TERROR IN THE SKY, a true story,

F-18 Fighter Jet with Super Sonic Speed

Preamble: 

A settlement has finally been reached with all parties concerned in the Orono Flyby incident. It is a small morale victory for our mare that was severely injured during the Canada Day celebrations six years ago. One horse had to be destroyed while several other horses were treated for minor wounds and injuries at our farm. The incident attracted wide media attention at the time and more than a thousand hand signatures were collected from the public supporting an initiative to ban such aerobatic displays over lands where livestock are involved. Support for this petition to become a private member's bill stretched across the country and a Member of Parliament from B.C. was willing to take a look at our case just prior to the federal election at that time.

I would especially like to thank my legal team who took on the “David and Goliath” case as I fought with passion to see that this never happens to anyone else. As horrible as this story is, it is not an isolated incident. There have been others in the past that have quietly gone away and kept from the public eye.

 The Tragedy  WARNING... GRAPHIC PICTURES FOLLOW THE END OF THIS STORY.

It was the Canada Day weekend holiday and the village’s 175 year celebration.  The week leading up to the celebrations, we put in 3,000 bales of hay.  All of our surrounding farm neighbours were doing the same thing.  We are a working farm, operating 7 days a week, 365 days a year and at this time of year, there is no leisure time. 

Part of the many celebration activities planned that weekend was a flyby by the Military’s F18 fighter jet.  Little did we know that our farm was in the direct flight path of the jet dropping to its lowest elevation of just 500 feet above our pasture and facilities on its way to it target audience just one-half a kilometer away.  Celebration organizers had failed to notify us or hold consultation with us when planning this event, concerning this high risk activity about to bear down on our horse farm with such horrendous results. We had received no direct notification as to the date or time when this part of the celebration activity was to be held, or the fact that we were in the flight path which had been altered to avoid the private zoo to the east of us.  It was an oversight that would prove to have catastrophic consequences for everyone involved with the farm. In hind sight if we had been involved in the planning process we would most likely have expressed our concerns for our horses' welfare and safety. The only way we could have protected them would have been to remove the entire herd from the farm property are relocate them elsewhere during the air show.  

On the day of June 30, 2007, our daily farm chore and lesson program was conducted as usual.  Horses were turned out so chores could be done; lessons progressed in the arena as scheduled.  Fortunately, I had just finished my last lesson of the day when the jet arrived, swooping down with great speed just above the tree-line and directly over our west pasture before passing over the main arena roof then climbing steeply as it circled back over our farm in all completing five passes.  I managed to get the student off her horse safely and put the horse in a stall still with its tack on.  A client was ground driving her Morgan mare at the time and managed to control her without injury.  Those few remaining horses that were in the stable at the time of the flyby were frantic in their stalls, some receiving minor cuts and bruises. The remaining 30 horses on our farm were out on pasture in different turnouts; one to the north, another to the south and east. 

Understanding the psyche of horses, and other animals for that matter, is extremely important when planning such events where noise and form appear to be predators to these animals.  In their mind, they were under attack by the fighter plane.  Their whole instinctive survival mechanism is flight. 

It appears that the yearling filly who suffered the mortal injury was trying to clear the fence and got entangled in it.  With each pass of the jet, her panic was heightened as she struggled to free herself time and time again, cutting her hind leg so severely that it sliced through two tendons, cutting into the cannon bone and entering the marrow.  This devastating injury rendered her hind limb useless.  She was later humanely destroyed. 

The older mare caught her left front hoof in the page wire and in her own terrorized state.  The injury cut to the bone severing an artery.  She remained in critical condition.  Several other horses had less grievous injuries that could be treated without major intervention, including those in their stalls at the time.  A dozen people came to our aid. 

Four men struggled to support the yearling filly as she awkwardly made her way into the stable.  The older mare walked slowly under her own steam to the stable.  The veterinarian was summoned immediately as we applied first aid treatment to the horses awaiting her arrival.  I personally took over monitoring vitals signs and organized a temporary sling to help support the injured horses that had lost life-threatening amounts of blood at this point.  Pressure bandages were applied time and time again to help control the bleeding.  When the bleeding was somewhat controlled, we irrigated the wounds and dressed them until the veterinarian arrived.  With the horses succumbing to shock and the injuries so severe, we called in a second veterinarian to assist.   Drs. Cox and Morrison worked feverously on the two most seriously injured animals.  In the end, the filly was euthanized.  Her owner was so distraught and unable to assist the veterinarian with this task, so I took over this very sad duty.

