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Let’s hope we have a Happy New 2008!
2007 didn’t exactly end the way we had hoped and planned – with happiness and fulfilment. With all the chaos surrounding the murder of our beloved pony Silver, we really weren’t in the mood for Christmas at all but we hung in there. On top of everything else, I worked like crazy to get Christmas presents sent out to all of my customers and make sure everything was delivered before Santa arrived – I pulled it off, but it was a really close call.Some positive horsy news: Danai finished the competitive season with Tornado, winning a class (90 cm) and probably would have won the second class of the day (1,00m) if Tornado didn’t go so fast in the jump-off that Danai missed a turn. From being a slow-poke, Tornado has evolved into a real ”tornado”!!!
Also on the horsy front, we bought a new young pony before Christmas – a welsh pony section B named Kungsbro Dental, but we call him “Dennie”. We had him here for training last autumn/winter/spring, so he is well known to us. Dennie is a beautiful palomino with a spectacular pedigree and looks very much like his famous father Candide. He has a great view on life in general and seems to think “I’ll do anything you want, as long as I understand what you mean”. When he first came here he was just broken to ride and was scared of his own tail and didn’t know the first thing about anything. After all the work Danai put into him he is so well-ridden that Danai finds him almost boring. ;-) We look forward to an interesting competitive season with him.
Finally we had a wonderful surprise to deliver on Christmas morning – our pony Tommy! No, we didn’t sell him and never will, but we “gave” him to two young sisters here in the neighbourhood to ride and compete for the next few years (see pictures of Tommy wrapped in ribbons in the photo gallery). Tommy turned out to be “The present of the year” according to the girls and Sofie and Elin were totally thrilled to be "given" their favourite pony for the foreseeable future. They have both ridden at the local riding club for a few years but since they got Tommy their riding has improved endlessly! I am sure that they will have an amazing few years together with a champion pony who will teach them everything he knows!
We spent Christmas Eve with “grandma” and “grandpa” here on our farm. We had a wonderful time together with way too much food as always and too many present. The wonderful thing about Christmas is giving, don’t you think?
In between Christmas and New Year, I drove about 200 km to pick up a new kitten (to keep Caddy company). His name is Figaro and he is a mutt – his mother is Siamese/Bengal and his father is a bit of everything. To start with, Caddy really wanted to kill him (and us!), but now they are best friends, thank goodness. He had me worried for a while… Figaro is a funny little guy with a sense of humour. He attacks Caddy who is double his size and weight and then takes off to hide somewhere where Caddy can’t fit – a real tease! In between their play-fighting, they sleep curled up together. What a pair!
The much longed for skiing season finally started after Christmas and Marcus was thrilled! The first day that the slope opened we were there – right on time - to buy a season pass and Marcus spent the whole day skiing. Unfortunately that is also the last time he skiid until now… The day after his ski-debut it started raining and has been raining off and on since then… As I write this, we still don’t have any snow on the ground and Marcus is really upset (understandably)!!! He is planning on going fishing instead, since there still is no snow on the horizon and the lakes are still open.
The national press as well as newspapers in other Scandinavian countries, are keeping an eye on the progress of our beloved pony Silver’s case. Luckily the police have DNA to tie the BAST__RD to the murder, so he is going DOWN! I have hired the best lawyers in the vicinity to help me out when this case finally goes to trial and hope that this inhuman asshole pays the price… I’ll keep you updated.
(2008-01-21 22:35:42)
This autumn has had its bright points, but ended in darkness!
Our autumn/winter has been very active, but unfortunately not only in a positive way.I had my birthday at the end of August and my kids totally surprised me when I opened my presents to find a new Siamese kitten (but on pictures – not in the flesh). Cadillac Cat or “Caddy” as he is called finally arrived home in the middle of October, and what a cat!!! Caddy is the funniest and most wonderful guy in the world!
Marcus is still playing tennis and is really talented. He plays in a small group of boys that are 3-4 years older than he is, but holds his own against them! Except for tennis, he is a champ on his trampoline doing tricks that make my heart stop! Marcus has just turned 11 (on Grandpa’s 76th birthday) and seems to grow faster than I can blink. Most of his jeans are ¾ length and end around his ankle. Do jeans still shrink after being washed 28 times??
Danai has had a fantastic competitive season with her pony Silver and together they have won almost every competition they have entered. They finished their season with a silver medal in the regional championships where Silver was slightly injured and needed a short rest to recuperate. They actually managed in a short few months to qualify for the highest classes a pony of Silver’s size is allowed to compete in and had their sails set for the Swedish Championships 2008. This dream was crushed one morning a few weeks ago when Silver was found bleeding in her box.
One of our friends who has a horse here on livery found Silver shivering and bleeding one morning and woke me up. We called two vets who arrived promptly, gave her painkillers but quickly realized that she needed to be taken to a clinic for emergency treatment ASAP. At the same time I called the police who arrived very soon after we had left for the clinic. When we arrived at the clinic and I saw her without her rug on, I realized that it was already too late. She was swollen way out of proportion as her perforated intestine had leaked gas and fluids into her belly.
Danai and I were given a few minutes to say farewell to our darling Silver before she was put out of her misery.
Meanwhile, the police found footprints, DNA and other evidence around our farm and they now have strong evidence that points to a certain man in the vicinity. They know who he is and so do I! Unfortunately all of this has led to other things, like rings on water. Danai no longer feels comfortable being in the stable alone even during the day, and quite frankly our farm no longer feels as safe as it did before even to me. I can’t help looking forward to meeting this creep when he finally faces a judge. What does a maniac like this look like? I really want to know how he will explain his actions but undoubtedly he will say “I don’t remember” – but we certainly do remember, every single day….
The only positive side of this sordid story is that everybody has been incredibly moved by this unbelievable story and we have received letters, flowers and SMS from people we don’t even know. Our friends have stuck by us and been here for us, slept here, cooked for us, etc. I really feel a huge gratitude to everyone who has supported us and helped us during these past weeks. Nobody asked if I needed or wanted help (my standard answer would have been “No, we are managing pretty well…”), everybody just took over our lives and was here for us – THANK YOU!!!!
As if we haven’t had enough misery with our beloved animals this year, our Siamese cat Max died last week. To start off with it was just me and Max in an apartment in Athens. Then Seb came into our lives, then the Danai och Marcus, our dog Sonny, etc, etc, but Max was #1!
(2007-12-11 00:37:00)
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