Penny and the Jet

 After moving back to Michigan, Kirk and I have talked about different possibilities and things we could do on our five little acres of land.  One of the things Kirk has always wanted to do is to own and learn to drive a team of draft horses, and name them “Benny and the Jet.” Our opportunity came one day while talking to my Amish friend Katie.  She was telling me they were taking their Belgian mare, Penny, to the “auction.”  Her feet were tired after fifteen years of working the fields and they had to retire her,  she simply couldn’t keep up.  They called her the “babysitter” as she trained every young horse they put by her side.  This family loved Penny, but they did not have the luxury of keeping her for a family pet with the soon to be nine memebers in their family.

I asked if I could come and take a look at Penny…The minute I laid eyes on her, I knew that I wanted to take her home to the farm.  Standing next to her I couldn’t believe how big she was…I mean Big!!   As I looked her over I was drawn in by her soft brown eyes, so beautiful and tired.  She was also very thin, it had been a long hard winter and between seven other horses all eating from the same round bale of hay, Penny was losing her will to live…

A few days later Kirk and I went back to talk to our friends about Penny.  Katie’s husband told us they were taking Penny to the auction soon.  He hated to do that because usually when a horse is used up they go to the “kill pen,” but he said he felt as though he had no choice.  We told him we would like to buy Penny.  We figured if nothing else she could live out the rest of her days with us on the farm, but we had a pretty good idea that if we packed some weight on her she would have a good chance for survival.  Kirk asked if we could also buy her harness… and we did.

On a chilly spring evening we went to pick Penny up.  Katherine who is eight(and named after me)=) walked out into the pasture with no shoes on, went right up to Penny with a piece of binder twine, tied it to her halter, and lead her right into the trailer.  It was amazing to watch.

Penny has adjusted extremely well and has gained well over three hundred pounds.  Our old horse Doc is happy to have a new companion and you will find them most days standing side by side under the shade trees.  When I go out to feed them in the morning I remind Penny that she is now home.  It feels good to have rescued her and watch as she becomes strong and healthy with each passing day.  As I write this I am watching her eat and wondering if she is getting a little chunky…?  She is beautiful!  Soon we will be able to harness her up to work, pulling our wagon and sleigh.  She will be doing what she loves most and what she was born to do.

Now there is something that feels very authentic about having a horse used by the Amish on our land.  She comes with a rich heritage of hard work the old fashioned way.  It takes you back to a time when life was more simple, I like that…

Did I mention the harness we have for Penny is a double work harness?  So we are now on the look out for “The Jet”  another Belgian to complete our team. 

We are looking forward to putting her to work.  We will keep you updated on our progress.

As Always,

Hope Remains!!

Kathy

Doc and Penny

My grandkids-Brooke Riley and Jackson

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