Citizen Wausau

by Billie on January 19th, 2009

I am not mad keen on car rides. I do not care to drive. If only I had a convenient, movable wormhole…

Alas, I do not. So, my friend/client Jennifer arrived at the crack of dark AM yesterday so we could take a road trip to the Milwaukee area.

Several weeks previously, a crazy woman and her friend had driven to my farm in a virtual blizzard to see a young horse that I was selling on Jennifer’s behalf. We stood in the biting wind watching the coming two year old trot and canter around with his pal Donarwind. We took him into the pole shed to groom him, and give the ladies a chance to evaluate his conformation and personality. I went well, the ladies were absolutely wonderful in addition to being well educated horsewomen. I really hoped that they would purchase Countero, as I knew they would provide a splendid home.

Within a couple of weeks a deal had been struck, so Jennifer and I were headed out to deliver Countero to his new home.

Suffice it to say, it was a long drive. No CD player or iPod, but wonderful conversation made our travels quite enjoyable (as did the 68 ounce cofee that I purchased at the first available gas station).

We arrived at one of the most beautiful farms that I have ever seen. The massive two storey home was constructed in 1862 from local rocks, with walls nearly two feet thick, and amazing details wherever the eye landed. There were matching stone outbuildings, lovely horses and ponies in their pastures, and a crisp white blanket of snow which brought to mind the images beloved by Rockwell.

The herd of Welsh Corgi’s that greeted us personified charm. Terese, the farm owner, met us at the end of the drive as we unloaded her new horse. The warmth that she exuded upon meeting Jennifer and welcoming Countero home may well have melted the snow upon which we stood.

We settled Countero into his spacious box stall in the beautifully restored barn, while Terese shared with Jennifer heartfelt thanks for allowing her to bring such a special horse into her life. She then led us into the house with an offer of lunch, which we happily accepted.

It seems Terese likes to cook on the weekends, and had prepared a huge meal of lasagne, salad, fruit, broccoli salad and brownies. The food was outstanding, the company even better. We lingered for hours over coffee enjoying stories about our experiences with horses, men, and life in general.

We left hours later than we had intended without a horse, but with a new friend.

The trip home was stressful.

We had no sooner gotten into the truck than Kevin called with a report that Duncan and the two Trakehner mares had gotten out and were running around the back 50 acre field. Soon the report came that another horse had escaped and the horses were headed toward the woods. I was in panic mode, more than three hours from home. Kevin hung up on me in a fit of anger.

I tried to contact him, to no avail. Fortunately I got great service, and started calling anyone I could think of to go and lend a hand in the recapture effort. Malinda wasn’t answering, Jessica was not at home, that left my wonderful and quite elderly hay guy. I made the call with some trepidation, but Ray rounded up his daughter in-law and headed to our farm. In the meantime Malinda called back, was in the area, and was also on the way to our place.

By the time rescue teams arrived, Kevin had captured the escapees and was in the house. Malinda called me with the good news. Kevin plied everyone with sugar and thanks.

We continued driving. Around Oshkosh, the trailer’s lights stopped working. It was dusk, there was traffic, the roads a bit perilous. We stopped in a parking lot and tried in vain for nearly an hour to get the lights working again. The best we could do was to get one of the running lights functional. Having run out of options, we carefully hit the road, stopping in New London to leave the trailer at the farm of one of Jennifer’s friends.

Of course this led to meeting all of the horses and dogs, being fed dessert, and quite a long stay.

By the time we arrived home it was nearly 11:00 pm.

I may have fallen asleep while brushing my teeth, but I did wake up in my bed this morning. Kevin was in the doorway telling me to come outside and look at my horse Mirelle, as she had two cuts on her jaw – one which Kevin thought was through to bone.

Rushing outside, I was relieved to see that while she did indeed have cuts on her jaw (likely a bite from one of the other horses in her pasture) they were superficial, and she was eating comfortably. Another crisis averted.

Did I mention that we have also had a foal born (Mirelle had a little filly on New Year’s Day), had a tractor that refused to start for several days (thank goodness that an Impala has a trunk big enough for three bales of hay) and a cat that had to be rushed to the emergency room again? It is never dull out here.