We were able to document both the injuries and position of the jet.  A client, who was videotaping his daughter at the time of her lesson which had just completed, turned his camera to the sky and caught the jet on film flying over the pasture and arena with a terrifying super-sonic noise left in its wake, shaking the arena walls.  Another client had a friend with her who is a professional photographer.  She took the graphic pictures of the injuries before treatment.  The pasture and stable area looked like a war zone.  Huge pools of blood stained and smeared the field grasses and concrete aisle ways of the stable, littered with red stained towels and discarded packaging from sterile bandages and the like.  Our well-stocked emergency vetting station was depleted of many items that afternoon.  Fortunately, this was just after we had done a complete inventory and had replenished stock just days before this incident. It was a horrific day for us at the farm that had left us all numb with disbelief.  We may have survived the first pass of the jet that would have startled the horses, but impossible to maintain calm with so many passes over and over. 

I harbour no ill feelings towards our Canadian Military. In fact I have a nephew who proudly served his country in Afghanistan.  I understand this was not intentional, although a misguided adventure resulting in tragedy.  We have been a resident of Orono for the past 34 years and contribute our time and resources to many of the Village’s projects.   Unfortunately, for us, this celebration was not a pleasant one. 

Below are some very graphic pictures of the injuries sustained by the horses. I decided to include these to bring a sense of realism to this story and all its horror that day. The video of the of the jet passing over the pasture and arena will be posted on You Tube but restricted to private viewing. Permission to view this video must be requested.

Survived - Partially Severed Hoof

 

Survived

Survived

fatal injury

Fatal Injury - Filly Euthanized

fatal injury

ANNIE'S STORY (published)

Annie (left) - Trillium Evening Primrose (right)
 

 

The pregnancy had been usual. The Quarter Horse mare shifted her great weight uneasily as her due date approached. Her sides swelled and rippled with twinges of new life within. Mother Nature was preparing the mare for her first foal, slowly filling the udder to compliment the now pendulum shaped belly. The huge muscles of the croup and dock began to relax.

Her owner-in-waiting already owned two paternal purebred brothers of Morgan descent. Her Quarter Horse mare had developed a cancerous tumour that didn’t bolster well for her future. As the tumour seemingly went into a state of remission, it was decided that the mare be bred. The planned pregnancy to the same sire of her Morgans would yield a special part-bred.  It would be the mare’s legacy, should she pass.

I walked down the wide aisle peering into the occupied stalls of expectant moms. All was well in the quiet of early dawn. At first glance I didn’t notice anything unusual as the Quarter Horse mare, two weeks away from foaling, looked in earnest for her morning grain ration. She was her impatient self, wanting to be first in line for grub as she pushed forward to the door, ears pricked straight ahead and head nodding in anticipation. As I turned to check the next box, I caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a tiny bay foal, cowering in the tight far corner of the stall. I turned on my heel and rushed back, slowly entering the roomy stall.

The foal stood shaking and confused with such a sad look of forlorn. I approached it in a crouched position, talking to it with a soothing reassuring voice. It was still wet, evidence of a fairly new birth. The mare showed no interest in her newborn; not even a nicker. Instead, she circled the area of her grain bin with a wide-eyed look demanding her feed.

As I eased the fragile looking filly towards her mother, the mare tempestuously moved away. My first reaction was that the mare’s sensitive abdomen was making her understandably cautious of touch. The now full udder had no relief as the milk had not been let down by the natural process of nursing.  This behaviour is not unusual in a maiden mare that hasn’t experienced foaling before. The thought of being bumped and probed by a clumsy foal in search of nourishment in such a sensitive area is not inviting. Still, the maternal need to protect and feed a newborn foal usually is an over-riding instinct that prevails long after the pain of birth subsides. Whatever quirk of nature that afflicted this mare would seal the fate of this filly if immediate action wasn’t taken. It was obvious that managing an unsteady foal and an aggressive mare was not a one-person job. The owner was subsequently summoned to the stable.

The owner held the mare while I attempted to steer the filly cautiously towards the side of the mare’s full quarters. This met with more hostility and aggression from the mare. Nothing we did, no form of restraint not even a leg hold or twitch, was going to coerce the mare into accepting her baby. She stubbornly would not acquiesce to the suckling needs of her baby. More medical intervention was urgently required.

