A Horse Love Story: Grateful for Zoe and Auggie

I’ve been very grateful for Zoe and Auggie recently. I always am. I’m a person that looks at the future and throws my past in the back of my head. I think a lot about my future with horses, but mostly with Auggie. I know, we all know that horses are not with us our entire lives. When I go to the barn every single day, I look at the horses with an attitude that will make the ride as pleasant for me and the horse as possible. I try my best not to take horses for granted, for so many reasons. All I am trying to say is that I try my best to look at the big picture, and there is no point in getting frustrated at your horse when you know you will cry for another ride on him/her when they’re gone.

Before August 27, 2020, Auggie was locked up in a stall for 116 days due to an injury. Those 116 days took so long, but they meant so much. Auggie is a horse who loves to please, and if he’s in full work, he knows he can do that. During this time, I noticed things that he obviously did just to make me give him more attention and smile. It was a very interesting experience to see Auggie work his way through his stall rest.

At the beginning of our stall rest journey, none of the therapies we were trying, worked and this was really hard on me. I didn’t know why they weren’t working, and I was mostly just wondering if he was going to be ok. Finally, we found a few therapies to use. Auggie also loved his 20-minute sessions with his horseware Ice-Vibe boots.

I can not put into words how much this horse means to me. He is the friendliest horse and the most giving horse. If you didn’t know, Auggies show name is Imago JSF— when I first walked up to him, in Kentucky I whispered to my mom and said (with no intentions) "if we buy him, I want to name him Auggie." But, the reason I said "Auggie" was because that is the name of the main character from the movie/book "Wonder." Wonder is an amazing story of kindness and it just suited him from the beginning.

I love you Auggie, and I can’t wait for our future♥️️

Ava