Romni Loo`Loodi’ Y`aven
She came into the world on April 18, 2000, at approximately 3:00 am, born at Gypsy Rose Ranch, in Oakdale Calif.
It was a dreadful stormy night, and when I last checked her Mom, Ms. Bodi, at 11:30pm, she was not exhibiting any signs of foaling, so I left her stall door open, not imagining that she would even attempt to wander out into the paddock, since it was knee deep in mud. A few short hours later,
I was suddenly awakened by the quiet solitude and eerily silence that had come over the ranch. I popped my head up and looked out the window above my headboard and saw a silver white moon shining bright, but it also had clouds passing over it in an elongated, ominous pattern. I felt compelled to go check the mare, so I put on my overcoat, and rubber boots and dashed to the barn, not even stopping to look in the stall, something told me to go directly to the paddock, and there in the dim of the silvery moon light I saw the white hip of a tiny Gypsy foal, standing and shivering in the corner of the paddock. It was stuck in the mud up to it’s forearms, so I rushed in, losing both of my boots to the mire, I swooped the foal up into my arms and carried it into the warmth of the dry bedded stall, the New Momma following close behind me with a worried look on her face.
I towel dried the foal and verified it’s sex, a Filly! I treated her navel with strong iodine and then leaned back on the wall and let her Momma perform her magic that nature so willingly imparts to warm blooded animals, and all the while I marveled at what had just taken place. I welcomed the filly with touch, breath, and soothing voice so that from that day on, she would always know me, no matter where she ended up, or what journey was in store for her, she would always be able to recognize me from those senses. She was the first Gypsy Vanner horse born west of the Mississippi and the first Gypsy King Daughter born in the new century….
She was named for her heritage and her future as she was the dawning of a new life and journey imparted to me, Romni LooL`oodi’ Y`aven (Gypsy Rose Dawn).
Y`aven was a sweet filly, she was a quick learner, inquisitive, somewhat opinionated, but always willing to give to her person when pressed. We traveled far and wide on the west coast together, Bodi, Y`aven and I, spreading the enchantment and mystic of the Gypsy Vanner Horse.
At just 5 months old she was at the California state fair, showing thousands of people what a wonderfully people oriented, breed this Gypsy Horse is, even at a very young age. Then in late October 2000, at the tender age of 6 months old, Y`aven, Bodi and I spent 10 long days at the Grand National Rodeo and Ag Expo, in South San Fransico, teaching some 5,000 inner city school children about the breed, as well as all of the many thousands of people attending the events of the Grand National Rodeo.
Y`aven grew up to be a very athletic gypsy mare, she could pop to a gallop, spin on a dime and sit on her haunches to do a sliding stop that would rival any sliding quarter horse. She has produced five lovely Gypsy foals that have many accolades to their credit, and one special boy, that is a Gypsy Angel horse working at a therapeutic riding center working with people of special needs. Y`aven did not like getting pregnant but she loved being a Mommy, and she taught her babies well.
Y`aven went to live with my sister in Aromas, California, in the early spring of 2012. Robbie was ready again to love and care for an Equine friend, and she had been involved in so many ways with Y`aven throughout the years, even when she wasn’t living in California, if I called and asked her to come help with a function and handle Y`aven, Robbie would be there, so when the time was right, I gave Y`aven to Robbie and Glen. They loved and cherished her to the extreme, and spoiled her as well, and in return Y`aven enriched their lives with her devotion and love.
June 2014
Y`aven came back to Gypsy Rose Ranch, which had relocated to Lockford, California, for a visit, as Robbie and Glen were experiencing some personal medical issues that they needed to focus on. So I suggested bringing Yaven back to the ranch until they had a chance to get through the immediate crisis, and I planned on taking her back after she herself had been checked out at UCD for a questionable sarcoid on her left lower eye lid.
Robbie came to the ranch on November 2, and we took Y`aven to UCD on November 3, 2014. She was examined, and the small lump on her lower eyelid was biopsied. The Veterinarians said that it would take about a week to get the results, and they would let us know as soon as they had confirmation of what the growth was.
