Captain's Story

One of the reasons I felt compelled to start this blog was because sometimes it feels like no matter how much you give, donate, contribute, pray, etc. you can never do enough to help animals in need. No matter how many good people out there doing what they can to help there are five more people who continue to abuse, neglect or discard their animals. It can be discouraging to say the least. My hope is to have a network of people all over the country (or world!) who are making a difference, even in just one animal’s life. Even if it's just one life it's worth it.

Throughout the month of February I have been following a blog called Saving Faith (check it out here http://savingfaithgws.blogspot.com/). I'm sure many of you are already aware of this blog, but if not I recommend that you read it, it’s really something. The blog is written by a woman who rescued a horse from a lonely, neglected life and the struggle she is facing to get Faith (the horse) healthy and content, justice served to the man who neglected Faith and awareness of animal abuse and neglect spread in her community. One thing that I love about this blog, besides the fact that I’m rooting for Faith, is that the blogger touches on how saving an animal affects you. It really, really does move your soul, it’s an amazing experience.

I have been lucky enough to experience this first hand. My very first horse was a gelding that my parents purchased from a lady who was trying to downsize her herd. Somehow we heard about this bay gelding for sale, named Captain, and we quickly went to check him out. The day we went to see him, trailer in tow, is forever inscribed in my mind. The owner didn’t live on the property and had a small pipe corral arena that she kept a handful of mares in along with Captain. All of the mares were larger then the little bay gelding and he stood off alone in a corner, a dull glaze over his eyes. With what little food this lady was feeding her horses and the mares bullying this little gelding around, he was reduced to a boney miserable existence. I remember thinking this wasn’t at all what I expected, but there’s no way we could have left him there. Needless to say we took Captain home that day and my life would never be the same because of it. After a couple weeks of proper nutrition and lots of TLC Captain was blossoming into a little firecracker of a horse. He was alive again and soaking up every ounce of love that I, and anyone else who wanted to join in, was showering him with. Horses do something for our souls. People would always say, "he is so lucky to have found you!" and inside I would always think, "I am so lucky to have found him". That little man taught me so much and helped shape me into the women I am today. I hope everyone has the chance someday to experience the miraculous journey of helping an animal in need. You may be surprised to learn that maybe you needed them as well.



Below is a poem that my Dad wrote in honor of Captain:



A Tribute to Captain: Of Horses and Daughters, A Father’s Perspective

The search began four years ago
Megan was thirteen and all aglow
With visions of a well trained horse for her to show
Where it would take us how could we know

We searched near and far for the perfect steed
And could never find the one that filled the need
Then we heard of a half Arab gelding that had shown indeed
So down the coast we headed with Godspeed

A fourteen-year-old gelding was the quest
And rumor had it that “he was the best”
As we pulled up to the corral I said in jest
Poor excuse for horses now where’s the rest?

At the back of the enclosure all alone
Was a pathetic looking creature all skin and bone
Let’s take a closer look I said with a moan
Was this the gelding that had been shown?

His eye was huge his heart was big
And before I knew it he was loaded in our rig
When it came to emotion a deeper hole I could not dig
So we headed down the highway without a zig

He was ten years older than what we’d been sold
And a good hand shy of what we’d been told
But how could any father be so cold
As to fault his daughter for being so bold

Yes, Megan’s project he soon became
It was out of love not for fame
The days passed quickly and then when it came
She showed him proudly with no shame

And then the stifle injury oh what a blow
All the way to UC Davis we did go
The results were inconclusive so how do you know?
Would he be sound again and able to show?

And then the good Vet he did tell
Put him out to pasture for a spell
Let him graze the hill and dell
He may get better you can never tell

Almost a year was the toll
Before the gelding could lay down and roll
To watch him in the pasture troll
Was something that would touch the soul

One last show for Captain Crunch was ahead
Megan worked him steadily and kept him well fed
That he wasn’t ready could not be said
They earned at that show a blue and a red

After that show there was something I did detect
As they walked side by side on that trek
She spoke softly into his ear with an arm over his neck
She’s outgrown her sweet Cappers; they’d played out the deck

Then came that fateful Spring day for the vet we did send
And heard the prognosis a twist in the intestine they could not mend
And the realization that no matter how much we care all life does have to end
I said goodbye to our little man, my daughter’s best friend

Captain if you’re ever traveling back down this way
And need shelter at night or a cold drink in the heat of the day
Your stall is always open and there are carrots and hay
Until then old boy in our hearts you’ll always stay





Before




After (at 20 something years old!)


See what a little TLC can do?