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The Diary of Samuel Peeps

May 27, 2005 I was born on a warm misty morning at Balmullo Connemara Pony Farm in Florida. The first thing I heard was Barbie yelling for DeeDee to come….Barbie thought I was dead as I was lying very still and it looked like I was all bloody because there was a bloody sac lying on top of me. Mom told me later that the bloody sac usually doesn't come out like that, it usually is later. But I was ok, I had just been born and was just resting…..DeeDee came and took the sac off and rubbed me all over with some straw and that helped me to wake up. Mom was kind of upset and confused as she could only see out of one eye - the other one was covered up with a hood because it was very hurt -- so she hadn't licked me or tried to get me to stand up yet, I don't know if she had even seen me yet!…..but DeeDee took her hood off so she could see me better and she calmed down quite a bit - she didn't look quite so scary when I could see both her eyes, either.

Barbie helped me get up - gosh it's hard to walk on these long things at first, I fell down a lot, but it didn't hurt - they tried and tried to show me where to get the milk and I got close lots of times but didn't quite get it. They would squirt the milk in my face but I still couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Each time I missed they would say AAAAAWWW. But when I did finally get it, Mom's warm milk sure did taste good. They put it in an awfully funny place, though. I have to kind of turn my neck upside down and then turn my head rightside up….but it's worth it! I got the hang of all these legs after about an hour,too. I could even run and kick up my heels!

Dr. Riley came to see me when I was just about 3 hours old. And boy, I don't care if I ever see him again! He gave me a jab in the hip, I heard him tell Barbie it was for tetanus, then he gave me something to make me poop, I guess that's sometimes hard when you've just been born….but after that was over I got to lay in the hay while Mom was eating….we both just rested, its hard to be born and hard to be a Mom, too, I guess.

May 28 We spent most of today patrolling the fences in the little pen where I was born. Mom wants to make sure NOTHING gets in to get me. She walked up and down, up and down. I just followed behind and everywhere she went I went too. Every time another horse came near to the fence, Mom would do her ferocious snake act with her ears flat against her head and her neck stretched way out to make them go away. Mom is even a little scared to come for her food, she just wants to stay way away from everything, but every morning and every night DeeDee or Barbie catches her to feed her and put medicine in the tube that goes into her eye. She takes a big needle and puts the medicine in a plug that is in the end of the tube in Mom's mane. Then she puts air in the tube to push the medicine into Mom's eye. Mom always shakes her head when it goes in, but she says it doesn't hurt. Barbie always scratches my butt if she can catch me!

May 30 Mom and me are still in our little pen - it is big enough for me to run around though. Today I upset Mom cause I ran all over and she could hardly keep up with me. I wish I could go and play with the other boys…..Stormy comes to the fence and tries to talk to me but Mom usually chases him away. Stormy's Mom doesn't care where he goes! He goes all over and she just eats and eats and hardly even looks up at him. Laddie's Mom still keeps a pretty good hold of him, though. Mom says last year Laddie's Mom, Emma, had a foal that died when it was born so I guess she doesn't want anything to happen to this one. Stormy is 2 months old and Laddie is 2 weeks….and me, just a few days! I can't wait till we can all play together.

May 31 - Last night wet stuff started falling all around us….it tickled at first and I tried to run away but it was all over. It is still coming down and there are puddles of water all over. Mom and I are standing under the big tree in our pen….I am staying very close to Mom.

Shandora and her baby, Mister Peeps

June 4 Rain, rain, rain….seems like it hasn't stopped for days. Mom and I stand under the big tree most of the time. She has been telling me about where she came from….. she was born on a big place called Tullymor Farm in Georgia. Her Mom, my Grandmom, was called Twinkle Too. Mom says she was sort of a black sheep because her Daddy was ALSO her Granddaddy. Mom says that sometimes happens with horses. Whole boy horses are sometimes out of control Mom said. What's whole I asked. You'll find out Mom said.
Anyway my Great/Great Great Granddaddy was named Montully Man and he came across the ocean from Ireland in a boat. It took 6 days, and then he had to go in a truck to Georgia. Montully Man's Daddy was a wild pony called Tully Lad that lived on a mountain in Ireland where humans hardly ever went until he was 11. He only had one eye too. Gosh it must have been a real shock for him when the humans first went to catch him! Miss May who owns Tullymor Farm wanted to save the Tully Lad line - and boy did she ever. There are now lots of ponies related to him.
Mom's Daddy was called Fieldstream Riley and he was born in Virginia and then moved to Georgia. Riley's Daddy was Balius Brannigan and his Granddaddy, his Mom's Daddy, was Aladdin. Aladdin is Laddie's Granddaddy so he and I are some kind of cousins. Besides that we are half brothers, as Roaringwater Bay is my Daddy and Laddie's, too. I am proud to be so related to Laddie, he is so regal looking! Mom told me I am related to Stormy, too, cause Stormy's GreatGreat Grandaddy is Montully Man…same as me! Also we both have a same Great Granddaddy, Balius Brannigan. We don't look too much alike, though, Stormy is about twice as big as me. Turns out I am related to just about everybody on the farm. Leo is my older half brother and I am cousins with Oona and Buddy just like I am cousins with Stormy cause they all had the same Dad, Seven Hills Grey Ghost. Wally and Azalea are my half brother and sister cause we had the same Dad and Bruce's Mom was my Auntie Lambchop. I am just about the littlest one, though, and I don't really look like any of the others….. Just about the only one that I am not related to is Minnie but Mom says she bets way back in Ireland we have some of the same relatives.
Bruce and Leo and Wally live in a big field on one side of our pen and Stormy and Laddie and their Mom's live in a big field on the other side along with Minnie and two other horses that I haven't met yet. Minnie came from Ireland in an airplane. She has been here two and a half years. She liked it in Ireland but she likes it here too she said, except it is awful hot sometimes. Her Daddy was from Denmark, his name was Laerken's Cascade Dawn. So I guess I'm NOT related to her, seems like all my relatives came from Georgia….except my Dad, of course. He came from Massachusetts. Minnie is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen and she seems very nice too. I see her playing with Laddie and Stormy and she is always careful not to hurt them. I hope she won't hurt me either!

June 6 - Today was really exciting cause Mom and I got to go out in the big field where Stormy and Laddie live. It is such a big field that it takes about a whole minute to run all the way across it. Mom loved to be out in the thick grass but she didn't want anyone else to come and play with me. We ran ALL the way to the bottom of the field where we could be by ourselves. Minnie brought Margot Fontyn to meet me. Margot is my half sister, too, but she is huge! Her Mom was a big race horse, not a pony like Mom. Mom didn't want me to talk to her, though, she ran away every time they came close. Of course I ran right with her.

June 8 - Barbie lets Mom and me out every morning now after she feed us and treats Mom's eye. But she won't let us stay out all night, she locks us back up after dinner. She feeds Mom and fixes her eye and then gives us hay. Today I met Tina, she is my half sister, too, even though she is pretty old, she is 16. Mom isn't scared of Tina cause she can hardly walk. She told me she has had a hurt foot for most of her life, it is called founder and it caused a bone in her foot to turn around and her hoof to fall off. No wonder she hardly moves. She is very nice, though, she lets me bite her mane and tail and sometimes I lie down beside her.

June 10 - Mom let me play with Laddie today! We played hide and seek in the woods. I would go behind a tree and Laddie would run around and look for me, and then he would go behind a tree and I would run around. We played till we were tired and hungry. We ran to our Moms to eat and then lay in the sun and fell asleep.

June 15 Mom's eye has been hurting for a long time now. So today Dr. Shea came with 5 other people to look at Mom and see if he could help her with Chinese medicine. The first thing he said was, "Where is my Wicktim?" Poor Mom….They took off her hood to look at her eye, then he said Mom was like a Bar-B-Que inside and the heat was coming out in her eye….he said her liver needed to do a better job of cooling down her blood so he put long needles in her back - there were about 8 of them I think. Then he stuck more in her legs and finally he put 6 big needles around her eye. He made her stand like that for 20 minutes. One of the other men held her, but the ladies all wanted to pat me! Barbie caught me and showed them how I could smile like DONKEY in the Shrek 2 movie. She calls me DONKEY with a funny accent, but I can tell she doesn't mean it. After Dr. Shea took out the needles he said Mom was the best pony he had ever treated. He said, sometimes these ponies aren't very nice. Mom told me later that he must be talking about Welsh ponies who are very fancy and stuck up. But Mom never even moved except when I ran off to kick up my heels and then she moved around so she could see where I was……she still likes me to stand close by her. Dr. Shea said he can help 7 out of 10 horses that he treats for eye infections. He told DeeDee to call and get some Jue Ming San to give Mom and that he would come back in 4 weeks. In the meantime she has to go back to the hospital for the regular doctors to look at her eye. I sure hope someone can help Mom!

