Photo by Audrey Pavia
Rio , my Spanish Mustang , has been my dream come true .
As a lifelong horse lover , I ’ve always had the pipe dream of enhance my own sister horse . Well , at least since I was 9 year older .
My fantasies were elaborate . I ’d have a ranch up in the mass , circumvent by pine trees . My horses — all spottedAppaloosas — would live in a big paddock shade by the trees . I wanted Appaloosas because they were the horses of the Native Americans , the mounts of the dauntless Nez Perce of Idaho , a breed with color and history .
My cattle ranch would look like something you ’d see on a mailing-card . In the fall , the aspen leaves would turn golden - sensationalistic . In the winter , the scene would be blanketed with coke . number spring , idle flowers would spring up in just the right places . do summertime , the cherubic smell of pine bark would fill the air .
I ’d breed one of my spotted mare , and she ’d give birth to a beautiful foal in early spring . The foal would have spotlight , too . In fact , he ’d be black as obsidian , with a white-hot cover on his rump , traverse with Brobdingnagian bootleg sunspots .
In my dream , I ’d raise this baby cavalry , teach him how to go , eventually showing him how to respond to vocalisation commands , and finally breaking him to razz . We ’d spend time of day trail riding , roaming through the mount , crossing rushing creeks and block off to gaze at alpine lake and the eagles that soar over them .
While it was a grand fantasy , that ’s not on the nose how matter turned out . rather of a spreading up in the mountains , I have a half - acre ranchette in a far - reaching suburb of Los Angeles . There are no true pine trees , no snowy winter and no alpine lakes . But one facial expression of the dreaming did come honest — I am raisingmy own spotted Equus caballus .
While Rio was n’t bred by me or even endure in the province where I live , let alone on my own belongings ( I had him shipped here from a breeder in Texas ) , he ’s beautiful and does have a pile of daub . He ’s not an Appaloosa , but he ’s something better : aSpanish Mustang , the true horse of the Indians and the source of the Appaloosa ’s color .
The phantasy also differs from reality in the training aspect . Riowas almost 2 years old when I got him , so he was already halter broke and know how to lead . My champion and flight simulator Lisa took overhis educationas presently as he got here , instruct him how to pony ( be leave by a rider on another horse ) , how to obey voice commands , and finally , how to wear a saddle and bridle .
A couple of weeks ago , Lisa begin mount Rio . She started him out in a 50 - foot rotund pen and fine-tune him to carrying her through the barn aisles of a friend ’s embarkation static down the street .
The other day , Lisa texted me that she rode Rio on the trail from the stable back to my house — a humongous two block . I omit this monumental mo because I was at work when it happened , but I nigh jump-start out of my chairman with agitation when I got her message .
Rioturned 3 years oldin January . Even though his first trail drive was n’t on a mountain lead with pine Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , bubbling creeks and soar eagle , it ’s still good enough for me . The way I attend at it , my illusion just needed a slight readjusting .
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