Ok, I know it's been a bit, but telling his story, even omitting huge chunks is exhausting. I have so many memories and I still miss him a great deal.
Also there will be a UK update soon, I promise!
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So where was I? Ah yes, when he moved to the little private barn....
Like I said before, Jake was the king of his new domain. He lived with two other horses and they were out 24/7 as long as the weather didn't get too bad. His pasture mates were a young Standardbred gelding named Spencer who idolized Jake and a slightly older paint mare named Cherokee (aka Little Miss Priss).
I had also started looking for a new trainer and had gone to try a lesson with her. My friend who's mom had trailered Jake around during his nervous breakdown was going with me. We had a decent time but both of us pretty much hit a brick wall. The way we'd both been taught to jump was dead wrong. She who will not be named had taught everyone how to jump by jumping ahead. We basically needed to start from scratch.
So during that first lesson with this trainer I hurt myself. I'd groomed Jake to the nines in preparation for meeting this new trainer. He was as shiny as a new minted penny . When we went to jump a large vertical he tripped on the landing, and as he was all shined up and had a very short mane that offered no resistance, my right arm followed his body and slipped over to the left side of his neck, dislocating my shoulder. He kept cantering and I managed to pull him to a stop one handed. My right arm was dangling useless at my side and I was seeing spots. Everyone was freaking out, telling me to get off and generally looking shocked. I took a deep breath, dropped my reins and used my left hand to pop my right shoulder back into place. I informed them that if I tried to get off I would fall off. I took ibuprofen and kept riding. I later on went to see my chiropractor and was informed to keep my arm in a sling for two weeks. (This did not go over well at work, and the barn manager still made me move hay bales one armed.)
I eventually had a couple of lessons with this trainer after given the ok by my doctor and quickly decided she wasn't for me. We were pretty close to each other riding level wise. We talked and I agreed to trailer Jake up to share a lesson with her and try her new trainer. That's when I met Jess, who I ended up riding with for the next 5 years.
Also at that fall I ended up leaving Lee's as my full time job. I worked at a total of 4 barns (including Jess'), an orchard and a toy store in order to pay for my horse. I was killing myself but I managed to keep going financially and keep riding. I would ride Jake at home practicing what I'd learned in my lessons that I had at Jess' barn.
Then everything came to a screaming stop right after New Years... I had been snow shoveling the driveway after a storm, and suddenly I felt something in my shoulder snap. I was in an excruciating amount of pain. Over the next three months I saw doctors, had an MRI and was informed that I had torn my rotater cuff in such a way that it was inoperable. I wasn't allowed to do anything during those three months, I had to quit all my jobs and my parents had to pay for Jake.
Once April arrived I was finally allowed to work again. I worked at the toy store and got my old job at Jess' back. I still had to be careful of my shoulder (I still do to this day. If you grab my right hand and yank it to the left, my arm will pop right out of the rotater cuff). Eventually I ended up working full time at Jess' and moving Jake there. I became the barn manager and took over a large chunk of her lesson load so she could focus on her more advanced students.
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Ok, so I started this second post on 09/28/10 and I just couldn't finish it. To roughly sum it up, Jake and I started conquering the Jumpers and did very well on a very tight budget. My students loved him, and so did everyone else.
Eventually I had a second horse who was a rescue. I was planning on reselling her immediately but the economy wasn't cooperating.
I left the show barn and kept both horses at the small private barn so I could focus on my upcoming wedding.
The morning of my wedding Jake wouldn't get up for breakfast and I received a phone call. My now husband rushed to the barn to give him Banamine and get him up and walking. I had been dropped off at the salon with no way to leave. My maid of honor picked me up and got me to the barn a short while later.
I wrote this the next day:
"Jake had to be put down Saturday morning before the wedding. He coliced that morning and was beyond saving by the time a vet could get out to the barn. Surgery wasn't an option as the vet believed he wouldn't survive the trailer ride.
Jake was a fighter, and stubborn willed. He fought to the very end, struggling to his feet whenever he could, breaking to a trot, doing everything he could to fight the pain.
He said goodbye to all the other horses, and those who were there.
I will miss my horse, and I already do. He was my best friend. He was my savior. And he was my baby. He got me through a lot of bad times, and enjoyed all the good ones too. There will never be another horse that will touch my heart and soul like Jake.
He was so much a part of me, that I still can't believe he's gone. He did a lot of good for people, giving people of all ages love and his whole heart.
Jake was only 13yrs old and had never coliced before in his life. He was so healthy that the vet had to give him extra drugs to put him down. He wanted to live, he wanted to stay, but his body let him down."
That sums it up pretty well. Instead of typing how I felt, I ended up making this video last week...
So there you go. <3 you still Bakess....
