\nLucky Star is a “always in my space” kind of horse. \u00a0He never runs away from me.<\/div>\n
I hike after him and find him standing by the far fence. \u00a0I go get him. \u00a0I saw a big tree branch move on the other side of the fence. \u00a0What was there? \u00a0Big tree branches don’t move like that on their own!<\/div>\n
By this time all the other horses had finished eating and left the barn lot corral. They disappeared into the inky darkness of a crisp predawn day. \u00a0A horse whinnied. \u00a0The whinny didn’t sound like it came from my pasture. \u00a0It sounded like it came from where the big tree branch moved.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
What?<\/div>\n
More whinny. \u00a0I see all my horses but Sue. \u00a0It’s still dark. \u00a0I decide Sue must be the whinny source and she is out of the pasture. \u00a0How could she get out? There are no gates open.<\/div>\n
I get into my car and drive out of my yard into the sod farm next door. \u00a0I drive along the fence row, looking for Sue. \u00a0Trees are lighted up in my headlights. \u00a0Nothing else.<\/div>\n
No Sue, no nothing.<\/div>\n
I return to where Lucky is eating his breakfast .. \u00a0I worry some more.<\/div>\n
I drive out to the turf farm again. \u00a0Headlights shining into the row of trees lining the fence. \u00a0Nothing there.<\/div>\n
Drive back to my yard, park my car and return to the barn, I see a shape in my yard. \u00a0It’s shaped like a horse!<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It is a horse.! It’s not Sue.\u00a0I have a loose horse in my yard! \u00a0I have a lost horse in my yard!<\/div>\n
Horse goes over and sniffs noses with Sue and Lucky. \u00a0She’s in a small dead end place. \u00a0She is calm and quiet. \u00a0I go get my halter. \u00a0I decide that I might live if I walk up to her in the narrow dead end place. \u00a0She’s calm. She let’s me halter her. \u00a0My my my!<\/div>\n
I look at her and decide I have a short saddlebred horse. \u00a0Her neck is elegant and stretched up to the sky. \u00a0She’s wondering what I’m going to do. \u00a0I’m wondering the same thing.<\/div>\n
I lead her to the barn and she follows right along with me.<\/div>\n
Thank you, Lord.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
She’s in a stall. \u00a0I give her lots of hay and go on to work.<\/div>\n
I called the Cass County Sheriff \u00a0to report. \u00a0I call my town police and talk to the Animal Control officer. \u00a0I report a missing horse.\u00a0Animal Control officer drove to my house to see the horse and took her picture.<\/div>\n
No phone call all day from anyone about the horse. \u00a0I call to find\u00a0there has been interest, but picture proved not to be the right horse. (How could there be interest in missing horses? How many missing horses are there in Cass County?)<\/div>\n
Go home and feed the horse. \u00a0She is nice and friendly. \u00a0I let her out into the corral where the other horses sniff her. \u00a0She floats across the corral. Beautiful extended trot. \u00a0Horses sniff and loose interest in her.<\/div>\n
I decide to let her out. \u00a0Since she had been cooped up all day, she had some energy. She galloped up and down the pasture.<\/div>\n
I am standing in admiration of her beauty when two young men walk up to me.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Excited, I say, “Are you missing a horse?”<\/div>\n
“Yes” \u00a0We chat a long time. \u00a0Nice young men. One of them is the owner. \u00a0We chat about how his horse got out of the boarding place. \u00a0Boarding Place thought the young man had picked her up and took her somewhere because the halter was missing. \u00a0When he took a bucket of oats to her this evening, she wasn’t there. \u00a0She’s missing. \u00a0He checks with police and gets sent to my house.<\/div>\n
We chat about the horse. \u00a0She is 4 years old. \u00a0Young man bought her for his self and \u00a0his daughter. \u00a0Her name is Wild Fire. \u00a0He bought her when she was two. \u00a0Her former owner named her for the wild flower, Wild Fire. \u00a0(I shudder at the name.)<\/div>\n
She had a week and a half of training by an Amish trainer somewhere down south of KC. She’s quarter horse\/fox trotter mix. \u00a0hmmm…I thought she was a short saddlebred. \u00a0I don’t see QH in her at all. \u00a0She’s a very elegant horse. \u00a0I don’t see fox trotter in there, but fox trotters don’t have a set look.<\/div>\n
Young owner sez he just bought a truck. Truck broke down and he’s in a bind and needs to sell this horse. \u00a0Taking her to auction Saturday.<\/div>\n
We chat some more. \u00a0I mention killers and no one is buying horses because of \u00a0drought hay situation.<\/div>\n
We chat about hay and how the boarding place before bought some cheap 3-4 year old hay. \u00a0Plus the other horses wouldn’t let his horse eat. \u00a0Boarding owner wanted him to pay when his horse wasn’t getting to eat the inferior hay. \u00a0He got her out of that situation. \u00a0She’s been well taken care of and in her present boarding situation for 5 months.<\/div>\n
