Horses, Dragons and a Day to Remember
With preparations for Journey Europe at a fevered pace and our living room looking like part tack room part crime scene we took some time off on Sunday to visit some friends and enjoy some music. If you’ve read the “Our Story” page you will know a little about Popcorn. She and her mother were the first two horses we rescued when we moved to New Mexico. Her mother was nearly starved to death and she was a spritely young foal only a few months old. They had been abandoned in the mountains like so many horses that year and as the snow grew deeper they were forced into more populated areas looking for food. So the day before the winter solstice I got the call to go with the local authorities to see if we couldn’t catch this starving horse and her baby. Catching the mare was easy. She was weak, frail, injured and happy to get in the trailer with fresh hay. Popcorn was a bit more challenging. She wanted to stay with her mom but she didn’t want to get in a horse trailer and quite frankly it was a bit of a task for someone so small. So after a few minutes of panicked pacing and her mother calling the most pathetic call. We decided for the safety of both of them we would have to just put her in the trailer. So like two NFL linebackers the brand inspector and I tackled the poor thing in a snow drift. We wrapped ourselves around her and endured her feisty kicks for freedom as we struggled through the deep snow back to the trailer. In moments she was safely in the trailer nursing off her very weak mom, no worse for the experience. It would take weeks before all my bruises were healed but that seemed like a small price to pay. So fast forward five years and Popcorn is living with some friends of ours. Her original adopter was unable to keep her but found her an amazing home with people we didn’t know at the time. Joe and Melissa also adopted another horse from us named Snort. Snort is a very special case and suffers from “Moon Blindness” and is progressively going blind. He ended up on the ranch because my vet didn’t want to put down a horse with so much life because of a slight disability. She talked the owners into giving the horse to me rather than ending his life. Joe and Melissa needed a horse to ride with Popcorn to help her build confidence and Snort needs a horse to ride with to help him find his way so it was a perfect match. Now Joe and Melissa both have a horse they can ride and both of the horses have a buddy to ride with and everyone is happy. So Sunday afternoon we all headed up to Joe and Melissa’s place so Olivia could ride Popcorn for the very first time. It had been nearly four years since Olivia had seen Popcorn and they had both grown so much but they greeted each other like old friends. Popcorn nuzzled all over Olivia’s face and shoulders then tried to take just a little nip to make sure it really was her old friend. She received the appropriate smack followed by a quick pat and the time that had passed since their last meeting just melted away. Melissa rode snort and Liv rode popcorn and as the two of them headed out across the range I was struck by how much each of those horses had given to the people who had shared their lives. We so often look at our relationships with horses in the terms of us providing for them when in reality they are so often the ones providing for us. After a short ride we had to get back to the ranch to have yet another horse experience for the day.
Big Joe’s First Ride
Big Joe was also rescued in a snow bank and he too had been abandoned in mountains and was nearly starved. Joe’s starvation caused serious long term digestive issues which after three years of treatment have healed to a very manageable point. He does have some special dietary needs and requires a little extra monitoring but aside from that, is a normal happy healthy productive member of the herd. Like many his weaknesses have built strength in character and he is one of the most thoughtful and expressive horses I have ever had the privilege to be around. Having a job and helping humans gives him such joy. He is the first to the gate if he sees a halter and always volunteers to go wherever we are going and does whatever we want. He is the horse you teach people to ride on and they get off feeling like they are expert riders because he has gone out of his way to do what he knows is right no matter how poorly they ask. Every barn should have a horse like Joe and every barn wants a horse like Joe so it was very difficult for me to admit it was time for Joe to move on to his forever home. I had such high standards for who could care for Joe’s special needs that I really didn’t think he would ever leave the ranch and that was fine with me. But I do know, no matter how well I care for them and how important they are to me the best thing for them is finding them a home where they are the top priority and one of two or three horses not one of twenty. A friend of mine recommended a friend of hers adopt Joe. It was a perfect match. She had the skills and knowledge to care for his special needs and he had the skills and knowledge to care for her needs. Although she is a true horse professional and has been around horses for most of her life she has developed some fear issues as a result of some accidents. Now fear is a dangerous thing around horses because it makes horses dangerous. It is impossible to safely work around horses in a state of fear. That being said horses are big strong animals that have the ability to hurt, maim and kill us so some fear is good. Keeping a balance between respectful fear and terror is so important if you want to be around horses. So again it will be the horse who is the teacher and the provider in this relationship. She will learn to trust again because Joe is trustworthy and her fears will subside as Joe proves ride after ride that he has no intentions of causing her any harm. In return she will care for his needs and provide him a with a safe loving environment and together they will both be able to move forward. So with some sadness but greater joy I sent Joe on to his forever home where he will have love, care and most importantly for him a job that he is good at.
Finally we needed some entertainment. Ray Wiley Hubbard played in Albuquerque for the first time in recent memory. He is an amazing musician, poet, performer and human. His songs are dark and musing while his character is full of light and life. Sitting in the theater listening to his stories about his life and the challenges he’s faced and how by facing his fears he has been able to live a quality life. He quoted some self help book he read that said “Fear is the dragon that guards our most precious treasures”. My mind instantly
went to Big Joe, Snort and Popcorn each of them had dealt with fear in their own way and each of them had showed me the treasure that lay behind that fear once the dragon was removed. Now each of them is helping a human slay dragons of fear and I know there will be treasures on the other side. Throughout planing for Journey Europe people have asked me if I’m afraid or what am I most afraid of and they always seemed surprised when I say I’m not afraid. I have concerns and there will be events that occur that scare me but I no longer need a dragon to guard my treasures thanks to the countless horses who have taught me to live without fear. The other great line of the evening from Ray was “the days my gratitude exceeds my expectations are good days”. Watching Olivia and Melissa ride Popcorn and Snort was a good day and I continue to be so grateful for the opportunities horses have brought into my life and so with that in mind I’m going to continue planning Journey Europe remembering to set my gratitude higher than my expectations and to leave the dragons in the fairy tales where they belong.
Karen, Liv and Ray Wylie Hubbard after the show.
