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Farm News
October 2009
Introduction
Although there is no question GEVA is first and foremost an equine retirement and rehabilitation foundation, Pam simply refers to it as "the farm". Not "the refuge" or "the sanctuary" or the "retirement home" or even that old Western standby, "the ranch". Just "the farm". But don't let that deceive you - it is a very special place. Not only because of the horses who live there, although they are undoubtedly the main reason, but because of everything else that is there as well, like the mountains and how they change with the light, and the vineyards nearby and how they change with the seasons; even the dust, the heat, and the wind; the cats, of course; and the wildlife, especially when the wildlife interacts with the horses.
One day this past Spring, Pam and I were watching 9 wild ducklings swim nonchalantly around the pond with their parents while the horses nibbled at the vegetation growing along the water's edge, and we got to talking. "You know," Pam said, "If we get a kick out of watching these ducklings grow up, I bet others would get a kick out of it, too," and so the idea for a Farm News section on the GEVA website was born.
Pam would be writing the entries for this section herself, but she has way too much to do already, so I offered to give it a try. And who am I? I am one of the lucky people who volunteer at the farm. I go there two days a week, and my name is Anne Koletzke.
So here it is, the first entry of Farm News, which is, I'm afraid - and with apologies to the ducklings - about a horse.
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 Nopie on the day he arrived at GEVA in March 2009
(photo by Christine Churchill)
On a cold winter day at Nebraska's Fonner Park - February 20, 2009 to be precise, just three days before his 4th birthday - a dark bay horse with the improbable name of Nopie ran his last race. At least he tried to. He stumbled coming out of the gate, pulled up lame, and was vanned off the track. We now know he pulled his suspensory ligament and in so doing tore away a piece of the sesamoid bone in his left front ankle. The real tragedy of this already sad story is that Nopie should never have been entered in that race in the first place.
Nopie's story, what we know of it, began on a happy note in Northern California in December 2008, when he won two races back-to-back at Golden Gate Fields. But the note quickly turned sour when he didn't even place in his next race. Something had to be wrong. And it was - X-rays taken in January 2009 revealed there was an irregularity developing in the sesamoid bones of his left ankle. Instead of giving the horse's ankle the rest it needed - which would have been costly, especially for a low-level claimer such as Nopie - his owner transferred him to a trainer in Arizona to see how he would do in a lower-level claiming race. Again, Nopie finished at the back of the pack. So Nopie was sold to an owner/trainer in Nebraska, who, fully aware of Nopie's compromised ankle, kept Nopie in training anyway and entered him in the race at Fonner Park.
Fortunately, Nopie had something going for him that, in a very real sense, saved his life - his BIG, PLAYFUL, SUNNY personality. A personality that two women, Chelle and Joyce, had fallen in love with when they met him at Golden Gate Fields. Assuming Nopie had been retired because of his ankle, Chelle and Joyce were horrified to learn he was scheduled to race at Fonner Park. Desperate to save him from what they feared was certain disaster, they pulled out all the stops to try and buy him before the race, but the owner refused, because he was absolutely certain his horse was going to win. After the race, of course, he was only too eager to sell. Chelle and Joyce hadn't been able to save the horse from disaster, but at least they had him. Nopie was coming home.
But Nopie needed a place to stay where he could be tended to while he gained some much-needed weight and his leg healed. To the delight of everyone at GEVA, Chelle and Joyce chose to place him in Pam's capable hands until he was well. Since Nopie was looking at 6 to 9 months of confinement, Pam created a small paddock for him in front of his stall so he could spend his days getting lots of fresh air and watching the other horses on the farm. Her original plan was that Nopie would spend his nights inside the stall, but Nopie soon made it clear he didn't think much of that idea, so the paddock became his full-time home. Now, 7 months later, he has graduated to having simultaneous access to both his paddock and his stall, and judging from the number of times he moves from one to the other during the day, he very much approves of this new arrangement.
Such long-term confinement is a lot to ask of a horse, but Nopie has not only risen to the challenge, he has managed to maintain his BIG, PLAYFUL, SUNNY personality through it all. That said, there's no denying that BIG, PLAYFUL, and SUNNY, however endearing, is not always easy to live with. For example, should you decide to tidy up Nopie's paddock, here is what awaits you:
Oh boy, look, a playmate, a playmate is coming into my paddock. Can we play? Can we play? Huh? Can we? No? You have to work? Well, OK, I can help, I can help. Yes I can. Oh, I'm sure I can. Like what's this? Your hat? Well what's that for? Don't you think it'd look better over here on the floor? Hey, what's this long pole? Handle of the pitchfork? Wow, look at how I can move it around with my shoulder; I'm sure that helps you so much. Here, let me move it some more. Hmmm. Maybe if I chewed on it, I'd be helping you even more. Wow, you got a carrot in these pockets? No? I'll bet you do. Let me just check and see for myself. Boy, this is a really deep pocket. You sure there's nothing in the bottom here, just over here in this little corner? Hey, what's this funny looking tab on the front of your jacket? Oh, wow, if I get it between my teeth and pull on it, it goes up and down. This is really fun, don't you think? Up and down and up and down. You leaving? Why are you leaving? We were just getting started. Oh, oh my, maybe you're going to get me carrots. No, no, not that way, over here, in the big white box that's cold inside and has the door I know how to hold open with my chin. Oh nuts, you're going over to visit that other horse. Phooey! He gets all the attention. Like I'm not hurt, too. See, here, my left front leg? See? The one I'm pawing up all the bedding with? That's the one. It's hurt really, really, bad. You need to come check it out. I'll bite all the wrapping off if you don't. Oh wait! You're not stopping to see that other horse after all, you're going to the buckets. The buckets! Food! OH WOW, you've got MY BLUE BUCKET! You're rinsing out MY BLUE BUCKET. YOU'RE GOING TO BRING ME FOOD! But no, you've put my bucket down. You must have forgotten I'm over here. I'd better make some noise to remind you. Hey, I'm over here! Here! Here! Over here! Me!!! The one with the hurt leg and all his ribs showing - well, they used to be showing - I'm hurt! I'm starving! I'm . . . Excuse me, but where do you think you're going? You're leaving me here?! All alone?! You're going off to do what? To go clean water tanks? You're going to go clean water tanks instead of staying here to play with me? Are you out of your mind?! Hello . . . anyone there? Hmphf! Oh well, She'll be back. She always comes back. They all do. They dote on me. And how could they not. I'm Nopie!
Thanks for stopping by. See you again next week,
Anne
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