Dogs of Our Lives: Connected by Trust

This is the story that Sarah LaRose shared with me about Pepper's abilities to think for herself when guiding. The story is incredible and the stress must've been tremendous, but Pepper got the job done.

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Sarah was at a convention for the blind and visually impaired and they were staying in the convention hotel. Many conference attendees were also staying there. 

An afternoon break was scheduled during the conference, and a lot of people, including Sarah and Pepper, had returned to their rooms.

Sarah settled in for a bit of a breather. Since Pepper was no longer working, she removed her harness and they both began to relax.

Suddenly, a loud announcement boomed over a speaker.

"All people in the building must evacuate immediately. We have a fire situation. All people in the building must evacuate immediately." 

The fire alarms began blaring and the evacuation began.  

Sarah later shared, "We were told at The Seeing Eye that, if there is a fire emergency and your dog is not in harness, to not take time to put the harness on. Put the leash on your dog and get out immediately." 

And that is what Sarah did - she leashed Pepper and headed out into the hallway, joining the throngs of other blind and visually impaired folks trying to get to safety.

There was a lot of chaos. She remembers hearing cries from others who were scrambling to harness their dogs and yelling at them to just get out and not take that time. "Go, go, go!"

Pepper and Sarah made it safely outside but in all the confusion, Sarah became disoriented. She knew she was near the building, but she was completely lost. And while Pepper was with her, she was out of harness and on a leash, the signal to her that she was off duty and not expected to guide.

However, Pepper figured out very quickly that Sarah needed her. And, she knew where they were. As Sarah told me, "She is brilliant." 

When the all-clear was sounded, Pepper took over and began leading Sarah. No harness, no stiff handle for Sarah to hold onto, just a simple leash and a whole lot of trust connecting the two of them.

Pepper guided Sarah all the way around the outside of the hotel and to an entrance. She then led Sarah through that door and into the hotel. Still disoriented, Sarah continued to let Pepper make the decisions and to go where she thought they needed to go.

Pepper guided Sarah over to a bank of elevators. When they got off on their floor, Sarah was still not sure where they were in the building or where their room was in relation to the elevator that they had used. But Pepper knew and she took Sarah right to their hotel room door. 

She did this all on her own. Using her ability to think and make decisions, Pepper had realized that Sarah needed help and so she guided her first to safety and then back to their room when the fire was out.

No harness to indicate that she needed to work, no directions from Sarah as to where to go, Pepper remembered where their room was in the hotel and got Sarah back there safely.

Nowadays, Pepper is my constant companion. She rarely leaves my side, looking out and caring for me as only she can. I love my sweet girl.

But when I get those occasional glimpses into her Seeing Eye past, I realize that not only is she my sweet girl, she is also a brilliant dog and one who is very much a hero. 

Thank you, Pepper.

The End of the Old Farmhouse

After church yesterday, Craig and I were chatting with Tim and Loni when Tim turned to me and said, "Guess what I did at the barn yesterday?"

With Tim you never know - he tackles any project. But this one caught me off guard.

"I burned down the old farmhouse."

It had been vacant for some time and unlike its companion, the old barn, repairs to it were not feasible. (Photos from Tim.)

Tim got the necessary permits, waited until weather conditions were right, and then set it on fire, starting at the roof so that the second floor would fall down into the house and not to the side. He told me that it took two hours for the house to completely burn down to the ground.

He is now going to burn the small shed and then bulldoze everything into the basement of the farmhouse. 

The small shed is circled, and the arrows point to two large dirt piles that have been hauled in and are ready to cover the site.

When all is cleared, covered, and safe, Tim will then plant grass for the horses, put in a few trees, and finally add this acre of ground to one of the other pastures.

I am not sad that the farmhouse is gone. We had a farmhouse on the farm we inherited and had to raze it as it was like this one - old, in disrepair, and a danger. (We didn't have near the fun that Tim did, though - someone else took it out for us.) 

A vacant farmhouse is a liability - trespassers could get inside and get hurt, and you as landowners would be liable for having an attractive nuisance on the property.

