Kaluga's life

I met Kaluga first at Beclean-pe-Somes stud, 80km west of here. I was looking for a sturdy draught horse, and spotted Kaluga with another mare pulling a cart on stable cleaning duties. The stud was only too happy to sell Kaluga because she had failed three times to carry a foal to term, making her of little use to a breeding facility. That's also how she gained her name, Kaluga, meaning monk (phonetically, anyway, as the correct spelling is calugar: why the masculine form was used for a mare, I don't know). At the then-current exchange rates, I paid around £300 (or $450) for her.

She arrived in an open truck, arranged by the stud. Livestock transport in Romania was quite primitive back then in 2000. Standing on the bed of the truck, her head was way higher than the cab roof, making for a strange sight as the vehicle arrived. In fact horses travel well in an open vehicle, since they can see the road ahead and soon learn to lean into the bends. Still, at the time it gave me quite a surprise to see a horse arrive like that. Since the truck had no ramp, we unloaded Kaluga a short distance away where we could back the vehicle against rising ground.

Kaluga's breed, the Semigreu or Romanian Medium Draught Horse, is derived in part from the Lipizzaner. She is a pure-bred example carrying stud brands. I was impressed by Kaluga's action, raising each front hoof high as she moved forwards. This looked splendid, although it also made her quite a slow horse in each pace. She was paired with our other grey, Gelu, a part-bred Lipizzaner. For seven years they made a beautiful pair, matched in colour if not exactly alike in build.

Although bought as a draught horse, Kaluga was ridden from time to time. She was useful for carrying unusually heavy or tall riders. The heaviest was a 250lb (120kg) RAF Wing Commander, a portly aviator not surprisingly relegated to desk duty.

On one occasion I rode her for a week, back in the first full year of operation of the riding centre. It was a bleak ride, over a cloud-covered Suhard ridge and down to the windswept Rotunda Pass, a place so remote that until recently a hermit lived there. We headed high into the Rodna mountains, on an exposed Habsburg track , experiencing swirling snow flurries on an incredible August afternoon. All this, the sturdy mare pushed through as if a long trail and bad weather were nothing to her.

On another early ride, we took a strangely unmatched group of three horses: the large, slow Kaluga for a novice rider; the fast, flighty Arabella for his highly exerienced wife; and Nelly the pushy Alpha Hutul for me. The objective, as I discovered out on the trail, was for the lady to convince her husband that riding was a good thing and therefore he should buy her a horse back at home in Britain. As it turned out, the wife was out of shape and, showing off by jumping the athletic Arabella, inflicted upon herself a groin strain. I had to get the group down off the mountain with her in considerable discomfort sitting sideways across a patient Kaluga, her husband leading Nelly (who was at least more sensible than an Arabian) and me leading Arabella. It was an ignominous event, although I heard later that the husband did yield and buy his wife a horse.

I shall not forget Kaluga's kind, benign expression and large, floppy ears. She has a kind face and large, quiet eyes that spoke of calmness. Those great ears were expressive too, moving to track whatever interested her, yet also inferring a gentle, untroubled nature. Two photos show Kaluga to the left of the shot, paired with a slightly smaller Gelu.

One summer afternoon last year, I drove Kaluga alone over the 20km forest track northward to Sant. She was a simple, straightforward horse to drive, and a communicative horse too. When thirsty, she would look across at a water trough or stream in an expressive way impossible to misunderstand. On the long steady descent into Sant, I screwed the cart brakes on lightly to hold the weight of the vehicle, then walked down the road next to her. If I walked in front, she would follow me. Where the gradient changed, necessitating changes to the brake setting, I could trust her to walk steadily ahead whilst I went to the back of the cart to make the changes. (The brake screw is at the back of a farm cart.) It was a great pleasure to travel with such a calm, friendly, sensible horse.

Kaluga was a superb logging horse too. She was a good, hard puller, who could lean into a load to get it started. She was sensible and alarmed neither by chainsaws nor by the crash of a tree being felled. When a load was too much for her, she would stop and decline to pull, telling us that something was wrong. A lesser horse would use that technique to shirk work, but not Kaluga.

I remember her galloping across the field at feeding time. Most often she walked, or trotted in her elagant high-stepping way, however we were treated to the occasional gallop. The ground shook as she passed.

I had expected that she would enter her twilight years slowly, spending a year or two on light yard duties. There is always a need for a safe, sensible horse to pull the tip cart, taking away manure and returning with sawdust. That is the horse that replaces a tractor. It seems that misfortune has cheated Kaluga of this role.

