Aladdin

Many of you have heard about my rescue horse, Aladdin. This is Aladdin's story.

When I first moved to the farm, I only had one horse to bring here with me. But my friend Sheri had a horse named Hershey that I have boarded for her. So I did have two horses together. Hershey and my yearling filly, Velvet.

I loved watching them in the field. They really liked each other and they would run together. They often ran like they were a team. It was almost like they were tied together. One would turn and the other would turn too. It was pretty to watch.

One day Sheri called me and told me she would be coming after Hershey. She wanted to take her for a trail ride. I was a little concerned since that would leave Velvet in the field by herself. But Sheri had already worked that out. She said she would bring another horse to put in the field with Velvet so she would not be alone.

The day came for the transfer and Sheri pulled up in the driveway with the horse on the trailer. She opened the trailer door and off stepped a poor little half Arabian half who knows what. He was thin and he had not shed his winter coat. He had hair loss in some spots. I was assured there was nothing wrong with him that some good pasture wouldn't cure.

He did not belong to the farm he had come from but the farmer had allowed him to stay and had fed him grain everyday but he was not putting on any weight. I knew that farmer and knew he was doing his best to take care of him under difficult circumstances. Reluctantly I let him stay. After all it was only going to be until Hershey came back to keep Velvet company. But Hershey was pregnant. She had been misdiagnosed as being open and Hershey was within weeks of having her foal. So she had to be off of my pasture that has fescue in it.

I guess some of you are wondering what the fescue has to do with anything but it can cause the sack the foal is in to become too thick and the foal will not be able to get out at birth and death will occur due to lack of oxygen. It can also decrease milk production in a mare and even if the foal was able to escape there may not be enough milk.

So Hershey did not come back for a long time. Aladdin settled in after a period of adjustment. The poor little thing walked the 14' gate for several hours after he got off of the trailer. I got worried about him. But about dark I looked out the window and he was with Velvet and they were grazing. So I knew he would be ok then.

Janine is my granddaughter and she fell in love with Aladdin at first sight. So we started to work on him. We threw the grain to him, wormed him and brushed him until his coat began to take on a new luster. We bathed him and scrubbed until his pretty red color started to shine through. He still had some problem areas. He had scars from where he had been cut on one of his legs. It seemed a halter had been to tight on his nose at one time or another because he had scars there too.

Aladdin became very dependent on Velvet. He followed her where ever she went and was totally devoted to her. In the fall Aladdin had separation anxiousity when Velvet was taken to a stable away from here for training. But by then Hershey was back and he soon developed a close relationship with her.

It became so bad that if Hershey left the field he was beside himself. If we put him in the barn he would pace the floor until he was nearly worn out. Over the next couple of years I spent considerable money on him trying to keep weight on him. He would come out of the winter looking poor while the Rocky Mountain Horses would be all fat and sassy. The vet gave him shots, we wormed him, had his teeth worked on and all in all spent more on his maintence than most of the other horses I now own. Oh yes, I did get talked into keeping Aladdin as you may have guessed.

He was ridden some at first by Janine. Then she went home to Germany to live with her Oma there. So I was left with Aladdin and by then I had other horses to ride so he got left in the field.
One day Sheri came to ride Hershey. When she got Hershey out of the field Aladdin got out as well. She rode Hershey up through the field and over the trails. Aladdin followed every step of the way staying as close to Hershey as possible. They were a sight.

Recently Sheri called me and told me that she knew of a little boy that was looking for a horse. Would I consider letting Aladdin go. I told her sure and she gave his mother,Jennifer, my phone number. Soon a very nice lady was calling me to see if she could bring her little boy out to see Aladdin.

The day came and they drove up. Aladdin was in the barn and he had been bathed and polished and shinned as best as it could be done. Bob got him out of the stall and put a saddle on him. Aladdin hadn't been ridden in a couple of years so we really didn't know how he could act. Bob rode him around in the field and he was fine. So he took Aladdin and Nolan in the arena and led him around. Again he was fine. Nolan's little and big brothers got a ride as well.

Nolan was instantly in love with Aladdin and his mother and father liked him as well. I went over all of his faults and assured them that if he didn't work out he could be returned. I wanted to give Nolan the horse but his parents would not hear of it. He had saved $138. for the purchase of a horse and he had to pay for his horse to appreciate it. I immediately felt I was dealing with good parents.

So we decided on the purchase price. $50. It was enough to have him realize this was a committment and would have financial consquences but little enough that he would have money left to purchase some necessities.

So last Saturday, Nolan and his family came back for Aladdin. His grandpa came too. He is also a horse owner and he looked him over real good and approved the purchase. He was loaded on the horse trailer and headed toward the grandfather's farm to be there for Nolan to learn to ride and care for his horse.

But this wasn't the end of the story. Nolan had gone to Tractor Supply and bought a halter and lead rope. His grandfather taught him how to lead him around their arena. At one point Nolan dropped the rope. In her account of the incident to me Jennifer told me that Aladdin had stood right by Nolan as he picked up the rope and proceeded on around the arena.

Next came the gift from Nolan's grandparents. A new saddle, saddle blanket and bridle for him and Aladdin. Jennifer tells me that they tacted him up and Nolan was soon riding around the arena guiding Aladdin with the reins like he had done it all of his life.

I once thought this was where Aladdin would spend the rest of his days. He would just be a lawn orament in my pasture.

I viewed Aladdin as an old horse that would never again serve any purpose. That is the way that we see others sometimes. But thankfully our God does not see us humans in that way. If we truly looked at ourselves honestly and stripped ourselves of all the pride we have we would be humbled. The psalmist said "Who are we that God should be mindful of us." Who indeed. What do we have to offer the God of the universe. What does he need from us. He has everything. Yet he made us to commune with him. He walked in the garden with Adam and Eve.

All he wants from us is our love. I have such a pitiful little to offer to him. Yet he takes it and makes it more than I could ever give. For God is a God of love and he gave the only son he had to die for us so that we could have everlasting life with him. Our sins no longer have to separate us from God. Jesus paid the price and our sins are covered by his blood. It is a matter of humbling oneself and telling Jesus you need him more than anything.

May God bless and keep you in his loving care.


Regards,

Mary

"I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes unto the Father except by me."