Happy Anniversary, Gatsby!

Gatsby at his former home, the day I met him and decided to buy him!

Hello Old Sports, 

Wowie! Time sure does fly! It’s my anniversary with Spode today, can you believe it? I’m too busy eating all the food I could ask for, so Spode volunteered to write a guest post today. So I’m gonna keep snacking. Here’s what Spode has to say:

9 years ago ago today, I signed the papers and brought Gatsby home. Time with Gatsby has absolutely flown by, but when I stop and think about all we have done together, I really can’t believe we’ve fit all that into only 9 years! 

I can still remember the day I called up a farmer whose son had responded to my Kijiji ad looking for an untrained yearling draft cross. I was at CPHS, in fact, calling him in between volunteering in classes. He told me he might have a good horse for me, but he didn’t know how to email photos and gave me practically no information. He just told me I should come out and see him the next day. I had had a lot of responses to my ad searching for a grade untrained horse and had driven hours to see one just the weekend before, only to be disappointed. I wasn’t expecting much. 

When I pulled into the driveway of the farm in Richmond with my mum, it was obvious to her that I was in love at first sight. He was pushy, nosily looking for food, and came right up to the fence to greet us as we got out of the car. He didn’t really want to be touched though, was a little head shy, and tried to bite you if you touched his legs. We drove home and stopped at my old barn on the way to ask if I could board Gatsby, then called Prince, there. Then we scheduled his arrival and I booked a vet check…but I’m pretty sure Evangeline could have said anything and I still would have kept him! I was in too deep by that point! (Don’t ever come to me for horse purchasing advice-I’m too emotional!)

June 26th 2013, just after signing the bill of sale! 

So awkward looking back then!

Gatsby was a real learning curve, as my previous horse Zoodles whom I sadly lost earlier that year came to me as a seasoned, well trained former dressage school horse. Gatsby was a handful in comparison to say the least. He couldn’t be led when he first arrived, and he reared up and came down on my arm leaving me injured within the first week. There were several injuries in that first year, and my grandmother still talks about the time she came to watch me foolishly try to hitch him to a cart way too early in his training, and he came within centimetres of stepping on my head after he knocked me down flat. 

Nothing like a near death experience to tell you what an idiot you've been. And no, I never tried to hitch him to a cart again. 

Like I said, there have been a lot of injuries over 9 years! 

From teaching him to lead to getting on him for the first tie, to going to his first off property events: Gatsby and I have done a lot, and he has taught me a lot! As we get back into dressage after slowly recovering from lung issues, he’s still teaching me every day. 

First ever ride for Gatsby! It was so exciting!

He, of course, thought it was no big deal (I learned my lesson from the cart experience and took things slow!)

First canter!

First show!

This of course brings me to his many medical stories. He got his first bout of uveitis less than a year after I bought him, and then we had our adventures in ophthalmology and his life changing surgery that saved his eyesight. Little did I know it would just be the first of his many health issues, and many hospital and specialist visits around the world. 

That moment when the doctor who flew to Toronto from Florida tells you your horse is a good candidate for surgery! 

Gatsby's first time back in the paddock after recovering from eye surgery. He was feeling quite exuberant! 

Fast forward to 2016 and my little backyard, cattle farm horse was travelling first class on a flight to the U.K. for what I thought would be a permanent move. This horse has now been to more countries than I have as he hopped from European country to country when he flew there and back again in 2019. He’s even been on the Eurotunnel and the ferry from Dover. Gatsby the world traveller! It was never a question that he would be moving with me. I was all ready to move to the U.K., had a job lined up and everything planned out for living there, but my final step was calling up my vet Evangeline to ask if she thought it was safe for Gatsby to fly and it wouldn’t stress him out and cause uveitis. If she had said no, I never would have moved. 

He definitely enjoyed his three year holiday/adventure in the U.K!

In short, I have so many memories with this guy, both happy and heartbreaking, but through it all he has really remained the same horse I fell in love with when I pulled in the driveway 9 years ago and met my Prince. He’s pushy, he’s nosy, he’s opinionated and had never grown out of his equine ADHD, and he’s definitely still in your face 24/7, as all the barn staff who have ever met him can attest to. I wouldn’t have him any other way! 

Here’s to 9 years together, Gatsby, and may there be many, many more to come, Old Sport! 

Oops I did it again!

