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Bella and Me |
Time passed by, I married, had a child, and life went on. I became competitive in business and lost my compass of horse ownership and all of those boyhood dreams. As I became somewhat successful in the business world I picked up my dream and began to envision it as a plan for when I retired to a little ranch with room for a few beautiful horses. One Thursday morning, when I was a boy of 65 and still working, my wife phoned me and said that she had just heard on the radio that there would be a wild mustang adoption in a town close by and that the next day was preview day. She thought I would be well-served to go and have a look at the horses. I mumbled something about trying to make the time and promptly forgot about it while focusing my attention on the needs of the moment. The next morning my wife reminded me that this was preview day for the mustangs. Since I had said for more than a year now that perhaps I would be interested in adopting a mustang and training it myself, that this was the time to take some action – or else! My business partner was in town so I asked him if he would like to come with me. We arrived just ahead of the horses’ arrival. I must say the vision was dramatic. Horses came charging out of stock trailers and were handled and directed into holding pens by wranglers on horseback who seemed so at home with this process which was to me, as in a dream. There was the pounding of hooves, the raising of dust and the clanging of gates and the wild horses shouldering fences as they were neatly divided into groups and driven into the holding pens. The experience was great fun and my partner and I enjoyed it tremendously. We stayed until all of the horses arrived and were sorted into pens and then we left and went back to the office. My wife called in the afternoon eager for the details about the experience. I couldn’t in my wildest dreams have thought it would be of interest to anyone but me, but she was determined to help me fulfill my dream. My wife insisted that we go to the adoption the next day. It was a much calmer environment that morning! When I began walking around the pens and looking for a horse I might be interested in, I spotted a mare among the 80 or 90 horses that were there. I liked the look of her and I really liked her eyes. We spent an hour or so watching and then the bidding began. I chose this mare as a possibility and by the close of the adoption I had succeeded in getting my “Bella.” We hired a transporter to bring her to the boarding ranch where we were to keep her and after a mini-version of the hullabaloo of the Friday unloading of the mustangs, Bella was in her paddock. She stood in the center practically measuring the equal distance from the four sides that enclosed it. She stood smack in the middle and would not move. We were advised to leave her alone so that she could calm down and get used to her new home. We took the advice and left for the day. The next day we went back to the ranch. We went directly to Bella’s paddock and there she stood in the same spot where we had left her the night before, only now she looked more nervous and a bit forlorn. One of the borders came to us and said that he had been there since early morning and Bella had not moved from that spot except to kick over two buckets of water that he had brought to her. I asked to borrow the bucket, filled it with water and then asked my wife to open the gate and let me into the pen, close it and lock it behind me and not to worry, I would surely scramble out of there if things went wrong. I hoisted the bucket onto my beltline and held the rim so that it would stay in place. Bella walked cautiously toward me and stretched her neck in the direction of the bucket while keeping her eyes locked onto mine. She snorted at the water and cautiously reached in further and began to drink. Her whole demeanor seemed to have changed and for a moment she actually seemed to relax a bit. I touched the side of her face with my thumbs and that was our first actual contact. I was smitten. After that first day I went back every day (seven days a week) and often could do nothing but stand inside her paddock offering her little wads of hay folded into stalks about as long as a carrot in order to keep her calm and show my friendship. We met like that every day for a month or so, and then one day I actually touched her face! I would talk to her in soft tones and any time she got spooked or became agitated I would back away and speak to her in that soft singsong voice that would somehow communicate to her that she had nothing to fear. After two or three weeks of that gentling behavior, I began to take hold of the rope that dangled from beneath her halter and lead her around the paddock and stall. By the end of the second month, I began closing the doors at either end of the 24-stall barn and led Bella into the aisle. After a week of barn aisle-walking, I started leaving the barn doors open enough for her to look out as we walked from one end to the other. By mid-December, I sensed a great deal of trust from Bella and I began to feel sincere love for this great horse. The first time I took her through the barn door and onto the dirt road that winds through the ranch she stopped and remained frozen in time for a full minute, looking around and getting a feel for this wide open space. I was standing very still with my pulse racing as I wondered if she would decide to jerk away and take off for distant places. When I felt that too much decision time had been spent, I gave the lead line a gentle tug and moved out. Bella followed with the same trusting step that she had given me in our barn walks. Our first day in the round pen was awesome! Bella pranced around the perimeter of the round pen and watched me encouraging her. She was full of energy. She soon began to break into a gallop and was kicking up her heels with a sense of freedom as opposed to one of defense. I loved every moment of this activity and the idea that I might just be able to bond with her before this session was over. Bond with her I did. During that hour-long session, Bella began to slow to the calmness of my voice and pick up the pace when I showed some excitement. She would stop as I stepped toward her and she would turn to face me. I started walking toward her and petting her brow and sides of her face and she found that by following me I did not push her to work, so she concluded that following me around was a good idea! As time went by, my relationship with this beautiful mustang, who everyone agrees is part draft horse, began to grow stronger and much more personal. She was letting me pick up her feet and bathe her and actually treat her like a pampered well-loved pet. Our days in the round pen got more and more productive. I would stand alongside Bella and put my hands on her withers and kind of jump up and down as if I were going to try to get on her back. When she got used to that, I bought a three-step mounting block and started standing her alongside of it as I slowly climbed the three steps. A few days of that and I began leaning on her back with my forearms and soon was lying across her back, belly down. She would try to walk away from the dead man’s mount and I would just slide off and bring her back to the mounting block and start over. After some time spent with the pressure on her back, I decided on a brisk morning that today was the day, and, tying her lead rope to her halter like reins, I slipped a leg over her back and waited with an anxious heart for her to bolt. Instead, she just walked away with me on her as if we had been doing this for years. The rest is history! Now, we ride up in the rolling east hills of Milpitas - up and down the trails and along the narrow paths. Although we have had a mishap or two, it has been such a pleasurable experience. I am 66 years old and have done pretty much anything I put my mind to, but this has been the most rewarding thing I have ever experienced. I think everyone who has the desire to have a horse, needs to adopt a mustang and make a bridge between the world of wild horse and mankind. From being involved with Bella, I have learned something about myself. That is, that the patience and kindness that dwell within are invaluable and have given me the success that means so much to me. I have made a long journey from my childhood dream to my present joyous reality. I am grateful for having Bella. Beautiful, beautiful Bella. Top of page |
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Official Newsletter of the National Wild Horse and Burro Program
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