                                                          
Before attempting to hand milk the mare, the veterinarian administered the usual spectrum of antibiotics. The mare was becoming very dangerous with deadly aim from her hooves and barred teeth that could bite into flesh with a viciousness of a she wolf.

Without life-saving colostrum from the mare’s first milk, there was no chance for this filly to survive. The minutes and hours quickly passed unmercifully. A hurried rush to a local Thoroughbred horse-breeding farm that maintained a colostrum bank, bought the filly some hours of hope in her now apparent fight for life.

The mare was partitioned off, just enough so that she couldn’t strike or attack the foal. The tiny filly now had a reprieve from the unrelenting advances of her angry and confused mother. It was hoped that by seeing her filly close by, without human intervention, the mare might become the mother that her foal so desperately needed. After 30 hours of supervised cohabitation with no favourable change in the mare’s behaviour, meant that a new plan had to be hatched, and hatched quickly if this little filly was to have any chance at all.

The mare’s next-door neighbour was the Morgan mare, Kennan’s Memory. Memory already had a two-week-old filly at her side. She would be the closest thing to a nurse mare that we could find. Of all the Morgan broodmares in the stable, Memory would be the most likely candidate for this life-saving task.  She was a mom’s mom, very devoted to her foals and watchful of others. Would it be possible for her to adopt this now orphaned foal?  A nurse mare that accepts a strange foal usual does so as a result of her natural born foal being taken from her and a substitute foal added. This was not the case here. Clearly, it would be up to the good graces and willing heart of Memory to allow another mare’s foal under her belly.

Memory was brought out into the aisle way with her 14-day old filly foal placed by her chest. The mare was held steady as the shy little rejected filly was cautiously brought along side. Memory raised her hind leg ever so gently as a mild warning, turning her head and staring perplexed at the wee starved filly. But as we asked Memory to behave with a strong firm voice, she lowered her leg without hesitation. The filly was guided gently to the full udder of the mare. Within minutes the hungry filly had latched on to a teat and for the first time in her short stressful life, sucked contently. Memory looked back at the alien foal reaching beneath her hip. Memory was unsure as her ears constantly moved back and forth without ever flattening, trying to decipher what was happening. After a long and much needed grasp of the full teat, the filly was finally satisfied.

Safely housing a mare with two nursing foals was our next challenge.  The farm’s six-horse trailer was brought into the indoor arena. For the next week it would double as a nursery on wheels. Memory was led into one of the middle stalls at the rear section of the trailer and tethered. A haynet hung from the ceiling hook and a water bucket was fastened to the front stall bar. The other three stall partitions at the front of the trailer were removed allowing the two fillies full run of the trailer while being able to nurse from either side of the mare with the half partitions of the stall stanch allowing access and protection. A deep straw bedding provided a safe landing and warmth for much needed snoozing.

During the day, the mare and foals were turned out in a small round-ring, which had ground-to-rail, full screen plastic mesh surrounding the perimeter. It was in essence, an over-size playpen. Every couple of hours, Memory would be held with a shank so that the little filly, now nicknamed Orphan Annie, could nurse. Everyday since birth, Annie’s natural mother was introduced to her in hopes of reconciliation. Each time the mare attempted to attack the filly when she came too close. After two weeks of futile custodial meetings, it was evident that this mare would not realize the role of motherhood and so the daily visits ended.

After a week of nightly trailer sleepovers, the foaling stall in the barn was converted over to replicate the horse trailer’s new nursery blueprint design. A stock was provided for the mare with easy access for the foals to nurse.

Day-by-day Memory slowly accepted the rejected Annie to her udder. Annie’s big paternal sister, Primrose, showed a distinct but natural propensity for jealously during the first couple of weeks. She often would shove Annie out of the way when she wanted to nurse, or kick at her in defiance as if to say this is my Mom, not yours. By the third week, Primrose had softened her attitude and accepted Annie as her little sister and playmate. No longer wrought with jealousy, Primrose showed clinginess to Annie. Everyone had hope that this would work out for the best. Yet, there was to be one more major hurdle that Annie had to overcome.     

