In Loving Memory of Heart Echo Equines of the past

Annie Banannie was just purchased in May 2025 to work with kids. 

She was a sweet older mare (around 27yrs old) who needed a caring place with gentle work and lots of "groceries" as she was previously at a home that was not able to offer her the special senior care she needed. We don't know much else about her history except told she was an amazing kids horse. It did not take long to see, however, that she needed more than weight put on her. Her joints were "frozen" in many places, giving her a difficult time moving around. She tripped very easily, and twice injured herself we believe with tripping. The first injuries we did our best to pull her through (laceration and shoulder pain), however she was not recovering well, and when she injured a hind leg as well as her face we knew it was time to end her pain. 

We did what we could to give her a summer of grass and fields and love. Our kids loved on her, and miss her. She was laid to rest with Midnight, fall of 2025. 

Spring 2022 we took a chance on a group of horses from Horse Heroes Alberta. 

Thelma and Louise were an older, bonded mother/daughter pair that came from an EAL background, I am not sure how they ended up at the rescue. Unfortunately within a few months of their adoption, Thelma got herself into a bad situation being cast in the field, and when she was found her body was already shutting down. We decided quickly not to prolong her suffering and decided to euthanize. 

Louise was still with us a few years, and because Luisa renamed after the string girl in the Disney movie Encanto. However, after a few years developed a winter laminitis. When it got very cold, she was in tremendous pain, similar to Midnight. As I promised to Midnight, I also promised Luisa in spring 2025 that she would not have to endure another winter. That fall, she was also euthanized, and went over Rainbow Bridge to finally rejoin her mother.

Raf was another adoption from 2022 from some trainer friends of mine who thought Raf might be suitable for a non ridden home only. He came from a sad situation where he was labeled a "Giraffe" and put out of site when people came by, when my friends discovered him thought they could give him a better life, but he turned out to be dangerous to ride. 

We wanted to give him a try in our EAL, however he never quite fit in. He had old scars, and within a year of being here it was clear he had pain issues in his hind end. We did bodywork with him to see if we could work it through with him. However when other health issues started to surface without significant improvement yet in his hind end, we decided to euthanize in fall 2023, he would have only been in his teens. 

Crossed Rainbow Bridge fall 2025

A little black grade pony (about 40") mare we got not long after we first moved to Killam, January of 2019. With 4 small kids we needed ponies!!

We bought her together with a younger bay mare about the same size as a package deal from nearby horse traders - apparently the ponies had both been exposed to a stud before they got them. They were sold as kid leadline friendly with the sellers' kids showing that they were safe. However the bay was much more flighty, and when we tried to use her at home would spook and jump around frequently with the kids both on and off. She was hard to catch and aversive to human attention. We sold the bay to a family with 5 kids who were going to work with her daily and it was an awesome fit. 

But back to Midnight - she has always been awesome. She reminded me of the black mare my brother learned to ride on, the buddy to my first pony. Topsy and Midnight were iconic to my childhood, and with the star on her forehead over a snip that looked like a crescent moon, the kids agreed we could name her Midnight. 

Midnight did turn out to be in foal, and gave birth to a bay colt wee hours one chilly morning April 2019. She was a great mom, but the foal preferred the company of his 'aunty' the bay pony and learned many rascally habits from her, so we sold him with the bay mare to the same family spring 2020.

We aren't sure how old Midnight was, or where all her past has taken her. We estimate her to be around 25yrs old when she was laid to rest. She was kind and gentle and occasionally curious - though near the bottom of the pecking order in the herd so is more often off on her own and independent. 

Midnight showed a slow gait and bagging up in her udder Spring 2022, and turned out to be the same disorder that Butterscotch has (see Butterscotch's bio). It was confirmed July 2022 that Midnight has PPID but also possibly Equine Metabolic Syndrome (like Type 2 diabetes in people). We put her on medication and got regular testing, controlled her grass and hay intake as best we could, but the cold winters were the hardest for her with winter laminitis. Every winter got worse, and the really cold days she would go so lame she could hardly stand. I promised her last winter, it would be her last, and gave her a final summer of retirement from her lessons and EAL, and gave her pastures and being with her buddies. Pulled her out of retirement for just one last demonstration at a festival with her Pal Merrylegs as representatives of Shetland Ponies doing EAL - always drawing in so much love from her fans. 

We miss you Midnight 💔

Midnight continues to be the favorite for every child that spends time with our ponies. Her calm, quiet presence bring confidence to even the most timid child.

Midnight showed a slow gait and bagging up in her udder Spring 2022, and turned out to be the same disorder that Butterscotch has (see Butterscotch's bio). It was confirmed July 2022 that Midnight has PPID but also possibly Equine Metabolic Syndrome (like Type 2 diabetes in people) 

Biography:

Khamir was the longest standing member of our herd. And until we got baby Zahur spring of 2022, Khamir was the only Arabian horse we had left after many generations of breeding them (though he is not directly related to the lines we bred). 

Khamir was born May 15 1993 to dam Gemzura, sired by Montego Bay, was bought by an older lady as a 2 yr old from the breeder and apparently had primarily done ground work for 5 years. He was beyond expert on the lunge line! He was then bought in year 2000 by the camp manager at Teen Time youth camp for his own family. I (Naomi) was out wrangling for the summer, and had my mare out there as well! I wondered how my mare had gotten in with the managers horses, until I saw my mare where she was supposed to be, so it wasn't her! I admired the gelding version with almost identical markings of my mare, until one day he got into a nasty pasture accident, slicing open his heel on left forefoot down too bone. I helped out with the daily cleaning and bandaging a few times, and was offered the horse for $1 if I would take over his care, not knowing the permanent damage that may have been done. I was thrilled and agreed.  