Hello old sports,

What can I say? I know. For a literary horse I write very little these days. I seem to be averaging one post a year lately. But you know, in the novel my namesake is not the author. We see everything through Nick Carraway’s eyes and he is like OBSESSED with the man. Now, let’s think for a minute here. Who follows ME around documenting my every move, checking out who I’m speaking to, who visits me, who attends my parties and plans my dates… that’s right! Spode is the Nick Carraway of my life and so if there’s anyone to blame, I’m pretty sure it’s her. If she’s that obsessed with me then surely SHE should be writing my life story, not me. For someone who claims to love books and has devoted her life to teaching kids about books she’s not being very true to her favourite book here. Just saying. She should have the blog, not me. 

But we all know how that would end. She would whine and say that she has no time and school work makes her too tired blah blah blah. So I’ll continue with my writing. Better get my hooves back in the game! She’s got her own laptop now so we don’t have to share. No excuses from me!

I could be eating my round bale right now, but instead I'm taking the time out of my busy schedule to write this, so you'd better appreciate this old sports!

So, where to begin since my last post? Well the issues I referred to in my last post are still a problem! I am still itchy, itchy, itchy in the, er, nether regions… trying to delicate here and retain my dignity but seriously the number of people who have seen some very not safe for work pictures of me and talked about my problems openly in front of all the other horses like they don’t even care that I’ll be teased by my friends is almost as annoying as the itching itself. Horse people are really not very lady-like. No sense of privacy and no shame.

Excuse me? Do you mind

Anyway, Spode and my favourite vet have been working hard to find a solution and in all honesty it’s not so bad right now. But Spode recently found out that the dermatologist specialist we consulted with before is coming to our area soon so once there’s a date set we’ll be taking a little road trip up to Prescott hospital. It’ll be like the good old days of travelling to Toronto and the Royal Vet College in the UK. Yeah, I know my way around an equine surgery hospital. Spode is hoping that this trip will result in some answers so I don’t itch forever. 

In other news, and this really should have been first, I have moved! Yes, I’ve left my long time home of Fox Hollow and have moved to Logoff Farms…just a few minutes down the road! When Spode told me we were moving I was getting myself ready for another long trailer ride and wasn’t even ready to come off when the trailer stopped after only 5 minutes. 

My new friend Sheen the day I arrived! 

I moved to Logoff at the start of December. I liked it at Fox Hollow a lot but Spode said she wanted somewhere a little less busy to spend her time with me since she wants a break from people after a day at school. So we moved! Spode used to ride a little pony named Lexi at Logoff when she was young and horseless so when a spot became available she thought it would be a good fit. It has been great so far, old sports! I feel like I’m now living the life of luxury that a horse named Gatsby deserves! 

First, they put up with my demands. I want access to the outside all the time and that’s what I got! Spode was quite stressed about me having to stay in at night during the winter because she knows I hate staying in a stall longer than I have to. Luckily it all worked out and I get to stay outside all day and all night, just the way I like. I also get fed twice a day now and am currently enjoying the grass and hay. Today I experienced the luxury of escaping the sun and bugs in my shelter, which comes fully equipped with a bug screen and a fan that turns on automatically when it’s really hot. Spode also says there are a lot of trails but we haven’t even checked these out yet! Coming soon!

I've got so many fans now that one of Spode's students made this stall sign for her! She says that means that they're a fan of "Ms Wolff" and not necessarily about me. But that doesn't make sense because it's all about me!

Never has this been more appropriate to my life and my new digs. 

Speaking of riding, WOW I have been working hard! I’m not considered semi-retired anymore, old sports, not by a long shot! It’s quite amazing when you think about it! My lungs were x-rayed and biopsied just a few years ago to reveal pulmonary fibrosis and it was a pretty dire outlook. But every year since I have gotten better and better and gone from fully retired to semi-retired, to full on working horse! Seriously old sports! I’m practically back to my pre-lung problem days! All the vets are amazed, Spode is thrilled, and I’m just enjoying the “wow what a lucky horse” comments. I’m the best. I know this. They don’t call me The Great Gatsby for nothing. The vet techs try and search my name at the clinic with just Gatsby sometimes and can’t find me in the system. I always have to remind them that they need the “Great”. You can’t have me without being Great! It just makes sense! 

We're back in action! Go team!

Anyway, I think I’d better leave it there for now old sports because if I write everything today I won’t want to write a second post a little later on! I promise you’re getting AT LEAST two posts this year! 

Until later, old sports. 

Jay.