Horse Love

Today was Horse Day! We met at the Stillwater ranch with Anne from Wisdom Ranch. Oh, but let me back up a moment first... When I got to my mom's early Saturday morning she was ready - she had on her cowboy clothes and cowboy boots. Dad said it was really almost impossible to get them on her feet; but, he did it. Mom was ready. Mom was excited. It showed in her face.

It was a very pleasant sunny and seventy-something day for our Horse Visit. After a short drive to Stillwater, we were greeted warmly by Anne.

When I had asked who the horse would be in earlier conversation with Anne, she had explained on the morning of the visit she would go out to the pasture and see who wanted to meet mom. When we got there Bradey was in the barn. We also got a warm welcome from Bradey. Upon introductions we were immediately friends. Mom loved seeing and being able to touch the horse. Bradey was quite friendly, actually a bit too friendly. He began chewing on the wheelchair, proceeded to chew Mom's boot, and moved to trying to take a bite out of Mom's knee. Anne stopped the chewing by producing treats. Bradey ate peppermint candies from Mom's hand. Mom had the idea of putting her cowboy hat on Bradey's head. After some coaxing, the horse allowed it. Mom laughed and we all laughed with her.

Anne said, "Look there's someone peeking through the window." Sure enough, in the next stall there was a horse watching through the window. We wheeled Mom over to meet the next caller. The next horse was Digby, who was startled by the wheelchair. His heavy breathing alerted us to his fear. He also seemed to be afraid of the cowboy hat on Mom's lap. It was treat time again. A round of horse treats seemed to relax Digby and we made a connection with him. Maggie and Collin also stopped by to say hello. I had predicted all the horses would like to meet Mom and is exactly what happened.

In the meantime, Bradey had been calling to us to come back, and we decided to visit with him again before saying our goodbyes. It was a love fest this time. He kissed Mom and kissed her (he sneezed on me, again bringing laughter to mom). In the middle of loving her he got Mom's thumb in his mouth and bit down, startling us all. (Hopefully Mom's thumb is okay now. Although it looked fine it was sore and required ice when we got back home.)

Mom loved the visit and had a wonderful time.