By the time I took him home at the end of the summer he no longer needed daily bandaging, and by mid-winter he was sound to ride. To my knowledge he had not been ridden, but had so much groundwork done he knew voice commands and ground driving had taught him to be bridle wise, so he was the easiest horse in the world to train. He quickly became wise to my excitement for his easy trainability and learned some fancy prancy moves that might prove a bit much for others to handle, so I then had to untrain him a bit because I wanted to give him to my younger sibling Ruth to move up from onto from Carabella the pony. And so Khamir was moved to Killam for Ruth when he was ready the next spring. 

Ruth had many good years with Khamir, and my life moved me far from home so I was not so involved again until moving to Killam in 2018. We used him for our kids first horseback rides and even our 2 & 4yr old girls at the time were able to ride him independently. 

Khamir had struggled his last few winters with weight due to tooth loss, and became high choke risk and had a few episodes. We had slowly been developed a mash program for his feed, and did our best to treasure the time we had with him. On October 27, 2022 (what turned out to be the end of a gorgeous above seasonally warm fall) Khamir refused his mash. He had been kept in the corral for separating to feed, but he just stood and looked at the gate to the pasture. I knew he was not feeling well, and was asking in his subtle way to go out onto his pasture he had roamed freely for the past 21 years. Knowing it could be goodbye for the last time, I opened the gate for him and watched him amble out, free to enjoy a warm night on the pasture he had known so well. In the morning, he was found passed away. 

We will always remember this kind, smart, gentleman of a horse, he was indeed a treasure worth his weight in gold 💗

Adopted in 2022 with Thelma and Louise from Horse Heroes Alberta, I knew even less about Dottie than the other two she was brought with. 

Dottie was a dear old Leopard Spot Appaloosa mare, probably around 27 years old. She had extreme lordosis, also called Sway Back in horses. Anyone who saw her said "what's wrong with that horse!" But I was assured by vets and her body worker that she was not in pain from it. We did not ride her, and she occasionally volunteered to engage our EAL sessions. However summer 2023 she did not hold her weight well, and made the decision with her age, teeth, worsening Lordosis and having had a full life, it was time to let her go. She was a mare that communicated so beautifully with her face and heart. I still cry every time I think about her last day, as I was leading her to her resting place. I felt so clearly she was saying thank you for my decision that day, that she had carried many difficulties from her past with her still and despite her gratitude for being with us she was ready for it all to finally be done. She was the only one ever felt such a clear message like that from. Thank you Dottie for the gift of your life with us, no matter how short 💓

 Zahur E - sold May 1 2025

2021 purebred Arabian colt 

Added to Heart Echo Equines herd as of February 19, 2022.

Zahur was born May 3, 2021 to Dam 'Silver Rose,' a gorgeous Arab Unicorn. I had the pleasure of meeting Rose, and felt her heart and personality were drawing me to connect with. 

Zahur's sire is the incredible and talented black stallion Zaki. He has received his Legion of Merit, Legion of Honor, and Legion of Supreme Honor. He was also awarded the Performance Award from a World Wide organizer called the Pyramid Social.

Zahur started life with a calm and inquisitive personality that at first got him in trouble - and got him his name! He apparently would work around the barriers to the flower gardens on property and help himself to the flowery delicacies inside. Zahur means 'bloom' in Arabic - named such because this Colt delighted in consuming the blooms of his flower growing place of birth, and also suitable name for the son of a Silver Rose 🌹 

With the personality of this Colt he was selected from his cohort to tag along with the older generation to go for extra training. He got to stay in fancy stables, and taught some obstacle work and ground tying to build on the skills of regular foal halter breaking.

Due to the breeder shifting focus for 2022 to her other breeding program (Lusitanos) she wanted to find a quick sale home that would help Zahur continue to meet his potential. Heart Echo Equines sounded like a good fit for him due to his calm, inquisitive nature that allows him to find deep connection, he is steady enough to stick around for some fun but sensitive enough to send clear messages about how he is interpreting his environment. 

Zahur went to his first little community show beginning of August 2022, just for fun and exposure - he got entered in the yearling halter class. It gave us a bit of a show bug - so we attended Canada's National Arabian Championship end of September 2022. He was taken in the Purebred Arabian Yearling In Hand Sport Type getting him a top 6 placing, and in Purebred Arabian Yearling In Hand Dressage Type he got Reserve Champion 🏆🥇

So proud of this Colt ❤️

Zahur reached the level of groundwork training needed to give him a good start as a riding horse, however time and money were constraints to ensure he got this at Heart Echo Equines. So he was sold spring 2025 to an aspiring endurance rider! She has given him an amazing start to his riding career with mountain rides and some competitive trail rides - which he absolutely loves and self loads into the trailer to head out for his next adventure. It is so fulfilling to see a horse find their perfect career, even if it didn't end up being with us.

Patchy-Patch 

Sold fall 2024

Originally purchased as a weanling in early 2021, born April 2020, "grade welsh."

He was a fun size of pony, and right from the beginning the kids loved working with him. 

He had a great solid feel to his temperament, the stop and think about it type of pony.  Unfortunately he had studdyness with smaller mares (even in the years after being gelded)0which made it hard for kids to work with in a group. But they led him around the farm around equipment and even through the shop. I used him occasionally for equine facilitated mental health coaching and despite a bit of happy go lucky attitude he really tuned in and gots to the heart of emotions and communicating it, his body language was pretty cool just raising and lowering his head and little shifts if you pay attention, and he loved being in the middle of whats going on.

Due to safety issues around the mares, we sold him fall 2024 to a young family with only geldings to continue to raise for their kids, and hear once in a while how wonderful he's doing. If things ever didn't work out we would be glad to take him back here again, but we hope he has a wonderful, full life with his current family!