Goodbye Pretty Girl & Heartbroken Max

I had to come back into town for barn emergency. In the 2 months that I have been gone for my operation, Pretty Girl's mom has had 3 incidents on the trail with verbally abusive hikers. So she decided to take her away from Max and board her in Burbank. Yesterday was a very sad day for Max. My friend and I(as I am still not allowed to handle him) took him on a walk down the path, and Pretty was walked up the path to the top gate where her hauler was waiting. After a little grass snacks, Max started getting ancy and wanted to go back to be with his girlfriend. As soon as we arrived back home, his ears pricked up-she wasnt there. He had already started getting upset and my friend qwickly slipped his halter off. It was heartbreaking to watch him as he ran in circles screaming for her, working up a sweat. He carried on for a few hours, then running to one side and cried loud and waited to hear a response from her. No response. He ran to a different side of the corral and screamed, stood at attention with pricked up ears. Still no response. It was heartbreaking to watch him experienceing such greif over his loss. The sun set, we got him cooled down, and got him to eat a little, then he would go back to the fence and just watch and wait for her to come back. Shes not coming back. We left to go eat, then I drove myself back alone. Yesterday was the first day I drove my car since my incident at Thanksgiving. That is a great step for me. I just wish it was under better circumstances. Because of the fact that I need to return to Vegas to begin my Physical Therapy for 2 or 3 months, I have made the very difficult decision to move Max an hour north to his trainers Ranch. He will have 8 other horses to play with and 2 acres to run free. During this time I plan to have his feet done, and next month I should be able to afford to have his teeth finally done, and he will be in the best of care with the most wonderful trainers that I have learned alot from. He will return in better shape physically and behavioraly. I pray when I am more healed, I will be able to work with him again, and I intend on bringing him back to Runyon this Spring. Hopefully by Summer I will be allowed to ride again with Doc's approval. I am very torn about Delilah, as they do have a very special bond-especially when she had her leg amputated. I now am left with worrying about no horses being around, and the cyotes coming to get her. I am making efforts to take her with Max for "Spring Boot Camp". I am still waiting to see if this is possible. I would be beside myself if anything happened to her. We WILL be back by Spring. Today is Max's last day and we will be moving him tomorrow. Very sad indeed, as it is all brought about by hikers(guests in our driveway), who refuse to leash their dogs where signs are posted, and yell at us. Yes it IS an active driveway-there is a posted sign for that as well; so I dont understand why people get mad & yell ugliness, when we are creeping at 4 MPH in our own driveway-where we pay to be. Please keep your dogs on leashes. Please dont listen to your ear buds(or your phone) so loud that you cannot hear a car, or a horse on the trail-then you get upset and yell. It is non-sensical & YOU are in the wrong, not us. I dont understand. I thought Runyon was a beautiful place to come and hike, relax, and enjoy the beauty of life. My heart is heavy. Tomorrow there will be a few less beautiful things at Runyon, that so very many people loved to visit so much. I have enjoyed meeting many of you and seeing you on a daily basis. We will miss you greatly. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers, and we will be back. Pretty Girl & Max Runyon Kiss Goodbye 01-23-2013

Max & Pretty Girl ~ Part 1

Max had been alone for some time, at least he had Delilah. And he had me. I was so happy when Pretty Girl came, he fell more in love with her than any of his previous barnmates. Litterally 1 week after her arrival, I was falling down in peoples driveways when I was walking my dog. I thought it was sciatica. I am no stranger to back pain, but it was bearable and i could live with it. This was an entirely new kind of pain. I would lay there for a while until I could roll over onto my knees, and slowly get up and hobble home. People would come out of their hauses to see if I was okay. So I stopped walking the dog. The pain rapidly progressed until I could no longer walk at all and was crawling around my haus on my hands and knees screaming with pain. I could not even sit, just lay flat or crawl. I am a "starving artist", and Max was a rescue that was a dream come true for me. Needless to say, I do not have health insurance, nor am I a rich girl. Just rich in Spirit. After crawling around the haus crying for 5 days, I broke down and called family, who flew over to LA, loaded me in the back of the car and took me to Vegas for treatment. Emergency Room, morphine drip, then MRI that showed the serious state of my spine. Severe degeneraton and arthritic spine with 3 buldging discs and major herniated discs. I was put on steroids, and pain pills, and muscle relaxers, and sent home(Vegas)to wait for swelling to go down so that surgery could be done. That was the last week of November. I am now 1 month out of surgery. I can walk short distances, and put my own shoes on. I have weened myself off all of the drugs I was put on. I am waiting to start my rehab/Physical Therapy, Doc says I am to stay here in Vegas. Doc says I am not allowed to go back home to Los Angeles for 2-3 months minimum(but for very short visits), and it will be 8+ months before I am allowed to ride Max again. This breaks my heart as he is my world. I used to go to Runyon to see him once or twice a day. He IS my therapy. I am told if I do not do as instructed, I will seriously jeopardize my spine procedure, and next time it would mean fusing my spine together and inserting rods;and I could forget about riding for good. It could lead to serious handicapt or even paralyzation. I am a young 41 year old who is used to Pilates Plus 5 times a week, hiking Runyon, and riding Max. Its a very difficult adjustment for me. The hardest part is being away from Max. I have seen him once during this time. He apparently did not miss me as much as I have missed him, because he is busy having separation anxiety from Pretty Girl. When she goes on a walk, and he must stay behind, he gets very very upset and runs in circles around the pen crying out and working himself into a sweat. Pretty Girl feels the same way. When my friend recently took Max out for a walk, I was told when they returned she had worked herself up so much that it look like someone took a hose and just dowsed her with water, she was sweating so bad. Separation anxiety is not a good thing. Being "Barn Sour" leads to behavioral problems. I had started "Tie Training" them both, and was only 4 days into it when I was incapacitated and taken away. But I thought, if I am torn away from him, at least he has her. So I was greatful.