled out of moth-balls to be a part of the Pumpkins and Ponies Fund-raiser Event. Photos of them participating in this very successful event may be seen at http://bluefountainphotography.smugmug.com/Proofs/Pumpkins-and-Ponies-Fundraiser/Costume-Classes/10003474_gW4Sc#684380902_8xdjJ
For now, they are retired again, (still with privileges), and I enjoy seeing them out my bedroom window every morning when I wake up. One of my favorite things to do is to follow them around on their adventures, camera in hand, just to see what kind of trouble they will find. I've probably taken close to a thousand photos just of them - sounds like maybe I need to consider a book, as I've also only barely touched upon their life stories and all their exploits together in this little blog.
That was sweet, brought tears to my eyes.
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