So it is better that the farmhouse came down.

(As for Sultanna, Hokey, and Easy, they were on the other side of the property in the nursery paddock where they could go into the loafing shed if they were anxious. They did fine.)

Oh, Ellen!

I have not yet chatted with Ellen - as much as she has on her plate, this is not the time. A card is headed her way and then later I will check in on her.

In the meantime, Steff Bodamer is the liaison between Ellen and her hobby friends, and I have talked with her. She says Ellen has a place to stay temporarily and that a restoration firm is helping to sort and clean what is still usable. For the most part, the house is still structurally sound so it won't need to be torn down.

Ellen's collection has been packed up and taken to the company's warehouse where it will be cleaned later. She is hanging in there, but there is a lot ahead for her and Matt to do before life resumes some semblance of normalcy.

Steff shared some of Ellen's photos on social media, and with her permission, I share them here.

Every collector's nightmare.

Ellen's collection is extensive (I've heard around 8,000+ models or more)

and it must've been a huge job (as well as a heartbreaking one) to pack and move them to the warehouse.

Unpacking and cleaning them will probably be an even bigger one.

I hope that many of the models survived and that Ellen will be able to fill her shelves again with pieces that she loves.

Ellen's tragedy has had me thinking about my own collection and how I would feel if something happened to it. I got my very first piece in 1963 and have had models with me ever since. They are a huge part of my life and bring me much happiness. 

Brownie, my very first model horse. Santa brought him to me in 1963 when I was 6 years old. He's well loved and while I could have him restored, all those breaks were carefully glued by my father over the years and represent his love for me.

For years I had my collection insured but as time passed, I dropped it. Nothing happened to my home or models and it felt like a waste of money.

After seeing what Ellen is going through, I am rethinking that decision.

News, News, News & a Hint

The Horsiemama blog hit a milestone yesterday! Half a million page views!

And I missed it. I knew it was coming but I wasn't able to hang out and watch the numbers change. Still, it's a fun milestone and nice to know that people enjoy my blog. Thanks, folks!

In the meantime, Indiana is still in the deep freeze this morning. Schools were closed yesterday across the area

and they are all either closed or on a two hour delay this morning. I'm glad the superintendents are keeping kids safe.

In what is very good news for me, I am finally negative for Covid. I feel like myself again and have much more energy.

Craig is feeling like himself again, too. He has a check up and gets his staples out tomorrow and doesn't anticipate any problems. 

There is news for my friend, Ellen Vogel, whose home caught fire and burned Sunday. Restoration crews are working on her home and pictures from her horse room show models still standing although covered in black soot. We are all hoping that as they are cleaned, there will be those that survived unscathed.

Steff Bodamer and Ellen in the tack room out at the barn.

Breyer has announced three more BreyerFest models this week already.

YOLO is a Special Run on the Moody Vanner mold. 

He is only available to VIP and All-Access ticket holders. Not a mold I collect, but that paint job is truly impressive!

Seize the Day is the surprise model and Breyer says it will be available to VIP, Al-Access, and Online Traditional Access folks. I plan to get one of these and am very much hoping for a vintage mold. (The Semi-Rearing Mustang, Indian Pony, or Five Gaiter would be nice!)

Speaking of vintage molds....

Take a look at this model! His name is Hats Off to You and he is also a Special Run that will be available to VIP, All-Access, and Online Traditional ticket holders.

Not only does he come with the black straw hat, but there is a party hat, too. He is definitely on my want list!

Time to go downstairs and get some breakfast for these two whangdoodles.

Stay 'tooned for an announcement in the next day or two. Here's a hint:

When the Unthinkable Happens

I hopped out of bed this morning eager to set up the spinner and spin to win for the January Give Away. But as I opened my computer, this notice from GLC was at the top of my Facebook feed.

The unthinkable had happened to one of our own. Ellen Vogel and her husband Matt had experienced a house fire yesterday morning. They grabbed their cat and were able to get out, but the cars and most of the house is gone. Ellen has a beautiful and well curated collection; there is no word yet on its fate.