November 10, 2014, I came to the barn in am to feed, only to find Y`aven staggering in circles to the right and slamming her head into the walls and corners of her paddock and stall, she was sweating, disoriented, stumbling, and aggravated. I grabbed her halter off the gate and rushed into the paddock to catch her up, but she didn’t recognize me, in her state, so she kicked off a blazing hind kick that just barely missed my head, had it connected, I probably would not be writing this account now. She kept moving away from me in circles to the right, she had a painful frenzied look on her face; she was definitely scared and lost as to where she was and who I was. I then spoke softly to her, calling her name sweetly, like I did the day she was born, and as I spoke I moved quickly and touched her on the neck, at that moment, for a split second or two, I do believe she recognized me, so she let me get the halter on her. As soon as I accomplished this task, I asked Jimmy our morning stall help, to hold the lead line outside of her pen, to try to keep her quiet, or at least keep her from running into the walls, while I went and got some banamine paste to give her for pain.
I got the paste and went to give it to her, but her mouth was clamped shut tightly, I finally did manage to part her lips and dispensed one dose of the paste onto her tongue, then I release the snap on the line and quickly left the paddock.
I called my closest Vet, Dr. Hilda, but she has departed emergency veterinarian work and is specializing in reproductive work, so we quickly determined that I needed to call Pioneer Equine. I got in touch with them and they had Veterinarians out here by 8:55am.
Dr. Hallstrom did a limited examination, as Y`aven was still very disoriented and aggravated, so she was uncooperative, her vitals were within normal ranges, but the Vets wanted to draw blood for testing, and in order to do this they sedated her, which I had been requesting from the moment they had arrived, because I couldn’t stand watching my baby girl beating herself up this way. As the sedation took hold, Y`aven finally stopped circling and the Vet was able to start some blood draws. She then wanted to ultrasound her to see if it was a ruptured colic, so as she started to clip the belly hair where she wanted to scan, Y`aven came out of the sedation and fired away again, hitting the vet’s hand, and the clippers. Once again Y`aven became very agitated and staggering, it had only been ten minutes that she was quieted by the sedation, and it should have been at least twice that long, based on the dosage given. I started pleading with the Vet to sedate her again, even though I knew it could be dangerous to her well being, I just couldn’t stand seeing her this disoriented and pained. The Vet was trying once again to draw more blood but was having a difficult time finding the vein with Y`aven moving around so much, and at one point she dragged the second vet that was handling her into the stall, Y`aven pushed her head and nostrils so hard against the corner of the stall, and was labored breathing in fashion which I have never seen or heard. She made a deep guttural sound as if she were drowning, or growling. By now the Vet was in agreement that she needed to administer more sedation, so she went to her truck and came back with a dose of Valium, and as she was trying to administer it into Y`aven’s jugular vein, my first ever Gypsy Vanner foal, let out with a high pitch whinny, as if to say good bye to her Mom Bodi, her sister’s, Peperooga and Doovar, her children, Sasti and Iloo, her husband Romipen, the rest of her extended Gypsy Horse family, and Me, her human Mom.
She crumpled to the ground, and as she lay there finally quiet, the vet was able to draw the rest of the blood she needed for testing. The Vets knew that she wouldn’t be down for long, so Dr Hallstrom looked to me as if to say,” what do you want to do?” I asked her if she felt if I could get Y`aven into a trailer, and to their clinic would they be able to determine what she had, and be able to help her? The Vet stated that they would have a difficult time, and in fact would surely be almost impossible to keep her sedated enough to run IV fluids or anything to sustain her, while trying to determine the cause of her illness.
By this time the second vet stated that it had already been 10 minutes since the second sedation and that if she came out of it soon it would be more difficult to get her sedated again, so both veterinarians looked at me as if to say, “what do you want to do?” I dropped my head into my hands, and started sobbing I knew I had to make this decision, as there was no one else who could. After what seemed like an eternity, and after weighing all the variables and what if’s and racing through my mind, how was I going to tell my sister…. I finally nodded my head to the vet; to do what they and I knew had to be done.
Romni LooLoodi Yaven breathed her last breath of life at 10:05 am on November 10, 2014.
“Go in peace my first Gypsy baby girl,
Be a true Gypsy Angel, with wings on high,
Fly away, fly away, Soar into the sky.
Watch over your herd and family here on earth,
Know that I have adored you from whence you were birthed.”
LEGStrauman
Post Script: To date the necropsy has shown Y`aven was in excellent health with only some anomalies noted in her brain. Testing is still ongoing and in the end we may never really know what caused her severe symptoms displayed on that fateful day.
