In Loving Memory

Hi Friends;

It has been a few days since I have checked in. Last time I told you about the loss of Patch. Today will be an update of the memorial list.


Not many folks at One Heart realize that the very first Norwegian Fjord horse donated to One Heart was Rosa. Rosa was the result of me internet surfing and finding a Fjord affectionato and "broker". This was the summer that we were working so diligently with the Sons of Norway to locate the more infamous Alma and Dagmar. Through the internet contact we were referred to the McCollum family in northern Minnesota. They had an older mare who was no longer having foals. Her primary function was as a producer of fine, Norwegian Fjord foals. When those days appeared to be finished, they considered donating her.


Again, as no example to anyone with basic sense.....I accepted this old mare sight unseen over the phone/internet. Shock of shocks, I also found her a free ride from close to the Canadian-US border all the way to Iowa. Our friend Meg was taking her trailer to the Minnesota Horse fair and the McCollums always made a point to come to the same fair. The transfer was made in the late spring and Rosa arrived at the Jungle in 2004 - Several months prior to Alma and Dagmar.


Being the first Norwegian Fjord horse for One Heart met with such honor that the true royal nature of Rosa was hidden for years. Our interest was if she was ready to go to work in the therapy arena. She passed immediately and went to work immediately. She was well suited to the task although when we asked if she was trained to ride or drive, the donors didn't know. There is a good chance that she had never been trained for either.

Rosa's registration papers did not indicate her suitability for the therapy arena so were simply filed away.


As we came to know Rosa we wanted to know more ABOUT Rosa. The registration papers led us on a little detective trail that revealed impressive facts about our simple, hard working mare. We started with her name, Anvil's Fjellrosa, registration #C-172 N-V-492-M.


The "C" in Rosa's registration # stands for Canada and there is a Fjord farm in BC called Anvil's Acres. Owners, Anita and Orville Unrau bought their first Norwegian Fjord horse from a local auction from the meat buyer. They fell in love with the horse and the breed helping to start the Canadian Norwegian Fjord registry when there were only about 75 Norwegian Fjord horses in Canada.


In 1981, the couple traveled to Norway, "the motherland" and located a stallion. After days of determined negotiation they finally convinced the owner that "Rudaren" should go to a new home in Canada. To find mares suitable for the breeding program destined to produce "Fjords today are balanced in their conformation and lead long, healthy, happy lives, with few soundness problems" The following is from Anvil Acres website - "During the winter and spring of 1981/1982 seventeen mares made the long trip from Norway to Alberta. For the first time Canada now had a good selection of bloodlines to choose from for the breeding of Fjord Horses. A number of these in-utero foals' bloodlines are still active in the Fjord world today."


One of those in-utero foals was our dear Rosa. The "N" in her registraion # stands for Norway.


From the Norwegian Fjord Horse Registry site we were to learn that Rosa produced a total of 10 foals in 12 years. She began propagating at age 6. Perhaps she was trained to ride and drive prior to that time? She had a long time to forget everything she knew by the time we got her! She arrived at One Heart in 2004 at the age of 22.


Rosa carried rider after rider and we always depended on her almost to the point of taking her for granted. Anyone could lead Rosa. Anyone could ride Rosa. Rosa could be mounted from the ramp or the mounting block. Almost as important was Rosa as lead mare of the herd. Rosa kept the peace and order for the One Heart herd until her last day.


Beginning this year every effort was made to not overload Rosa's back which showed a distinct dip, most probably from the many foals she had produced. Most people identified Rosa as the fjord who "looked pregnant". During the Special Olympics this year it was noted that Rosa was holding her tail slightly angled while tacked up. Dani examined more closely and reported a vertebrae that was a little "bumpier" than the others. Rosa showed no lameness, pain, or other indications of anything being wrong. She continued to work through Session 3.



Rosa, Dagmar, and Alma have all taught me a thing or two about Fjord horses. Most of you have heard me say that our Fjords would work until the day they simply dropped out from under their rider. This makes it even more important to keenly be tuned to a Fjord's behavior. Rosa had "mentioned" that she was cranky when riders shifted their weight or while being mounted. To accommodate her, the leader was taught to present Rosa a section of lead rope during these times. When irritated, Rosa would bite the rope. It is not unusual to have a horse object to mounting and weight shifting of the rider since that is when the girth draws tighter and the tack wiggles and wrinkles. All of our horses are allowed "issues". After all who among is is perfect? We reduced the rider numbers Rosa was assigned. Her tail only kinked when she was tacked. She didn't stumble any more than she had over the years.


On week 6 Rosa was carrying a small rider when she indicated that she needed to lay down. We loosened the girth. In another lap, we removed the rider and then the girth and pad. She was not wearing a saddle. Rosa gratefully sunk into the sandy arena. She was in pain. We had a veterinarian on the phone and a veterinarian in the arena. I raced home for the injectable pain reliever. We had just moved it out of the tack room since it was starting to freeze at night. Within a short time she had Banamine flooded into her body. Twenty minutes later she was up and grazing. The riders left Stagecoach with Rosa munching away on the lawn.


She was closely observed over the next week. Colic, a devastating intestinal condition, was ruled out. Bottom-line. Rosa's back was out. Her working days were over. Our consideration was now for her pain condition and her survivability through winter conditions.


With heavy hearts, the decision was made to have Rosa euthanized. Our friends at the Iowa State College of Veterinary Medicine supported this decision. On Nov. 4, 2009, Rosa accompanied Patch to the Vet School and we said our goodbyes. At the time of her death, there were 6 generations of "Rosa" - she leaves 12 foals, 20 grand-foals, 23 great-grand folas, 9 gt-gt-grand foals, 1 gt-gt-gt-grand foal, and 1 gt-gt-gt-gt-grand foal. All, I am sure, are beautiful, balanced in their confirmation, sound, happy, hard working, loving, and steady. Carrying on, proudly, the name Anvil. Like the ol' gal, herself.

In Loving Memory:

Anvil's Fjellrosa

Rosa

1981-2009

Until next time,

Kris