June 16 I had another adventure today. Mike the farrier came to trim all our feet. I was a little scared but they let me stand right by Mom while he picked up each foot and scraped it with a big metal file. He said mine hardly needed to be done but he wanted me to get used to it so I wouldn't be scared next time. After he was done he said I was great. The best of Stormy and Laddie and me….I guess being good just runs in my family.

June 17 Boy, I'd like just one day not jam packed with excitement. Today after we had breakfast and Barbie treated Mom's eye she took us to where there was a big white box attached to a truck. Mom got in and called for me to get in but it was pretty scary - I didn't really want to. Finally Barbie just picked me up and shoved me in then closed up the box. Ooooooh boy, what is going to happen now, I thought. But Mom was pretty calm, just so long as I was standing by her. In a few minutes the box started bouncing down the road. It was hard to keep my balance, I had to shift my weight around and keep moving from one foot to another to keep from falling. I thought the bumping around would never stop! When we finally stopped and Barbie opened the box I saw we were in the midst of some BIG buildings…she made me jump out onto some hard cement. They first put us in a big room by ourselves. It was nice and cool, I will say that, and light came in from way high up in the ceiling. Mom said this was the hospital where the real doctors treat her eye, not the wicktim doctor. After we stood in the nice room with the light coming in the ceiling they made us walk down a long dark hall and go into a dark room. I was getting pretty tired, I can tell you that, I just wanted to lie down but not on that floor! It was all hard, not like the soft grass where I usually lie. Lots of people came in and the main person gave Mom a shot and she just put her head down and went to sleep - just like that! They shone a light in her eye and sewed things into her forehead, and talked to each other. Then another main person came in and talked a lot and looked with the light. They said Mom had ANOTHER ulcer, the first one was getting better but now there was a second one. The tube in her eye had come loose and made the second one. The first main person said she would have to get medicine even more often! It didn't sound like very good news to me…but finally Mom woke up and they let us go back through the dark halls and Barbie had to push me into the white box again. It didn't seem quite so bumpy this time, maybe I am just getting used to it. After we had been going for awhile we slowed down and I heard Stormy calling…..I was sure glad to hear his voice. Finally we stopped and I could get out - I was home! We went into the little field where I had been born and I just flopped down. I was SO glad to be home!

June 18 - We haven't been out of our little pen since we came home from the hospital. DeeDee comes a lot to treat Mom's eye, I guess that's why we have to stay in. Mom now also gets the Jue Ming San in her feed….that's the medicine the wicktim doctor said she should take. I can tell cause it smells different now, its kind of sweeter and spicy smelling, but I don't like the taste. Mom eats it right up though, she said anything that might help!
This morning a man came to play with Buddy right in the next pen - I guess they were playing. First he stood in front of him and threw a rope at him. Sometimes the rope caught around Buddy's ear and he would pull it off. Then he tickled Buddy all over with the rope. Buddy just stood there, I guess that was the object of the game. Then he made Buddy run in circles around him and then he would get behind Buddy with two ropes and Buddy would pull him along. Then he got on his back and made Buddy go around in more circles. Seems like the man was having all the fun, not Buddy! Mom said DeeDee tried to make her go around in the circles once but she thought it was so silly, she wouldn't do it…..finally DeeDee gave up. But Mom says we all have to do it before we can get our own human. DeeDee is Mom's human…I guess she loves her even if she won't go around in circles.

June 24 - Oh what a boring week….Mom and I stay in all day and then DeeDee puts us out at night. By then Stormy and Laddie are tired of playing so we all just sort of lie around while our Moms eat the grass. But today my heart was in my throat as that man, Dr. Riley came. He is the one that poked me in the butt when I was just a few hours old! Minnie doesn't like him either I can tell cause she tried to run away from him, but he put a pair of big metal pliers on her nose and she just stood there asleep. But man I don't know what he was doing. First he reached in her backside and pulled out a bunch of poop….like it wouldn't come out by itself? Then he got some white looking stuff from a big blue box and put it in a long pipe and put THAT in Minnie's rear. Then he felt around in there for while more and said I think she's going to ovulate tomorrow. Then he took the pliers off her nose and went home. Boy, these humans are funny sometimes!

June 29 - A scary thing happened today, Mom just couldn't stand people messing with her eye anymore so she rubbed her halter off and the hood over her eye and then she rubbed and rubbed till the tube where they put the medicine came right out of the top of her eyelid. When Barbie found her it had stopped bleeding but it was swollen shut and Mom wasn't feeling very good. But Barbie put some medicine in her food and some medicine on her eyelid to try and make the swelling go away. We had to stay in again, too.

June 30 - Barbie tried to put Mom's eye medicine right in her eye but Mom squeezed it so tight she couldn't do it. Finally Barbie said ok I give up, maybe Dr. Shea's medicine will cure you.

July 2 - When I woke up this morning Mom was looking at me….she looked so beautiful. Barbie and brushed her mane so it was all pretty and shiny but best of all she was looking at me with two eyes. Her hurt eye looked almost like the other one except that it has a little white spot in it. Mom said it must be that Dr. Shea that fixed it!

July 4 - Tonight was kind of a scary night - there were lots of thundery noises and red and green and blue lights flashing in the sky. Must be a big storm coming I said to Mom but she said no, it was just humans having some fun. Some fun, I was scared to death.

July 5 - We invented a new game today. Stormy, Laddie and me all wear halters now, and they all have little straps hanging under our chins. So we play pull-the-other-guys-strap. We grab it in our teeth and pull. Whoever can hang on the longest wins.

July 24 - Not much has been happening, we eat and play, eat and play. But today a huge big white box came. It stopped at the end of the driveway. Two men opened a door in the side and pulled out a long board that reached over the rain ditch and onto the driveway where it goes up. Then DeDe came walking down the driveway with Bruce. He looked a little scared but DeDe had some food for him and food is something us guys can hardly ever resist. DeDe walked on the board into the big box and the two men got behind Bruce and pushed. He looked for a little while but then he walked into the box. The box went off down the road and we haven't seen Bruce since. Mom says Bruce got a new human. I hope they are nice to him.

August 4 - Boy is it hot. Hot and rainy - I wonder if it will ever stop. Minnie says it rains a lot in Ireland but it is not ever this hot. She says the rain there is gentle and cool. Two new humans have been walking around with DeDe and taking pictures of us. One of them has a sack in front of her with a little wiggley thing in it. I like to go up to it and smell it - it smells sweet like the flowers. Mom says it is a human baby. Wow....it sure can't do much. Our Moms don't have to carry US around! She says the human carrying the baby is DeDe's baby....well, thank goodness, DeDe didn't have to tote her around for her WHOLE life! So I guess the baby is DeDe's grandbaby. Maybe she will grow up and be my human. I like her.

August 13 – Hoo boy, Saturday the 13th. I knew something bad was going to happen. First it rained all morning, then the sun came out. It was so hot the water was practically boiling off the grass. Then about 4 o’clock here comes DeDe on this big blue machine with a yellow thing behind it that mows the grass. Most everybody is pretty scared of it…it makes a lot of noise, especially when she runs over sticks or little logs, and it smells like fire. But sometimes we play this chicken game where we stand in front of the machine and see who is the last to run away – Minnie usually wins…Laddie is the scardiest. Tina will stand right in front if it, sometimes the machine has to go around her! Anyway, DeDe was going along by the fence to the ring when all of a sudden we heard this awful crack and here she was mowing down the fence! Smash went one post – big blocks of wood were flying in the air, then a long board went wavering around her head, then another post, then another board zooming past her head. What is she doing I said to Mom and Mom said oh, oh, she can’t stop it…..she was turning the wheel around and mashing the pedals and nothing was happening. The machine was wobbling and she was leaning first one way then the other. Finally she turned it away from the fence and it slowed down and finally stopped. She got off and started picking up the broken boards….boy is she lucky Mom said. When Mom was at Miss May’s she saw a machine turn over on Miss May’s friend and he DIED.
I’m glad DeDe didn’t die.

