Wednesday, April 8, 2009

PART THREE AND FINIS

Trigger was grounded for several weeks to heal which was the best thing to happen to us. There was no riding during that time and we developed a trust relationship. The vet had guesstimated his age as mid 20's. Ponies can live into their 30's but that is with good care and he had not received that most of his life. Juan filled me in a bit on Trigger's life as much as he could learn from the bad cop.

Trigger had been a circus pony till he was shoved onto a protruding nail by a larger horse causing the eye to be removed. Esthetically, he could no longer entertain children, he only frightened them. He went thru many owners who all passed along that story till he was bought by the bad cop. I don't know why the cop bought him for he just put the pony along with the other horses on that island to be ignored.

Trigger healed and responded well to food and gentleness. Often I would sit in the back yard with Trigger's head in my lap, the empty socket staring blindly at me as I stroked his face. I never saw an imperfection. By the time he was ready to ride, we were very comfortable with each other. He taught me to ride and he listened to all my preteen anxieties with incredible patience. He was perfect.


The next two years were wonderful. I rode almost every day with either my boyfriend Danny or my cousin Beverly who both had ponies. Often we would ride along the beach splashing in the ocean, then to rest among the tall pines that sang in the wind while we dreamed big dreams. It was a time in my life when I had it all.

Dark clouds appeared however as my Mother's asthma got steadily worse and we knew we were facing yet another move back up north. At first I reasoned that we would just take Trigger with us but that was firmly ruled out. He had to stay. No amount of begging would change that part of the plan. No phantom fevers made a difference. Leaving him devastated me more than leaving my boyfriend Danny.

Heartbroken, I gave him to a friend against my better judgment. Trigger and I had a painful parting. I swore there were tears rolling down his cheek from his good eye. I know they were streaming down mine.

Two months after our move, my friend wrote me to say Trigger had died. I could not bear the pain. I felt terrible loss and guilt. I never found out why or how he died and perhaps that is best. I would never have forgiven myself if he died because of something she did or did not do for then the blame was on me for entrusting him to her. I prayed fiercely that he did not suffer. All I knew was that my best friend was gone.

It was only much later that I was able to just be grateful that he had been such a big part of my life. He taught me the meaning of spirit, kindness and patience. I can only hope those two years with me were as good for him as they were for me
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10 comments :

  1. Patti, What a moving story. You can write beautifully! Thank you for your great story! Thanks for your visit too.

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  2. Well, OF COURSE, the years with you were the best of his life! The way you describe how you loved him; I can't imagine he got that love anywhere else, considering his sores, etc.

    It's too bad that he died so soon. I suspect he was heartbroken at losing you. But that's not your fault, so don't feel guilty.

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  3. At least Trigger had two years of love and safety. It is very sad that you had to leave him, but those two years were probably the best two of his life.

    Have you ever read Water for Elephants? When you describe what happened to Trigger when he was a circus pony reminded me of that book.

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  4. Awwh! You were a blessing to each other, no doubt.

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  5. Excuse me while I go hug all of my animals... especially the horse.

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  6. Riding your pony along the beach and dreaming under the pine trees with Trigger and your friends sounds like heaven. That must have been terribly hard for you two to be separated. You were both so lucky to have had one another for those two blissful years. Did you ever have another pony/horse?

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  7. Trigger gave you a lot, but you gave him the love he never had before. It was a great story and I thank you for sharing it with us, Patti.

    Animals have their special places in the lives of people with good hearts. Thank you again. I admire you lots!!

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  8. Reader Wil,
    Thank you so much. I am so glad you enjoyed it. He was very special to me.

    kenju
    Thank you. The sad thing about animals and us is the vast difference in life spans. Just not fair.

    robin
    I did read that book and the cruelty to those circus animals made me sick. It was well written but a hard read.I was angry a lot when reading it.

    Pat
    Thank you, I know he was to me.

    Barry
    Give them a hug for me also.

    Jewels,
    It was pretty darn close to heaven in those days. As an adult, I had a quarter horse for 20 years and to keep him happy, I got him a pony to hang out with. They were inseperable.

    Miriam
    Animals always give us more than we can ever give them. Thank you for the kind words.

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  9. That's a sad story, but you have such good memories from it. And it just goes to show how good you took care of the horse. On your watch, you mended the horse back to health.

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  10. Thank you Robert, I sure tried anyway.

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