Today, after nineteen hours of
travel, Amigo, Darcy and I arrived in Fort Worth. This afternoon has been filled with the
process of checking him in at the Extreme Mustang Makeover competition at the
Will Rogers Equestrian Facility here, attending training meetings, and looking
at other mustangs here to compete.
And so, in many ways we come to the
end of our journey tonight. We have
completed our “Trail to Texas” – no matter what happens in competition over the
next three days, we have met our goal of being able to compete. The progress Amigo has made from mid-May to
today awes me. The horse himself awes
me: this particular mustang has demonstrated the best of this amazing breed.
In some ways, the process of
training Amigo has been something like dating.
Each time I thought I had him figured out, there was another layer to
peel away! For me, this “peeling away”
caused me to ponder and muse about him more than I typically do about a
horse. We raise Quarter Horses, and so
many of the colts I start I have known since birth, and of course I know their
parents as well. When I do start outside horses for people, they can usually
tell me some things about the horse’s background and experiences. Even when I
do colt-starting clinics away from home, the participants know a little about
their horse, and can share pertinent information.
With Amigo, there was none of that
background information to provide a road map for this journey. Other than knowing the range from which he was
gathered, I had no clues about the life experiences that were going to affect
my relationship with this animal. Each time I have peeled away another layer,
discovered another aspect of his life, I have been better able to understand
why he behaves the way he does, and why some of his behaviors have challenged
me so much.
Some of the discoveries I’ve made
simply astound me. Shortly after arriving at the ranch in May, Amigo’s back
left leg began to swell, and the swelling got to be severe enough that I quit
working with him. We speculated that
there was infection, or that he had been kicked. I took him to the vet; neither
of these proved true. Instead, I was presented with the possibility that he had
pigeon fever – which could easily have disabled him, even ended his life. When
the swelling went down after several days, we ruled out that possibility.
However, the swelling returned a couple weeks later, resulting in another trip
to the vet. This time, we did X-rays of the leg: we discovered that a bone had
been broken at one time. Normally, a broken leg is a death sentence for a horse
in the wild: predators look for animals that are weaker or disabled. Somehow,
Amigo managed to hide his injury enough that it was able to heal. The bone is
strong – probably stronger than it had been originally – but Amigo occasionally
experiences swelling from the injury. He never shows lameness, although
sometimes he is not as able to maneuver on that foot as on the other three.
Still, the truth remains: many horses would not have survived long enough for a
broken bone to heal, let alone be able to function normally on that leg.
Amigo revealed another interesting
layer of his personality on one of our sadder rides this summer. I had a draft
horse mare that I was expecting to foal, although she was quite late. One
morning, she came in with the other brood mares, and I could tell that she had
foaled, but there was no baby with her. My crew and I spent most of the day
riding through that pasture, looking for the baby. At one point, when I was
close to giving up the search, Amigo noticed something. He put his nose down
near the ground, sniffing. I let him have his head, and sure enough, he led me
to the spot where the mare had foaled; signs of the blood and afterbirth were
still there. A short distance away lay the carcass of the baby foal, by now
partially eaten by coyotes. Although it wasn’t the discovery I wanted to make,
at least I was able to confirm that the baby was dead. Had it not been for
Amigo’s extraordinary senses, I wouldn’t have had that certainty. Some domestic
horses have those heightened senses as well, but that awareness usually comes
after years of training and exposure to different environments. Amigo noticed cattle out in the pastures on some
of his earliest rides, so I knew he had that sensory intelligence. What I
didn’t know was just how developed his senses were; undoubtedly, this is
another result of his life before we met.
Many
other parts of our journey this summer relate back to Amigo’s background as a
wild mustang. Even tonight, taking him
through the underground tunnels to the indoor arenas at the equestrian center,
he has shown me his true nature. Amigo
does not like to be confined, and does not like this indoor environment. He was
born a wild animal, and has been stalled outside all summer. Being indoors is
contrary to his nature. In the end, this horse is sensitive, smart and soulful. Hopefully, I have given him a chance for a
better life than the one he lived before; I know he has become a friend and
opened my eyes in many ways.
He has truly become my amigo.
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