Hello Patty, BayMar was a horse i got when he
was 4 years old and i got him by a truck valued at $750, and i paid $100 a month
for 7 and 1/2 months to pay him off ($1500). I found out you either
ride an Arabian or you chase one, so i wanted one and found BayMar. Being
poor i had to pay him off in time. He was sent to a trainer and i started
to ride him arround here and started in the LD program and rode in a few 50's
til we took the step to 100's, which was a more logical approach that what i did
w/ Jose and just jump into the big pond.
BayMar was an 'old man personality' even as a young
man (i know people like that too) and he was somewhat an arrogant horse,
especially to other horses. He was about 10 or so and i went to the field
one day and he looked like he had a stroke. He lost all backward mobility
(stumbled when walked backwards w/ no co-ordination and would have fell down if
we hadn't kept him up), his tongue was hanging out and his head was at a side
angle...what appeared as a stroke. The only damage that was observed was a
scrape on his head. The only thing that we could figure was he was chasing
a horse and hit a post and got some nerve damage. I think a Vet could
probably give a name to this malady, but he got the name Loppy because he held
his head to the side and even went down the trail 'sideways'. Everything
was somewhat normal after a while, except he held his head to the side.
When i took him to the ROC he had progressed to where he coud go, but he just
looked weird. Even to this day, 15 years later he has a slight paralysis
of the lip and he holds his head to the side.
It was one of those things that one will never know
and he don't want to talk about it, so i'll never know. I'm sure he's not
the only horse that ever had this condition and other people have had it happen
to them, but he was sound and we had many more rides after the
injury.
Maybe it was his payback for being so arrogant to
the other horses, i don't know, and probably will never know, except there was
life on the trail after the injury.
tom, i don't know about this horse, am sure there
are other's who don't either. i'd love to know this story...please
share?
patty in georgia
Man does not have the only memory, The animals remember, The earth
remembers, The stones remember, If you know how to listen, they will
tell you many things.
the most thrilling event i ever did was
the ROC, when BayMar came down that hill in Colorado in 21st place, after he
suffered a nerve injury to his head and was made fun of, in that he carried
his head to the side. Not the Gold Medal Team in Germany or his 2 OD
completions or his BC in SC...it was after he overcame what was considered
his demise and injury.