He offered me $50 to keep horse till Saturday. \u00a0He has to borrow a trailer. \u00a0We talk about the magic number needed to fix his truck $300.<\/div>\n
hmmm. \u00a0I like this young man. \u00a0His horse is proof of a well-loved and cared for horse. \u00a0He is polite and truthful.<\/div>\n
The next day,Wednesday, \u00a0I tell Facebook groups about the horse. What to do to save this horse. \u00a0Let’s raise $300 and he can keep his horse. \u00a0I’m doing my best to not own this horse.<\/div>\n
Then the fatal comment came on Facebook:<\/div>\n
Wild Fire is a Stolen Horse!<\/div>\n
What. \u00a0Wild Fire is a Stolen horse is repeated and no further explanation<\/div>\n
A day of fury on Facebook.<\/div>\n
I report to police that allegation has been made that she has been stolen.<\/div>\n
Fury keeps on coming on Facebook.<\/div>\n
That evening, I come home to find the horse has leaped out of my pasture into my neighbor’s pasture. \u00a0Neighbor has geldings that think they are stallions. \u00a0Or it could have been Lucky Star exerting some dominance over her and she jumped the fence to get away. \u00a0She found me because of Lucky Star and now she’s with 5 other geldings. \u00a0She must be a great jumper! \u00a0There’s not a scratch on her.<\/div>\n
Called neighbor \u00a0and tried to explain this. She’s at work and will get home in about half an hour.<\/div>\n
Darknes comes. Young man, his wife and nearly one year old daughter come with a bucket of oats for their horse.<\/div>\n
“Bad news,” I say. \u00a0“Horse jumped fence and someone alleged she is stolen.”<\/div>\n
WHAT!<\/div>\n
It’s the former boarding place with the cheap hay and the horses that kept our horse from eating. \u00a0Boarding place locked horse up for non payment. \u00a0Owners Stole Their Own Horse. \u00a0That’s the stolen part. \u00a0I am furious with the Facebook alleger. Furious! \u00a0I revel in furious, because it’s been years since I’ve felt furious at anyone except spouse.<\/div>\n
We drive 5 miles to see horse. If we had a gate between our pastures, it would be about a block away. She is now in stall in neighbor’s barn.<\/div>\n
Neighbor agrees to keep horse for time being.Owner sez it takes 4 grown men to load this horse.<\/div>\n
Here’s a horse destined for auction, alleged stolen, wanted for a child less than a year old and needs four grown men to load in a trailer!<\/div>\n
I’m busy Saturday and Sunday, but tell them that I’ll walk her back home if I can find a gap in another neighbor’s fence. \u00a0Neighbor sez she has a shute system rigged up to trailer load a horse.<\/div>\n
Monday am comes and I’m up at dawn plus an hour or so…9:00am. \u00a0I did find a gap in the fence. \u00a0I need to saw a tree limb so I can walk a horse thru. \u00a0I call up this neighbor and ask permission to lead a horse thru his yard.<\/div>\n
“Sure” he says. He’s noticed that his neighbor has an extra horse.<\/div>\n
I go get the horse. \u00a0All her geldings try to friendly up to me and run away the mare. \u00a0We have words. I catch the mare. \u00a0She doesn’t want to leave the pasture. \u00a0We have words. \u00a0Geldings decide to run elsewhere and watch the show.<\/div>\n
I get mare to leave the pasture. \u00a0Whew!<\/div>\n
We walk about a half mile to my house and I get her into barn stall again.<\/div>\n
I go into house and collapse in my recliner.<\/div>\n
After I recovered, I called the \u00a0young man and told him I was buying his horse.
\nTurns out she is half Morgan, 1\/4 qh and 1\/4 Arab. \u00a0That explains her “look” . \u00a0She is beautiful.
\nJenny comes out on that Friday and takes about 15 minutes to load her. \u00a0She is a quick learner and not really too afraid of the trailer. \u00a0Jenny loads her in both my trailers. \u00a0It takes about 1\/2 for all this to happen and she is a relaxed loading horse. \u00a0I get to take over. \u00a0It takes a few moments for my kind of communication to get through and some coaching from Jenny. \u00a0She loads. \u00a0I get her to load in both trailers.<\/div>\n
\nTurns out she is half Morgan, 1\/4 qh and 1\/4 Arab. \u00a0That explains her “look” . \u00a0She is beautiful.
\nJenny comes out on that Friday and takes about 15 minutes to load her. \u00a0She is a quick learner and not really too afraid of the trailer. \u00a0Jenny loads her in both my trailers. \u00a0It takes about 1\/2 for all this to happen and she is a relaxed loading horse. \u00a0I get to take over. \u00a0It takes a few moments for my kind of communication to get through and some coaching from Jenny. \u00a0She loads. \u00a0I get her to load in both trailers.<\/div>\n
Loading lesson done for life. \u00a0She can now be transported!<\/div>\n
I take her on trailer ride on Saturday to Fair Play. \u00a0I played with her in the morning and another person played with her in the afternoon. \u00a0They are hooked on each other. \u00a0Love is blooming!<\/div>\n
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