Kim met Charlie when she was about four to five months old. “Charlie actually found me,” Kim told me. She had gone to visit a breeding barn that had fallen on hard times. The owners bred Pinto horses crossed with Arabians looking for horses that resembled Arabians with pinto coloration, known as Pintabians. Charlie was a solid chestnut Half-Arabian filly, so of no real interest to the breeders. The minute Kim walked into the dilapidating barn, the tiny chestnut filly called out to her. She walked over to greet the filly and her heart was smitten. It took her a couple of months to make the arrangements to bring Charlie home.
Once Kim got her home, she discovered Charlie had a penchant for wandering. There was no regular horse fencing that could keep her at home if she wanted to visit the neighborhood. Charlie simply scooted herself underneath the lowest rail. Kim finally had to confine her in a large chain-link dog run while Charlie was outside of her barn stall until the filly grew up a bit more.
“I used to get calls at work from my neighbors,” Kim laughed as she told me. “They would tell me Charlie is visiting again. I had to arrange for someone to take her home or have the neighbors pen her up until I got off work.” Kim also told me that if Charlie got out and found the door to the house open, she would walk right on in and make herself at home.
Once Kim had Charlie well saddle-trained, she became the go-to horse for inexperienced riders. “She is sweet and gentle and wouldn’t hurt a fly,” according to Kim. She had Charlie bred for a new baby to raise, expecting Charlie would be the perfect mother as well as the ideal riding companion. Charlie had an accident on a trail ride that ended up in a blown-out abscess on a lower leg. She and the vet treated the wound, and the mare recovered well. She foaled and raised her baby. Unknown to Kim, there were still a few bacteria floating around in Charlie’s system. When Kim weaned Charlie’s baby, it put Charlie under a different kind of stress. The bacteria settled in her eyes, with no symptoms for quite a while.
Kim’s son, Dake, went on a trail ride with his mom and several others when he was seven or eight. Drake was new to trail riding. Charlie did well until that one day. Drake told his mother Charlie was running into things. That was unlike her. Kim knew Charlie enjoyed a ride better when the rider guided her where they wanted to go. Drake didn’t have much experience before that ride. Kim schooled him. She showed him how to pay attention and how to show Charlie where he wanted her to go. The problems for Drake didn’t improve, so he dismounted and rode behind one of the other riders. Kim ponied Charlie with the horse she was riding.
That day, Kim discovered the problem herself. Charlie was running into things she should have seen. She also stepped off the trail into a ravine at one point. Kim took her home and had the vet out to examine her. They discovered she had Uveitis, an infection in the back of her eyes, both eyes at the same time. Kim treated Charlie with antibiotics and steroids as the vet recommended. It didn’t seem to help. One day as Kim stepped into the barn, the sunlight was shining at just the right angle for her to finally see the problem. The eye she could see clearly in the sunshine was wholly clouded over at the back. Kim turned Charlie’s face, so the sunlight shined in the other eye. It was clouded over as well. Charlie was blind in both eyes. The vet told Kim when he diagnosed the problem, blindness might be the outcome.
The love and bond between the woman and her mare are strong. Kim rides Charlie frequently. Kim is careful to give Charlie clear directions on the ride. Charlie loves trail time with Kim. She is still the go-to horse for less experienced riders at home and is always up for “kid rides” when guests come over with little ones in tow.
Several years after Charlie’s blindness became apparent, Kim noticed one of her eyes was sinking into her eye socket, and the other eye was tearing badly. The vet recommended removing both of her eyes in a complicated surgery. Charlie recovered from the surgery without a hitch. She was in no pain, so Kim and Charlie continued their riding together during her recovery.
Kim often trailers Charlie away from the farm to join friends on trail rides in other areas. Charlie has many fans in their part of the state. People they’ve not met before are amazed to see a blind horse riding, without a bit, through the woods, crossing streams, and passing around boulders and wood fall with ease.
Over the years, they’ve only had a few problems. They’ve encountered people who feel Kim is unfair to Charlie. In Kim’s opinion, it would be unfair to Charlie to leave her at home and not take her out to do what she so obviously loves and enjoys. Some stare uncomfortably at the horse with no eyes. If it becomes an issue, Kim puts a fly mask on Charlie that covers her disability, so it isn’t apparent.
When they ride in a group, Charlie always gains new fans from the people they meet. Kim told me, when they are riding in a group, Charlie loves to lead. She has no problems with downhills, water crossings, muddy or rocky trails, or uphill climbs. Kim enjoys the rides more when Charlie leads because the horses don’t bunch up behind a balky horse at a shallow water crossing or an unfamiliar section of trail. Kim and Charlie charge through them and keep on going.
Kim says she and Charlie are happiest when they ride the trails together. I wish Kim and Charlie many more years for their unique relationship. They say love conquers all, even blindness, in this case.