One evening feed, I entered the stall of the two fillies, brushing Primrose then Annie aside to put in their booster milk replacement bucket. Annie stood motionless. I pushed harder and she stumbled forward and down. Something was terribly wrong. Her right front leg was totally useless. I immediately felt for any sign of fracture, but there was no discernible heat, just a scrape on her cannon bone. My next thought was a dislocated shoulder. I was puzzled as I dragged her to a safe space in the stall away from crushing hooves. Paralysis was my next suspicion.

I talked the on-call veterinarian into making the late night trek out and examining the filly. If it was a break, I didn’t want to leave the filly unattended and without treatment that long. The result of the veterinary examination confirmed a paralysis. It was suspected that Annie had rolled under the partition that held the mare and was stepped on sometime during the evening. The crush had caused nerve damage involving the mobility of the entire right front leg, originating in the shoulder region. A splint was fashioned to try and support the leg and keep the fetlock flexed in a more normal position enabling her to have some weight bearing on the injured leg. It was an awkward predicament for Annie and one that might have snuffed away any chance of a normal life or life itself.

Annie struggled clumsily around the stall at night and round ring in daylight. She dragged that leg showing no legitimate effort to use it. The prognosis didn’t look favourable, but the filly was determined to feed herself, lie down and follow her big sister.

Weeks passed with little improvement. After reassessment, it was decided that the crutch splint should be removed. It seemed to hinder and impair more than it supported. The fetlock and leg were bandaged for protection, as dragging her leg behind her meant certain abrasions and possible infection if not guarded properly. Her leg now free of its brace, Annie was determined to make her leg work.

Like most soft tissue injuries, they can be a nightmare in recovery. Slowly sensation returned to her shoulder, transferring eventually to her forearm. It was a considerable length of time before the knee became somewhat functional. The fetlock was the last to show signs of life and movement. It would take weeks if not months for Annie to regain most of her movement and strength back while continuing the rapid foal growth.  

As she convalesced, the bonding between her big sister Primrose and step mom Memory grew closer. No longer did Memory try to push her away but instead circled and protected her from the rest of the broodmare band. Primrose looked after Annie as well, shadowing her everywhere and being her constant playmate and protector. As the days passed, Annie and her sister joined the expanded herd of other youngsters and soon they all cantered across the pasture kicking up with squeals of delight.

 
Now weaned, Annie continues to mature. Although small in stature, her early life experiences have toughened her in the herd. The human bond has been cemented in her very being, as she looks to people as protector and friend. Still, without the sweetness and affection of a kind old broodmare named Memory, it was uncertain if Annie would have lived. Now there is no doubt.

HORSE SHOW HORRORS - What can go wrong and how to avoid problems.

 

Every year when show season begins in earnest, thousands of horse trailers roll along the highways on route to a horse show. These weekend warriors are headed for competition and sometimes misadventure.

Veterans of the show arena have witnessed some bazaar and frightening experiences over their years of involvement on the show circuit. You may be the most conscientious horse owner, but other external factors can play havoc with the pleasure and safety of the horse shows you attend.

The Stress Factor

Horse shows are stressful!  Not only do most competitors suffer from show-ring jitters, so do horses. Psychology teaches us that our own insecurities are easily transported to the horse. Calming our nerves is harder than we can imagine. It is often the “hurry up and wait” syndrome that most competitors suffer from. It seems like an eternity waiting to make our entrance through the “in gate”. Keeping oneself busy between classes, either by cleaning tack, watering the horse or some other useful activity, will help ease anxieties. It becomes a distraction to our worried minds that often dwells on the “what ifs”.    

Practice self-calming techniques, such as deep breathing exercises and muscle relaxation while focusing on positive thought and imagery. Be aware of your muscle groups and learn how to release the tension of competition through these beneficial tools of relaxation.

So often we see horses being longed, ridden and longed again to get the edge off them. Most horses won’t wear down and in some cases the extra work only builds them up, defeating the whole purpose of this often-futile exercise. The simple act of walking a ring before a show starts or during lunch break, acquainting the horse to the new environment, will help it adjust and settle. Just taking your horse to a show without competing and letting it experience the sights and sounds will help prepare it for future competition. Unfortunately, you can’t completely duplicate the show ring at home, but there are some training tips that will help.

Training at Home

Desensitize your horse to many of the variables it will encounter at horse shows. These will include such things as camera flashes, balloons, flags, umbrellas, rain slickers, and those annoying sneaky baby strollers. Tents and awnings are also commonplace sights at shows. That flapping noise can be disturbing, even terrifying to the horse.   

