This was truly one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. You see, when we first got Levi, we were planning to gentle him and re-home him. Sid specifically, because at the time, I was terrified of horses. When we first brought him home, Noel noticed that he had some conformity issues, to include one pretty extreme club foot. The BLM was going to have us return him. We decided to keep him. He was such a gentle boy that I decided to begin working with him. We learned together. We took lots of lessons, attended lots of clinics and made a lot of mistakes together. It was such a thrill and a challenge at the same time.
I kept asking our vet, as well as Noel and Shelby, our trainers, whether the club foot would be an issue. The general response I got, was that he would let me know when I have gone too far. Sadly, I think we hit that point a few months ago. I was spending an exorbitant amount of time and money trying to keep him comfortable, just so I could do some basic riding and training with him. In these situations, I do not believe there is ever a clear right or wrong answer, but I knew that for both of our interests, there needed to be a clearer path forward.
I dove into researching long term horse sanctuaries and made a lot of calls. Some of the initial calls led me in directions I was not satisfied with. It was discouraging. Noel and Shelby were both very supportive and continued to explore new avenues with me. In early July, I called a wonderful sanctuary that seemed like an absolute perfect fit. So much so, that it seems too good to be true. During my first call, the lady said, 'So what you are saying is that you want a forever home for Levi, where he will not be adopted back out, and he can live a wonderful horse life.' My response was 'yes'. This is the part in the conversation where I am usually told all the reasons that is not possible. Instead, I was told 'Well, this is the place for him'. I cried. I was literally in the middle of an airport, making my way home from a work trip, and the waterworks just turned on. The level of relief was insane.
The catch, they did not have an opening until late fall. That was okay. I was not in a hurry. I just wanted to find the right home. The following week, I received a magical call that they had an opening and he could come mid August. Shelby and Nate volunteered to take him down. The sanctuary is located in Northern California. I trust Nate and Shelby immensely. Shelby had never actually been to this sanctuary, but did have a client that retired a few horses here. She and Nate agreed that if they got there, and it was not all it was advertised to be, they would bring Levi back.
Once we had a plan, I spent the remaining time just enjoying Levi. We would take walks. I would brush him. We also practiced trailer loading and unloading for a nice challenge. Once the day came, I hauled him over to Shelby's. He stayed the night at her place. The next morning, they all woke up early for the 9 hour journey. Levi did great on the trip. Shelby has a trailer camera and was able to keep an eye on him along the way.
Once they got to the facility, they were greeted at the gate and escorted in. Shelby said the place is beautiful. They had a spot waiting for Levi with his picture on the sign.
He was placed next door to a gelding that walked right over and greeted Levi. My heart is happy and sad. I feel as if I said goodbye to my best friend of three years. Yet, I know that this was the right decision to make. I do not know what the next steps in the horse world are for me, but I will just take one step at a time. I think I will start by making sure Pigeon is not too sad and helping Sidney out as she heads into a busy senior year. From there, we will figure things out.
The one beautiful thing is that I can go see Levi. I believe next summer I will try to do that. I have no idea whether he will remember me or not, but I would like to take a visit to see him in his new home.
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