Maren Foster sent us this great read about her retired three-star horse Luke, who has lived a very full life … or lives, as Maren says. His latest reincarnation is caring for the wild pig in the photo below, who has since been domesticated and named the Notorious P.I.G. Many thanks to Maren for writing!
Luke and the Notorious P.I.G. Photo courtesy Maren Foster.
From Maren:
A client said to me the other day, “Horses have nine lives.” I thought, “Are you crazy? They aren’t cats … And they don’t always land on their feet!”
But I think what she meant was horses have nine jobs in life. And the more I thought about it, the more I thought she was right.
My last three-star horse was a quirky little gelding named Luke and showed under the name Star Wars. He occasionally put his head down for dressage, ran like the dickens cross country and couldn’t care less about punching out every rail in the show jumping. And at FEI competitions, the chance if he would pass the jog was a coin toss.
But upper-level eventing was just one of Luke’s lives. Before I bought Luke, come to find out he was a racehorse in New Zealand. His race comments read something like this …
“Started at the back, never made a move.”
“Never showed up.”
“Broke late. Kept falling back.”
And these comments were regarding the horse that always made time at Advanced. I used to joke with my students that he only jumped because it got in the way of his gallop.
After a couple years at Advanced, Luke moved on to take my sister to her first Preliminary horse trials, commencing the start of job number three. He continued to compete in his own style … tearing up the cross country and making sure the jump crew in the show jumping ring wasn’t snoozing.
Luke suffered a minor tendon injury at 16 years old, and we decided to retire him, but he would have none of it. Segway into his next life, aka Beginner Novice champion.
A student of mine was willing to put up with Luke’s quirks and was rewarded with an amazing cross-country horse that took her to the AECs in Texas last year. He ran cross country in a deluge and had his typical rail to finish just outside the top 10 at age 17.
At age 18, we decided Luke should live outside, and we trusted him with the care of our weanlings. With the care of a cranky uncle, Luke has taught them manners and space, and I can only hope his lack of spookiness will wear off on these babies. (Life number 5)
And now, possibly life number 6, a new and unexpected chapter to Luke’s life … I came out to the pasture one night and there was a wild piglet running around Luke’s pasture. By the next morning, the piglet had decided that Luke was his mother. Together, they pace the fence, stomp for grain and march to the water trough.
So, if you see a pig galloping cross country never batting an eye at the scariest of jumps, but a little careless in the show jumping, just know that Luke has moved into his next life as a trainer, possibly life number seven — and watch out because he still has a few more lives left.