It was a dreadful stormy night, and when I last checked her Mom, Ms. Bodi, at 11:30pm, she was not exhibiting any signs of foaling, so I left her stall door open, not imagining that she would even attempt to wander out into the paddock, since it was knee deep in mud. A few short hours later,
I was suddenly awakened by the quiet solitude and eerily silence that had come over the ranch. I popped my head up and looked out the window above my headboard and saw a silver white moon shining bright, but it also had clouds passing over it in an elongated, ominous pattern. I felt compelled to go check the mare, so I put on my overcoat, and rubber boots and dashed to the barn, not even stopping to look in the stall, something told me to go directly to the paddock, and there in the dim of the silvery moon light I saw the white hip of a tiny Gypsy foal, standing and shivering in the corner of the paddock. It was stuck in the mud up to it’s forearms, so I rushed in, losing both of my boots to the mire, I swooped the foal up into my arms and carried it into the warmth of the dry bedded stall, the New Momma following close behind me with a worried look on her face.
I towel dried the foal and verified it’s sex, a Filly! I treated her navel with strong iodine and then leaned back on the wall and let her Momma perform her magic that nature so willingly imparts to warm blooded animals, and all the while I marveled at what had just taken place. I welcomed the filly with touch, breath, and soothing voice so that from that day on, she would always know me, no matter where she ended up, or what journey was in store for her, she would always be able to recognize me from those senses. She was the first Gypsy Vanner horse born west of the Mississippi and the first Gypsy King Daughter born in the new century….
She was named for her heritage and her future as she was the dawning of a new life and journey imparted to me, Romni LooL`oodi’ Y`aven (Gypsy Rose Dawn).
Y`aven was a sweet filly, she was a quick learner, inquisitive, somewhat opinionated, but always willing to give to her person when pressed. We traveled far and wide on the west coast together, Bodi, Y`aven and I, spreading the enchantment and mystic of the Gypsy Vanner Horse.
At just 5 months old she was at the California state fair, showing thousands of people what a wonderfully people oriented, breed this Gypsy Horse is, even at a very young age. Then in late October 2000, at the tender age of 6 months old, Y`aven, Bodi and I spent 10 long days at the Grand National Rodeo and Ag Expo, in South San Fransico, teaching some 5,000 inner city school children about the breed, as well as all of the many thousands of people attending the events of the Grand National Rodeo.
Y`aven grew up to be a very athletic gypsy mare, she could pop to a gallop, spin on a dime and sit on her haunches to do a sliding stop that would rival any sliding quarter horse. She has produced five lovely Gypsy foals that have many accolades to their credit, and one special boy, that is a Gypsy Angel horse working at a therapeutic riding center working with people of special needs. Y`aven did not like getting pregnant but she loved being a Mommy, and she taught her babies well.
Y`aven went to live with my sister in Aromas, California, in the early spring of 2012. Robbie was ready again to love and care for an Equine friend, and she had been involved in so many ways with Y`aven throughout the years, even when she wasn’t living in California, if I called and asked her to come help with a function and handle Y`aven, Robbie would be there, so when the time was right, I gave Y`aven to Robbie and Glen. They loved and cherished her to the extreme, and spoiled her as well, and in return Y`aven enriched their lives with her devotion and love.
June 2014
Y`aven came back to Gypsy Rose Ranch, which had relocated to Lockford, California, for a visit, as Robbie and Glen were experiencing some personal medical issues that they needed to focus on. So I suggested bringing Yaven back to the ranch until they had a chance to get through the immediate crisis, and I planned on taking her back after she herself had been checked out at UCD for a questionable sarcoid on her left lower eye lid.
Robbie came to the ranch on November 2, and we took Y`aven to UCD on November 3, 2014. She was examined, and the small lump on her lower eyelid was biopsied. The Veterinarians said that it would take about a week to get the results, and they would let us know as soon as they had confirmation of what the growth was.
