12/19/09 One year later

12/19/09     Miste has been with us for over a year now.   I asked her two favorite people if they would write about the long journey they have taken with her and they have.  I believe this says it all.

Miss Miste- The Love of C&P’s Life at Raindance

                             By Gramma Carole and Paula

 

When Gramma Carole and I first saw Miste on her 2nd day of being rescued, she was out in the front yard of Raindance in quarantine from the other horses. I remember her very thin body and being able to count every single rib clearly. I remember her hip bones sticking out. I remember the green slime coming out of her nose. I remember the big knot in her mouth. I remember the eye full of pus.  I remember her nasty matted coat full of grease and white dead skin cells. I remember the deadness in her eyes, the head and tail hanging low, and the giving up, waiting to die stance of her body. I remember the heavy wheezing, fighting for every breath.

I remember the anger and the tears as Gramma Carole and I watched from afar. We asked Kathi if there was any hope for her. Kathi told us this horse was sicker that she thought and would do her best. We felt helpless.

This horse, Miste, has become the love of Gramma Carole and me at Raindance. Miss Miste and Gramma Carole and I have been on a challenging 1 year journey together. She is always the first horse we look for as we drive into Raindance and the last horse we see as we leave.  We love her so much. There are deep sighs and heartfelt tears, pure joy, and beaming faces, and glowing pride whenever we talk about her. Gramma Carole and I look at each other with contentment reliving many special moments that only the 2 of us share. These moments with Miste are some of the highlights of our lives. We never knew we would connect so strongly, feel such strong emotions, play such a role in a horse’s life. We started out so innocently having no idea where we were going or what we were doing or what to expect. It boggles our mind that this journey could be so rewarding to two greenhorns and a mature wizen emotionally scarred 25 year old rescue horse.

The journey began after a week or 2 after the quarantine, all because of our lesson horse, Rain, and Jeff Tucker’s penchant for using a chainsaw. Rain, was acting up badly due to the chainsaw noise. In fact she scared the living daylights out of Gramma Carole and me.  We sang 7 verses of You are my Sunshine, to calm Rain down, only to find we ourselves were out of control with fear. After Kathy put Rain in a stall, Kathi took one look at us and saw how frayed our nerves were and the look in our eyes that said no way would there be a lesson today. To soothe our jumpy nerves, a very clever Kathi brought out Miste and asked us to groom her. She told us that Miste would not survive the winter if she did not put on weight fast and if the grease and white skin cells were not brushed away, no winter coat would grow.  That scared us even more. We brushed Miste for all she was worth.  The grease was not coming out. The white skin cells kept growing in number even as our jackets were covered in them. Kathi told us Misty needed constant grooming if she were to have a chance of surviving the winter. Gramma Carole and I made a pact right then and there. We asked Kathi and she said ok. We promised Miste that we would be there every Wed. night and Sunday afternoon to groom her. We told her we would work very hard to give her a chance of surviving the winter, knowing that the winter deadline of freezing weather was only 2 ½ months away.

Determined to get Miste’s winter coat to grow and the blood flowing again we would spend 45 minutes on each side of this horse, every Wed night and Sunday afternoon.  We were always covered with white skin cells and usually gross sinus infection nose slime from rubbing up against the stall walls. She was pretty easy to groom because Miste didn’t move or acknowledge anything we did. She just hung her head. Gramma Carole and I passed it off as the horse being in a drug induced stupor but we soon realized this was a horse with no faith in people. She would turn her back if anyone came too close to her stall. Her heart had no room for any more hope that this time would be any different.   Gramma Carole and I made another pact to prove this horse wrong about that. We were going to be very patient and with time, trial and error, and lots of ineptness, she would see how different we were from any of those other people she came in contact with.

We came in the worst weather sometimes going 20mph on icy roads to get to Raindance.  Gramma Carole and I made a promise that we would not fail Miste like the humans before her. We would be there for her.  We had tons of strength between the 2 of us. No matter what or how bad the weather, Kathi had given us the opportunity to bring about change with this horse and we could not let Kathi or this horse down. 

Every week as we worked with Miste, we asked Kathi how she thought Miste was doing. We hung on every word and knew it was always touch and go. As the days got colder we understood how important it was for Miste to get her winter coat. Gramma Carole and I were experiencing the chills and freezing fingers and toes. It was because of our promise to be there for her no matter what that we went out to buy wool socks, CarrHart pants and jackets, warm woolen mittens and hats, long underwear, and warm boots.

