My Sister Bought a Pasture Ornament

My sister lives in England. Horses have always been a part of our lives. Horses may be the only thing we have never argued about, as we are very different. We can talk "Horse" for hours and feel completely in tune.

Fiona's last horse broke his leg in a stable accident and had to be destroyed. During the four years since that devastating event she has continued to ride, sharing exercise and schooling commitments with several horse owners.

Megan is a pretty mare who belonged to a teenager at the barn. Her young owner liked to gallop and jump and Fiona would work on flat-work, which was a good partnership. Fiona describes Megan as "beautiful from ears to knees". I haven't seen her and there is no chance of a photo, until I go there next. My sister still has an un-developed Kodak throw-away camera containing baby pictures of her, now, eleven year old son.

Last November Megan came up lame with a tendon problem and was put on box-rest with walking out exercise, being led not ridden. Fiona has walked many miles with this little horse, through all kinds of wonderful English weather. Megan is still lame.

I spoke to my sister on the phone, a few days ago and she said, "Oh, by the way, I bought Megan". The horse was to be sold so that her owner could move on and get a horse that was able to compete and even just be ridden every day. Megan's future prospects were dim. Now they are shiny bright again.

Fiona paid a very low price for the horse; she has spent more with the vet this week than the purchase price of the animal. The plan is to turn her out for three months to let the cortisone shots have a chance to work. If they don't, she will remain a happy, well-loved pasture ornament. Breeding from a horse with wonky legs is out of the question, so she'll just have to be a maiden aunt to the other horse's foals.