Eyepatch and Pegleg

Name: "NotDaSizeofDaBoat"
Barn Name: Sailor, "Pegleg"
Breed:Thoroughbred
Gender: Colt
Age at retirement: 5 (retired with a permanent limp due to severely damaged muscle)
Colour: Chestnut
Genotype: ee/aa
Markings: snip on left side of nose, sock FR, stocking HR
Sire: ThatsWhatSheSaid
Dam: Starter
Breeder: Mana Farms

-Age___Starts___1st______2nd_____3rd__Earned
-2 _____1________1________0_______0___$30,600
-3 _____4________2(1)______0______1(1)__$212,000
-4 _____6________2(2)_____2(2)_____0____$1,368,000
-5 _____2________1(1)_____0_______0____$1,080,000
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Totals __13______6(4)____3(2)____1(1)____$2,690,600

Won at 2: A maiden special weight race

Won at 3: Perryville S (G3) 7f, An allowance race (7f) 3rd at 3: Malibu S (G1) 7f

Won at 4: TVG Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) 6f, Forego S (G1) 7f 2nd at 4: Hill 'n' Dale Cigar Mile H (G1) 8f, Breeders' Cup S (G2) 8.5f

Won at 5: Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) 6f


Name: Eyepatch
Breed: Macaw
Gender: Male

He hadn’t moved, or well…perhaps a step or two, but hardly more, flies swarming around him and he hardly flicked his tail. Her stallion had survived the accident, despite several ups and downs; he had made it back to life and not once the light in his eyes had flickered. Now however it was like…he had just given up. He had lit up when he came out of the transport and saw that he was home and not at another hospital. Sailor had been happy to see Jace and Svea was glad that he could be there for him. It was however after they put him in his old paddock and the stallion was about to take off in his usual manner. You could see the pain in his eyes as he stumbled after the first step but he didn’t fall. After a quick check they let him go again and made him walk with them along the fence. He did so willingly but it went so much slower than before. His limping wasn’t that bad, it had just gotten better for each week but the vets thought that the muscle damage would be life lasting, Sailor would always limp.

After they walked around with him they let him go in the middle of the pasture and then they walked in to the office for some coffee. When they got out an hour later…Sailor stood in the same spot he was at when they left him. His head hung low and his entire character expressed sadness.

This continued for several days and now he didn’t even leave the pasture gate. He stood there, his head leaning on the fence and just staring out into nothing. Like that wasn’t enough he had started to leave some of his feed. That wasn’t like him at all. It was only when she handfed him that he ate it all up. Oh, how hard it was for her to leave him in the evenings, the look in his eyes and his heart piercing neighs following her when she walked out of the barn. His pelt was starting to look matted and he hadn’t lost much weight but she didn’t like the way it was going. Something needed to be done!

It was during all this Eyepatch got to live at Décor Stud. It was an old friend to the vet whose husband had passed away. She was moving to a retirement home and…well…she couldn’t bring him with her. At first that sounded strange to Svea. Who could you leave a pet behind that you had cared for so many years? When she met Eyepatch however she started to understand why. The woman was small and frail; there was doilies and knick knacks everywhere, small cherubs and what not. On a table there was a photo of the lady and her late husband. Complete opposites. He had been a large man, a sailor. Svea smirked, so stereotypical for a sailor to have a parrot. Eyepatch and his master had travelled the world and the parrot had picked up a few…traits….as the lady put it along the way. There was no way she could bring him. That wasn’t the whole truth Svea guessed. It actually looked like the lady was afraid of him. Even if she wasn’t used to birds Svea was sure she saw that sparkle in the bird’s eyes that spoke of that the bird thought it was hilarious to scare his master’s wife. He hissed at her like a cat, growled at her like a large aggressive dog or sounded like a gunshot. The bird only tried it once with Svea. He had snapped at her and she wasn’t sure if it was due to the movie she had seen the night before but she leaned closer to the bird, stared at him with a stern face and spoke with her most serious voice.

“Dead birds tell no tales! Savvy?”

The bird had frozen and just stared at her. Then it had tilted its head, observed her for some moments longer before announcing.

*Squawk* “…Ay, ay Captain”


A week past and Sailor didn’t look any better; he seemed to eat less and didn’t move at all. Eyepatch however, followed her like a dog and ate like a horse. It was like he had accepted her from that moment to a hundred percent as his new owner. Jace however he didn’t like one bit. He had only bitten him once but screeched some choice words at him when he could, landlubber being the one that was frequently used.

One afternoon Svea walked down to the chestnuts pasture with Eyepatch on her shoulder. Sailor had never seen Eyepatch before, or any macaw at all but he hardly flinched. Svea hooked the lead rope to the halter. He might just come in and she could brush him off, he liked that. She sighed as Sailor pressed his nose against her chest. How long would she let this go on? Sailor wasn’t happy and everyone could see it. Sometimes people who get hurt in such way that their life changes drastically get depressed. Was Sailor depressed that he never again would be able to race the way he had done? If he hadn’t gotten hurt Svea was certain of that he would have competed still. Then something strange happened.

Eyepatch flew from her shoulder to Sailors back. At this the chestnut turned his neck around and sniffed in the bird’s direction. Eyepatch only observed him with some curiosity. He whistled and then “Ahoy, Matey” The chestnuts ears went forward for the first time in a good while, then some random sounds from the parrot and a soft grunt from the stallion. That continued for a few minutes. Svea could only look on silently. She just couldn’t believe what she saw. They had to be talking, just had to! The parrot let out a squawk and then, before Svea could do anything, it flew to the other end of the pasture and called out.

“Yo Ho Ho!”

Sailor stood there, head up, ears perked forward, looking like a completely new horse. He neighed to the parrot that repeated his call. Then, slowly, slowly, the stallion started to walk towards the bird on the other side. As the stallion came up to the bird Eyepatch returned to the place where Svea were standing. Another “Yo Ho Ho!” and the stallion started to walk back. This continued for awhile before Eyepatch decided to sit on the back of the stallion instead. Svea could see Sailor glancing back and then she saw something she thought she would never see again. The spark in Sailors eyes, it was back! Eyepatch nipped him lightly on the neck and Sailor replied with putting in another gear – he started trotting. Sure, it was uneven and slow, he only got half way to the fence before slowing down but it was a improvement.

Svea continued to bring the bird to the stallion each day and let the bird be with her in the barn while she was working. Each day gave something. Now the stallion actually moved around in his paddock and many times Eyepatch were by his side. He was either on his back or walking along side him, with a stream of a mixture of sounds coming from his beak. Sailor had started eating again and when he finally gave Svea one of his special “kisses” leaving both slobber and grain on her cheek she couldn’t help her tears. Sailor was back!


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Ref:
"Eyepatch" #ZoeLaFleur-Stock [link]
"Sailor/Svea" ~Stock-by-EmRob [link]