August 20 – Today Laddie had a REAL adventure. He was gone for a long time but he told us about it when he got back. DeDe put a black funny looking thing on Emma’s back and a metal thing in her mouth and then she got on top of her! They went out the back gate and Laddie followed right behind. Two other people on top of horses went too. I couldn't see them after they turned a corner. Laddie said they went for miles, they went past houses, then through some big fields and then on a long road through the woods. He said they went up a hill bigger than anything he’d ever seen! They had to cross two streams. Laddie said he jumped the first one but the second one was too big so he had to walk through it. He didn’t get to drink milk for so long but finally they stopped at a house where a man came out and brought the people some water. Laddie said he was sure glad they stopped so HE could get a drink too.

August 31 – Tonight another big white box came to the driveway and Leo had to walk across the board and get in it. Then it drove away. Leo didn’t even stop to sniff it like Bruce had, he is so brave! (my brother!). And Leo’s friend Wally has come to live in our field. Bruce and Leo were his friends and now they are both gone. Wally is Stormy’s half brother so maybe they will get to be friends. I asked Mom why April didn’t go up and say hi to Wally – she IS his mother – instead she just put her ears back and told him to go away when he tried to come up to her. And Minnie, she chased him halfway across the field. Anyway, Mom says when baby horses get to be a year and don’t need milk anymore that their Moms forget who they are. Gosh, I will hate it when you forget me, I said. But Mom said, it will be ok, you won’t mind. She told me not to play with Wally today, but tomorrow I think I will sneak away and go and see if he wants to play. I don’t want him to be lonesome without his friends.

September 11 – Mom is not doing too well again, I am very worried about her. She gets so hot and she breathes so hard, it makes me a little scared. Stormy’s Mom is worse, too,,,,it is just too hot for all of us! I tried to play with Wally, but he is not very playful, he just mostly stays by himself or sometimes with Tina.

September 17 – Tonight DeDe fed Stormy’s Mom and my Mom by themselves in the pen next to the back field. She put me and Stormy out in that field to eat by ourselves. Stormy has eaten by himself before but I never have. I got to eat lots, though, Mom sometimes pushes me away, so it was o.k. After we were done DeDe forgot to let Mom out with us. I called and called but she didn’t come. I could stand next to Mom by the fence but I didn’t get any milk all night!! Stormy doesn’t care too much he wandered around looking to see what was in the field, but I just stayed by Mom’s fence.

September 18 – DeDe STILL hasn’t let Mom out. What is she thinking!! She came and gave Mom hay and fed me and Stormy our grain, but she forgot again to let Mom out. Maybe she got hit in the head when she ran into the fence with the tractor. I asked Mom why she can’t come out with us and Mom says, it will be ok. Gosh I miss her so much, but at least I can stand by her by the fence.

September 19 – Today Laddie came to live with us without his Mom. His Mom is in another pen, but he can stand right by her. Stormy is a little bit mean to me so I’m glad Laddie is here, but he misses his Mom, too. But not as much as me and Stormy ‘cause he can stick his head through the fence and get milk from his Mom – I wish I could do that!

September 21 – DeDe caught Laddie nursing through the fence so she took Laddie’s Mom and put her where Laddie can’t get near her. She runs up and down the fence in the front field and calls and calls to him. He doesn’t seem to mind so much but sometimes he will run up to the fence and call to her.

September 22 – Today was the worst! DeDe took my Mom and Stormy’s Mom and put them out with Laddie’s Mom. I can still see her, but I can’t stand by her and talk to her anymore! I wonder how I will live. She calls to me a lot and I always call back to her. Of course Stormy’s Mom just headed off into the best grass like she didn’t care at all. I don’t think he cares too much either, but Laddie and me are very sad. DeDe feeds us sweet feed twice a day so that is good, I’m never hungry, but I just miss that nice warm milk Mom used to give me. Stormy gets really mean when there is feed around. He kicked Laddie this morning when Laddie tried to eat with him, so now Laddie and me eat out of one bucket and Stormy has his own bucket. If he finishes before us, he runs over and pushes us away. I thought he was my friend, but he’s not very friendly at feeding time!

September 25 – Today when DeDe was feeding us she left the gate unlatched. She was in the barn getting our feed and I just pushed a little on the gate and it opened. I could run right up to Mom’s fence! Mom was eating but I called and called to her and finally she came over to the fence. I stuck my head through the boards and I could just reach the milk spout…I had just had a few little sips when here comes DeDe out of the barn. She put down the bucket and ran over to Mom with her arms flapping – she looked like the old chicken when Heidi chased it. Heidi is a big black mean looking dog that likes to eat our poop – she liked the chicken too, I think….we never saw it again. Barbie says she likes Heidi but she is a little hard on the poultry! Anyway, when DeDe ran over flapping like that chicken I ran away and Mom ran away and I’m afraid that’s the last time I will ever be with Mom.

October 15 – The ides of October! Me and Stormy and Laddie have been by ourselves for it seems like forever now. Mom doesn’t call to me hardly ever now, maybe once a day. I still miss her though, its sort of boring just me and the boys. Sometimes we play and run around but not as much as we used to. Nancy – she comes sometimes to ride Azalea – scratches us sometime, but its not the same as it used to be. I miss Minnie and Tina too. Seems like Stormy just gets bigger and bigger, but me and Laddie just stay the same. DeDe even started locking Stormy up by himself to eat so he couldn’t steal our food, but he is still getting huge! The other day the wictim Dr. came to see Laddie’s Mom. He put the needles in all over her and then attached them to some electricity and made her twitch all over. She just stood there so I guess it didn’t hurt. She doesn’t look as good as when Laddie was first born. I guess it’s hard to be a Mom. I think my Mom is feeling a little better now, but she still seems a little sad. I guess we are all sad just now. Maybe I am from a sad family.

October 17 – Well, I’ll be! Miss DeDe has a brand new machine – a big orange one. She was mowing today but she sure wasn’t going as fast as she was the day of the fence accident – and I noticed she stayed pretty far away from the fences.

Oct 20 – Its been pretty rainy and windy the past couple of days. When it gets very hard we all go into the woods and stand under a tree.

Oct 22-- Well, we’ve been shifted again. Laddie and I are back in the big field where our Moms were but now they are gone and just Minnie and Tina and Stormy’s Mom are left – plus DeeDee put some old bedraggled thing in there with us. She is skin and bones and looks pretty old to me, but she is boss at feeding time, I can tell you that. Minnie and Stormy’s Mom scatter like seeds in the wind when she walks up. She is not mean to us, I don’t think she has the energy, she just looks at us mean and we don’t bother her. But Stormy – well, I didn’t see him for a few days but then I saw him in the other big field where Wally and Buddy and Azalea and I don’t know who else lives. He looks at us over the fence sometimes, but I can’t say I am sorry he is not with us anymore – he was so mean when DeeDee or Barbie fed us – now Laddie and I eat together and we never fight. We share. Both our Moms are back in the back where we used to be. I ran up to Mom at the fence once and she talked to me but she wouldn’t turn around so I could stick my head through the fence and get some milk. I guess she thinks I am all grown up now.

Oct 27 – Today DeeDee made a hole in the fence, usually she is hammering up boards to fill up holes and here she goes and makes one! Maybe someday I’ll be able to figure these humans out. She feeds Laddie and me in the pen with the hole and when we are done Laddie goes out through the hole into the field….Mom told me never to go through a fence, though, so the first night I just had to spend by myself. DeeDee let me out in the morning, but she fed us in there again and Laddie left me again. No one seems to mind if he goes in and out of this hole. But I’m scared to do it……..I might get stuck or something………

Nov 6 – I finally figured it out. DeeDee made the hole in the fence so Laddie and I could eat and the big horses couldn’t steal our food….then we could go out and eat the grass. Duh. The first time I went out it was scary, the hole isn’t very big and I had to squeeze a little, but now its not scary at all. I can go in and out any time I want!

