An Update

I mentioned in an earlier post, that the current owner of my former horse, Shaker, contacted me recently. E, Shaker's owner for over 12 years now, discovered my blog after googling her horses' name. I had typed a post about him last year, and never really thought much of it, until E contacted me. I am so thrilled that I was able to find out what came of Shaker. E answered a question I had wondered about for so long. It was a big "what if". What if I hadn't sold Shaker? What if Shaker had a terrible life after he was sold? What if...what if....what if...it can drive a girl mad!



The what-ifs have been answered. I have no regrets selling him. Shaker and E go together like peas and carrots, pancakes and bacon, Hall and Oates, Sarah Palin and crazy - - - you get the idea. E replied to my e-mail about a week after I responded to her. E wrote in her e-mail about Shaker and the impact he has had in her life. Like me, E showed Shaker in the Morgan circuit, and like with me, Shaker had a profound impact on her formative years. He is a little snippet from the e-mail - one that brought tears to my eyes. (I am a huge sap when it comes to these kind of things).

I showed him starting in 8th grade (I think) all the way until the summer after my senior year (2002). Those were some of the best times of my life. It taught me about having goals, hard work, and most of all about the relationship I developed with my horse. He was my best friend and ally, the one I could always turn to.

I couldn't have said it better myself!

I absolutely love the fact that Shaker was able to go on to another young lady to be shown and loved. It sounds like E was able to take Shaker to some bigger and badder shows, and that she did really well with him. I showed Shaker in mostly western pleasure and did alright with him. He was kind of a saucy and hot guy, so w/ western pleasure there were alot of moments of blasting into the canter and jigging at the walk. Perhaps I should have gone a different route, but despite that, I absolutely adored that horse. Here's another snippet:

A few years ago Shaker was diagnosed with Cushings disease. He is been essentially fine, and living with it happily. I'm sure you are aware of the thick, wavy winter coat that he gets, which is the symptom that set us off. Several months ago, he suddenly dropped weight pretty drastically. The vet assures me that he is healthy, just a sign of getting older. It is kind of tough to watch the boy I saw as so vital, full of life becoming an older horse in front of my eyes since he was in such remarkable shape for so many years as an older horse. I don't mean to sound like he is in bad shape now, on the contrary he is happy, playing in the pasture and getting brushes and treats when he can, from anyone he can. He always gives me a nice, loud neigh to greet me when I visit him.

It seems that, at 28, Shaker is getting to the final stages of his life. In the pictures that E attached to the e-mail, Shaker looked, well, old. I guess I don't know what I was expecting. The pictures seem to have been taken at an absolutely gorgeous farm (perhaps his home) with a lovely young girl *E*. E looks so happy in each picture, and Shaker looks as sweet as ever - he just looks old. He's super fuzzy, and thin - not underfed, just not as filled out. At first, I didn't recognize him, but his eyes and lovely, soft nose/muzzle are the same...he has puckered little lips and large flared nostrils - they are the same - the eyes have the same fire in them that I knew way back when.

I am not going to post the pictures of him that E sent me (though they are gorgeous), instead I'm sharing two of my oldies. This is the Shaker that I knew and remember. I'm just beyond thrilled that he is and was loved so much his entire life. He deserved no less.

My sweet old friend :)