Showing posts with label Wildwood Destiny. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wildwood Destiny. Show all posts

Hearts in the Sand

Posted by Sharon Labels: , , ,

The sun had already set as I slowly drove through the trees and down the sandy driveway to my yard. I had met my friend at the corner and we had driven to Williams Lake for shopping and dinner but now, possibly for the first time, I didn't want to come home.

Bypassing my house yard, I drove past the gate and parked close to the barn, turned the key off, got out and put one leaden foot in front of the other, glancing at the old round pen to my left but walking instead to the barn to feed my stallions, one in the barn and one in a pen behind. It was then I saw the first heart drawn in the sand at the door of my barn. 


I knew what the significance of the heart in the sand was... Thinking about that, I forked feed to Little Wolf and Wolf, then plodded by the old round pen again on a path across the arena to check and feed the broodmares. Usually my two pretty fillies, Perfect and Cameo, lifted my spirits but tonight I doubted they would. Feed them I must though so I shuffled along eyes to the ground . . . and stopped. There, in the harrow drag-track across the arena, was another heart, carefully scribed, carefully positioned so I would see it when I crossed the arena.


Hearts in the sand. I knew who drew them . . . and why. "I thought they might cheer you up," he said later. Well, no - the hearts in the sand didn't cheer me up but I so appreciated the effort because, you see, I had come home that evening to one less horse. Destiny was gone.

Wildwood Destiny entered my world on April 20, 1993 and immediately captured my heart. The first foal for my good mare, Wildwood Tamarac, I had great expectations for her. Her sire was an own son of Doc Bar and double bred King; her dam was sired by Solanos Peppy San. I was sure she would be a reining horse and had plans to train her and compete in the NRHA Futurity in Oklahoma City in 1996.

April 20, 1993 - Destiny born to Tamarac
But my talented little bay mare was "destined" to overcome adversity time and time again. Savaged by her mother when she was only a few hours old, lost in the mountains when she was two, sustaining a traumatic shoulder injury at three and surgery and three pins in her leg at four years old, we missed the futurity. I entered the reining pen only a few times before breeding her. Again, she faced pain, the pain of losing her three week old filly. 

Destiny and her first born, Lace.
Through it all she remained cheerful and tough - really tough. She learned to not only survive but thrive and went on to gift me with wonderful trail rides, beautiful foals and a charming stable presence. Last year she raised her last foal and I did not breed her again, believing she would be with me for several years of retirement. I was wrong. A sudden debilitating lameness left me only with a choice I did not want to make. For the past few months I spent time with her every day, moving her to grass, penning her alone at night so she would not be hurt running from the others. She was never far from me and she always greeted me with ears up and often whinnied, making a difficult decision even more difficult.

On July 12, a vet humanely euthanized Destiny at home. I lost a very special friend and the fourth of what I call "The Dynasty". 

The morning after I discovered the 'hearts in the sand', I walked to Destiny's grave by the fence east of the house. There I found another heart - this one outlined in river stone - and inside the heart, a "bouquet" of grass and alfalfa in flower. While my friend had kept me company her husband had tried his very best to ease the pain he knew I would feel when I came home to an empty pen. Thank you, my friends, for lifting my heart just a little...


And now life begins without Destiny, although I still imagine I see her face looking through the rails at me with her ears up and her nose stretched to my hand as it was when I said goodbye. I can still feel the softness of that nose although she has been gone for a week. 

Destiny (center with head up) with her family 1999
Duchess, Mahogany (at back)
Tamarac and Silk (mare and foal upper right)
Kokanee, Promise, Whisper and Harmony)
Duchess, Mahogany, Tamarac (Desiny's maternal ancestors) and her little filly, Lace, are buried on myold property in Armstrong and Destiny is here in the Chilcotin but I like to think they are together now as they were in the photo above. And the legacy of this fine maternal line still lives . . . in Legacy and Legacy's offspring. Last spring Destiny's daughter, Legacy, foaled out a beautiful bay filly that I named Wildwood Perfect Six because she is the first of the sixth generation of this line of Wildwood mares. Perfect, Legacy and Legacy's siblings - Whiskey, Sable, Honor, Magic and Breeze - carry the genes of this fine mare. She will never really be gone.

I took the photos below on July 12, 2012, the last day I spent with Destiny. The first is of Destiny with Legacy and Perfect - I thought she should meet her granddaughter. In the second photo, Destiny is looking off in the distance. What is she thinking here? That she would like to trot over the hills like she used to? I hope she's doing that now. 
Legacy, Perfect and Destiny

Those hearts in the sand have been erased by the footsteps of her stable mates (somehow fitting) but my memories of Destiny will live on. For nineteen years she was part of my world. Now a river rock 'heart' marks her final resting place. I go to see her there every day. Miss you, girl. Rest in peace.

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The legacy continues...