As it is, she is enjoying each day of a suddenly enforced retirement, basking in the sun during the day, and eating copious amounts of hay and plenty of corn. She seems happy and alert and, although thin, isn't suffering from the cold and isn't losing any more weight. She might see the spring yet. I hope so. I know that her condition is likely abruptly to worsen again, however I would like her to enjoy the warmth and fresh grass of one more spring.

I'd like to thank everyone who has sent a message of support. I do appreciate every thought and message. Thank you all.

Comments

[Jamie]

Thank you for sharing Kaluga's story. I too hope that the lovely girl sees another spring. God Bless and warm thoughts to y'all.

[Lynda]

I always enjoy reading about life in Transylvania. I've given you the "Excellent Blog Award." Stop by my blog and pick it up. Good job!

[Victoria Cummings]

It's rather unusual for horses to have heart problems. We thought that Silk might have one, and I researched it quite a bit. In the States, Cornell University Vet School is doing a study on it. I'll send you the article if I can find it. I'm glad that Kaluga is happy and comfortable. She's a grand old girl.

[emil]

Thank you for sharing more details from Kaluga’s life. She really looks gorgeous in those photos and I’m sure she can provide great company on long trails. I’ve also read your last post about her condition. I continue to believe that her heart problem is secondary to another disturbance that could be diagnosed. There are a number of disorders that progress silently but reluctantly in adults, giving up few if any symptoms until failure of other major organs (like heart) becomes apparent. Possible causes can be metabolic or endocrine in nature but all would require blood work for proper evaluation (can this be done? is it expensive in Romania?). For example her infertility or lack of carrying foals to term (spontaneous abortion) may be a complication of many conditions including anemia, hypothyroidism, diabetes. These are just a few among those that progress for many years giving up scarce, if any, symptoms. All may lead to heart (and other organs) failure. Most are treatable (albeit maybe expensive). At this point, it is very important to maintain her weight stable. Continuing weight loss can signal cardiac cachexia, a major complication of heart failure that associates with poor prognosis. Of course she also needs to be shielded from major changes in the outside temperature, needs rest and good-quality feeding, all you are currently doing so diligently. Your vet should be able to tell you how much or how difficult may be to run a blood test on her (general plus a liver, thyroid and renal panel – these are nowadays automated and not too expensive for humans).

[William Thirteen]

thanks for writing up Kaluga's biography (thus far). the description of her time on the ranch and the relationship between the two of you is a wonderful and touching read.

[Callie]

What a sweet mare. How old is she? I guess I need to go back and read older posts. Needless to say, she sounds like a great mare and she's pretty too. Hope she doesn't suffer.

[Transylvanianhorseman]

Thank you, everyone, for your kind comments. Since several people asked, Kaluga is 16, quite a good age for her breed of draught horse which isn't especially long-lived.

Emil: Thank you again for your comments. I have been reading a link about equine heart conditions that Victoria kindly gave me. Probably you are right, that there is more than one problem. She has never been worked really hard, so we wouldn't have spotted small losses of stamina. Logging required short, hard pulls, whilst draught work was steady but not hard (as the loaded work mainly was downhill). She did have a problem with oedema a few years ago, treated by the vet, and that does suggest heart problems as one explanation (though the vet gave no diagnosis at the time). One spontaneously aborted foetus was dissected by a vet, and displayed substantial abnormalities. (The liver or kidneys were grossly enlarged, as I recall.) Now Kaluga is getting plenty of good feed, and has a rug when the weather is colder. Her drinking seems normal. Blood tests are an option, and the vet came prepared to take blood last week, however he was so sure about his "heart failure" diagnosis that he never took blood. I can of course ask him again to process a blood test.

[sue]

I'm sure Kaluga in her inimitable way would have let you know if there was anything wrong with her before now. Only you can know what is right for your horse. I hope she makes the spring.

[Anne]

Isn't it a blessing that animals have no sense of death? Or maybe that's just what we humans think.

I see all these old people in the nursing home. I think Kaluga is happier than they are, enjoying each day in the sun, glad to get her rations.

It was good to read about her life thus far. I'll bet she makes it to spring with the kind of care she's getting.

[Charleen]

It is so nice to remember such nice history and pictures of your horse in her memory I love readings the story and enjoy the pictures, Thanks for shareing them with us.

[I Gallop On]

What lovely stories you have of Kaluga. How nice to share them with all of us. ;-) I can see you two working in the forest, you leading the way while she pulled the cart down the hill. What a beautiful, harmonious image that is.

Pax. Kimberly