Chaos Ranch
Well-Known Member
Hi everyone. I know it's been a long time since I've posted. But I haven't forgotten you guys. I remember that you guys always love a happy ending...but this isn't a happy ending. It's a happy re-beginning!
To help you understand the situation, I feel I must first let you guys know that 2010 has been a horribly difficult year for us. Our 15 year old mentally retarded daughter was raped by a 23 year old man in Jan. and we are still trying to get him prosecuted. Then in Feb. I lost my very best friend (many of you know him) Bobby Lambert of B&BL Miniatures to cancer. Then in mid-march my nearly 18 year old son who has many issues, got a little too physical with me and broke my nose, ruptured my neck, and knocked me unconscious in front of 3 of my other children. We have gone through a very emotional year to say the least. And each of those things I just mentioned, yes.. they are very personal. But they are a part of this story. You see, the issues rising from my son's behavior, the traumas dealing with my daughter's rape, and the emptiness and loss I felt when we lost Bobby all compounded, and in late April... well that is when this story begins.
In early 2008 I bought an Appaloosa colt. When we went to get him our young daughter spotted a beautiful Appaloosa gelding. They immediately bonded right then and there over the fence. She loved his name "RSR Buns of Brass" and they had called him Bob. All the way home she begged us for that horse, but he was out of our price ability.
One week after getting home I received a phone call from the lady and she told me she would cut that geldings price in half, AND deliver him to Meagan as she had never seen a child light up like that or a horse respond that quickly to a person. We bought him for her. Over the next 2 years Meagan and Bob were the very best of friends. I could go chase him around for hours trying to catch him, then she would laugh at me and run right straight to him and put her hand on his neck and he'd stand right there beside her while I put his halter and lead on.
Eventually Bob and I also bonded very well. I loved that big beautiful blond, as did everyone that ever met him. Meagan had shown him at the fair, and the local horse shows just for fun. Once, while taking him around the ring in halter she tripped in a jog and fell flat in the dirt. Bob stopped instantly, dropped his head and sniffed the back of her hair, and she got up, brushed off, he lined himself back up with her and they took off again. He knew her, he loved her. He protected her, and craved being around her.
Bob was admittedly spoiled. He had a few bad behaviors that never bothered Meagan a bit, but bothered me a lot. He had become very feed aggressive with the other horses in the herd. Even once he pinned my 20 year old mare against a gate and she stood between his flying back feet and me, because she knew if she moved, he'd of accidentally kicked me. She took the full force of his double hind footed blows 3-4 times before Donnie could get over there to make him quit. He wasn't aiming at me, he wanted her to get away from me so he could come up and see if I had any powdered donuts for him. This worried me.
When life started to get pretty complicated in the beginning of this year I began to feel more and more like I had no control over the ones I love being hurt. And I also love my horses... and I worried about them being hurt by Bob's occasional actions. The disk was ruptured in my lower neck, so I knew I couldn't handle a bump or pull from Bob, and I knew I couldn't get in there to settle a dispute between him and the other horses. Putting him in another pasture wasn't going to work because he'd just find a way out because he wanted to be with his herd. I tried putting another horse in with him, but he wasn't satisfied, one horse was not his herd, his herd was in the big pasture, and so that's where he decided he would be no matter what.
I had noticed Meagan hadn't asked to go to the pasture to see him as much any more. Family situations caused her to withdraw a little bit. I felt Bob was being wasted out there, at this point he was 4 years old and hadn't even been trained yet. His bad behavior was a combination of lack of good training, and abundance of bad spoiling. I made the decision to take him to the auction to "just get it over with" and get him into a home where he can reach his potential. It all happened so fast I never even sat down and thought about it.
I had never sold a horse at an auction. We cleaned him all up real nice, show sheen and everything. He was patient and proud. He greeted everyone that came to look at him, he stood patiently in line waiting for his turn in the ring. He thought he was being shown again.. I knew that's what he was thinking. I couldn't watch the sale. I stayed in the back with my daughter. Then it all hit me .. the reality of what I was doing. I ran with my daughter to the other side of the holding area, the side they move the horses to after the sale ring. They were bringing Bob down the isle and we tried to get to him, but they put him in a stall with several other horses before we got down there.