Play recorded sound tracks, introducing loud noises such as band music, cheering and clapping and a host of other uncommon sounds your horse will encounter at shows and fairs.

Moving vehicles can often upset a horse. Practice walking your horse by stationary cars with engines running and slow moving automobiles.

Trailer Loading

Your homework in preparation for horse showing should include trailer loading. Nothing is more frustrating than an uncooperative loader. Equally important, is the controlled unloading of your horse. A horse rushing out of the trailer, can injury itself just as easily as the horse that is difficult to load. The frazzled horse’s anxiety level will have peaked by the time you arrive for your competition. This, combined with your own personal stress from the ordeal, could sabotage your ride in the show ring.

If your horse is new to the rattle and shake of a moving trailer, take a few short trips to help the horse establish its ‘trailer legs’ prior to embarking on the real road trip to a show. Be certain that you take precautions when navigating corners and coming to stops. Remember, you are carrying live cargo that will react to sudden manoeuvers.          

Be Prepared

Before you head out, prepare a complete checklist of items well in advance. The list should include everything from tack to apparel, food, directional maps, and personal needs such as headache remedies and sunscreen. So often basic items are forgotten in the frenzy of packing for a show and only add to our stress levels.

Make certain you have organized all of your show documents. Having photocopies of these required papers and placing them in a binder for safekeeping in your horse trailer, will ensure that these documents are available at every show when making entries.

Don’t forget to store tools for your truck and trailer in the event of a breakdown. Include a first aid kit: one for you and one for your horse. Other items to consider for your first aid kit are instant ice packs and electrolytes for your horse.

Bring along a flysheet and extra repellent and pack a horse cooler and body sponges. Take your own water supply. (Horses can be finicky drinkers of unfamiliar water sources.)  Serious dehydration could ensue from lack of water during heavy competition and extreme heat. Offer water to your horse at several intervals throughout the day, even if it refused it. Don’t forget about the horse that makes the long haul in and from a horse show. Stop often and offer a fresh bucket of water during these brief breaks from the road.

Pack an extra halter and lead shank. You never know when you might need one. Store a shoe puller in your trailer for emergencies.

 The Weather Factor

Since a lot of local events and fairs are held outdoors, weather and ring conditions are a consideration when competing.

If the footing is slick or rough, you might not want to risk injury to you or your horse. Depending on your shoeing requirements and discipline, you may want to outfit your horse’s shoes accordingly. Lightning strikes have been known to be fatal for riders and horses. Sadly, fatalities like these happen from time to time at outdoor horse show events. Your horse’s steel shoes makes for an excellent conductor for a bolt of lightning. Since the rider becomes the highest point in the show ring, he or she becomes the ultimate target and victim. Be prudent and safe by withdrawing from competition in extreme weather conditions such as thunderstorms.

Practicing Good Horsemanship

Proper tying with quick release knots or snaps with appropriate length and height consideration will aid in the prevention of accidents and injury. Place your horse in an area free of entrapment. (Fender wells can be considered hazards.)  Provide shelter from the hot summer sun by parking your trailer under trees if possible. Set up an awning beside your trailer in open areas. This will give your horse added relief and protection from the sun. A flysheet will also be of benefit to guard against insect pests and the sun’s ultra-violet rays.

Play it safe. Do not allow your horse to graze on unfamiliar turf. Some multi-use public grounds used for the occasional horse show may have been treated with toxic chemical sprays to control the weed populations.

You can’t always guard against public ignorance. Be vigilant, never complacent.

Do not allow visitors to approach your horse without supervision. An outreached hand can be mistaken for a treat and an innocent nip or bite from a jealous horse can lead to a host of problems. Few horse owners realize that in some jurisdictions, a person bitten by a horse who seeks medical treatment for their injury, will result in mandatory quarantine of that horse for possible rabies by the local health department. Regardless of the circumstances, or proof of rabies vaccination, there is no exception to the law in this regard.

 If your horse should become frightened by a passer-by on a bicycle, or a baby stroller walking behind it and that horse reacts and lashes out in fear, you are liable for any injuries.

The general public does not often think about their actions and resulting consequences. They may offer your horse a treat that is not suitable, or attempt to pet your horse in a sensitive or ticklish area. This may evoke an unfavourable response from your horse.

