space & liberty
To travel with my wonderful companion Rocky has enabled me to become very close to wildlife and has helped me to gather precious data over many years. Rocky is magnificent, rough coated in winter, smooth and silky in summer with kind and intelligent eyes, a truly gentle giant of a horse. We all love and admire him, he is easy to handle and perfectly safe.
One summer’s morning however something was wrong. A usual quick stare would indicate a human approach one that would be logged in his attendance register but sadly not this day. Rocky had been attacked sometime during the night or early morning by a heavy horse, the extent of his injuries were a damaged stifle joint and the mother of all swellings to his hip. He couldn’t have been further away from the gate, he was in the top corner of the field and I knew this was going to be a long and painful walk for him. He lumbered very slowly towards me in obvious pain, he turned to look at me questioningly and I would speak soft words of praise and persuasion to him, it was all that was needed. It seemed to take an age just to get to the edge of the field and through the gate, over the bridge and along the path to his stable, a five minute walk which took almost an hour to complete, such was his pain.
The vet was called and spoke worryingly about his condition, my heart sank. The prognosis at that time wasn’t good; he was given a strong pain relieving injection and placed in his stable until the following day. We had a very worrying twenty four hours, unable to work, eat or sleep, what would the outcome be? The next morning three vets turned up with a portable x-ray machine, Rocky was walked down to the bottom of the farm yard into an out building and sedated. The vet took my wife to one side and quietly confided that the outcome could be very serious and Rocky may have to be put to sleep. I was having none of it!
He was to spend the next 16 weeks in his stable on ‘box rest’. I was now however to become his carer spending every possible moment with him. I would go down early in the morning, feed, groom him and speak softly to him; the radio would take over once I had left for work. At lunchtime I would return, attend to his needs and eat my lunch. My dear wife and I would come back after work and have our evening meal by his side. Later in the evening she would stay with him for a few hours, he was also monitored throughout the day by other family members, other horse owners and the farmer who popped in to keep up his spirits. It’s just as important to care for his mental wellbeing as for his physical wellbeing.
I would gather all his favourite herbage and tie it together in a bunch; he would select all he needed. I would now call upon all my stock of knowledge. The better you know an animal the more use you can be to him. I feel certain that when the occasion demands animals do seek out plants that help them to recover from both illness and injury, Thistles, nettles, umbelifers, oat grass, willow and ash to name but a few. I must now, pay a great debt to my dear friend Mary the retired veterinarian and herbalist who shared her wealth of knowledge with me all those years ago. For a long time I have observed the depth of emotional and physical attachment that horses kept together feel for each other, but Rocky was different, I was all he ever needed. He was however, to make a wonderful recovery, the vet was duly impressed. An animal living at ease with proper care and good nourishment is a fine bolster for good health. I was now back in the saddle once again. Rocky by this time had his own field, he had space and liberty and no-one was going to hurt him ever again. He would be returned to the safety of his stable every night.
On one of our many rides together one sunny day in April, I observed two male hares (Jacks) duelling, however, hidden in the blind close by was a female hare (Jill) watching tentatively. After a while the victor made his way to the Jill, mounted her and made passionate love to her. At that very moment I dismounted and walked towards them, they totally dismissed my presence allowing me to have very close contact with them. Rocky stood motionless throughout.
One bright summer’s morning whilst turning Rocky out into his field there to my surprise stood a fox with a rabbit hanging limp in its mouth, I was dumb struck, a true goose bump moment and one I will never forget. The fox spotted Rocky but not me, and then all of a sudden whilst detecting my presence he lowered his head and released his captive, he quickly turned and fled along the edge of the field. I slowly moved towards the poor rabbit lying lifeless on the ground, when all of a sudden it sprang to its feet and ran away. Later that day I returned to clean his stable and prepare his evening meal, the weather was perfect and I decided to leave him out for a few more hours to enjoy the sunshine. In the sunbeams of a summer’s evening I watched Rocky slowly amble away closely followed by the Wagtails gorging themselves on the many horseflies that surrounded him and the swallows’ acrobatics as they feasted on the many gnats which filled the evening air.
I soon realised that I had a much greater advantage than anyone else, all this information was gleaned directly from nature, what I myself have seen and not being reliant on the dictates of any other master but myself. These daily observations and reflections over many years with Rocky are all condensed in my little journals.