The other horses immediately kicked him, bit him, and drove him into the far back corner. We climbed up on the gate and was calling to him and reaching our hands out as far as we could, but every time he would try to come to us, he would be bitten very hard, or kicked and kept pinned in that corner. His eyes were wide open, he kept gapping his mouth and calling, I knew he was confused and terrified, I sobbed and cried, my daughter was crying and calling to him "Bob, come here, please come here, it's ok" but he couldn't get to us.
We tried to find the person that bought him. We waited at the holding stall and no one came for him. We went up and asked everyone who bought him and no one knew. We asked the auction house office and they told us the mans name. We asked everyone if they knew him, no one did. We returned to Bob's holding stall, and still he was in the corner. We wanted so desperately to either buy him back right there, or at least take him out of that stall and tell him a proper goodbye.
Finally, our tears were coming so hard, and my daughter buried her face in my tummy and just sobbed uncontrollably. I was wrenched in my heart with guilt and agony over the entire thing. I had to get her out of there. She couldn't take it anymore.
We came straight home and I put posts through Yahoo email lists, I put ads on Craigslist, I checked the internet sales sites every day for weeks trying to find him. I tried to ease her pain by letting her have one of my Peruvian geldings. She tried so hard to love him the same, and bond with him the same..but it never would click.
Several days ago, I tried once more. I put another ad on Craigslist with as much detail as I could remember. I added photos of Bob, and Bob & Meagan together. Then, about two hours after I posted, I got a call from a man. He tells me his uncle is the one that bought Bob at the auction that day. My heart paused to see what he was going to say next. He tells me his uncle still owns Bob, and that he called him to tell him about the ad, and his uncle told him to have me call him... he wanted to talk to me.
Well that phone conversation was filled with tears of joy. I told him all about Meagan and Bob, and he told me all about him and Bob. He then said he wanted to call me again in a day or two. And he did. This time, he tells me he will sell Bob back to us, and gave me a price. It was going to be hard for us to afford that, but impossible for us not to afford it. He tells me he'll call me again in a few days. And he did.
Last night he called me. He tells me that he wants my little girl to be with her horse, and he wants her horse to be with his little girl. He told me he wants us to come and get him right away, they've been apart for too long. Don't worry about paying for him now, do it in a few months after Christmas. And the price... I'm going to lower it. I was astounded. Crying, grateful, in shock, and in awe of this mans generosity and kindness.
Donnie and I loaded up this morning and headed out to get Bob. When we arrived he was in a pen with another horse and a miniature. He had a rope around his neck and he was running from them, dragging the rope. I went over and got in the pen, and they said they couldn't understand why he was running like that, he had pulled away from them and wouldn't let them near him. I tried, but he even ran from me. We tried to corner him, but he wasn't going to fall for it. Then I remembered Meagan. Bob went to the far end of the pen, and I turned and just stood there facing him. He stopped straight in front of me, and I just looked into his eyes. I said, Bob, you wanna go see Meagan? Then I held out my hand and gave him the "come here" hand signal. He looked into my eyes, and I actually seen him start to remember me and realize who I was. One of the men said "By God, he remembers her!" and the other man then said "Well look at that, he knows who she is!" and they were right. His muscles loosened, his head lowered, and his face took on a whole new expression. He took a couple of steps to me, and I gave him a treat. Once he smelled my hand he came forward and buried his face in my chest then started nuzzling my neck and shoulders and hair. I reached out and pet his cheek, looked into his big beautiful eyes and said, Hi Bob, I'm here to take you home. I took the noose off of him, put his halter on, but I didn't need it. He stayed so close to me a fly couldn't have flown between us!
He headed straight for the trailer, went right in and I hooked him up. He stood inside pawing impatiently as we talked to the man some more. Bob wanted to go home. We headed out. We stopped along the way at a station, and I put my hand through the rail and he sniffed it, then pressed his forehead against my hand for the longest, and I could feel intense relief coming from him.
He is home now. And as soon as I am done typing this, I am going out to groom him and put the new saddle, bridle, and breast collar on him that I got for her a month ago when I didn't even know where Bob was. It was going to be her Christmas gift. Now, when Meagan gets off the bus at a little before 4 this afternoon, she is going to see her Bob standing in the yard, and he is going to see his girl running straight for him to hug his neck and kiss his nose just like she always did... there's no way those two are waiting until Christmas to get their gift... they've waited too long already.
Merry Christmas to you all... I hope this reminds you that love is truely the gift to celebrate this Christmas. And I wish great amounts of love for all of you.