Nov 13 -- Oh boy, today was a big day. I have never seen anything like it. Trucks with horse boxes attached to them going in and out all day….all of us, even old Raggedy Bones, that live in our big field got put in the back with Mom and Laddie’s Mom….of course they act like they never saw us before in their lives. In fact Mom kicked at me when I ran up to her….I couldn’t believe it. MOM!! Then she just wandered off and started to eat like I was this nobody….Laddie’s Mom did the same thing. Who ever would have thought? I remember when I was little and she tried to kill the big black dog just because it sniffed at me….I guess this is just what happens when you grow up, your Mom doesn’t love you anymore. But anyway, back to the excitement…. people were pulling ponies out of these boxes and parading them around in front of a bunch of ladies in blue shirts, then the ladies would all go into a huddle and then they would give a piece of paper to the pony’s person. Then another pony would come out and parade around. All the regular people would rush over to look at the paper and sometimes they would hug each other and sometimes they would just walk away. Late in the afternoon Mom got to go to the parade. I got to watch over the fence. She didn’t like it though and tried to run away. But DeDe jerked on her chain and made her behave – after DeeDee got Mom’s paper from the blue ladies she looked pretty happy. She didn’t hug any other people but she gave Mom a little hug.

Nov 15 – Today Dr. Riley came to see old Raggedy Bones. He looked at her for awhile and then talked to DeeDee and she nodded her head, then Dr. Riley made old Raggedy Bones lie down. They all stood and looked at her for awhile and Dr. Riley put this tube on her chest and nodded his head, then he got in his truck and drove away. Bones never got up, Laddie and me even went over and stood over her but she never even moved. A little later a big machine came in and Laddie and me ran away. I peeked out of the woods, though, and I saw the big machine push old Bones into this big hole and then cover her up with dirt….Stormy’s Mom says she has gone to the big pasture in the sky. I just thought, what a funny way to get to the sky.

Dec 12 – Well one goes to the big pasture in the sky and two new ones arrive. The first one is a big old skinny black thing – the hugest pony I have ever seen. Maybe she is not even a pony. But she is bigger than Stormy’s Mom and Tina and even bigger than old Bones. But she is ok with Laddie and me, she lets us eat out of her hay pile. In fact the only time she gets mean is if we try to put our heads in her feed bucket. She doesn’t like that too much. The second one, well she just came one morning and walked out of the mist and into my life…..I am sure I will never be the same, she is just TOO cute….could this be love? On the morning she came it was just getting light and I saw DeeDee walking down the driveway. Then a big white box like the one that took Bruce and then Leo away stopped by the gate… are they going to take DeeDee away, I thought! But they didn’t, they opened the side of the box and this little thing came tripping down the board. DeeDee took some papers from the man and took the little thing and walked back up the driveway. She put her in our feeding pen with Tina. Of course we all wanted to go and meet her but the hole was stopped up and we couldn’t get in like we usually can. The little thing ran around the pen, then she would come up the the fence and almost touch our noses, then she would run away again. Sometimes she would run up to Tina, of course Tina couldn’t run away, Tina can hardly move, so I guess the little thing thought that was a safe place to go.

Dec 17 -- Me and Laddie finally got to play with the wee one….DeeDee let her and Tina out finally. I tried to chase her around…at first she would just hide behind Tina but then she would run around and then duck back in behind Tina. Tina just stands there like a wall of course. The little one is pretty fast, and boy is she cute!! She trots around with her little tail up in the air, taking these huge horse-y strides. When I chase her I’m just trying to be friendly, she doesn’t seem to understand that!

Dec 20 – Today the wee one finally stood still long enough for us to meet. She said her name was Breezie, but I heard DeeDee call her Bitsy. She told me she rode in the big white box for 6 days to get here! I told her my name was Prince and she said oh how come they call you PeePee? Then she ran off doing a big circle around the field.

January 20, 2006 – this morning DeeDee locked me and Bits up in the small pen, I should have known something was going to happen. In the afternoon here comes Dr. Riley’s big old white truck…DeeDee first took Bits out to him and he gave her a shot in her butt but she didn’t even flinch…so I thought maybe its not going to be so bad. So when he came at me with his big needle I just stood there….he put it in my neck, not my butt like Bitsy and in just a few seconds, BAM! I felt like I had been hit with a truck….the ground was going around in circles and the sky was all wavy, like it looks if I look at it in the water tank. I almost fell down but then I leaned on the fence so I could stand up. Dr Riley then stuck me between my legs and it hurt at first but then I didn’t feel anything. I wanted to kick but I couldn’t get my legs organized quite right. I don’t remember too much after that except Dr. Riley was kneeling down by my side and doing something underneath me , and Bitsy was watching everything he did. Every once in a while she would stick her nose in his hair and he would shoo her away. The big dogs were all standing there looking and panting, too. Bitsy told me later what had happened and it didn’t sound too good. She said Dr. Riley took out this knife and cut some things from underneath me, then he threw the pieces to the dogs! After that he took some big pliers and clamped down really hard and just stood that way for minutes…just squeezing as hard as he could….sounds like pony abuse I said. Then he left and I just stood there leaning on the fence. When she was telling me this I was still woozy and I hurt a little between my legs but I guess I lived through it! Whatever it was…… I wonder if it is what Mom was talking about when she said I would find out what it meant to not be whole…..

Jan 22, 2006 -- I haven’t been feeling too good. I just hurt all over and my stomach aches. Yesterday I was lying down and rolling around and Barbie got very upset….she ran off to call Dr. Riley and it wasn’t long before I saw his big white truck come bouncing down the driveway. He gave me some medicine that made me feel a little better but it made me sleepy. Today I felt a little better but very tired. I lay down next to the fence and somehow my head got stuck under it…..Barbie found me there and tried to pull me out but she couldn’t do it…..so I wiggled around and she pulled and finally my head popped out. I guess I shouldn’t lie down so close to the fence!

February 18 -- It took awhile but I am feeling pretty good again….but I am getting tired of this cold weather! I have a nice fuzzy coat that keeps me warm but all the grass is brown and the trees all look like dead sticks. Sometimes DeeDee comes in a big truck with a huge roll of hay in the back. She stops the truck, opens the back of the truck, then goes zooming backwards…the big hay roll slams into the front of the truck….then she slams on the brakes and the roll comes popping out the back. If we don’t have a hay roll, Barbie throws us pats of hay. But it would be nice to have some green grass. We also get some feed in a bucket…..Laddie and I eat together in one pen and Bitsy eats by herself in another. The three big ladies eat out in the field in buckets that hang on the fences. Sometimes DeeDee also brings us blue buckets with some gooey black stuff in it – it looks like tar but it tastes really good but it gets all over our faces….then when we scratch each other it gets everywhere! Barbie says, I see you’re wearing your feed again!

February 26 -- I got a real scare today. In the morning, DeeDee hitched up the big white box to her truck and took Mom and put her in it….oh gosh, not Mom, I thought. Even though she won’t be nice to me any more I still love her and don’t want her to go away. Then they brought Stormy and tried to get him in the box -- Barbie was standing in the box holding a rope that was tied to his head and shaking a bucket of feed – Stormy would poke his head in the box, sometimes he would even get in but then he would back right out again. One time DeeDee almost got the door closed but Stormy pushed right out over her! No one was hurt thank goodness, he’s still a pretty little guy. Anyway, finally DeeDee took the rope and got in the trailer and Barbie got behind Stormy with a stick and he finally got in and stayed long enough for Barbie to shut the door. Then they drove off…..gosh, I wonder if I will ever see Mom again was all I could think. But after lunch the white box came back and hooray, Mom got out. Little Stormy was nowhere to be seen though. I wish I could ask Mom what happened to him……I hope he is happy, where ever he is.

March 7 – Poor Tina!! She can hardly even put her feet down they hurt so much and here comes this big old guy making her stand on just three feet and hammering on the bottom of her feet. It scared me to death, I don’t ever want anyone to hammer on the bottom of my feet! When he was done she just stood still for along time – I went to see if she was ok and she had these shiny plates on her feet and her foot is about twice as tall as it used to be. Maybe they put the plates on her feet so she couldn’t move at all!

March 10 -- A funny thing happened today. April was eating her breakfast and here comes Tina marching across the field and slap dab pushes her right away – Tina that couldn’t hardly walk a few days ago! I was glad Tina could finally boss April around, April is such a bully. For two days Tina didn’t move much at all and I was very worried but now she is motoring around everywhere – she even trotted a few steps. I guess those plates are helping her. She is still nice to us little ones, tho, Laddie, me and Bits. She shares her feed with us and lets Bitsy hide behind her when we try to chase her.

