A Great Day Not to Worry About Sonny

Hi Friends;

This is the perfect day to write the memorial for Sonny. Our dear Sonny accompanied Rosa and Patch on that fateful day when the trailer made its way to the Vet school.

Before I attempt to explain what Sonny meant to the people and program of One Heart, I ask you to keep in mind that Sonny was probably the very first mount of almost every child rider we started. Sonny was an endeared and treasured pony. I want to extend my sympathy to each of our riders and the families impacted by the news of Sonny's death. Prior to this notice, some of Sonny's current riders were notified of our decision. Especially, the mothers of our 2 - 5 year olds were advised. Typically, moms remind their kids how fun it will be to ride Sonny again next year. This winter they will make their statement more impersonal. They will eagerly await the spring rides on "the horse/the pony" - not including the name. Sonny will become a fond memory.

What makes this a good day not to worry about Sonny is the fact that the entire state is under a blizzard warning. The wind is a sustained 25 miles per hour. The snowplows have been pulled from the roads. Kids are rejoicing in a snowday. The drifts are higher than the big bales. This is the kind of day that would make my grey hair fall out in clumps with worry over Sonny. Even with supportive shelter, supplemental grain, and his donkey companion, Sonny didn't have the physical reserves to withstand this climate. Tonight they predict a -25 degree windchill. The photo at the right is looking out of my office window this morning.

The horses were visited in the Jungle last evening as the snow was steadily acheiving it's first 8 inch depth. This was before the wind velocity reached its peaks. Of course, Bri, the Fjord, was unconcerned by conditions most like her "motherland" - Norway. The POAs decided their Arab ancestry was most effected by the cold. Misty, of Austrian-origin, as a Haflinger was well suited. The Tulsa-reared Morgans crowded around insisting that they deserved blankets, straw, cable, and room service. Peanut pinched his little blue eyes and scowled as if saying, "You can't find a white mini in a blizzard, let alone these drifts!"

But, for the first time in years, I have not had to worry about Sonny. Worry is its own emotional state. It is bittersweet not to worry.

Sonny came to One Heart from Eldon and Marilyn. Eldon raised his hand following my presentation at the local Rotary International meeting to ask where One Heart got its horses. I proudly announced that the horses were all donated. This led Eldon to suggest he had a small horse he would consider donating.

Maureen and I (with our kids and toys) visited Eldon's farm where Sonny had resided with the cattle herd for ten years. It took a little explaining to convince Eldon and Sonny that the hula-hoops, swim noodles, loud clapping, and shrieking voices were all necessary to conduct an adaquate introduction. Eldon shared that Sonny had been intensively treated for an undiagnosed digestive disorder that manifested in raging diarrhea. Watery, explosive, barn-coating, run downhill diarrhea. Sonny tolerated the loud and abrupt pre-trial introduction to One Heart so we accepted him on trial. Eldon refered us to the Veterinarian who had been conducting the treatment.

Sonny joined One Heart in June of 2002. The same month that the program started. Sonny was actually the 10th horse to be accepted on trial. Five horses prior to his arrival had already failed the tests. We ended our first year with four of the original 12 horses donated our first season. Those four were (in order of donation) Rosie, Babe, Soldier, and Sonny. The picture at the right is Sat. week 6, 2002. From left to right; Soldier, Kris, Rosi, Sonny, Maureen, and Babe. The horses have their ears cocked to the lifeflight helicopter that is taking off across the street to their right.

We searched for ways to describe Sonny. He color was strawberry roan, flecked, speckled, kinda brownish. His mane and tail were flaxen and brown frosted. His head was as long as his neck. His hips supported bulbus, bilateral fat pads that extended over his hips and past his tailhead. His hooves were striped, but sound. We had come into a business where you don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Even so, there was some controversy determining or even projecting Sonny's age. Eldon had owned him for 10 years and thought he was in his early 20s. The vet school rolled their eyes at the estimate and indicated it could be several years older. We decided to call him 25.

Even though the vet school supplied the dietetic supplement meant to curtail and treat his diarrhea it was still out of control. I washed the green off of his hind legs and out of his tail at the fairgrounds wash rack. I put his tail up to conserve the remaining wisps from the green liquid output. Within 30 days, the wisps gave up and simply fell out. This was not a contagious condition so Sonny was moved right in at the Jungle.

