By now most of you probably expected this post following the news about Sonny. I had his pony a couple days after, but wanted everything to settle before writing his post.
Sonny came into my life about 17yrs ago when my high school friend purchased him sight unseen. He was at least the third horse she had tried and stuck the longest. We would go on trail with him and Barry and switch horses during the ride. Sonny, an anglo arab, was always full of energy. The rides were never boring. He and I jumped the cross country course and had a great time with my friend on Barry. Barry and Sonny loved to play together in the turn out too. But when Sherman was added to the mix, it turned into a National Geographic moment looking at two stud-dy geldings. They made quite the picture both being bay and posturing.
Eventually my friend sold Sonny to Peggy, some drama included. In the end it all worked out great and Sonny ended up exactly where he needed to be. Peggy and Sonny had some interesting rides that may not have always been deemed successes, but they always kept a strong relationship. When Sonny let you in and dropped the company manners, it was truly a honor. Under saddle he was a free spirit and loved to move. Sometimes his rider would end up on the ground due to his "movements" and he would stop and look down like "What are you doing there?" He never tried to get you off, he just thought we were suppose to stay on.
When it was discovered he had a level 4 out of 5 heart murmur, he was retired from work. The night he died the vet mentioned she thought it involved both sides of his heart and it sounded musical. Sonny settled into retirement, playing with Bingo, Comrade, Addie and Mickey. When Rosemary came he mooned after her until Comrade freed him from the stall and he could take action. It was quite the surprise to my Dad to find Sonny and Rosemary engaged in hmm... well you know, with Roscoe looking on. No wonder Roscoe always looked up to and conferred with Sonny.
Of course Sonny transferred his affections to Dottie when we moved there with our herd. Despite Rosemary chasing him, he loved having a bunch of horses around. He watched them come and go, and made sure we stayed on track for feeding. He was special and he took full advantage of it.
Sonny always charged a toll tax to be paid before or after taking another horse for a ride in the form of sugar. And since his stall shared a wall with the hay stall, he always stole bites when he could. More than once we found the hay net pile tumbled with quids next to the nets. Sonny was a character.
So when I went looking for his Painted Pony, I worried about finding the right one. Then I came across Butterflies Run Free.
If you remember the day he died, when I arrived and Peggy told me what was happening a butterfly landed right over my heart. I knew then whatever happened, would be right. This Painted Pony features Monarch butterflies on a dark horse which is the same color of the butterfly who landed on me. Plus running free is exactly how we think of Sonny. And the true personality of Sonny was beautiful once he released it to share. In the days since we lost him, we see the butterflies everywhere. I felt that this Pony was the one. I checked with Mom and she agreed. I hoped Peggy would understand the significance of the butterfly since that day was so emotional. When I gave it to her, she knew right away.
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| Sonny 1984-2016 |
And so Butterflies Run Free joins the growing herd of Painted Ponies we have as memorials, while Sonny joins the herd waiting for us above.
Since Comrade had his acupuncture and chiro visit, he has been moving really well. I brought my camera so that we could capture it on film. He was a great subject, letting Peggy direct him while I took the pictures.
Meanwhile, we are still waiting for his sister to give birth. Dyma Hi seems to be taking the full gestational period. Hopefully she will decide the time is right soon. Why is time going so slow now, when the year previous has gone by so quickly?
Sonny came into my life about 17yrs ago when my high school friend purchased him sight unseen. He was at least the third horse she had tried and stuck the longest. We would go on trail with him and Barry and switch horses during the ride. Sonny, an anglo arab, was always full of energy. The rides were never boring. He and I jumped the cross country course and had a great time with my friend on Barry. Barry and Sonny loved to play together in the turn out too. But when Sherman was added to the mix, it turned into a National Geographic moment looking at two stud-dy geldings. They made quite the picture both being bay and posturing. 
Eventually my friend sold Sonny to Peggy, some drama included. In the end it all worked out great and Sonny ended up exactly where he needed to be. Peggy and Sonny had some interesting rides that may not have always been deemed successes, but they always kept a strong relationship. When Sonny let you in and dropped the company manners, it was truly a honor. Under saddle he was a free spirit and loved to move. Sometimes his rider would end up on the ground due to his "movements" and he would stop and look down like "What are you doing there?" He never tried to get you off, he just thought we were suppose to stay on. 