March 13 – The last few days have been beautiful and warm and sunny – the grass is beginning to grow a little and everything is much more colorful – all yellowish and grey. And the air smells beautiful, sweet and pretty. Speaking of smells…that Laddie sure is interested in sniffing the lady’s butts! I just don’t understand it. The other day he spent almost the whole day standing by the fence sniffing at one of the neighbor’s ponies and squealing like it was fun…..she would squeal, too, then she would turn around and pee and Laddie would, like, take a big whiff of it and turn his lip up. I don’t understand the attraction at all.

March 14 – Today Summer came to see me – that is DeeDee’s granddaughter. Her Mom is still carrying her around or pushing her in a little chair. She can sit up though, she sat on Tina for awhile – she brought me some carrots but her Mom had to hold them while we ate – Summer waved her arms and said Gagagaga. She sure is taking a long time to grow up. She is as old as I am and can’t even walk yet!

March 15 – Today DeeDee brought Wally over to the barn while we were eating – he usually lives on the other side of the driveway. There was a strange man at the barn who grabbed Wally’s lead rope, then he put his whole hand in Wally’s mouth. After that he got out this big metal thing and put that in Wally mouth. He filed it back and forth on Wally’s teeth, and every once in a while he would stick his hand back in and say there that’s getting better now. I felt so sorry for Wally, but, actually, he didn’t seem to mind it at all. Boy, I think I would have been on my hind legs and outta there – me, the good pony! But Wally, he just stood there. Then the man did the same thing to Tina – oh, golly, will they ever leave poor Tina alone? But she didn’t seem to mind either. Finally the man got a hold of Laddie. I thought, now here comes trouble, but Laddie didn’t do anything bad either. Well he did back up once and bump into the fence but the man yelled at him and after that he just stood still. Its like the man has some strange power over us. Then he came after me but I didn’t want any part of him – finally DeeDee caught me and the man put his hands in my mouth and said, oh I guess he can wait…..thank goodness. Maybe he will forget about me before he comes back. But while DeeDee had me she did a little doctoring on my mane – she said, Peepy, you look like the wild man of Borneo. Then she started pulling my mane out! I thought it was going to hurt but it really didn’t. I pretended I didn’t like it for awhile but pretty soon I just stood there and let her do it. She combed my tail and brushed me all over too -- I felt like a Prince when she was done. I wish she would call me that instead of Peepy.

After the man left, DeeDee put Wally out in our field with Laddie, Bitsy, Tina, April, and old big Mama – that’s what I call her – and me. April is Wally’s Mom but as soon as she saw him in her field she came charging up to him and chased him halfway across the field – she would have probably chased him all the way across the field if she wasn’t so lazy. Poor Wally, I don’t know if he knew it was his Mom or not, if he did, he probably felt pretty bad. Bitsy didn’t like Wally being there either – she would put her ears so flat to her head that she looked just like a snake about to strike – then she would walk over to Wally like, buddy you better get out of my way! At first Wally would walk away but pretty soon he just ignored her. He is about twice as big as Bitsy, I don’t know what she is thinking trying to scare him off! But I like Wally, he is fun to play with. Him and Laddie and I ran around the whole field a couple of times just for fun.

March 16 – Today before Barbie fed us she took April and big Mama and took them across the driveway to where Wally used to be….it looks like it is going to be just us little guys and Tina. I’m glad Tina gets to stay with us – she is so nice to us all!

March 25 -- It hasn’t rained in awhile so now the grass, that had started to come up so nicely, has pretty much stopped. Sometimes we try to stick our heads in through the boards into DeeDee’s yard so we can get some of the grass there. But when we do the twin perils come yapping at us. These are two big black dogs that DeeDee has. One is really big, but, boy is it dumb…it chases shadows on the ground of bees that are flying in the air. She even pounces on the shadows. She is very obedient, though, if DeeDee calls to her when she is barking at us she will stop right away. Her name is Hidee or something like that. The other one isn’t quite so big or quite so obedient, if DeeDee tells her to stop she will just run down the fence a ways and keep on barking. Her name is Lady. Sometimes DeeDee sits the two of them down and says, “Now who is the smartest dog?” Lady will raise one paw and wave it around in the air….old dumbie just sits there looking around. But DeeDee then gives them both treats….so maybe the big dumb one isn’t so dumb after all. There is a little white dog, too. Laddie has tried to stomp on her lots of times. If he ever connects, it is going to make a real mess! But she likes to bite our noses…when we put our heads down for a bite of grass, here comes this little white ball of fur snapping at our noses. Laddie just got tired of it. I just put my head up and don’t pay any attention.

April 7 – Dr. Riley was here again….I told Laddie to look out cause he is still whole, so he ran around and around when Dr. Riley came after him. He stuck a needle in his neck and Laddie ran around some more with the needle bouncing in his neck, but finally Dr. Riley got done with him. All he wanted was to give him a shot. I didn’t even feel mine and of course I didn’t run around….not too much more that man can do to me I figure. Bitsy was good too…Dr. Riley said this one doesn’t look too thrifty…I don’t know what that means. He said she needed to eat more. But she gets as much as me and Laddie put together, you’d think it would be us that needed some more. I guess they are trying to get her to grow, but I like her little like she is. After he finished with us he starting working on the rear end of the big old black mare, big Mama. He put a silver tube in her and then a thin little stick. Then he took everything out and went away. I’ve got to say that I think these humans are very peculiar sometimes.

April 10 – we have had some rain all right. Yesterday afternoon and last night that’s all it did – there were big loud noises and flashes of light in the sky all through the night. It was a little bit scary but I stood by Tina under the trees and we were ok. Today there is a little bit of fresh grass that is so good! And the big white birds have come back too. They were here when I was born and all last summer but they disappeared sometime after it started to get cool. Now they have come back….they follow us around and peck at bugs in our hoofprints. Sometimes they sit on our backs. It looks funny to see but you can’t feel anything.

May 1 – May Day May Day…..I think that is a distress call. No distress here, unless it is lack of excitement. It is pretty bad when the most exciting thing that happens is you get a white tube of gunky stuff squirted into the back of your mouth. And then when you try to swallow it it sticks to the roof of your mouth! Some days have been very hot but right now it is pretty cool. Laddie is all shiny and smooth and is feeling very manly! He goes around trying to jump on my back and Wally’s back….or he just races around and around the field. I still have some of my long (silky black) hair so I’m pretty warm when it gets hot, but it is starting to come out. Poor Bitsy, she is very hairy except in spots, she looks pretty moth-eaten! I got a chance to talk to mom the other day…she came up to the fence of our feeding pen and didn’t run away when I went to see her. I thought she was looking a little fat so she told me that I am going to have a little brother or sister. How did that happen I said and she said don’t you remember when that big grey pony got out and jumped on my back one night last summer….well, I don’t remember it at all but I wonder if THAT is what Laddie is trying to do….well he better try it with someone besides me or Wally. Anyway, I am excited about Mom!

May 12 – Yesterday in the morning DeeDee and Bob went away with the big white box. They came back tonight and put two new ponies in our feeding pen. Barbie had boarded it up so we can’t go in there any more. Of course we were all very excited so we ran up to greet them but they BOTH kicked at us. Just being coy, I suppose. Later in the night after it was all quiet and there was a big white moon they let me talk to them a little. One of them said her name was Princess Caraboo and that she had a famous father. Well isn’t that a coincidence, I said, my name is Prince and I have a famous father too….she is probably making it all up! The other one said to not mess with her, her name is Chickadee and she is going to be a Mom! Well, I wasn’t thinking about messing with either of you I said, I am in love with my Bitsy, even if she does look like an old mop!

6/25/06

June 2 - Laddie had a little adventure today. Nancy came to play with him - sometimes they walk around in a circle or sometimes she trots and he trots beside her. But today she tried to make him go in the white box. And he didn't like it one bit, I can tell you that. He pulled and pulled and sometimes she tried to coax him with feed and sometimes she got mad and jerked on his nose....he would put one foot in but then he would back away. Finally she wrapped the lead rope around a pole in the white box and pulled and he couldn't do anything. Just when I thought he was going to destroy himself - I saw him rear up and stand on his hind legs right in front of the door to the box - but then the next thing he was inside of it. After he was in Nancy gave him some treats and told him he was a good boy. When she brought him back to the field he ran up to me and told me he got in the white box - I said oh so what, I went for a ride in it with my Mom when I little. He said he thought it would be scary inside of it but once he was in there it was really kind of nice and there was lots to eat in there.