The first day of snow we saw Miste in a blue quilted cover. That worried us for when it got below zero. However Kathi had done a great job of putting the weight back on Miste and giving her some energy. I remember the joy in Kathi’s voice the first time she told us that Miste had run out of the barn or rolled in the snow with her quilted jacket on, and the thankfulness when Miste did not need that quilted jacket any more.

However despite giving her so much love and attention and carrots there was no acknowledgement of our presence from her. She ignored us. Kathi explained that Miste had really hoped we would give up on her. It was what she knew and easy behavior for her. She was set in her ways of avoiding any interaction.  Gramma Carole and I accepted that but hoped there would be a change. We did not force the issue.  We continued our consistency, unconditional love, and attention. We decided in January that we would spend 30 minutes by her stall, observing her and talking to her for half an hour before grooming her.

3 weeks later there came a major breakthrough. One night as we were standing in Miste’s stall we turned our backs on her for a minute, to look at the hilarious barn antics of Fear and Layla. Miste came up behind us to nuzzle each of our shoulders, telling us she wanted us to focus back on her.  It has been nuzzle city ever since. She had accepted us as part of her herd. She trusted us. She chose us to be her people.

We are so happy that Miste proved us wrong about giving up, not being able to trust any human again and waiting to die. She got her personality back. She got her energy back. She got her sparkling eyes back. She got her nuzzling back. She accepted hugs and kisses.  Her relationship is one of give and take now between us. She constantly watches us as we move around Raindance. She is very protective and selfish of us, flattening her ears to warn the other horses that we are there for her.

What is it about this horse that has made us come to Raindance for the past year every Wednesday night and Sunday afternoon? Well Miste and we both are the older generation. We all have aches and pains in our joints. We have all fallen on hard times.  We needed each other.

Miste needed TLC and our hearts were overflowing with it. She needed patience and we had no expectations because we were so green at this. She needed sincerity and we were dedicated. She needed consistency and Gramma Carole and I never gave up. Miste needed to feel special and we were over the top with that. She needed to trust us when we did not even trust ourselves around her at first.

Most importantly what kept us coming back was Kathi’s encouragement and her words that MIste was putting on weight, her head is higher, her breathing is better, her eye is clearing up, and  she seems to have more energy, her eyes are showing recognition, her ears move when I talk to her. Also we found out that we loved grooming horses. It was a way to connect with something deep in our souls that made us feel so good and brought us peace.

What we needed from Miste was physical trust. It did not come easy for us. In the beginning Miste appeared to us as this huge, big boned horse that took up a lot of space in the tiny stall.  We had never been in a stall with a horse before. There was so little room to maneuver. We felt so small. Would she kick out at us if we did something wrong? We did not have very good grooming techniques. She was our practice horse. Out of our experiences with her grew our skills and ownership of thingees.

We learned how to do a facial massage that puts a horse in dreamland every time but with Miste it brought on headshaking and snorting, releasing green slime. We learned about the differences in hay, grain, and other feed, and nutrients requirements. We learned the stomach gurgles and passing gas is good for horses. We spent hours on the Purina Omelene University web site, passing courses, to get free coupons for Miste’s feed.  We learned about the added expenses it takes to help rescue horses.  We learned about medicines for eye injuries, sinus infections, bronchitis, and arthritis.  Miste was the first one to teach us about those dastardly bots and a new thingee to buy for them. She is the one responsible who makes us feel proud when we go to Dan’s feed bin to buy her feed.

We credit Miste with giving us the gift of working with the other horses in the barn. She helped us be comfortable around other horses. She gave us our first dab of courage which turned our Wed. nights into something magical. We have all these horses all to ourselves. We groomed Big Annie, Magic, Layla, and Fear and now there is Shania and Gwen with inquisitive Chaos.  We get to know these horses so well and bond with them as well.  However, Miste is always first to be groomed. We catch her staring at us while we are paying attention to the other horses and it gave us a thrill because she no longer has her head to the wall. After each horse we always reassure Miste that she is our first and favorite. She always gets the first carrots and the last carrots. She always gets the first hello and the last goodnight.