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In the early hours of May 7th, my good mare, Legacy (Wildwood Legacy Lace) foaled out a beautiful bay filly. While every foal is a miracle and every foaling a landmark event, this one was more special and more noteworthy than most. This filly is the first of a sixth generation Wildwood mares. Here's how it goes: 

Duchess and I at CFR 1974

In 1968, I bought a two-year-old mare from Doug and Nancy Dear in Montana. Her name was Ma Dear but I immediately called her Duchess. Race bred (sired by Pasamonte Paul out of a Classy Bar mare), powerful and athletic, she was to be my next barrel racing mare. That she was – she took me to a CCA championship and the Canadian National Finals – but what I didn’t know is that she would found a dynasty of Wildwood horses. Duchess lived to be 36 and was with me for 34 years. She lived to see four descending generations.






Wildwood Mahogany
In 1979, I bred to Duchess to my stallion, Seco Top Moon (a black son of Top Moon) and she foaled out a bay filly, Wildwood Mahogany. I trained Mahogany and both my daughter and I
showed her in a wide variety of classes from halter to reining.





 

Wildwood Tamarac
 
Now hooked on reining, I bred Mahogany to Solanos Peppy San and, in 1987, she foaled out Wildwood Tamarac, a sorrel mare with undeniable talent, sweet personality and a fantastic disposition. I trained and showed Tamarac in reining competitions in Saskatchewan, Alberta and BC as well as many reining demonstrations. She was my first futurity reining horse! Tamarac is not only an important link in this dynasty; she is also a key element in the gene pool of many my Quarter Horses.




Wildwood Destiny

Since I wanted a foal from this good mare, I bred Tamarac and, in 1993 she gave me Wildwood Destiny, a bay filly sired by Podoco (grandson of Doc Bar with strong King breeding on the bottom). Like Destiny’s maternal ancestors, I trained and showed her. She was a dream to ride!

By now I knew I was building a dynasty! Tamarac produced six fillies in a row before producing a colt. At this point, my focus was the maternal line as I had access to sires with performance records so I was thrilled to have so many fillies from such a good mare.





Wildwood Legacy Lace packing

Not to be undone, Destiny foaled out five fillies in a row when she entered the broodmare band. The one I selected to keep was Wildwood Legacy Lace, a bay daughter of Listo Pollito Lena born in 2003. Like the rest, she went into training but, although she is a finished reining horse, I showed her only lightly, mostly because I moved and had to make a choice which horse to show. I did use Legacy trail riding, packing and as a wonderful quiet lesson horse.



Wildwood Legacy Lace and the new generation.
 Last year I bred Legacy to my stallion, Walking With Wolves and in the quiet hours of the morning of May 7th, Legacy presented me with the next generation of this Wildwood Dynasty – a beautiful, strong, healthy bay filly that taxed her mother’s strength (and mine!) to the maximum. She's perfect and she carries the genes of five great mares that I have raised, ridden, shown and bonded with. It seems like this new addition to the dynasty should have a name befitting the occasion but I have not settled on one yet. If I can’t find one that connects the dots, I will call her Shiraz. She’s bold, full-bodied and, like a fine wine, better with age.

It’s interesting that the first foal for all of the mares in this maternal line was a filly. Even Mahogany, who went on to produce several colts, had a filly first. Duchess, Mahogany, Tamarac, Destiny, Legacy and now little Shiraz. The legacy continues…



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How was your day?

Posted by Sharon Labels: , , , , ,

Yesterday was Father's Day and, although my father has been gone for many years now, the day brought many memories back. I reminisced (to myself) about my childhood on the Diamond Dot Ranch with my parents and my brother. Those were happy times.

Brother Harold, Dad, Mom and I (1954)
These days I am trying to be happy. My last two blogs on Reinin', Ridin' and Writin' were not cheerful and this one is going be - even if I have to make a big effort... So, since there is nothing on the planet more joyful than young things, especially foals, I chose that as my focus. I would spend time with the mares and foals to re-kindle my spirit.

First I walked into the pasture with my camera to find Destiny, Whiskey, Easter and Timber. "The boys" are together now and lovin' it. They are very close in age and will grow up together. These are a few of the photos I took when I hung out with them.

Wildwood Destiny and Wildwood N Whiskey

Poco Easter Lena and Wildwood Timber Wolf

Wildwood Timber Wolf
Wildwood N Whiskey - 2 months
Wildwood Feather is in a pen with her mother, Silk. At only 11 days old, she is too young and delicate to play with the boys yet but I led Silk to the picnic area under the trees to munch on grass. It was the first time Feather had had so much freedom and, after tentatively testing the distance between her and her mother, she happily explored - the hitching rail (which she ran into!), the hammock (which fortunately she didn't run into!), the wheelbarrow of flowers, trees, clumps of grass - always spinning away and dashing in a wild circle around Silk and I. Who could not feel joy watching such carefree fun?
Wildwood Soul O Silk and Wildwood Feather
Feather at 11 days

Feather running for the pure joy of it!
And that was my day - quiet but quietly satisfying - a little healthy nostalgia and a little quality time with my mares and foals. How was yours?

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