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How Haflingers Changed My Life

by Peggy Rodgers, Medical Lake, Washington

One year ago it was Dec. of 2001 snowing heavy and I was just headed out the door to go Christmas caroling with my church choir. it was dark and I was not looking forward to driving in the ice and snow but felt I had to go as they didn't have enough voices to bring the cheer needed to the shuts in. so off I went, but it was with mixed feelings as I had received the call from Shannon that afternoon that she would be arriving sometime during the night with the new mare I had purchased from Colorado. I was so excited I could hardly remember the music that we were all going to be singing that night.
Shannon had directions how to get to my farm and I would try to rush back to meet her. So as you can imagine my thoughts were not on singing like they should have been. but something changed me that night.

I went to a retirement home and there in front of us was a group of very sad and lonely looking folks not many were even looking up but one old fellow did and he had a mad look to his eyes. well after the singing we had a few minutes to visit before we left to go to the next place which was to be the hospital. but before leaving I decided I just had to go talk to this old fellow.
I kneeled down to speak to him at first he didn't even want to look over at me. I asked him if his family were coming to take him to dinner for Christmas, he didn't have any living family not that it was any of my business he said .! I was going to just say well have a merry Christmas and go but for some reason I started chattering about how excited I was to get home not that I would have any family to greet me but I had a new horse arriving that I had gone in debt for, he quickly turns and said wait! I had started to walk away and was prepared to say good-bye, but he reached out and grabbed my arm so I stopped and turned and he started asking all kinds of questions that only a true horseman would ask. I got totally absorbed in visiting with him. he started to sit up straighter and asked for a drink of punch from
one of the nurses and she looked startled! I didn't understand why till later in the evening but I guess he had never talked to anyone come to find out not any nurses or the doc or any visitors so this was a new occurrence for everyone I had not noticed that the room was much quieter and we had been so absorbed in our conversations that it never occurred to me to think it was out of the ordinary.
needless to say he asked me not to go with the group to the hospital and they agreed to pick me up on their way back to the church. So for the next hour I sat and we got to discuss feeding and grooming and vet fees and new trucks and best of all horses. come to find out he has owned horses his entire life but since being injured many years ago then put in a nursing home no one had bothered to find any of this out. he was from Nebraska and had ended up in Spokane on his way to Calgary to the stampede but he has a stroke and here his travels ended

His name is Bob. he use to do his own shoeing and training and he was quite a good hand on some big ranches in his youth. Well I must say that hour went faster than any other in my life ,I so enjoyed talking with him. he was known as a crusty old problem man in the home not wanting to take pills or do the club activities. he had made no effort to make friends in twelve years he had been in that place. barely ate and never talked and here he was talking non stop. now he had never heard of a haflinger so I tried to tell him as much about the breed as possible, his eyes lite up and I was so blessed that night as I had been fighting loneliness as well since Rick is gone so much. well of course we became friends and I would go visit him and after a while Bob would sit up tall and even ask to go outside well one day while I was driven there to visit before I got to the retirement home I felt a weird feeling, it swept over me and I was cold, I dismissed it but once got to the hall found out he had passed away. he wrote me a note I was very sad as it said he was glad to have met me I had brought horses back into his life and he would always remember me for that. From then on I realized how much this breed alone had changed my life as I had met a special man a year ago just because I was eagerly waiting for my Haflinger.