~ Kim C. ~
(Formally Chaos Ranch)
To help you understand the situation, I feel I must first let you guys know that 2010 has been a horribly difficult year for us. Our 15 year old mentally retarded daughter was raped by a 23 year old man in Jan. and we are still trying to get him prosecuted. Then in Feb. I lost my very best friend (many of you know him) Bobby Lambert of B&BL Miniatures to cancer. Then in mid-march my nearly 18 year old son who has many issues, got a little too physical with me and broke my nose, ruptured my neck, and knocked me unconscious in front of 3 of my other children. We have gone through a very emotional year to say the least. And each of those things I just mentioned, yes.. they are very personal. But they are a part of this story. You see, the issues rising from my son's behavior, the traumas dealing with my daughter's rape, and the emptiness and loss I felt when we lost Bobby all compounded, and in late April... well that is when this story begins.
In early 2008 I bought an Appaloosa colt. When we went to get him our young daughter spotted a beautiful Appaloosa gelding. They immediately bonded right then and there over the fence. She loved his name "RSR Buns of Brass" and they had called him Bob. All the way home she begged us for that horse, but he was out of our price ability.
One week after getting home I received a phone call from the lady and she told me she would cut that geldings price in half, AND deliver him to Meagan as she had never seen a child light up like that or a horse respond that quickly to a person. We bought him for her. Over the next 2 years Meagan and Bob were the very best of friends. I could go chase him around for hours trying to catch him, then she would laugh at me and run right straight to him and put her hand on his neck and he'd stand right there beside her while I put his halter and lead on.
Eventually Bob and I also bonded very well. I loved that big beautiful blond, as did everyone that ever met him. Meagan had shown him at the fair, and the local horse shows just for fun. Once, while taking him around the ring in halter she tripped in a jog and fell flat in the dirt. Bob stopped instantly, dropped his head and sniffed the back of her hair, and she got up, brushed off, he lined himself back up with her and they took off again. He knew her, he loved her. He protected her, and craved being around her.
Bob was admittedly spoiled. He had a few bad behaviors that never bothered Meagan a bit, but bothered me a lot. He had become very feed aggressive with the other horses in the herd. Even once he pinned my 20 year old mare against a gate and she stood between his flying back feet and me, because she knew if she moved, he'd of accidentally kicked me. She took the full force of his double hind footed blows 3-4 times before Donnie could get over there to make him quit. He wasn't aiming at me, he wanted her to get away from me so he could come up and see if I had any powdered donuts for him. This worried me.
When life started to get pretty complicated in the beginning of this year I began to feel more and more like I had no control over the ones I love being hurt. And I also love my horses... and I worried about them being hurt by Bob's occasional actions. The disk was ruptured in my lower neck, so I knew I couldn't handle a bump or pull from Bob, and I knew I couldn't get in there to settle a dispute between him and the other horses. Putting him in another pasture wasn't going to work because he'd just find a way out because he wanted to be with his herd. I tried putting another horse in with him, but he wasn't satisfied, one horse was not his herd, his herd was in the big pasture, and so that's where he decided he would be no matter what.
I had noticed Meagan hadn't asked to go to the pasture to see him as much any more. Family situations caused her to withdraw a little bit. I felt Bob was being wasted out there, at this point he was 4 years old and hadn't even been trained yet. His bad behavior was a combination of lack of good training, and abundance of bad spoiling. I made the decision to take him to the auction to "just get it over with" and get him into a home where he can reach his potential. It all happened so fast I never even sat down and thought about it.
I had never sold a horse at an auction. We cleaned him all up real nice, show sheen and everything. He was patient and proud. He greeted everyone that came to look at him, he stood patiently in line waiting for his turn in the ring. He thought he was being shown again.. I knew that's what he was thinking. I couldn't watch the sale. I stayed in the back with my daughter. Then it all hit me .. the reality of what I was doing. I ran with my daughter to the other side of the holding area, the side they move the horses to after the sale ring. They were bringing Bob down the isle and we tried to get to him, but they put him in a stall with several other horses before we got down there.
The other horses immediately kicked him, bit him, and drove him into the far back corner. We climbed up on the gate and was calling to him and reaching our hands out as far as we could, but every time he would try to come to us, he would be bitten very hard, or kicked and kept pinned in that corner. His eyes were wide open, he kept gapping his mouth and calling, I knew he was confused and terrified, I sobbed and cried, my daughter was crying and calling to him "Bob, come here, please come here, it's ok" but he couldn't get to us.
