Quinn the Destroyer, an Introduction.

Love at First Sight

Quinn plays a very large (figuratively and literally) role in many of my adventures so it would be impossible to encompass the entirety of our relationship in just one post.  In fact, I could probably fill an entire book with just stories of him.  This is just a (not so) brief introduction to QTD (Quinn the Destroyer) also known as QTTS (Quinn the Turtle Slayer-that will be another story all together) and the most fitting, Quinnycakes.

When I was beginning to think about having another horse, I had some hesitations.  I'd had heartbreak with my previous horse, and had taken a couple of years off of riding.

My childhood trainer and lifelong friend Lindsay, had suggested I take a road trip to look at some horses in central Virginia. She knew my requirements.  Quiet, self sufficient if I was too busy with work to ride often, and large enough to always make me feel small and have potential to be what we in the biz call a "husband horse."  I was still unsure if I was ready but began to check out the website.  I soon came across a horse at that farm named Tacoma. Less than a week later, on a cold day in early 2007, I met my soulmate of a horse. He was a year and a half old.  It was love at first nuzzle.

Smooches

Quinn was  PMU throw away foal.  (I recommend searching that term if you are not familiar with it, as I am sticking with the lighthearted theme with my blog). He fit the bill in every way.  (side note, I now have the husband horse 10 years later and no husband...but that would be an entirely different novel). Plus he had the added bonus of tolerating nose smooches and cuddling. It didn't hurt that he was and is the most adorable horse I have ever laid eyes on.  Do not begin argue this point with me, I am a mother, he will always be the best in my eyes.


My dear friends, the Martins, were kind enough to allow me to board The Mighty Quinn (as he was now known) at their home.  I believe they regretted that decision almost immediately.  Quinn was as advertised, quiet and sweet.  However, he also possessed some qualities we were not prepared for.  The ability to eat anything that fit in his mouth, the strength of a freight train, in addition to the mischievousness of a kitten, toddler, and naughty pony all rolled into one to name a few of his bonus qualities.  Picture a 1200 lb kitten set loose in your yard.

There were many mornings that I received calls about Quinn standing in the water trough..again...or that Quinn had broken the fence...again...basically, the Martins were saints for putting up with us.  I helped as much as possible ( I was working overnights in a veterinary ER) around the barn to try to balance it out, but not sure that I could ever repay their kindness.  On the plus side, Mr. Martin seemed to thoroughly enjoy QTD's (now the nickname came into play) playful nature and helped to train him to have his hooves picked up and be handled regularly.   One of the funniest stories from that barn was when we decided that maybe an electric fence would hold the big man.  I missed it, but apparently QTD walked right up to the electric and promptly tried to take a bite.  Who knew a draft horse could jump three feet straight in the air?  I am only sorry nobody caught a video of that.  Good news is, he learned to respect electricity!

Once we eventually relieved the Martin family of the Quinn burden in the winter of 2008, we began to share various barns with dear friend Marilynn all over beautiful hunt country Virginia.  This is where the legend of QTD really began.

Now, QTD has been responsible for many a tack room break-ins, but these two in particular stand out.  One day, I was dealing with saying goodbye to my elderly mare (and first horse) Aldie Mountain, so Marilynn was keeping tabs on the big man for me.  I received a call that she had become concerned because she did not see Quinn in the field.  As Marilynn looked around the field, she noticed some buckets outside that had previously been in the tack room. The tack room door was closed tight. This particular tack room had an extremely heavy door that was not easy for us to open.  It also had a plywood floor.  It was also about a quarter of the size of a stall with no windows.  When the door was shut, it was pitch black.

Marilynn eventually opened the door to put the buckets away, and was shocked to be greeted by the business end of one large black and white horse.  To this day, I have no idea how he managed to open the door, but remain in awe of the fact that once the door blew shut, he clearly was unfazed.  He was calmly munching on a bar of glycerine soap when he was interrupted.  I am not entirely sure how Marilynn managed to get him out, as his, um, plus sized rear was blocking the entryway, but she did. By the time I arrived, Marilynn had begun cleanup but it looked like a tornado had come through.  Saddles pulled off the racks and chewed on, bridles, martingales and other various tack strewn about, grooming tools everywhere and all covered in a thick layer of fresh steaming manure.

Somehow the floor held him and other than hours of clean up, no permanent damage was done.  I was, however, disturbed by the base of a broken lightbulb I found. No glass.  I wanted to hang a sign on his stall that said "Hi my name is Quinn and I eat lightbulbs."  Somehow, Marilynn did not kick us out and we began to develop the Quinn-proofing techniques that I still use today.

Gracie, momma dog (now owned by a dear friend, Shawn)

Fast forward to Snowmaggedon 2009.  By this time, we had moved to another barn and Marilynn was living close by.  I was concerned leaving her to care for the horses alone is what was supposed to be a massive snow storm.  I had been fostering a momma dog and her 2 puppies, limiting my ability to be at the barn for long hours. As luck would have it, the rescue had found a new foster for mom and homes for the pups and I was able to hand them off just as the snow began to fall.

foster puppies!

 I somehow made the hour drive through pretty rough road conditions safely, but in my excitement to be there, I misjudged the driveway border hidden under the snow, and managed to park over a stone wall and destroyed something expensive under my Tahoe ( I cannot remember what now, just that it cost me a paycheck to repair.)  QTD and I are soul mates, remember?

Marilynn, her wonderful husband Adam and I entertained ourselves in the snow and prepared the barn for the impending storm.  We thought.

Dogs helping or hurting Marilynn?

We woke early to go check on the barn.  The walk proved to be quite the workout itself!  Once we managed to make it through the winter wonderland and to the barn, we quickly noticed that Quinn did not greet us as he normally would.  Then we saw that the barn doors had been opened somehow.  ( I cannot imagine who would ever do that...)

Gerry and Bax helping with clean up

The scene we came upon in the feed and adjoining tack room was reminiscent of the disaster zones I have worked in. I could have easily been convinced that a bomb had been detonated.  Doors were off their hinges, empty feed and supplement bags had been shredded and strewn about as if put in a giant blender with the lid off. Neatly coiled hoses had been unraveled, blankets were sprawled out everywhere, and, as usual, everything was covered in a nice stinking layer of watery manure (a result of eating half a bag of feed and an entire bag of flax meal).

Marilynn surveying the damage

Trapped

As my brain was trying to interpret what my eyes were seeing, I finally noticed that the perpetrator was caught in the act.  Literally.  You know who had knocked down a ladder and gotten his giant tree trunk of a leg stuck in the rungs.  I, being the ever caring mother, decided to take a photo before releasing                                                           him from his self imposed restraints.  I suppose he did not want me to be bored during the snow storm.  He is so thoughtful. Nothing quite like scrubbing floors in below freezing weather.  Unconditional love...sometimes it is a one way street...