June 3 - another Dr. has come to look at Big Mama's butt! I wonder if something is growing in there! This time he took some white milky stuff out of a big blue can and put it in a long tube - then he put the tube in Big Mama's backside... maybe they are trying to kill whatever is in there!

Nancy came again to put Laddie in the white box and this time he jumped in after just about a minute - not an hour like last time. Then he got out and got back in again. He was so proud of himself but I said I'd done it lots of times!

June 16 - This morning Barbie and DeeDee came to the barn early this morning. DeeDee sprayed Laddie all over with the hose and then put some blue stuff on him. She scrubbed and scrubbed then sprayed him with the hose again. Then she combed his mane and tail and put him in the white box. Barbie did the same with Wally. Then they started to drive away. My heart was in my throat!! Where are they taking Wally and Laddie?? I can't believe I will never see them again. Bitsy tried to tell me it was ok but its NOT.....I will miss them so much...I don't know why everyone has to go away.

June 17 - I was pretty sad all day. Bitsy tried to cheer me up but I just didn't feel like playing. Then after it had been dark for along time the white box came back and I heard Laddie calling. I was SO happy. Barbie put them both Wally and Laddie back in our field and I ran up to see them. They said they had had a VERY exciting day but were SO tired Wally went and rolled in the sand pit and then lay down in the grass for a little snooze. But Laddie told me all about their adventure. He said they had been bouncing along in the white box for a long time......I asked him if they just stayed in the white box the whole time they were gone and he said gosh no, they went to a nice place where it was all shady and they got to stay in a barn with lots of air blowing through the boards. Laddie and Wally each had a separate place to stay but they were right next to each other and they could see each other through the cracks. DeeDee and Barbie hung up buckets and filled them with water -- Laddie said he was REALLY thirsty when he got there. Then they gave them their dinner and some hay and went away. Lots of ponies came by in the night but they just stayed in their little rooms. Early the next morning DeeDee and Barbie came and got them out and brushed and combed them, then took them on a pretty long walk over some sharp stones to a big field where there were lots of other ponies. I asked Laddie if he was scared and he said no but he was glad Wally was there. He said Wally was very brave! In the big field Barbie took Laddie into a circle in the middle of the field and walked him around while some people looked at all the ponies in the circle. Then someone came and gave him a big ribbon...Then Wally got to do the same thing. There were lots more ponies in the circle with Wally but the same people were looking at them. After that they called out names and gave people ribbons and they left the circle. Wally's name was the last to be called and they gave him a big blue ribbon! Then people came and took pictures of him. Wally got to go in the circle again with some different ponies and he got ANOTHER big blue ribbon....then Wally and Laddie got to walk around together and they gave them another blue!! Then came the most exciting part, Laddie said. He got to do some little tricks!! Barbie walked around with him and at first they had to go and shake a lady's hand, then walk through some poles, then over a big blue plastic sheet on the ground...he said that was the scariest part but he just looked ahead and did what Barbie wanted and nothing happened when he stepped on it. After that, they gave him ANOTHER blue ribbon. He said it was all fun but he was glad to be back home! Wally didn't say anything, he was asleep.

 

July 18, 2006 – hot and dry, that’s about all I can say.  DeeDee has been gone so Barbie has been taking care of us.  Mom and Minnie are getting bigger everyday.  Minnie looks like a blimp.

 

July 22 – Well I don’t know where it came from but when it got light this morning I saw this little thing poking around Minnie.  At first I thought it was one of the dogs and I thought, why would she let a dog do that, even under her stomach, then I saw it was a baby horse!  I don’t know where it came from, but Minnie looks a lot skinnier.  None of the humans knew about it until the sun was getting pretty high, then Barbie and DeeDee came running out all at once.  They were both saying oh my gosh and wow, she did it all by herself….well, what did they think happened??  Anyway they put Minnie and the little one in the big oak tree pen and then Barbie sat with her camera just clicking away!  She must have taken 100 photos.  Dr. Riley came a little later and he jabbed her in the butt then he gave her something to make her poop – and boy, did she ever poop!  He said, she’s a strong little thing.  She is bay with a white face and one white foot.  DeeDee said her name was Isabelle, I wonder how she knew that? Anyway, Barbie calls her Izzie.  She is Buddy’s half sister and also Stormy’s half sister.  I hope we get to play with her.

 

July 26 – It has been raining and raining and RAINING!  Poor little Izzie….she stands under the big tree but she still gets soaked…..sometimes she runs and kicks at the rain, like that’s going to make it go away.  Mom is getting very big!  She stands under a little tree by Minnie and Izzie’s pen all day…I hope she is ok!

 

Aug  2 – It has finally stopped raining, in fact it is so hot I wish it would start again…..Minnie and Izzie go out with Mom now….Izzie tries to be friendly with Mom but she doesn’t want anything to do with her……I haven’t seen DeeDee in a few days, but every night Barbie comes and puts Mom in the pen where all the babies are born…..sometimes she comes with a light in the middle of the night and shines it on her.  The other night she put up a tent in the next paddock…..in the morning Mom was just standing there looking at her and Barbie said, “Shan, if you don’t have that baby soon you are going to explode!”

 

Aug 4 – Mom STILL hasn’t had that baby!

 

August 6 – Mom lay down flat on her side tonight….it was just like nothing was happening, she didn’t say a word.  There was a bright moon so I could see what was happening, though.  First I saw some tiny hooves come out of Mom, and then some legs….Mom got up and walked around a little bit with those legs sticking out of her.  I thought gosh Mom, don’t run into anything or you’ll break those tiny little legs off!  But then she lay down again and pretty soon a head popped out and then a whole little pony flopped out on the ground.  It just lay there for awhile but Mom started to lick it and it started to flop around.   Pretty soon it tried to get up but it just kept falling back down….I thought keep on trying baby!  So finally it did get all four legs under itself and stood there swaying back and forth for awhile – Mom pushed it with her nose and it flopped back down but then it bounced right back up.  Seems to have gotten the hang of it!  It started to nose all around Mom looking for the milk – it tried her chest, her tail, her front leg, her knee….like I always thought, they sure do make it hard on us little ponies finding that milk!!  But Mom kept pushing on it  and finally it got that too!  All with no humans…I had all kinds of humans trying to help me but I’ll bet I could have done it by myself.  In the morning Barbie’s friend came out and there was Mom and the little baby just standing there like it had been there forever!  She said, well finally, Barbie is going to be sorry she missed this! 

 

When it got to be later Dr. Riley came and said he’s a cute little thing….so I guess I have a baby brother!  

 

August 10 – DeeDee calls my brother Catfish, I don’t know where these names come from.  I tried to talk to him through the fence the other day but Mom came running at me with her teeth bared!  He is so little, I can’t believe I was ever that little.  He is not black like me but brown with black stockings that have some blondish hair over the black.  He’s kind of cute I guess.  I thought I would mind when Mom chased me away but I didn’t, I am beginning to forget that she was ever my Mom…well, not forget but just not obsess!  I think I am as big as Mom now…at least as tall…..I have grown a lot lately.  I am almost as big as Laddie and Barbie calls me Mr. Handsome.  Mr. Handsome Prince!  Even Bitsy is getting bigger but she is still not as big as me.

 

August 12 – Laddie just stood in the trees today.  One of his eyes is red and swollen.  That is how Mom’s bad eye started.  DeeDee looked at his eye but she said maybe it will be better tomorrow.

 

August 13 – Laddie’s eye is still swollen and red – it didn’t get better!  I hope he doesn’t have to go to the hospital.  DeeDee put some medicine in it that made Laddie smell like dead fish….he said it made it feel a little better.

 

August 14 – Dr. Riley came early in the morning and looked at Laddies eye – he put more medicine in it…..then DeeDee came and caught Laddie four more times and put something in his eye.  He said he doesn’t like it but that it doesn’t hurt.  He said he tried to be good but when she tries to pry his eye open he can’t help but clamp it shut.

