Merlin

Having missed Sally’s giving birth in 2005, we are determined to be there for the arrival of her second foal the following year. "Not yet, noooo. Another week at least!," we say confidently, sure that this time we'll be there at that special time, and watch a new little horse leap into the world.

On June 14, in the morning, there's an extra four legs with a little body stuck unsurely on top of it running through the paddock in Sally's wake.

It's a boy. Dark and handsome, with a white blaze on his forehead. We name him Merlin, because there is something quite magical about him, and because he survives the first few days, which are tough. One leg is injured from birth, it seems mom accidentally stepped on him, and he is having some difficulty getting nourishment.

But he makes it! He is spunky, and quite independent, and soon mom is chasing after him, trying to make sure he doesn't get into any trouble.

After he is weaned, he gets to share a paddock with Zorro and a couple of punkish ponies who tend to bully the new kid. Zorro becomes his protector, and all seems well.

When it comes down to it, the boy is resourceful. Once he gets cornered at the big round hay bale, and in order to get away from his tormentors he takes a couple steps and flies right over it. What a horse! And he's only 5 months old! We know that soon he'll be clearing the fences, out to explore the big wide world.

This is how the story should go, because what makes stories stories are adventures, little horses leaping over the haybale, and then leaping over the moon.

But Merlin loses weight when he should be gaining weight. He has severe bouts of colic, almost on a monthly basis, and several times we feel that he isn't going to make it. He gets special feed, medicine when required, and pain killers when there is a bad episode. And more medicine, and more pills and more potions. And more.

He is a brave little fellow, and he puts up with it all. Stuck in the barn when the other horses are out playing in the snow, he doesn't give up. He comes back after one episode, and then the next. We become his mom, encouraging him. We talk to him. He gets a designer coat to keep his thin little body warm.

And so it goes. For weeks.

On February 26, 2007, at 8:30 am, God takes back the gift that was Merlin. A ruptured bowel is something even a sorcerer cannot overcome.