When it was discovered he had a level 4 out of 5 heart murmur, he was retired from work. The night he died the vet mentioned she thought it involved both sides of his heart and it sounded musical. Sonny settled into retirement, playing with Bingo, Comrade, Addie and Mickey. When Rosemary came he mooned after her until Comrade freed him from the stall and he could take action. It was quite the surprise to my Dad to find Sonny and Rosemary engaged in hmm... well you know, with Roscoe looking on. No wonder Roscoe always looked up to and conferred with Sonny. 
Of course Sonny transferred his affections to Dottie when we moved there with our herd. Despite Rosemary chasing him, he loved having a bunch of horses around. He watched them come and go, and made sure we stayed on track for feeding. He was special and he took full advantage of it.
Sonny always charged a toll tax to be paid before or after taking another horse for a ride in the form of sugar. And since his stall shared a wall with the hay stall, he always stole bites when he could. More than once we found the hay net pile tumbled with quids next to the nets. Sonny was a character.
If you remember the day he died, when I arrived and Peggy told me what was happening a butterfly landed right over my heart. I knew then whatever happened, would be right. This Painted Pony features Monarch butterflies on a dark horse which is the same color of the butterfly who landed on me. Plus running free is exactly how we think of Sonny. And the true personality of Sonny was beautiful once he released it to share. In the days since we lost him, we see the butterflies everywhere. I felt that this Pony was the one. I checked with Mom and she agreed. I hoped Peggy would understand the significance of the butterfly since that day was so emotional. When I gave it to her, she knew right away. 
Peggy told me the vet was coming and maybe there was hope. I looked over to see him moving, kind of tottering across the field with his head down. I heart sank. Sometimes you just know. The vet came and did a rectal and found his parts were displaced, like his spleen. Very limited gut noises and flank watching pointed to colic. Plus he was dehydrated. So she tubed him, very nicely done too, and gave him fluids with epsom salts and electrolytes. We worried as his pain returned quickly after one, then two doses of sedation. After watching Sherman and Rebel react similarly, my hopes waned. The vet did another rectal and found an impaction in the ceacum. Not good :( At 32 years old Sonny is not a surgical candidate and this kind of colic normally results in surgery. The next option was to bring him to the clinic, but Sonny was not a fan of strangers. So that seemed to be an option that would stress him more. Come what may, his battle would be at the farm. We knew that if his pain continued, he would need to be put down. It was a heartbreaking decision, but the right one. I felt helpless as I supported Peggy and stood by Sonny. He was awesome, listening when I asked him to stay standing. I made the calls to my family as Peggy informed Larry. We waited and watched. At one point, Peggy heard a gut noise on the right side which before had been silent. A glimmer of hope.
Then he began flank watching again. And that made the decision final. We had to say goodbye. Peggy wanted so much for the vet to tap his nose and make him all better, but as the vet said "She left her wand at home." So Peggy called the back hoe owner, while the vet prepped Sonny. We led him out to his spot near by Bingo's grave. All the horses watched and Roscoe trotted the fence line. Sonny went quick and joined the herd over the rainbow.
Next Deliah had her acupuncture appointment today and was joined by Griffyn and Comrade. Griffyn actually saw the big cube she uses and jumped right up, so he went first. He has a ton of sore muscles in the rib cage area from compensating for the rear end. Today he let her work a fair amount in some of his worst spots. Griffyn even got one acupuncture needle to help with rear end pain. She believes he might need some herbal remedy to help with his body pain for a more consistent relief. He happily jumped off when she finished. Then Deliah took her turn. She did some touching to get a feel for her hot spots before starting the acupuncture. As a way to ease into the painful spots and get some endorphins flowing, began placing the needles at the rear and neck. Then she started on the sore muscles around the damaged disc. Deliah gave her hurt eyes when they first went in, but soon started to relax. My little pin cushion resembled a stegosaurus. Afterward she crashed in her cage, probably zonked from the endorphin release. She will have another session in two weeks.
