Wow! I can't believe that Baltic Sensation actually made it to Devon!

      It was 4.5 years ago that a very sick black colt by L.A. Baltic Sun was born to my favorite mare, Pomerans (aka Annie) by Pommery. The mare had given no signs of foaling that night, so this colt was quite a surprise. That winter had been mild and the spring was very wet; I had no idea that Annie had an intolerance for fescue poisoning. We rushed the colt to the DuPont Veterinary Clinic at Morven Park in Leesburg, VA (only 30 minutes from our farm).  He was immediately placed on the blue mats, hooked up to IV tubes, and cared for on a 24 hour basis. Volunteers turned him over every 30 minutes.

      Annie stood patiently over him for the first 3 days, but as she got anxious I decided to take her home. Although the colt never had seizures, his progress was nil. After being shaken awake, he would stand when lifted ... but still hadn't gotten up on his own after several days. I refused to give him a name, since I really didn't think he was going to make it through this physical and emotional ordeal.

      My partner, Thom, insisted that we call him something, so the mantra, "Come on, Buddy, get up!" was born.  At the end of the week the vet bills had climbed to $8,000 and the colt was yet to stand on his own. The vets asked me what to do (on a Friday) and I set a deadline for Monday.

      The weekend passed ... each day was heavier as Buddy lay there sleeping. I went to work on Monday and called during the day ... still no progress.  So on the way to the clinic I rehearsed my little speech, "I think that it's time to let him go ..."  But as I arrived at 4:45, I was met with a sea of happy faces.  At 4:30 Buddy had gotten up on his own.  He wasn't out of the woods yet, but this was an important sign of progress!

      After 15 days and $11K Buddy came home. His mother (who I has patiently milked for 15 days) refused to recognize him.  So his new "mothers" (me, my neighbors, and everyone at the local vet clinic) took turns feeding him every four hours.  Thumper, an ancient white Welsh pony mare, had baby-sat several other orphans ... and she took Buddy under her wing.  So Buddy went through his childhood, half SWB, half pony, ... and nearly human.

      Since Buddy was hand raised, he was very easy to work with in hand.  So as a yearling he went off to shows (as Baltic Sensation) and picked up his first ribbons.  But as my real career in education progressed, Buddy just sat at the farm ... a very expensive pet.  This spring Buddy turned four years old and was still not under saddle - just ridden bareback in a halter.

      When the current crop of foals came, I literally had no room for him, so I sent him to a friend (Lauren Dearlove) for 30 days of training.  Lauren adored him, and since her mare had a physical setback, she asked if he could stay on at her farm.  After 90 days of training he went to his first dressage show ... 40% (and the roughest dressage test you've EVER seen) on the first day and 63% (with a red ribbon) on the second day.  Such progress prompted the ever optimistic Lauren to pronounce, "I think Buddy should go to Devon."  I knew that I already had a commitment at work for September 24, but was happy to let Buddy have the experience.  So when Lauren called last night to exclaim that (with 4 months of training) Buddy had handled the excitement of Devon and pinned (8 out of 21) in the Suitability Class, a quiet tear ran down my cheek.  He may not have been the winner of that class, but since the day that he FINALLY stood up, Buddy has been a winner in our hearts.

-Don Cammiso

PS. But I forgot to add that the highlight of my day is getting home and taking Buddy (Sensation) out for a ride. He is a wonderful horse, one of the best I've ever had or will own. It will be hard NOT to breed back to Sunny this
year. -Don