Losing an angel, Losing Falage

This is the story of Jimmy and Falage, a rescued white, 28-year-old Arabian, who shared a very special bond. 

Jimmy liked to choose Falage to work with whenever he came to the barn…and choosing Falage meant also having Tika—Falage’s pal along too. Tika is an 18-year-old mare.

Before Falage and Tika came to the Ranch, they were going to be sold at a horse barn.  Being older horses, their future was uncertain until Kristi, our therapeutic riding program director, decided to give them a chance as therapy horses at the Ranch. The horses were gentle and calm—ideal for working with at-risk boys and girls, and with physically-challenged community patients who need calm, steady influences in their lives.

Kristi would help Jimmy catch both Falage and Tika.  Once caught, Falage didn’t like to stand still for too long, but that didn’t bother Jimmy. He learned patience working with Falage, and he would just move along with the horse from side to side, all the while grooming him like nothing was happening, treating him with unending kindness—something a once-neglected horse and boy both needed.

Oddly enough, Falage did stand well for his hooves to be cleaned. In fact, Jimmy just had to touch Falage’s leg and he would lift it up—pretty good for a horse that hadn’t had his feet done in 4 years! It was as if Falage knew this boy was helping him and chose to trust, just as Jimmy was trusting Falage to be still and let him help.

Jimmy, other staff and even Tika have had to learn another lesson—how to cope with the loss of a loved one, because you see, Falage began to fail the week before Palm Sunday. He had shown no earlier signs of distress, but 28 years is a long life for a horse and on Palm Sunday, he went into shock and we had to end his suffering.

Jimmy had worked with Falage up to one week before his death. 

“Falage’s greeting nicker and how he would run up to the fence when we drove up to the barn will be missed by everyone whose life he touched in the short months he was here at the Ranch,” Kristi said. “Jimmy is learning to cope with the loss by remembering the very good moments he had with Falage—we all are.”

We were inspired to begin the Equine Angel program because of Falage.
The kindness he showed to Jimmy is a legacy we hope others will emulate by becoming Equine Angels .