Bonne Aimee
 'Bonne Aimee had a large ugly bone tumour called an exostosis on her jaw' |
Bonne Aimee and her foal were rescued from the farm auction by Julie 3 years ago. Bonne Aimee had a large ugly bone tumour called an exostosis on her jaw. She was bred a couple of times and then no one wanted her because of her deformity. Julie had her for 2 years. She was 8 y/o.
She was hard to catch and afraid of her own tack. I saw her at Julie's when I went to pick up a STB to start and re-home in July. I didn't like her because she pinned her ears at everything. I only had geldings at home and didn't want a mare either. I picked up 2 more STB at Julie's and she was still there. |
In November '09 I felt really bad for her and took her home. I started just petting her and grooming her when she came in for grain. I had no expectations that she would be rideable. She led great but had issues with feet and grooming and big issues with catching and tacking up. That improved and I rode her a couple of times. I thought she had teeth problems because she was head shy and wouldn't take the bit.
The same vet came out that saw her at Julie's. He hadn't thought she was really worth the cost of the surgery but when he saw her a month after I got her (New Year's eve) he totally changed his mind because she was so quiet and willing. Everything else was perfect so we did her teeth, shots and surgery that day. Within a few days her whole jaw opened up to expose bone and muscle. I treated her all January and she got to the point where I didn't neeed a halter she just put her jaw in my hand. I think she gave me her heart and I couldn't help but respect her gentleness and bravery. There was no turning back from there.
She goes on the dyke alone, beach, Campbell Valley and I recently took her to the Watershed with a companion. I didn't even realize the mountain bike came zooming up behind us until he was about 5 feet away. At the dyke they had construction and she didn't move a foot wrong when they repeatedly dumped rocks and the duck hunters were shooting. I bought a very difficult Arab gelding at the auction in April (2 months after I started BA) and BA was the babysitter for his first ride in Campbell Valley. I took her to her first show in summer after about 50 hours of riding and she got a 10/10 in dressage and 9/10 in reining. She stole the show when people heard her story.
