When I was a little girl, I dreamed of horses, I drew horses, I was obsessed with horses. I lived in Quesnel, on a small acreage and I prayed and prayed that one day I could have a horse. When I was 12, my parents told me that I could have a horse if I built the corral, so I did! I’m not sure that they were prepared for that reality, but they stuck to their word. She was a purebred registered quarter horse, named Miss Peeti Poco, and I loved her more than anything in the world! I rode her every day, for as long as I could, and scared my parents half to death on more than one occasion. On one of these occasions, I had a friend visiting from Bella Coola (where I live now). We had borrowed another horse from a friend so that we could go riding together. I let my friend ride my placid mare, and I rode the gorgeous bay. She looked a lot like this one, glossy reddish brown coat, shining, blue black mane and a wide blaze down the middle of her face. We were out about 5km in the woods, when she went down. I saw the pain in her eyes right away, and knew she was colicking. I was terrified! I knew that this was life or death for her. I made her run the whole way home. She went down three or four times, and each time, I’d have to leap off and get out of the way of the 1000 pound animal, and then haul her to her feet and make her go again. We finally arrived at the home of a friend who had horses. We called the vet, but he was out on another call, so we took turns pulling her to her feet, and walking her in circles. By the end of the ordeal, we were exhausted, and some men took over. One of them had a painkiller for horses, which kept her up until the vet could arrive and work his magic. He told us we saved her life and if I hadn’t thought quickly and kept her on her feet that she would have died.
So this is my homage to that sweet little horse. I don’t remember her name, just that she was spunky and spirited, a lovely little Morgan/Arab cross…
She’ll be up for sale on DailyPaintworks tomorrow, starting at $49. The dimensions are 6″ x 8″ and it is painted on stretched 3/4 inch profile canvas. Click here to bid.