We tried to find the person that bought him. We waited at the holding stall and no one came for him. We went up and asked everyone who bought him and no one knew. We asked the auction house office and they told us the mans name. We asked everyone if they knew him, no one did. We returned to Bob's holding stall, and still he was in the corner. We wanted so desperately to either buy him back right there, or at least take him out of that stall and tell him a proper goodbye.
Finally, our tears were coming so hard, and my daughter buried her face in my tummy and just sobbed uncontrollably. I was wrenched in my heart with guilt and agony over the entire thing. I had to get her out of there. She couldn't take it anymore.
We came straight home and I put posts through Yahoo email lists, I put ads on Craigslist, I checked the internet sales sites every day for weeks trying to find him. I tried to ease her pain by letting her have one of my Peruvian geldings. She tried so hard to love him the same, and bond with him the same..but it never would click.
Several days ago, I tried once more. I put another ad on Craigslist with as much detail as I could remember. I added photos of Bob, and Bob & Meagan together. Then, about two hours after I posted, I got a call from a man. He tells me his uncle is the one that bought Bob at the auction that day. My heart paused to see what he was going to say next. He tells me his uncle still owns Bob, and that he called him to tell him about the ad, and his uncle told him to have me call him... he wanted to talk to me.
Well that phone conversation was filled with tears of joy. I told him all about Meagan and Bob, and he told me all about him and Bob. He then said he wanted to call me again in a day or two. And he did. This time, he tells me he will sell Bob back to us, and gave me a price. It was going to be hard for us to afford that, but impossible for us not to afford it. He tells me he'll call me again in a few days. And he did.
Last night he called me. He tells me that he wants my little girl to be with her horse, and he wants her horse to be with his little girl. He told me he wants us to come and get him right away, they've been apart for too long. Don't worry about paying for him now, do it in a few months after Christmas. And the price... I'm going to lower it. I was astounded. Crying, grateful, in shock, and in awe of this mans generosity and kindness.
Donnie and I loaded up this morning and headed out to get Bob. When we arrived he was in a pen with another horse and a miniature. He had a rope around his neck and he was running from them, dragging the rope. I went over and got in the pen, and they said they couldn't understand why he was running like that, he had pulled away from them and wouldn't let them near him. I tried, but he even ran from me. We tried to corner him, but he wasn't going to fall for it. Then I remembered Meagan. Bob went to the far end of the pen, and I turned and just stood there facing him. He stopped straight in front of me, and I just looked into his eyes. I said, Bob, you wanna go see Meagan? Then I held out my hand and gave him the "come here" hand signal. He looked into my eyes, and I actually seen him start to remember me and realize who I was. One of the men said "By God, he remembers her!" and the other man then said "Well look at that, he knows who she is!" and they were right. His muscles loosened, his head lowered, and his face took on a whole new expression. He took a couple of steps to me, and I gave him a treat. Once he smelled my hand he came forward and buried his face in my chest then started nuzzling my neck and shoulders and hair. I reached out and pet his cheek, looked into his big beautiful eyes and said, Hi Bob, I'm here to take you home. I took the noose off of him, put his halter on, but I didn't need it. He stayed so close to me a fly couldn't have flown between us!
He headed straight for the trailer, went right in and I hooked him up. He stood inside pawing impatiently as we talked to the man some more. Bob wanted to go home. We headed out. We stopped along the way at a station, and I put my hand through the rail and he sniffed it, then pressed his forehead against my hand for the longest, and I could feel intense relief coming from him.
He is home now. And as soon as I am done typing this, I am going out to groom him and put the new saddle, bridle, and breast collar on him that I got for her a month ago when I didn't even know where Bob was. It was going to be her Christmas gift. Now, when Meagan gets off the bus at a little before 4 this afternoon, she is going to see her Bob standing in the yard, and he is going to see his girl running straight for him to hug his neck and kiss his nose just like she always did... there's no way those two are waiting until Christmas to get their gift... they've waited too long already.
Merry Christmas to you all... I hope this reminds you that love is truely the gift to celebrate this Christmas. And I wish great amounts of love for all of you.
~ Kim C. ~
(Formally Chaos Ranch)
