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Gail Schumann
on Retirement
As you will see from this article, Gail
Schumann is passionate about our ponies and companion animals, and
their care. Gail has been one of our most active volunteers for the
past seven years, and at last count has contributed over 180 animals to
the program, including ponies and companion animals like miniature
goats, sheep and donkeys that we provide to keep our ponies from
getting lonely.
Gail is also an expert in the care of ponies,
goats, sheeps and donkeys. She is a PPL breeder and stands the
stallion, SCHUMANN'S RAZZMATAZ, as well as serving as foster "mom" to
ponies that need special care or training. Additionally, she is State
Director of New Hampshire and handles all the copy work and preparation
of marketing materials for the program.
Thoughts on the retirement of our ponies...
Think about this:
You are 80 years old and have a touch of
arthritis and maybe a little high blood pressure. You aren't as strong
or as fast as you used to be and get tired a lot more easily. Your
children have grown and your grandchildren are all in school. Because
of your age and your small health problems you are given a small room
at the back of the house. You are brought meals 3 times a day and once
in a while someone pokes their head in to make sure you are ok.
Everyone else is out doing things, going places, having fun and
enjoying friends and loved ones. For you…none of that. You are alone in
your room and no one seems to notice or care..
Is this what you would like in your retirement?
Animals grow old too, and far too often their
"retirement" years are much like this. Our Personal Ponies are promised
life-time care when they enter the program—and in return for their
years serving the program and special needs children, they deserve far
more!
Our ponies have spent their lives doing their
"job" of promoting PPL, bearing foals, and serving as special
companions to differently able children (often several in a lifetime).
They have stood patiently for their young masters and mistresses,
gladly allowed excited children to hug on them, given hundreds upon
hundreds of rides on hot summer afternoons at camps and gatherings,
marched in parades, produced sons and daughters, brought smiles to
countless children. They are used to both giving lots of love and
receiving it too. So with the "job" also came lots of attention,
careful brushing and feeding, and the knowledge that they are special,
their lives important.
Then one day, the little nagging ailments begin
to slow them down. A bit of arthritis makes them stiff, age takes its
toll on their energy level. They may not have the patience they once
had or be able to give as many rides or be comfortable walking miles in
a parade or pulling a cart may just become too much for them. Breeding
mares may no longer conceive or perhaps their bodies need to rest from
raising foals.
However, just because our ponies may have some
aches and pains and may not still have the energy of their youth, or
because they can't breed anymore, doesn't mean they should be forgotten
or considered of no use. They have just ended the working chapter in
their lives and begun a new one: RETIREMENT. And if done correctly, our
ponies' retirements can make the last few years of their lives happy
and worthwhile.
Just like us, our retired ponies still NEED to
be loved; they also need to be brushed, vetted, and to maintain a
social life. These are important times for our animals. They worked for
us throughout their lives, and asked only to be loved and cared for in
return. Now it is our turn to take extra care of them. They need us now
more than ever!
Barbies Story...
Barbie was a little 32" mare
that I had for 14 years; she was 32 when she passed away. She had spent
much of her life as a PPL broodmare, had been an excellent mother, and
loved her life and being alive. She has many foals in the program. In
the last years of her life, though, she slowed down a lot and started
dropping weight.
Thinking that it would be better for her to be
alone, I I took her out of the paddock where she lived with the other
mares. For a few days she thought this was wonderful. She had her own
food and didn't have to share anything. She had a "room" of her own and
she no longer had to compete for space, water or hay.
But about a week after I moved her I noticed
that she was pretty blah. I would go in and sit with her and talk to
her, but she just stood at the fence and stared into the next yard
where the other mares were. The look in her eyes was so sad that I
often cried talking to her because I knew she was unhappy, but didn't
know how to help her. Then one day I noticed one of the other mares
come up to the fence and nicker to her. It then dawned on me that
Barbie was LONELY and SAD separated from her friends. I realized this
was not how she wanted to live out her life.
When I put Barbie
back with the other mares,
she ran and kicked and jumped, then ran some more out of sheer joy. It
was as if there was a big party in her honor and she was really
celebrating! I have no doubts that at this moment I could see the
sparkle come back in her eyes again. From then on, I left her in the
yard with her friends during the day and separated her at night. This
was fine with her--but come morning, she was at the gate to go out.
Then one morning about four years later I went
to her pen and she was not at the gate. I rushed in and found her lying
beside the fence with two of the other mares standing near her on the
other side. Barbie never got up again--but I swear she still had that
sparkle in her eyes that told me everything was OK because she had
lived her life and was passing away with a happy spirit.
Barbie did die that morning before the vet could
come and I cried my heart out for her because she taught me a lesson
about being old that no one else had: life isn't over just because we
grow old. We owe our PPL ponies the same kind of quality of life in
their retirement as we would wish for ourselves-full of love,
attention, quality care, and companionship.
This mare has many foals in the program and they
are all doing wonderfully. And I know in my heart that Barbie was very
proud of the job she did in the PPL program and her contribution of
many fine foals. But the main point of my story is that this little
mare would have died much sooner if I had not realized that she wanted
to be with her friends --that she needed to remain part of her
community and not feel that she had been cast aside like an old shoe.
These ponies are intelligent; they have needs
and feelings. They want what we want at the end of our lives: to die
feeling loved, cared for, and among caring friends.
Animal retirement is a part of life, but it is a
part that WE can make happy and loving for them. I know that every
creature in my care will pass away without having suffered the
indignities of lonliness, neglect, or lack of love. And they will never
die alone--because if for some reason I can't be with them, someone
else will...
If you would like to contact Gail, you can
call her at 603-826-3904 or email her at minis2@verizon.net