There can always be a dark side to events and situations when things go wrong. By minimizing possible disaster scenarios and desensitizing your horse, enjoying a horse show and reaping the thrill of victory can come at a reduced cost both financially and emotionally for you and your equine partner.

FOR THE LOVE OF FLASH

On the sleepy spring morning of Thursday, May 29, 1986, a new arrival was eagerly welcomed in the stable by the curious nicker of horses. He was a noble bearing colt, dressed in a rich burgundy satin resembling the colour of a fine red wine. His sharp features of a delicately defined head were anointed with a bright star. Cautiously he peeked his nose out from beneath the camouflage of his mother's tail and craned his somewhat long neck in search of exciting scents in this mysterious world.  He was undeniably handsome from the moment the sack was shed to reveal his true identity.

From his ancestral roots, this colt would show the resilience and survivor instincts that this family of old government bred Morgans are noted for. He would be named in honour of his famous great grand sire, UVM Flash and would be known from that day forward as "Trillium Flashdance.”

As the colt found unsteady support from his wavering long limbs, he clumsily bumped his way along his dam's sides and quarters, until he was rewarded with the warm nourishment from his mother's fulsome teats. Everything had appeared normal up to that point. The foaling went well, the colt seemed alert and inquisitive. He was up and moving with new found strength and improved equilibrium in every step. The mare was grateful for the relief from her aching and swollen udder, as the long suckling noises brought contentment and joy to a famished new member of the equine species.

It was not until the colt had had his fill of that all important protection of colostrum, or first milk, when he turned to greet his dotting human companion and something unusual was revealed. A soft cough was heard and a slow steady trickle of white fluid drained from his nostrils. As the colt returned to nurse at his mother's side, again the milk trickled from the nostrils and the spontaneous cough persisted. Alarm bells rang - something was terribly wrong!

The usual visit by the veterinarian was hastened this time when the observations of the new born colt were relayed. The arrival and diagnosis of the attending veterinarian set in motion an emergency plan of action. Within twenty-four hours, Flash and his mom were loaded into the now converted box stall in the spacious six horse trailer and were on route for a two hour journey to Large Animal Admissions at the University of Guelph (Equine Centre).

On May 30, Flash was examined by a battalion of veterinarians and surgeons. The endoscopic examination and diagnosis was that Flash had a soft cleft palate or incomplete closure affecting his windpipe and trachea. There were three options of choice available:  do nothing and let nature take its course; euthanize the colt, or surgery. Without surgery, he may not have survived and might quite possibly succumb to respiratory failure via pneumonia or infection. The time for surgery with the best prognosis, was now.

The decision we came to was to give this darling little fellow, a chance. So less than a week from his birth, Flash underwent his life-saving operation to repair his palate.  As with any surgery, there was no guarantee that the operation would be totally successful. Indicators of its success would be observed in his latter progression and rate of growth . There was no way of foretelling the fate of this little Morgan colt.

Flash came through his surgery well and after several days was finally allowed to come home. He would later return to Guelph for re-examination and evaluation. During the interim, special intensive care at home would have to be provided during his nearly two month convalescence. A daily journal was kept of all observations, temperature and treatment administered. These findings and readings were recorded every one to two hours with only a reprieve from note taking during the late night hours. Flash was closely monitored, the incision site medicated and protected against the constant onslaught of summer flies and dust; the antibiotics administered as instructed.

On July 21, Flash was re-admitted to Guelph for follow up evaluation. The report was positive. The repair to his palate appeared to have been ninety per cent successful. Now it was just a matter of time that would determine just how successful the surgery had been, remembering that the growth of the colt  was a strong determining factor.

During his first year that took him from weanling to yearling, Flash continued to be monitored for any signs of respiratory distress. He was gaining size too; another good omen and he began initial training in voice commands and longeing. Since it was not known for certain if the cleft palate had been a result of an undetectable in vitro viral infection, or that it was somehow heredity, it was decided that gelding Flash would at least safeguard against passing on a possible problem. (To date, this defect has never been seen in Flash's siblings or any other member of his family.)

In the spring of 1988, Flash caught the eye of a prospective buyer who visited the farm. Shortly thereafter, Flash was sold with a full discloser of his medical history. The now tall two year old continued to mature rapidly and was becoming a very pretty boy indeed. Flash bid farewell to the only home and family he knew, as he travelled to a new stable and a new life; everyone filled with excitement and promise. However, the final chapter to this story had not been written.

