A Flicker of Light

I knew the challenge would be great. To find her any home though would be daunting but we had to see if it was possible that there was maybe just one person out there looking for a horse like A Flicker of Light (Flicka). Flicka is a very sweet horse with a gentle nature, and quite herd-bound, so would make a lovely pasture puff and companion for human, horse & hound.

In steps Diane S., a long time Neigh Savers supporter and friend. She had once owned a chestnut mare named Cherish and Flicka reminded her of her late horse. The thing is, Diane & her husband had a dream to build a barn on their property someday but that dream had been postponed for awhile and they owned no horses. Now, they would start building and add 2 other retirees to their family as well. Wow, I had a home for Flicka!!! But Covid came along and disrupted all plans and delayed them. Finally on June 17th the new barn was completed, the mats were in, the shavings spread, the water troughs filled, new halter, lead ropes, fly masks obtained and the feed procured. Diane bought Eastern Oregon Orchard Grass hay. She says it smells real good and is a favorite in her parts. So then finally on June 18th, Flicka arrived in Oregon after a 14 hour plus journey from central California to be the first occupant of a barn essentially built for her.

Flicka arrived safely in a gigantic truck from Hubbard Horse Transportation. I couldn’t find anyone to haul Flicka, nor could Diane or Ann, who was boarding her. As fate would deem it, Hubbard had one haul scheduled and nothing else until possibly in July with just one pickup date on June 17th, the day everything was finally in place for Flicka’s arrival!!

Hubbard was an excellent transporter and we would highly recommend. The last time we hauled a mare it was a disaster with the hauler and the mare Missy (Ms. Olympio) was severely injured and the driver was a callous type who didn’t even tend to her injuries en route. Missy ended up having surgery at the University of Iowa Veterinary School and it was touch and go for awhile as well as extremely expensive. These visions went through my head as Flicka was being transported.

You will see from the photos that Flicka has arrived in her little piece of heaven. Lush green pasture with plenty of room! Diane reports that Flicka rolled at least 5x as she was released into pasture.

Diane reports: “She is knee high in grass and does take a bite now and then but she is still checking her surroundings. She wanders down by the field of daisies and then back up toward me and then rolls around and then to a different corner. I hope she enjoys her stall as much as this large area where she is stretching her legs and enjoying a nice day!”

And, she does enjoy her stall, as also shown in the pictures. Gazing out at her surroundings, completely at ease with herself and her new place. The other horses will arrive soon and in the meantime she has the company of Diane, her husband and the family dog, Lily.

So sometimes there are really good endings for the horses, even those that are essentially considered “throw aways” by many since they are no longer of “any use.”

I told Diane how grateful I was to her and to her family and she replied to me that she was so grateful to have received the horse she was looking for in her subconscious….not quite formed….until Flicka appeared in person and Diane took one look and knew this was the right horse, the one meant to be for her.