TA Kiss Afire

My mare Kissy. I can't say enough about her. She is 22 years old this year (2008) and having bought her when she was only a year and a half old, we've had a lot of years together. We have done so much, just she and I. I was a freshman in high school when she came, and we have a lifetime of memories!

I helped my grandfather bale hay all summer, which was payment for her. An even trade, hay for horse! She was close to 2 years old when she arrived, and wasn't known to anyone (except she and the colt, of course!) that she was newly pregnant....but we certainly found that out the following February when she gave birth to a beautiful bay Arabian filly I called Val. It was an "accident"....but we were happy to have gotten a two for one deal...although Kissy was pretty young to be a mom. She was a great mom, for being so young herself.

Kissy was never 'trained' to ride. I remember the first time...I was showing her at halter at some open shows, and one day a the show I just jumped on. We've been riding buddies ever since. We spent a lot of time on trails, or road riding with a friend, in the show ring at open shows and the county fair every year....she was known as the "pepsi drinking horse," as she loves Pepsi, and curls her lips around the can to drink it while I hold it for her. I have books and books of photos, and will be scanning some more as time allows. Kissy rode in several parades, and when I worked at a local nursing home, I would bring her on occasion on a day off, to share her with the residents there. She's always been so laid back, and is a definite people lover.

Kissy has had three foals, Val in 1988, and then not until 2001 when she had an awesome Quarab colt,Boomer. Her final foal came in 2002. This beautiful black filly, with only a small white streak on her forehead, was born at 295 days, way too early to be born. The vet said they had never seen a foal born this early born alive. It was truly heartbreaking....She wasn't developed enough yet, and her chances of survival were slim to nothing. So we gave her a full belly of mom's milk (through a tube, while Kissy stood there to be milked) and let her go. Kissy has not been bred since that time.

Kissy is registered TA Kiss Afire, she is by Wylde Fire (x Fire Chief x Bask) and out of Kiss A Mee. She's been a long time member of the family, and hopefully she'll be here for a long time to come!

Kissy and I were on horse patrol at the Midwest Horse Fair in Madison, Wisconsin on April 16-18, 2004. We both had a great time! Unfortunately, due to injuries she has acquired the summer of 2004, she will need to be retired from a riding horse. But she was my best riding buddy, and is STILL my best buddy...she's in very good hands with the vets who care for her, she's a model patient....she's just a model HORSE! Kissy and I have a LIFETIME of memories together. If we're unable to ride together, we still have enough of those memories to last forever. I think everyone who shares their lives with horses has that ONE special horse that sticks out from any other. Kissy is mine. She's awesome. There will never be another one like her. We rode, and we were One. She took care of me. Now it's time for me to take care of her.

I guess I can't know how long I will have my girl around. She has arthritis, but supplementing with a glucosamine supplement has seemed to help. I have been having a hard time keeping weight on her, and in June, 2006 started her on a Senior feed, as well as an array of additives she gets in her grain daily. She took this last winter a little more rough than the last, and is blanketed in the wintertime now. As long as she seems happy and comfortable, I'm happy. Unfortunately, as she has gotten older, the other horses have begun picking on her, and she has to be kept alone (or with the minis), but she doesn't seem to mind that at all! I sure wish I could turn the clock around for her....she's truly been an awesome horse, an Arabian who owns a piece of my heart and always will. And she will stay here with us always, and enjoy her retirement as comfortably as I can help her be. She's my girl!