Friday, July 10, 2015

RIP Dear Pippin

We Dreamers like to go to the Harley Troyer Driving Horse, Carriage and Mule Auction. They have so much more than the horses and carriages. It is fun to see (and sometimes bid on) different sorts of tools and bric-a-brac. This is the auction where I purchased my Haffie team many years ago... and the auction where I sold my Haffies when I realized I could not give them what they needed. Each year we receive a program with pictures of consigned horses and carriages. I always enjoy looking through the catalog - and I always look at the Haflingers!

A few days before the auction I checked the online program and paid a bit more attention to this guy:


I pulled up a picture I had taken years ago....


I flipped back and forth between the pictures
and compared each twist and turn of the blaze.

OMG.... the Haflinger Gelding featured for sale is none other than my Doc. 

"He lost his mate."

What the heck is that all about?!

I couldn't sleep.
I was so upset.
What could have happened to my dear Pippin?

I had to know.

. We Dreamers drove up to the auction this morning. 
We found Doc and had a little bit of a reunion. 


I don't think he remembered me.
He didn't greet me with the deep, soft nicker I used to love. 
But, then again, I wasn't carrying a feed bucket!

We chatted with his current owner and found out that Pippin and his equine buddies took shelter under a tree last fall. The tree was struck by lightning, and Pippin was hit, and killed instantly. Poor boy - but oh so much better than the other nightmarish images of a suffering horse I had conjured up. 

Doc will be auctioned off tomorrow.  I won't go. I can't go.
It is so damned hard. 

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about my lovely team of Haffies.... and wish I still had them in my back yard. But, I also know that three years ago, after a lot of soul searching, I realized I could not give the horses what they needed. They needed a job. They needed to be busy. And thus I sold them. Today, nothing has changed. 

All I can hope is that Doc finds another loving family who treasures him and gives him the opportunity to bring value to their lives. 

10 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear about Pippin. I am sure it is/was extremely hard to let them go. It's already been three years, wow. Truly hope Doc finds a good home, with a new buddy.

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    1. He is such a nice, large Haffie. I think someone will grab him and match him up again.

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  2. I am so sorry, I bet Doc misses Pippen too. You made the right decision three years ago...your heart just doesn't know it yet:)

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    1. Oh, thank you for your reply. You have no idea (well, actually, you do!) how terrible I feel - and many of my friends are giving me a bit of a hard time for not buying Doc back. You have made me feel better about it. Thank you, again!

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  3. Can't even imagine how your heart dropped when you realized it was Doc. I'm sure if you thought you could give him what he needs, he'd be back with you now. Went through something similar when I saw my first horse on the market. It's rough, I know. RIP Pippin.

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    1. You are so right about the heart dropping. Someone had a fist around my heart. I had a difficult time sleeping, envisioning all kinds of terrible things.

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  4. I know that was hard, but I hope it eased your mind to know Pippin's fate. I'm sorry he died, and I know how you feel. We have horses and just lost our first one a few months ago. It was heartbreaking and still is. We had him for 26 years. Bless you.

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  5. Oh how sad for Pippin! I didn't even realize you'd sold them (must have been while I was gone). Can't blame you for not going though (I know if I did I'd wind up bringing him right back home again ;o)

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  6. this is so sad. I think about them often too because they were just so special. There are many horses on the blogs, but few as magnificent as those two. I hope Doc finds the best home ever.

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