I noticed you are collecting experiences of the fires. I’m not sure if you’ll empathise with my experiences of that day as its about a horse, our horse and his name was Henry.
We loved him and all our experiences of owning him, being with him, and coming to understanding him. He gave us a reason to enter a community of wonderfully helpful people who were without exception, giving of their time and knowledge to us as newcomers. We had never met so many helpful and thoughtful people since having him.
I know many people have lost loved ones, friends and property, and I can feel for their loss and the difficulties they must continue to face. We had been visiting Kinglake West since last July about 4 or 5 times a week. We were only three weeks away from moving Henry to a property we had bought in Eden Park where we now live. Our first few months have been an empty experience, being there without the cause for our being there.
Possibly my letter and email to friends, family and to Barbara, Henry’s previous owner, may help summarise what or who we lost. It wasn’t just losing Henry, it was the immediate loss of everyone we came to know because of Henry.
The fires of that evening remain a hurried blur, the 1:00am procession of silent ambulances being escorted towards Kinglake being the first sign of human suffering.
Wednesday February 11th 2009
Dear Barbara, and family,
We just wanted to thank you for Henry, your ongoing contact, interest and support, particularly this past week in helping us get things put right, when alone the strength was flagging. I sent the following email to my family and some friends whom we met through Henry. He and their horses, just as yours have, bound us all in a common interest.
”We’ve got him back and he’s on his way home” Feb 11 2009
What a week so far, but things are on the up and up. We’ve been trying to get Henry back since Sunday, but there had been no access to the mountain and the situation we found ourselves in wasn’t a priority of course, given the extent of the grief in the area and around the state.
The thought of him lying on the side of the road unattended has been awful and it didn’t matter who I called or went to see, the answer was no. I finally got back up there last night and found that Henry had been buried along with another horse. To us this made everything even worse, as I had left clear instructions in person and by phone calls that we were going to collect him and to just to cover him up. I should have done that myself before I left the area but everything nearby had been levelled and Henry’s blankets were back at home. Last night I finally managed to get access for a carrier to help, so at 6 o’clock this morning we retrieved him and he’s now on his way to Geelong for cremation.
I don’t know what it was about Henry, but he had a very kind soul and gentle nature, yet still full of go. He never ever gave us any cause for concern and that’s why we pressed on with him. He wasn’t exactly a straight forward mount, as he objected if ridden too harshly by rolling his head wildly, but in the end Elise learnt from him and the head rolling stopped, I’m sure she became a better rider because of him. We only had him for 7 months and learnt everything we now know about a horse from him. He ended up the centre of our family, driving 80kms to just give him a carrot and an apple was nothing, or walking him down to the dam, even a hose down on a hot day. He had regular massages, foot care, new saddles with saddle fitters, the dentist, chiropractic vet visits, coaches and clinics and lessons. He didn’t like a firm hand and when we got him, didn’t like his head being touched whatsoever. But we found a way with him after doing a natural horsemanship clinic and practicing all that we learnt. For the past three months he improved and settled better than everyone who knew him could believe. It became nothing for him to drop his head into our hands and be patted all over, his head tossing completely stopped months back. Instead of moving around to look behind him, he’d simply turn his head around. A horse that wouldn’t go into water now went in. All the time Elise rose to his challenges and together they were something else, a joy to be around and to watch. We’ve had phone calls and emails and messages from probably 40 people that we met because of Henry or people we already knew and came to know all about him, even 2 from the USA, one of which stopped a conference call midway to discuss him.
I followed him down the mountain this morning and eventually he headed off to Geelong, wishing I could see him once more, turning my head for one last glimpse as he headed away. When we get his ashes back, we’ll take them with us to our new home, where we’ll build an arena. We’ll bury his ashes at the centre or beneath the centre line towards “C”, so that when Elise practices her dressage tests, she’ll bow to him as he truly deserves, her first horse, an unrepeatable, irreplaceable experience.
I don’t know what it was, but there was something about him. One day I’ll work out what it was, but hopefully not too soon.
Rgds
Jim
I think most importantly, Elise had found from Henry that she could make a difference, applying learning to doing, her horse skills only improved with him. We never got Henry a ribbon, but if Elise continues, any that she does win will be from him.
