Merri Travels

I Want My Brother

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Saturday January 31 2009

Poor Jose. He's so bored without Mac (who's down south doing endurance rides) and his half-brother Kazam to play with.

Poor Kazam. He is locked up in the Lame Pen, as he has been on and off for months. We thought it was Kazam's foot that was bothering him, but no, recently the vet found a sore high suspensory. He wasn't obviously lame unless you lunged him in a circle (and then only showing up when the leg was on the outside of the circle); it was never bad, but it just never went away. That probably had something to do with the fierce horseplay he and Jose always engaged in. Before we knew it was his suspensory, I'd let Kazam out with Jose, because it was SO hard to keep him locked up, ("criminal!" Steph agreed), because they have SUCH a great time together. But now, Jose and Kazam are separated until Kazam completely heals. He's getting sound, but it's a long, sad, boring process, as hard for me as it is for Jose and Kazam. Now the two half-brothers can only gaze at each other wistfully, longingly, over the fence.

Kazam spends his days eating hay and chewing his fence rails. When I walk in his pen with a halter for somebody else, he comes up and tries to put the halter on himself.

Jose gives me these pointed looks when he stands near Kazam's pen. He tries to get the other horses to play with him, but it's just not the same as Mac or Kazam. He has tried cautiously to pester Dudley, but Dudley just gets annoyed. He backs his butt up to Jose, and he will kick, and not in play. Quickie is a cranky old lady; Jose doesn't even try with her. Princess is a snot, and thinks she's a Princess and above it all. Jose's a bit scared of her and gives her a wide berth. Stormy, in his middle age, is not very playful, and besides he always has other things on his mind (food). Finneas can sometimes be slightly motivated to play a little... but he doesn't put his heart into it. One day Jose got Finneas interested in a little nose-to-nose combat, a little pawing, a little rearing, a little lunging, a little romping... before Finneas lost interest.

And one day, for a little glorious moment, Jose got the other three he was turned out with - Princess, Stormy, FInneas - running together. And then they went back to eating. I think Jose tells them a cougar is up the canyon and they all bolt in fear until they figure out it was just Jose wanting to play.

When nobody else will play, Jose will zoom around himself,





but it's just not quite the same as when somebody else shares your intense passion for real fun - like his half brother.

Jose goes back to gazing at Kazam over the fence; and Kazam stands off by himself in his pen, forlorn.