Orange flower - Everlasting Bloom
Ilima, My first equine love, was put to rest recently. She was thirty or so years old. Many of you know ‘Ilima through meeting her, riding her or flying over her ears. I speak of her in the present tense because she is as much here as I will be when my body is gone.
I met ‘Ilima in 1987. She was roped out in a field in Kapa’a, Kauai. I had just been given the OK by refuge manager Dan Moriarty to keep horses on the grounds of The Kilauea Point Wildlife Refuge where I was a ranger for the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
There she was, the horse of my dreams, a beautiful Palamino (Orange with blond mane and tail) glistening in the sun. At the time her name was “Blondie”. She was a Hawaiian Horse born on Moloka’i of wild Hawaiian mustang stock. By the time I had met her she had bucked off many cowboys, sending them flying over her head with her habit of stopping from a gallop on her front feet, fast! (I didn’t know this at the time)
When I went to buy her I gave her a test run and enjoyed walking and trotting her, then I gave her a giddy up and she bucked like a rodeo bronc finally sending me over her ears.
I dusted myself off and said “I'll Take Her!”
It took a year for my groin ligaments to heal. That was a good amount of time for getting the spooks out and getting to know this gold plated beauty. I named her ‘Ilima after the orange flower cherished in Hawaii. We rode many trails together and raced down beaches. I broke a lot of bones. ‘Ilima became an expert trail horse from riding the trails along with our friend Les Milnes and his horses. We cut many trails for poker runs and ‘Ilima was great at surfing down muddy hills.
‘Ilima’s first babies were twins born dead. Next she had Sunny Hanalei from her boyfriend Kimo of Hanalei. Kimo was a magnificent Morgan Palamino with a neck like a chess Knight.
Kimo is the model for the horse statues that live outside my Naturally Hawaiian Art galleries.
Sunny Hanalei was the most perfect horse I’ll ever have. He died at 4 months old, a day after we went through Hurricane Iniki in Wailua homesteads. It was the best 4 months of a horses life. Sunny Waimanalo was also sired by Kimo. He was a Creamero color, light cream colored with blue eyes. Sunny Waimanalo died at seven years old in a trailer accident while I was away. We had a great seven years.
We moved to Waimanalo about a year after the hurricane and eventually ‘Ilima had a philly from a paint quarter horse/Arab sire named Gigalo owned by Bobby Galdiera. Ehukai is now a ten year old mare sorrel (red) with silver mane and tail with splashes of seafoam paint. Ehukai’s owner is my nine year old daughter Kawena.
Some of the other horses who’ve owned me along with ‘Ilima were Smokey, a tall dark gelding, Sienna, a spirited sorrel philly and Oli, a nimble red racer.
My favorite memories of ‘Ilima are:
-Taking Dalton Tanonaka and camera man Rex on a film segment called “Hawaii Backroads” down the Waimea Canyon.
-Doing my ranger patrols on Crater Hill with Cousin Tony and his horse.
-Racing our wolf dog Kaiko down Kilauea road toward the lighthouse.
-Dusting off my various friends and family members who had just been tossed.
-showing off my collar bone now shaped like the letter Z instead of the normal L.
-Looking into her unusually gold colored eyes.
-Her unmistakable scent.
-Her rolly polly belly. I rarely used a saddle and usually a halter.
-Going to feed her at her various paradise pastures in Hanalei, Crater Hill, Koke’e, and Waialua all on Kauai. On Oahu she lived at the Knott’s Ranch in Kawai Nui and with Jerry Santos horses at Reggies Ranch, a time in Waianae with Dee, then for many years at the Waimanalo Polo Field where anything you wish for comes true!
-Going to Rock Quarry Kahili Beach with my surfboard under arm.
-Being a Pa’u Marshal upon her back in many parades
-Swimming out to sea and up rivers holding on to her mane. Ilima taught many other horses to swim in the ocean.
-Calling her in from the field and watching her run home bringing the other horses with her.
- My fondest memories were flying bareback down Waimanalo Beach each full moon passing bond fires and lovers… We never even touched the ground!
I thank the many people who loved and cared for Ilima:
-Vanessa Matz, the young cowgirl who introduced me to ‘Ilima.
-Phillis Segawa who discovered with me that Ilima Loves Green Grapes!
-Dale Rosenfeld who gave me lesson’s and made me wear a helmet.
-Les Milnes who patiently worked with me and Ilima and who set her up with a beautiful pasture above Wailua falls to retire in.
-Alan Duarte who shod her, took her to Kimo and let other people buck off her.
-Stanley Vass, Jason Lau, and Puka Head Chris who also shod her.
-DVM Nishimoto, DVM Himenez and DVM Sims who treated her over the years
-My daughter Kawena and her mother Emily who loved her up.
- Jenna Summa who made her look good.
-Cousin Tony Texiera who made us laugh.
-Jerry Santos who took us in when we moved to Waimanalo from Kauai.
- Dana Vennen who gave her a great job and a lot of friends with the Therapeutic Horsemanship of Hawaii program
-Karin Stowell and her crew of the Kauai therapeutic horsemanship program and Linda who gave her so much love, care and dignity at the end of her life.
-For all that rode and loved her.
‘Ilima also lives on in the paintings that she has inspired, the pictures of her people took and the healing that she has helped with.
She is buried under her shade tree in her final pasture over Wailua falls on Kauai. After her death the entire pasture bloomed with orange flowers.
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