Sunday, January 16, 2011

a story for a Sunday...

My friend and fellow service dog puppy raiser, Scott.. sent this wonderful story to me. I just had to share it with all of you, maybe some of you already know about this.

This is Bettia Eistel and her horse, Fabuleax 5.. they live in Germany. Bettia has just written a book about her life, but to my knowledge it has not (yet) been translated to English. She was born in 1961 and her mother had been given the drug Thalidomide, which at that time was used to prevent miscarriages. No one knew much about the drug (neither do I) but children were often born with major birth defects.. one being, having no or extremely small limbs.. arms, legs, etc.








Bettina is an Olympic rider and has competed at the highest levels of dressage... and has WON!!! She and her amazing horse have a relationship that is certainly meant to admire.










I'm not so sure what I admire most.. this young woman's attitude towards life and her zest for living, or the wonderful horse that has to "understand" what this is all about. According to the story, she does EVERYTHING for herself and her horse.....









Saddling with her teeth!!!!!















Bridling with her feet!!! (Notice how nice he drops his head???)













Bathing and grooming.............













cantering...........showing...................







and winning!!!!!!








But most of all... loving.....
This story makes me remember a gal I had the pleasure of knowing... Louise.. she attended several of my obedience classes with her German Shepherd. Louise was also born without arms (her Mom had taken the same drug). At first I couldn't' figure out why Louise was in the classes, her dog was her service dog and was trained to "perfection". But Louise liked to be out with her dog and "doing things" and thought that the class would be fun for both of them. As we got to know each other better, she would share many of the details of her life... and like Bettina... she had a real appreciation for life. She drove her own van, went to dog shows.. and did..well, everything that everyone else did.
One thing that sticks in my mind though, Louise hated the snow and ice.. she had good balance, but trying to get around in the winter was very hard for her. Her biggest complaint was snowbanks.. made by the plow trucks they often blocked the sidewalks. She never let them stop her, she just didn't like them. As it turns out, I broke my ankle one winter (falling off a horse) and was in a cast and on crutches for many weeks. Only then did I truly apprecaite what Louise had been saying about snow, ice and snowbanks.
Her dog - "Morgan" - was so much fun to watch. Those of us who became friends with Louise never thought to ask her if she "needed" anything, because Morgan took such good care of Louise..they seemed to be one and the same. I did one time say "can I give you a hand with that?" Louise smiled and said "Yes, two hands would be pretty nice". I then felt a little ashamed, only to see that she had been joking with me.....
Lousie moved away and I haven't seen her in years... but I do think of them often, espcially now that I do this puppy raising thing. Maybe I should try and find her on facebook, anyways.. on a winter Sunday afternoon, I am inspired by these two ladies... and I hope you were as well....