Just two years after his sale, and with a tone of distress in his new owner's voice, a disturbing phone call was received. She (the owner) had suffered an unfortunate accident being thrown to the ground during a wind storm, fracturing a vertebra. In hind sight, it was an accident that shouldn't have happened. Flash, a novice horse just newly put under saddle, had become the recipient of retaliation for his part in the incident. His attacker, someone ignorant in the knowledge of horses and handling, mistakenly presumed that the horse was the doer of bad deeds and was to blame for the injuries. So in the heat of the moment, Flash had been savagely beaten. The mere sight of a saddle and bridle now evoked a trembling frenzy within the horse that was not easily calmed.

His owner was deeply saddened by the unfortunate turn of events and just wanted to have her old Flash back. It would later take the better part of two months of intense conditioning and confidence building to bring Flash around to accept his tack, let alone a rider again. And so, Flash returned to his birthplace once more.

Although the somewhat over used popular term of the day, namely "horse whisperer," congers up connotations of mystical ways, I am reluctant to attached this label to myself. Whatever title you may want to bestow for my role and method of training is unimportant. There really is nothing magical about it, suffice to say that it involves a capacity for compassion, enormous patience and simple understanding of the horse's mind and circumstance. The journey of Flash's ascension from unbridled fear and despair would begin.

Those once healing hands that soothed his incision, the soft voice that gave him comfort during his young days of recuperation, would return to instill trust once again much as a kindred spirit. It was a daunting task to restore a frightened fragile mind to its former self, or closeness thereof. But little by little, Flash began to respond until his transformation was complete. All too soon, it was time to say goodbye yet again.

I can still remember the day they came for him. He was loaded into a pony trailer that was dwarfed by his now 15.2+ hand, 1,200 lbs. frame.  I had lent them a helmet to protect his poll from trauma as he willingly walked on the trailer, stooped, and travelled home in that position. Only unshakable confidence in his handler would allow him to enter such small confines and tolerate the ride in such cramped quarters.

Six years later, another desperate call would come. This time, Flash's owner's personal situation had become precarious and she feared that Flash might possibly become a target of violence once again. An urgent plea was made for us to try and find someone to lease Flash until her life could return to some normality and she could be reunited with her best friend. After several phone calls and attempts to secure a lease, Tanya, our junior rider at the time, entered the picture.

It was a cold windy day in late fall  when we first saw Flash grazing alone in a large open field with only sheep as his companions. It had been months since he had last been ridden, but the meeting went well and at the end of the visit, a signed lease was tucked safely in hand. The union between Flash and Tanya would become one of utter devotion. So once again, this time under stressful circumstances and with some trepidation on our part, Flash walked up the ramp and came home to Trillium.

Flash and Tanya would blossom not only physically, but in spirit, each giving one another a sense of worth; each learning that you can't always have your own way.   In summer, they would travel the show circuit and tranquillity of the woodland trails. They were good for each other, inseparable - every day growing and learning about themselves. For a teenager going through the typical mayhem of youth, Flash had become an anchor, something solid and secure to hold on to. Something you could believe in and would keep you focused.

As the lease formally came to an end, and Flash was to return home, more than a few tears moistened the cheeks of those involved with this horse. When it was learned that he had found a new owner and home, Tanya felt it difficult to accept that her beloved Flash would no longer be a part of her life. It took great courage for her to watch Flash and his new owner parade the show ring. (I'm certain that Tanya rode every stride of the class from the rail.)  But with maturity, Tanya soon accepted that Flash was loved too and being cared for as he should. Tanya can take pride in knowing that she in some small way contributed to his success.

So if by chance you wonder why all the hoopla and hollering that follows this majestic horse down the rail, the tri-colour hanging from his headstall dancing in the breeze of a victory pass,  just know that there is more behind the applause and cheers for a simple ribbon won. It's a celebration of struggle and accomplished that Flash has overcome and achieved.  He has touched many lives as he trotted a true path over a trail of past illness, abuse, misfortune and lost love. The title of champion befits him, not only for his great ability as a Morgan horse, but also for his dauntless courage. If we had it to do over again that Friday afternoon in May, as we reflected upon our options over a cup of coffee, the decision would probably be the same - we would do it "for the love of Flash".