November 10, 2014, I came to the barn in am to feed, only to find Y`aven staggering in circles to the right and slamming her head into the walls and corners of her paddock and stall, she was sweating, disoriented, stumbling, and aggravated. I grabbed her halter off the gate and rushed into the paddock to catch her up, but she didn’t recognize me, in her state, so she kicked off a blazing hind kick that just barely missed my head, had it connected, I probably would not be writing this account now. She kept moving away from me in circles to the right, she had a painful frenzied look on her face; she was definitely scared and lost as to where she was and who I was. I then spoke softly to her, calling her name sweetly, like I did the day she was born, and as I spoke I moved quickly and touched her on the neck, at that moment, for a split second or two, I do believe she recognized me, so she let me get the halter on her. As soon as I accomplished this task, I asked Jimmy our morning stall help, to hold the lead line outside of her pen, to try to keep her quiet, or at least keep her from running into the walls, while I went and got some banamine paste to give her for pain.
I got the paste and went to give it to her, but her mouth was clamped shut tightly, I finally did manage to part her lips and dispensed one dose of the paste onto her tongue, then I release the snap on the line and quickly left the paddock.
I called my closest Vet, Dr. Hilda, but she has departed emergency veterinarian work and is specializing in reproductive work, so we quickly determined that I needed to call Pioneer Equine. I got in touch with them and they had Veterinarians out here by 8:55am.
Dr. Hallstrom did a limited examination, as Y`aven was still very disoriented and aggravated, so she was uncooperative, her vitals were within normal ranges, but the Vets wanted to draw blood for testing, and in order to do this they sedated her, which I had been requesting from the moment they had arrived, because I couldn’t stand watching my baby girl beating herself up this way. As the sedation took hold, Y`aven finally stopped circling and the Vet was able to start some blood draws. She then wanted to ultrasound her to see if it was a ruptured colic, so as she started to clip the belly hair where she wanted to scan, Y`aven came out of the sedation and fired away again, hitting the vet’s hand, and the clippers. Once again Y`aven became very agitated and staggering, it had only been ten minutes that she was quieted by the sedation, and it should have been at least twice that long, based on the dosage given. I started pleading with the Vet to sedate her again, even though I knew it could be dangerous to her well being, I just couldn’t stand seeing her this disoriented and pained. The Vet was trying once again to draw more blood but was having a difficult time finding the vein with Y`aven moving around so much, and at one point she dragged the second vet that was handling her into the stall, Y`aven pushed her head and nostrils so hard against the corner of the stall, and was labored breathing in fashion which I have never seen or heard. She made a deep guttural sound as if she were drowning, or growling. By now the Vet was in agreement that she needed to administer more sedation, so she went to her truck and came back with a dose of Valium, and as she was trying to administer it into Y`aven’s jugular vein, my first ever Gypsy Vanner foal, let out with a high pitch whinny, as if to say good bye to her Mom Bodi, her sister’s, Peperooga and Doovar, her children, Sasti and Iloo, her husband Romipen, the rest of her extended Gypsy Horse family, and Me, her human Mom.
She crumpled to the ground, and as she lay there finally quiet, the vet was able to draw the rest of the blood she needed for testing. The Vets knew that she wouldn’t be down for long, so Dr Hallstrom looked to me as if to say,” what do you want to do?” I asked her if she felt if I could get Y`aven into a trailer, and to their clinic would they be able to determine what she had, and be able to help her? The Vet stated that they would have a difficult time, and in fact would surely be almost impossible to keep her sedated enough to run IV fluids or anything to sustain her, while trying to determine the cause of her illness.
By this time the second vet stated that it had already been 10 minutes since the second sedation and that if she came out of it soon it would be more difficult to get her sedated again, so both veterinarians looked at me as if to say, “what do you want to do?” I dropped my head into my hands, and started sobbing I knew I had to make this decision, as there was no one else who could. After what seemed like an eternity, and after weighing all the variables and what if’s and racing through my mind, how was I going to tell my sister…. I finally nodded my head to the vet; to do what they and I knew had to be done.
Romni LooLoodi Yaven breathed her last breath of life at 10:05 am on November 10, 2014.
“Go in peace my first Gypsy baby girl,
Be a true Gypsy Angel, with wings on high,
Fly away, fly away, Soar into the sky.
Watch over your herd and family here on earth,
Know that I have adored you from whence you were birthed.”
LEGStrauman
Post Script: To date the necropsy has shown Y`aven was in excellent health with only some anomalies noted in her brain. Testing is still ongoing and in the end we may never really know what caused her severe symptoms displayed on that fateful day.