Ellen and I have been friends for years and she is an active member of Great Lakes Congress and almost always at their shows.

Ellen and me at Indy Blooms, 2023.

She's stayed in my home (Kelsey Kramer, Ellen, Steff Bodamer, and Liz Cory with Sultanna and Hokey, and Dolly in the background.)

and that burning car has been parked in my driveway.

At this point the cause of the fire is unknown and with the extreme cold weather that moved in yesterday, my guess is that all that water froze and the site is very treacherous to negotiate at the moment. It may be a few days before we have more information.

In the meantime, Liz Cory has set up a GoFundMe account for Ellen and Matt. The GoFundMe account can be found here.

News coverage of the fire can be found here. Also here if the first news link does not work. 

If I get any more information or news, I'll pass it on. As we wait for that, good thoughts, prayers, karma and more is welcome.

Poor Ellen. My heart grieves for her.

Our Own Fire Experience

Terrible fires are burning through the Los Angeles area, and not in isolated areas but burning through towns and residential areas. There has been loss of life as well as loss of homes and property. 

I'm not in LA and experiencing those horrific fires, but I do know what a fire is like to go through. We had a big fire in 2011 at our orchard.

Our barns caught fire and we lost everything - my Dad's eight antique tractors, the cider press and apple grader, and so much more. What hurt the most was the loss of a place that my siblings and I were so strongly connected to through our shared family memories. In fact, the emotional loss was the hardest of all. It still hurts.

Mountain Mama Jessica lives on Dry Mountain in Utah. What a descriptive, even foreshadowing sort of name for that mountain. It and its neighboring mountains lived up to that name in 2020.

Jessica took this photo from her backyard and sent it to us, describing how odd it was to have an orange glow inside their home from the fire outside. 

A view of another mountain involved in that fire.

A second picture that Jessica took from her home of the nearby mountain burning.

I was terrified for Jessica, her family, and others in the path of that fire. Fortunately, they got some rain and between that and the efforts of firefighters, the fires that were raging around them were put out.

Fire is my worst fear, even more so than tornados. When my kids were young, I lost sleep more than once wondering what we would do if we had a house fire and Craig and I had to get all six children out and to safety. I am grateful that we never had to face that dilemma.

As for LA, I grieve for those who have been devastated by the fires and pray for all involved, from the residents to those fighting the fire or providing support for the people who have lost their homes.

I sure had hoped for a better start to 2025.

Still Standing

Tim is out of town for a few days (he and Loni have a new granddaughter!) and I am in charge of the barn while he is gone. I love it when that happens. While I no longer want to have my horse at home in my own barn, I am always glad to have the opportunity to take over for a few days.

During Sunday afternoon's visit, I walked around checking the fences and gates to be sure everything was secure for the horses. Abby was in a following mood. She tagged along with me, something she frequently does. She walks when I walk and stops when I stop, no lead rope needed. I love that about my mare. This time Sultanna tagged along, too. (I felt like the pied piper!)

Tim had told me that he'd gotten an additional 300 bales put into the old barn's hay mow, so I went into one of the stalls and looked up the ladder and into the mow. For whatever reason, the light was just right, and I could see the scorch marks on the boards from when the old barn had caught fire years and years ago.

These are boards that run from the roof and form the walls of the loft and then come down over one of the entrances to the stalls. The floor of the mow is that newer board in the upper left hand corner. It is supporting the mow's floorboards - you can barely make them out on top of it.

More fire damage to the boards of the hay mow.

I don't worry too much about another fire in the barn but I am aware that it could happen. Since Tim and I both prefer that our horses roam freely, they would be able to get out of the barn if there were a problem. There are two homes on the property, the agribusiness next door, and several other horse properties bordering the place, so help would be available quickly. Having said that, it is sobering to see the evidence that the barn did catch fire once.

Believe it or not, I actually worry more about wind. We get some pretty strong winds in this part of Indiana, and lots of tornadoes, and the old barn does creak and pop when it blows hard. 

But despite the fire and the winds and tornadoes, the old barn still stands. I'm glad - it is one of my favorite places to be with my girl.