We have given Miste so much love and attention and carrots and we both know that Miste has given us so much more than we ever expected she could.  She had hoped we would give up on her. It was what she knew and easy behavior for her. She was used to being ignored by humans and easy for her to ignore us. That is what she expected from every human.  She was waiting to die. Gramma Carole and I made a promise that we would not fail Miste like the humans before her. We would be there for her.

We owe Miste so much.  We love her so much. We love being with her. She loves us back. When one of us is sad, she knows and understands.  As we groom her now, she turns her head to tell us what a good job we are doing. If we stand outside her stall talking to her, she nuzzles our hands. She stands still for our hugs and nose kisses. Her ears move to the sound of our voices. She relaxes right away with her foot crooked and closes her eyes as we groom her. She falls asleep with her head in our hands when we massage her face. She follows us around in the pasture. Most importantly she has an attitude and is not afraid to show it to us. She constantly looks at us with the most beautiful sparkling gorgeous eyes ever. She is truly alive and living in the moment. She is enjoying herself.  She is keeping tabs on the young ones, constantly telling them to mind their manners. Her coat is a beautiful red that glows on fire in the sun.

Miste, this summer, got a new pal in the pasture by the name of Stella. Kathi asked us to groom Stella and introduced us to Stella with the comment, “Stella you don’t know it right now but you are in heaven.”   Miste took Stella aside to tell her what Kathi meant and how these 2 people created a heaven on earth for her. She did warn Stella that these 2 are MY people and she could still be happy with any of the leftovers because these 2 people of hers were way over the top in everything they do.

Miste’s Point of View  of Her 2 People
Well here is my side of the story since coming to Raindance. I am really quite embarrassed about it all. I prefer to avoid humans altogether. However I have learned that no matter how hard I tried to ignore these 2 annoying humans, it does no good.
Their hands were all over me when we first met. I was in such a depressed state and do not remember much. But as my physical needs were attended to, I was forced to let the here and now invade my privacy.
 These 2 humans were totally different than any I had experienced, a bit on the crazy side too. They had no respect for my wanting to be just left alone.  Like clockwork, they showed up to groom me.  They were so talkative. They were so emotional. It was very hard to take and many times I just wished they would go away and let me be. They kept on coming back.  They spent a lot of time with me.  Sometimes they laughed so hard, my ears hurt. The only good thing was a biscuit treat I got after each visit.
The two of them were so embarrassing. In front of the other younger horses, they would say over and over again, “What a pretty girl you are today.”  I tried to keep my composure when they tried to kiss me or hug me. I even tried to move away from them but that didn’t work either.
It was getting colder and the younger horses and the pregnant one each had their stall for the night. After grooming me, those 2 humans would go to the other horses and groom, talk, laugh, hug, kiss, and treat. I would act like I wasn’t watching but I saw all the smoochy and huggy going on. It was disgusting to see how the other horses ate it all up.
Well those 2 kept coming even on the coldest nights. They brought these tasty orange things with them. Wow the flavor just burst in your mouth. Well the rest is history. When they started sharing my treats with the other horses, I just stared at them the whole time until they understood that I wasn’t happy.
Then they had the nerve to turn their back on me one night, as Layla and Fear were providing their usual Wednesday night barn entertainment.  I walked right up to each of them and nudged their shoulder to say, hey you are in my stall and you need to pay attention to me. Well I got all their attention and made all the other horses jealous and got tons of carrots.
I was in such carrot heaven that the next thing I knew, I asked them to be part of my herd. I knew they were never going away. They would always have carrots and I could tolerate their hugs and kisses, and embarrassing sappiness.
During the time Chaos was born my 2 people stayed away. I got really depressed. I found out how much I looked forward to being pampered, I mean groomed. I missed being special to someone.
I must admit though that if I would have known then that they would call across the field to me all summer, yelling Miss Misty, and repeating all the time, “look how her coat glistens in the sun” “she is so pretty, “and” her eyes are so bright, “ “do you know how much we love you” “do you know how much you brighten up our day”……… need I go  on. They are just 2 doting humans and it is useless to get rid of them. Nothing deters them. They even brought lawn chairs out in the field to sit and watch me.
And now I hear them talking about certain plans that may be the most embarrassing moment yet. I have heard one of them is retiring in March. They are making plans to spend that first morning of retirement having breakfast with me.  Best to all, Miste