 

August 15 – This was a pretty busy day.  Barbie came back in the morning – she hasn’t been here since before Catfish was born.  And then this afternoon a big silver box came and stopped at the end of the driveway.  I thought, oh no, who is going to go this time.   Pretty soon a man came up the driveway and took Wally down the driveway with him.  Deedee was following right behind.  At the big box Wally did not even stop he just marched across the plank.  There were some other big horses in the box but he was tied in his own special little place. I ran up and down the driveway fence trying to get him to look at me but he never did.  I wonder if I will ever see him again.

 

August 16 – the wicktim dr came today….he hasn’t been here in a long time.  He looked at Emma but said she was doing great….then he looked at Laddie’s eye and said hmmmmmmm.  But he said ok I think we can help the little fellow.  He put needles all around Laddie’s eye and also some in his back.  Laddie was very good; he didn’t seem to mind at all.  I asked him later if it hurt and he said no, it made the hurt go away.  Barbie put a mask on his face twice today – the first one made him look really funny – I finally pulled it off him and I think he was glad.  But the second one didn’t look quite so bad.  I still tried to get it off but it didn’t have so many loose places to grab.

 

August 23 – we had a real adventure today, Laddie and me.  It started last night when Big Momma and Tina got into a real dust-up!!   I don’t know what started it – they were both up by the barn and all of a sudden Big Momma upped and bit Tina on the back – hard!  Maybe she wanted her to get out of the way or something, but you know, Tina is kind of slow, she can hardly walk at all, much less very fast…..but getting bit made her pretty mad so she turned around and started to kick.  Not just little taps but big honkin’ whaps!  DeeDee was yelling and Barbie was yelling, don’t go near them Dee, and they finally stopped….but then Big Momma went at her again, bit her again and it started all over.  More yelling from DeeDee and Barbie.  Finally Big Momma ran into the woods, she was shaking and Tina was shaking…Bitsy, and Laddie and me just stood there with our jaws dropping.  DeeDee came and got Tina, her back was bleeding and her back leg had a huge gash in it, so Barbie hosed it off and they put medicine in it.  But then they locked Tina up in the little paddock.  Later that night we heard her calling so me and Laddie decided to go and look for her.  We pushed down the garden gate that goes to DeeDee’s house and got in her yard.  We ran all around the yard but we still couldn’t get to Tina.  But the grass was good.  And we could talk to all the ponies in the big field…..Laddie’s Mom is there and April, and a whole bunch of the others….DeeDee calls them the fatties and they never get any food.  Then we wandered out into the driveway and we finally got down to the road where the big boxes that take our friends away stop.    It was still dark and there was no one around so we walked down the road in front of our field – Bitsy and Big Momma were on the inside and they were running up and down the fence, trying to get us back, but we forgot how we got there or how to get back!!  When it got light, cars starting zooming by, it was kind of scary, especially when they didn’t slow down…it must have been really scary for Laddie cause his eye is still bad and he has a mask over his face so I’m sure he can’t see too well.  Finally a car went up the driveway to tell DeeDee and I heard her call Laddie…I was really glad to see her come down the driveway shaking a bucket of food.  We both ran toward her so fast we couldn’t stop and zoomed right on buy….but we were home.

 

August 29 – Laddie gets to go in twice a day to get his food and medicine and for DeeDee and Barbie to fix his eye.  Sometimes they take off his mask and look really sad, but today they took of his mask and Barbie went Whoowhee….we are GOOD!  I’m not sure what that was all about, but Laddie did say his eye doesn’t hurt so much anymore.

 

August 30 – After Laddie got his eye medicine tonight Barbie was standing by the fence looking very sad.  So me and Bits went up and started nibbling her neck…she started to laugh.  Then she let me nibble her hair -- it looks like hay, but it doesn’t taste like hay!  She said, I know men aren’t worth it are they…..sometimes people say funny things.

 

Sept 4 – I had been asleep for a pretty long time when I saw lights coming up the driveway and over to the barn.  It was DeeDee’s truck pulling the little white box.  DeeDee unloaded a pretty filly and put her in the Oak tree pen.  She looks just like Laddie!  She wouldn’t come and talk to us though.

Then DeeDee took the white box back to Roary’s field and out popped my Dad!!  He has been gone for two years.  For the whole rest of the night he went galloping around his field calling at the top of his voice.  I guess he wants everyone to know he is home.

 

September 5 – Tina got to go in the Oak tree pen with the new filly.  We talked to her a little bit but she is still pretty shy.  She said her name was Mory and that she has lived all over the US – Missouri, Pennsylvania and Virginia.  Of course I told her my name was Prince!

 

Sept 6 – Today they moved me and Laddie to the back – I wish Bitsy could have come too but she stayed in front.  She called to me a few times but then she went off to play by herself.  She is very independent.

 

September 9 – Catfish had a real going over today.  He doesn’t like people to mess with him and he runs away or hides behind Mom if anyone comes near him.  I tried to talk to him one day over the fence and tell him humans were really ok but Mom ran me off.  So today DeeDee and Barbie put him and Mom in the little stall….it is just big enough to turn around in but not big enough to run away.  He was really mad and he even kicked at Barbie once but she kicked him back so he didn’t try that again!!  Barbie scratched him all over but he didn’t even warm up to that….he is a hard sell!  But finally they got a halter on him and a rope and let him out behind Mom.  But he reared up and fell over on the ground. When he got up he tried to pull away from the rope and fell over again.  But finally he stood still and let Barbie scratch his face so they let him go.  I wonder if they’ll ever be able to catch him again!      

 

 

 

May 8, 2007 – Boy, have I had a case of writer’s block!!  But not too much has been happening so its ok.  Just to catch up – Laddie’s eye got all better, Big Momma got taken away, Tina is doing pretty good although she still can’t walk right, Catfish got tamed, and Izzie is the cutest thing I ever saw!! Well, since Bitsy…. Oh yes, and Chickadee had a cute little filly, she lay down one morning in the Oak Tree pen and out popped this little baby…they call her Dixie.  She is a beautiful golden color, I might just like her better than Izzie!  And Barbie got a new box to take horses in – this one is huge and has a motor and the horses have to walk up a big steep ramp to get in it.  One day she parked it by a little hill and put the ramp on the hill so if we walked up the little hill we could go straight in the box.  DeeDee and Barbie put Minnie and Laddie in it and tied them up.  I tried to get in too but they chased me out.  Then they drove away.  But they all came back.  Laddie said he got to go around in a circle while a lady watched him and then he got a blue ribbon.  Minnie had a big red and yellow and blue ribbon….it said Champion.  I wonder if I will ever get to go anywhere…….

 

 Laddie and I have been living in the back with somebody different every so often.  For awhile it was Princess.  When my Dad came home Princess went to live with him, but after a few months Dr. Riley came and fished around inside her and said yup, and then she came to live with me and Laddie.  She even told us stories about where she came from…… She said she really was a Princess, her Dad was a famous King, she used to live on the island of Javasu, but she had been kidnapped by pirates.  She said she escaped and came to live with a nice lady in Georgia. That girl has some imagination….she was probably born right in this country. She was kind of mean but for the past couple of months she has been pretty nice.  And then today they took her away and we got another one!  This is a big grey pony, they call her Peaches.  She has been living with Dad for a couple of months and now we get her!  I wonder what is up with that!  At first Laddie was very excited and ran around and tried to jump on her but she kicked him pretty good and he seems to be calming down.   He is still pretty interested in her butt, though!  I just don’t get the attraction…must be a whole guy thing.

 

Speaking of interested in butts – a new lady has been coming and fishing around inside of the girls.  She came a lot to see Chickadee, one day DeeDee came with a big blue can and they took something out of it and put it in Chickie.  And she has been going fishing in Minnie and Mom, too.  This lady always brings a machine with her that has wires on it and a screen and she puts one of the wires in the wall and then another wire in the butt – the a little picture comes up on it.  They did Peaches one day about a week ago and got all excited when they saw a little black dot!  Today she did Minnie and said Purrfect for Thursday……I wonder when Thursday is. 

 

May 10 --   The new butt lady came again and DeeDee brought another big blue can – this time they put a long pipe in Minnie and put some white stuff from the blue can in it.  Minnie didn’t act like she minded too much.

