PART 3: He wiggles into your dreams
So it isn’t long before this soft and furry time sink has got you convinced that he is the number one, most wonderful horse ever born. SPECIAL. Very SPECIAL in fact. He could be or do anything in your mind at this point.
You admire his smarts when he hangs out under mom’s tail when the bugs are biting.
You love that every time he sees you he comes to see how you are doing.
He is, of course the best little Mama’s boy ever. Even she knows he is Very SPECIAL.
You could spend hours every day watching him and his friend Hawk play. And do.
And you love that he even breaks away from paying with his friend to come visit you.
It is all part of what makes up your dream for him. It becomes important, of course, to learn who he really is and to keep up his education so he can have his feet done and be easily wormed and handled when necessary. This is the real fun part. Getting to be the young horse’s first contact with people. A big responsibility with rewards that are beyond my skills to describe.
You start noticing who comes snooping around the barn door when you are working in there?
Who grabs the plastic bag from the tack store and removes the new ball before you get a chance to? He holds onto the ball handle while the bag blows away.
And you suddenly realize that you now have dreams for Marco. Dreams that might include all kinds of successes. Dreams that he will always have this happy, trusting look in his eyes. Will the trust you have been developing be tossed away by misunderstanding? Will he get the care he needs? Will his start be the kind of start that opens lots of opportunities for him? Or will he fall through enough cracks that his only opportunity will be at a slaughter plant? Many of us have seen it go both ways. There are lots of things that can go wrong. And right. But first he needs to grow up a bit. And where better than in a herd on a ranch in western Alberta.
A Horse Breeder’s Dream – Part 1
A Horse Breeder’s Dream – Part 2
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