In Sync
harmony or harmonious relationship
~what every horse person wants~
Many years ago, I had a grey purebred Arab broodmare that I rescued. I called her Shakira. I rescued her as an emaciated, heavily pregnant mare, in a barn full of the same. She was lame and had diarrhea. Her stall was filthy, with manure a couple feet deep and grooves worn away where the mare paced. I found no food or water in her stall and she was covered in dried on manure that felt like someone dipped her in concrete. I had my vet look at her and he strongly advised me NOT to take her…. but I did. I could not leave her in a place like that.
I brought her home on April 1st, April Fool’s Day. Once home, I worked on trying to get her clean but the dried manure would NOT come off. Thankfully she was beginning to shed so as she shed then it peeled off. She was a smart mare- Arabs are smart horses! She was Egyptian bred and high strung but trusted me and allowed me to work around and handle her just fine. She was around 10 or 11 at that time and had never been broken. Her lot in life was to produce babies but wound up where she did for the usual reasons- nothing that has to actually DO with the horse… but an owner in over their heads. This was at the tail end of the Arab popularity spike of the 80’s- 90’s. Someone hoped to make some money but instead had a barn full of pregnant, registered, well-bred, skin and bones broodmares.
I took good care of her- provided a clean stall, fresh water, and nice, clean grass hay and slowly incorporated grain and pasture. She put on weight and muscle and began to feel good. She looked so much better but even still had visible ribs at delivery. Everything went to the baby. She delivered a healthy foal 2 months later. We had a bit of a struggle initially with her milk supply but things thankfully worked out. I firmly believe I got her just in time. Had she stayed where she was any longer, the foal would not have had enough and the mare surely would not have had enough nutrition.
As an extra bonus… her digestive problems resolved under normal care and maintenance. She continued to be lame until after the foal was born and an abscess blew out her coronary band and she was sound.
I raised the baby and let the mare be a pretty pasture ornament. She deserved it. The filly grew and blossomed into a gorgeous, young horse. She went on to a good home and life went on.
I can’t even remember how I got back in touch with the filly’s owners. It’s likely they called me. The filly, named Shaklana, was shown in halter until she was in a horrific trailer accident. This ended up giving Shaklana a large scar on her rump, ending her halter career and providing a lifelong fear of trailers. Completely understandable! Shaklana now was maybe 5 or 6 and the owners wanted to know if I wanted her back. I took her back. I still had the dam so was curious if, after all this time, they would recognize each other.
Shaklana came home and after all the proper introductory steps to the herd, she was turned out into a large pasture with her dam.
I will never forget it. They touched noses and then immediately set off around the large pasture in one of those floaty trots Arabs do so well, with the horses looking like hovercrafts moving around the field! They trotted, and floated… side by side, in perfect harmony, in stride, and in sync. It was a beautiful sight! I cried. It was amazing to see. Yes, I guess they remembered each other!
What a beautiful thing is harmony!
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Synonyms for sync
verb go along with; coexist
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