I will never forget Sonny's first introduction to the herd. For 10 years he had been isolated from equines and lived with cattle. He was overjoyed at the sight of horses! His hooves brushed the grass as he floated to meet the companions he so craved. It was not a red carpet welcome. The typical snorting, pawing and fussiness finally resolved to find Sonny at the bottom of the pecking order. He still seemed excilarated to be in a horse herd.

We started to find out who Sonny was. We decided he must be at least a POA cross bred due to his size and coloring. POA stands for Pony of the Americas (right, MK?) Let me put the imphasis on PONY. Sonny soon exhibited all those pony traits that are maddening. He didn't want to get caught. What's more maddening, he had perfected the bait and switch technique. He would bait the handler into thinking that with some grain they could lure him only to have him switch gears and move away just as fingers brushed past his neck. He didn't run away but he knew how to not get cornered. (Jennifer calls this attitude "pony-tude") This was something that had to change.

Back in the day, we were trailering the horses from the Jungle to the county fairgrounds for our classes. This meant that the herd had to be easy to catch and love trailering for this logistic to work. I finally set up a plan to mess with Sonny's pony brain. I brought the other horses into the barn lot. With Sonny's last place status in the herd besides his hesitance to get caught he was naturally the last to approach the barn lot. When the herd passed me, I simply shut the gate leaving Sonny in the big pasture and barring his way to the rest of the herd. This worked well into my plan because it created isolation for Sonny with the added benefit that the herd was out of his sight. I hoped Sonny had flashbacks to his former life with the cows when I started mooing. I wanted Sonny to play nice......be a good team member. For this he had to be readily caught.

I trailered the first load to the fairgrounds. When I returned to the barn lot for load 2, Sonny was pacing and frantic. I went to his gate and found an eager and willing pony. He shoved his head in the halter and his attitude begged me not to put him in time-out again. I never did. I never had too. If his pony-tude naturally kicked in, I would start mooing! He put on his grouchy, defeated face, but stood for me to catch him. It was a relationship I always had with Sonny. I treasured him for all he brought to the program, I even acknowledged the pony-tude. He, in return, respected the need to put up with getting caught and exchanged some pony-tude for living with the herd. It worked out very well.

Over the course of a couple of years Sonny's diarrhea went away. We celebrated the day we noted we could have stood a birthday candle up in his manure. After the long recovery, I speculated that his digestive system had tried to change into a ruminate system - that of a cow. His fat patches in odd places resulted from the definate change in metabolism. His body was remodeled and stayed that way. It didn't effect his ability to work but it did draw attention. That and his flatulence, which never quite went away. It only added to his character.

We frequently called Sonny our secret weapon for the therapy arena and especially for Special Olympics competition. Nobody seemed thrilled to be assigned to Sonny when the more glamorous and nicely conformed horses were nearby. However, when they found Sonny could walk faster than most horses trotted and the gold medals started rolling in, their minds were changed. In fact, contrary to most ponies, Sonny's walk was more dynamic than his trot. His walk could get anyone's attention and fed dynamic input into many tiny bodies. His trot was smooth enough that it didn't jolt the head carriage of his littlest riders. My image of Sonny will be forever linked to a beaming child's face. They are synonomous in my mind.

Sonny was actually "unofficially" retired for 2008. By second session of '08 our therapist called for Sonny to come back to the arena. There was a particular youngster in need of Sonny's special abilities. By this time every joint was creaking, the peculiar bumps stood out from the shrinking frame. His neck was thinner, his face was grey and his eyes a little more watery. His energy was high and his attitude was great. He was a little tender on his front left foot. Every volunteer groomed with concern past the lipomas (fatty tumors) along his ribs. A little horse "asprin" served as his linament to carry his 2-year-old rider. Because he had staged a comeback, Sonny was a featured horse in the documentary filmed for viewing in the Fall of 2010 on PBS. I hope his impact will be immortalized if they select this part of the feature.

The decision to euthanize Sonny was complied from his physical condition, his age - somewhere in the 30s, and the fact the the Jungle is inaccesible. If Sonny could not reach shelter or feed we would be unable to assist him. And today's conditions are not creating an ulcer for me worrying about either.

Sonny served one final three year old. He worked through week 6 of Session 3, 2009.

Sonny was everything he could be to One Heart. He was the right size, the right gait. He had pony-tude and gentleness. He was both pretty and funny looking and had gas. He brought pleasure and accomplishment to every rider. He was a champion. He was the donkey's only friend.

We will miss you, our dear, Sonny.

In Loving Memory

Sonny

197x? - 2009

Sonny's last ride.

Until next time;

Kris