Misty

Jenny Faulkner sent us this story of a horse who stole her heart.

Misty was a horse I bought at the spur of the moment. I was going to take home her half sister, whom I had chosen to buy before hand. The seller said she would make me a deal on the 2 and being the horse crazy child I was, i couldnt say no. There I was at the age of 13, with 2 weanling QH fillies.

She was a chestnut colored horse with a unique white blaze on her face. As the 2 grew older, you could definately tell she was the rebel. She was the hardest horse to catch. I would spend hours chasing her around the pasture and when I finally did catch her she would be a brat the whole time I worked with her.

She was not a sound horse-her front leg went out to the side. she was always skinny because she was so hard to keep the weight on. She was also born a nervous horse. She would be like a bomb ready to explode as soon as you showed her a saddle pad or anything else that was “going to eat her”. She  always pulled back and had even broken metal clasps when she decided to be really bad.

One very odd, but pleasant thing was that she loved being sprayed with fly spray and never had a problem with it from day one, while my other filly who was otherwise bomb-proof, could almost kill you if it meant getting away from the spray.

I contemplated selling her and decided to take her to auction one winter. when it came down to it, I just couldn’t do it, I couldn’t part from her. For months I kept on working with her. We had ups and downs  but she slowly made progress.

I took my older horse to camp for 3 weeks and came back in the second week to spend time with my 2 others (who were now 2 year olds) within that week  I had worked with Misty alot and had gotten her to trot on the lead with ease( she had a major problem with that!) and I also rode on her for the first time in the comfort of her stall.  I had my mom take pictures of Misty and me one beautiful afternoon, since I never had a photo with her. What I didnt know was that that picture was our very first and also our very last.

After coming home after another week of camp, I was anxious to get home to my horses. Mindy (her half sister I bought in the deal) came running to the barn to see us. She was acting really pushy and nevous though. we thought it was wierd that Misty hadn’t come along to greet us as well so we went searching for her in our small pasture.

My mom thought she had gotten out of the fence so she started looking throughout the yard for her. I had a gut feeling something was terrribly wrong, especially since the fence had no evidence of an escapee. I turned the corner of some machinery and saw before me, my beloved Misty. i cried and screamed out loud as I fell to the ground in shock. She was dead.

We thought she had broken her leg because of all the swelling in it but later we figured out she was struck by lightning. The evidence was shocking but it was the only explanation. There was a storm the night before and our hired helper had just fed them that night. As most people know, horses herd together in storms.

I thank my Lord God everyday for sparing Mindy and Pepper (my other 2 horses) and I know that Misty was taken that day for a reason. Till this day I dont know that reason, and very well never may. I wonder what would have happened if I had sold her in the auction. but I know that God didnt want me to sell her then. It wasn’t in his plans.

I know that she wasnt a dream horse with a beautiul comfirmation and stunning strides but she was all I could have asked for in a horse. She taught me lessons I will never forget. Its a one in a million chance of getting struck by lightning but its a one in a million chance of getting a horse like her. And she IS one in a million.

This picture is indeed the first and last picture we had together.  I loved her with all my heart no matter how different she was or the fact that I only owned her for a year and a half. She will always be in our memories. Misty aka Hows Little Lady April 25,2005- July 2007.
Thanks, jenny faulkner

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