Phillip

No tribute to former friends would be complete without "Phil".

Phillip came into our lives just as we were moving onto the farm. Our close friend Michelle was moving off of hers. While Friendly was boarded there, Phillip came from across the road, jumped the fence and entrenched himself with the outdoor horses. He and Friendly struck up a friendship. A year went by when Michelle received a phone call from her neighbor saying if she wanted to keep that llama she had to pay him $1200. Michelle promply replied, that he hadn't retrieved it and therefore owed her $1500 board, if he wanted it back.

We took a lot of stuff from Michelle's to help us get started, Phillip included. Our first experience with llama wrangling was the 2 hours it took to catch him and the next one to get him on the trailer. As we were pulling out, Michelle said we needed to get him clipped as he really suffered each summer. Thirty phone calls later, I found someone that was willing to clip him, if he was tame and halter broke, then proceeded to tell me what to do. We were pretty sure he had some halter work, as he bore scars where someone had left a halter on him too long. The "tame" was not so easy; we put Phillip in an 8x8 enclosure and I worked with him twice a day. Every day, twice a day, for the next two weeks, I got kicked, spit on, bitten, and struck at. At the time, I was on stress leave from teaching. The year before, I had taught a child by the same name, with the same beautiful brown eyes who had Asperger's Syndrome. I had been kicked, spit on, bitten and struck at by him, too.

Well, we got Phillip clipped, but not before he broke the portable stocks the llama people had brought with them. They reckoned he was well into his teens and bore signs of previous neglect and abuse. Future clippings involved Greg wrestling with him and us shouting at him to swallow his spit.

Phil enjoyed the last few years of his life. He was a rather dignified old man, who became the brunt of several bright ideas, like llama rides at Christmas. He would put up with whatever we put to him with distain, looking down his long nose in disgust and then reluctant acceptance. He ruled the roost and went wherever he liked until he started chowing down on my brand new cotoneaster hedge. We remember Phillip everyday, as he graces our computer as our screen saver.

MH Bebop

MH Bebop was our first foal and we reached new heights on the learning curve. For that reason alone he will always be special.We named him for a style of jazz that has no limits and breaks the rules.
By Sandstorm out of M3 Soliel he was sold in 2007 as a yearling. Photo by Gisela

MH Chaucer

MH Chaucer was from our second foaling year. By Eastern Ruler, he came as a 2 in 1 package when we bought Wynona. His indomitable personality reminded us of the character "Chaucer" from "A Knight's Tale". He was sold to Las Suenos Equestrian Centre as a weanling in 2007.

Photo by Gisela

Rocky Top II

We bought Rocky, a Trakhener- Quarter Horse cross, as a broodmare, supposedly in foal. She turned out open, but we have never had such a versatile horse. She could do it all. Whether you wanted to take a night to go penning, or take a jumper clinic, she was the horse of choice. We could safely put absolute beginners on her, yet, she was the horse of choice when Greg visited the farm. In hindsight, she probably lost her foal due the rare neurotic condition that ultimately caused her death; cauda equina.

Photo by Gisela

Friendly aka "El Cid"

Friendly was as much a member of the family as a pet. Through him we learned the true meaning of loyalty. His stoicism and heart caused us to keep him long after the last decision needed to be made. He will always be remembered fondly. Here is Friendly in semi retirement on the farm.

The first photo on the left is the last photo taken of Friendly, when we thought we had turned the corner on his acute laminitis. He had had full hoof resections on both of his forefeet and had beat a bone infection. Later in the week, he was to develop abcesses, that killed the new laminae that would have led to his recovery. I think knowing when the decision has to be made is the hardest thing horse owners ever do.