Autumn

I have to admit that moving out here and leaving my family wasn't easy.  It wasn't easy on my husband for it not being easy on me either. Poor guy.  I tried my hardest to find a routine to fall into.  Eventually, I found my job at the veterinary hospital and that made it all so much more....worse.  It was the hardest job that I have ever had and my loneliness was coupled with self doubt.  I had to schedule two doctors at the hospital and on farm calls to places I've never heard of before.  I had to learn how to do lab work, sterilize instruments, assist the doctors with xrays & medical procedures. I had to learn how to properly restrain sheep, goats and horses. I had to memorize procedure names, medications, dewormers, instrument & equipment names.  And the hardest thing for me was to answer the phones. I have always hated talking on the phone, I mean, I don't even like to order a pizza.  Now, I had to answer three phone lines and handle panicked questions about what to do for a goat that spent the entire night upside down with his horns stuck in the mud.  Or someone who wants to have a horse castrated but they can't find one of his testicles.  I would pray for a cow appointment that would leave the entire barn coated in explosive cow pie diarrhea. Those appointments were god sent.  I would get to stay out in the barn free from the ringing phones with my main objective being, get rid of the poop. 
After a few weeks, I wasn't sure if I was cut out for a job of this caliber.  I wanted to quit.  Real bad.  But, two things made me stick with it.  1. A whiskey and coke or two at night 2. A secret dream...I wanted a horse.
So, I sucked it up, put on my big girl panties and learned the job  (Not for the whiskey but for the horse).  Now when I came home from work I'd skip the whiskey and hit the Internet.  I'd look at hundreds of horses a night.  Mustangs, draft horses, rescue horses, fast horses, slow horses, pretty horses...  At the end of each night  I'd always find myself staring at some giant draft horse with legs the size of tree trunks and backs so high you would need a ladder or to stand on a car roof to climb on their backs.  My search narrowed.  I wanted a draft horse and I wanted a rescued one. 
Then one night this popped up:

It was Autumn...actually her name was Phoebe back then...but it was my dream horse!  She was picked up from a slaughter yard by Gentle Giants Draft Horse Rescue in Maryland, 2905.24 miles away.  Even though her adoption price was low I was sure that to haul her out to California it was going to cost a fortune.  I almost stopped there but for the hell of it I submitted for a price quote to a national horse transportation company get her from there to here.  Next day I had my quote, $1400 door to door.  By the end of that day, I had contacted the rescue and had a date set up to meet my 10 month old, Belgian draft horse dream filly, in Maryland.  Conveniently, I had to fly out to New York for my dad's wedding and I would make a quick 2 day side trip to meet Autumn.
I sent letters to everyone back home about my dream horse and less then a week later my freaking kick ass awesome husband,family and friends, whom I love whole heartily, sent me money to help make my dream come true.  When I got to New York my great friend Anne volunteered to drive me, my fighting non stop in the back seat of the car mom, sister and her pug Penelope Pants to the horse rescue.  We went straight to the rescue which was a beautiful farm with rolling fields filled with giant happy horses.  The woman who ran the rescue was friendly and professional.  She said I was the farthest potential adopter they have ever had.  As a rule, the rescue requires that you come to meet them and the horse in person and  that you demonstrate the skills required to safely handle the horse you are interested in. I was so nervous. What if Autumn didn't like me?  I groomed her, took her for a walk and did a few exercises to demonstrate my skills for the rescue owner.  Well, long story short...I looked into Autumn's big brown eyes and I knew right then and there that she liked me!  Even better, the rescue approved the adoption!   We took a million pictures and stuffed her with treats.  I signed her adoption papers, pulled out my money order and paid her adoption fees, confirmed the horse transporter to come pick her up in two weeks and POOF!  DREAM COME TRUE!
Sitting in the car, with my sister and mom screaming at each other while my amazingly patient friend drove us back to NY in disbelief of how much coffee drinking and fighting was going on in her back seat, I just couldn't believe that in a few weeks I'd finally have a friend in California with me.

I encourage everyone to visit Gentle Giants Draft Horse Rescue website at:

http://www.gentlegiantsdrafthorserescue.com/

Check out the "Available Horses" section.  You can get to see the horses for adoption, get their story and they would LOVE help sponsoring a horse or any donations to help them do what they respectfully and compassionately do for these big horses.

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