 

May 26 – The lady came back AGAIN….this time she just had her machine with the screen and the wires.  She put one of the wires in Minnie’s butt  and then looked at the screen – they she started to hoop and holler and told DeeDee, “We did it!”.  DeeDee went and looked at the screen and then she hugged Minnie and said, “You’re gonna be a Mama again, girl!”.  Then they got Peaches and Chickee and used the machine on them and the Lady said, “Yup, they are all gonna be Mommas.”

 

June 6 – Today little Summer came back to visit.  I haven’t seen her for along time.

 And thank goodness the child can finally walk and talk.  She plays in the hay and likes to hold the cats. She rides on Emma too, her Mom leads Emma around and Summer sits up there and says walk and then ho.  One day they even let her sit on me – I’d never had anyone sit on me before and I was kind of scared but I was as good as gold…..but afterwards Summer said, “I want to ride Emma.”

 

June 8 – Today there was big excitement.  Everyone was brought into the barn and given a bath – well, not me, but Laddie, Minnie, Bitsy, Morrie, Emma, and even little Isabelle.  Minnie and Emma got the most scrubbing and when they were all scrubbed DeeDee put some blue powder in their manes and tails.  When they dried off they were so white it hurt my eyes to look at them….they had, like, haloes, around them. Then Barbie loaded Laddie, Morrie, Bitsy, Emma, and Buddy in her big box and drove off.  I tried to get in and go too, but it was pretty crowded in there! 

June 9 – Still lots of excitement – Laddie or any of the others haven’t come back, they have been gone all night and while it was still dark this morning DeeDee got her white box and put Minnie and Isabelle in it.  Minnie walks right in but Izzy, well she needs a little extra encouragement if you know what I mean…..as in whack, whack!  But she eventually got on and they drove away, too.  Me and Peaches are all that’s left in the back and in front only poor Tina and the Princess and Catfish.  But hooray, they all came back!  Laddie said he had to go in a circle around a lady with a big hat and then he got a blue ribbon.  Later he said he had to walk over some funny looking things that were supposed to be scary.  He said he pretended to be scared once, just to add some excitement, but that he really wasn’t scared.  He said Minnie got the biggest ribbon, one that had lots of different colors.  Barbie hung them all in the barn.

 

July 15 – DeeDee came through our field this morning to get Dad from his field…then they put him in a big red and silver box along with Chickadee and they went away.  He had hardly been home any time at all, I don’t know where he is going this time.  Poor little Dixie – she ran around all day crying for her Mama….she finally got tired, though, and lay down by Tina.  Tina and Emma are nice to her, but Izzie and Catfish try to chase her.

 

July  17 – Today something awful happened – Laddie and I got put in Dad’s old field in the WAAY back.  We can’t hardly see anyone from there…I don’t like it at all.  Then in the night a big truck came and two new horses got out.  A cute little lady put them in the barn for the night, but I don’t know who they are or what they are doing.  I just can’t tell what is going on from way back here.  Peaches is lonesome, too, she and Laddie and I had got to be pretty good friends.

 

July 18 – Last night during the night Laddie and I were playing and something hit me in the head and knocked me down….there are some old fallen trees in the back and I think I bumped my head on one of them…..I didn’t feel good at all so I just lay there……the more time went by the more I didn’t feel like getting up.  When DeeDee came to feed us she called me but I couldn’t move so she came looking for me….I was just lying in the dirt under the fallen tree.  She called for Grumpy (he does our feet now) to come and help and when he got there they got a stick and made me get up….they listened to my stomach and said, “no gut sounds”.  They took me to the barn and made me stand by the fan and then called Dr. Riley.  He said he would come as quick as he could but in the meantime they were to give me a shot….so the new cute lady gave me a shot of something…it made me a little dizzy but I began to feel a little better.  Dr Riley didn’t come very fast, I must say, but when he did get there he went right to work……he put a tube in my nose and made me swallow it….it was pretty awful, and then he started to pump some stuff into my stomach…these Drs, they do like to put tubes in us!!  I stayed in the pen where I was born all day, and I can tell you, I didn’t feel very good.  I nibbled on a little grass but they didn’t feed me at all.  In the afternoon, DeeDee came and gave me a bucket of some mush with carrots and apples in it.  I picked out the carrots and apples but I didn’t like the mush. 

 

July 19 – I still didn’t feel too good, I pretty much just lay around and nibbled on some grass.  Everyone came and patted me and said poor PeePee…..I wish they would just call me my real name, Prince!  Later in the afternoon, when it was almost dark, DeeDee and Barbie put Emma and Isabelle in the big white box and drove away……..

 

July 20 – The new cute lady gave me a little feed today and she let me out with Peaches.  Laddie was calling to me, he must be very lonesome back in the back all by himself…so we went and stood by his fence for awhile.   Peaches told me who the new ponies were.  They came from St. Louis, the same place as she does and the cute lady is named Shell.  She said one of the ponies is my brother – Roary is his Dad and Emma is his Mom.  She said they call him Emmitt.  He sure is a crazy guy!!  He runs around and around and makes SO much noise!  Peaches said its ‘cause he is a whole guy.  He really likes the other pony, her name is Jesse.  Peaches said, “I hope I don’t have to live with HER”.

 

July 22 – Shell put me back with Laddie today – I don’t know where Barbie and DeeDee are.   I hope they are ok.  But Shell is nice, too. Laddie chased me around the whole field, I guess he was glad to see me.

 

 

July 25 – It was very late but I saw lights from DeeDee’s truck and heard Barbie too, I’m glad they are ok!!…..I heard Isabelle calling but I don’t think Emma came back.  I will see if Peaches can find out and tell us.

 

July 26 – Isabelle told Minnie and Minnie told Peaches that Emma stayed with DeeDee’s daughter and Summer….Izzy  had to come all the way back by herself!  She is a brave pony.

 

July 30 – Today Shell came and got me and Laddie before breakfast – what is going to happen now, I wondered!  She tied me up by the fan and then took Laddie to the tack room – she put this little pad on his back and then put a big wide belt around him.  Then she took him out in the little pen and made him go around in circles at the end of a rope. While he did that DeeDee brushed me all over and combed my mane and tail.  My mane is very long like my Dad’s.   Laddie likes to rub his on the boards, though so he doesn’t have hardly any.  He may be whole but I have a better mane!!  Anyway, after awhile Shell came and got me and put the big belt on me.  Then she made me go around in circles at the end of the rope.  While I did that DeeDee tried to hose Laddie off, but I can tell you, he didn’t like that very much.  When we were done I told Laddie that Shell said I was better than him – he said NO WAY!  Its that whole guy thing, he always has to be better. 

 

August 1, 2007--Today Shell came to play with us again – funny kind of play though…..this time after she made us go around in circles she got two ropes and attached then to the belt and then got behind us and made us go.  She would pull on one rope and that would mean to go that way and then she would pull on the other and we would have to go the other way.  She even ran behind Laddie while he cantered but I just had to trot. Afterwards we both got washed off, and I can tell you, that cold water felt good.  But I heard Shell tell DeeDee that I was stubborn!  Gosh that made me fee4l bad – its just that when I don’t understand what to do can’t do anything….so I guess she thinks I am being stubborn but I just want to understand so I don’t do the WRONG thing!

 

August 8 – We have been doing the circles with Shell and also trotting in front of her while she pulls ropes to make us turn one way or the other for just about a week now.  Today we did something really different!  While DeeDee was brushing me Shell put a saddle on Laddie and then started to lean on it – then she would stand up in one of the stirrups on one side of the saddle and then go and stand up on the other…she did that for awhile and then she got all the way up in the saddle.  Laddie just stood there!  Then DeeDee led him around a bit….at the end, DeeDee let go of him and Shell made him go by herself……he was a champ, he did everything she wanted him to.  When it was my turn she put the saddle on me but she said, I don’t think I want to get on you today, maybe next time.  But she leaned on the saddle a lot and she made me do the circles with the saddle on. 

 

August 10 – Today Shell sat on me!  I was pretty scared, though, it felt like a mountain lion had jumped on my back, I had to keep looking to make sure it was Shell and not a lion!  But I walked a little bit with DeeDee leading me.  It was ok if she was in front, if she had left I think I would have just had to stop and stand still.  When it was Laddie’s turn Shell put the saddle on him and then just got up like she had been riding him for years.  They walked around a bit and then she even mad him trot.  She said, boy is he smooth!           


 

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