I believe horses can see angels. Cows too. In the Bible, there’s a story about a donkey who did.
Saturday night I had prayed for God to send an angel to lead Komma right into the trailer. How else were we possibly going to be able to load the two-year-old, wild stallion we had captured?
The First Miracle
There was a trick that one of the rescue workers had used successfully before to trailer a 10 month old filly for the first time. In her words, “We hid from Baby and she loaded herself.” But that was with a much younger horse who had more exposure to human interaction. Would it work? We would see.
I was up early on Sunday morning. Wendy, the friend and neighbor who had helped to capture Komma, lived two and a half miles away, a fifteen minute drive on our rocky, unimproved, dirt roads. I was mistaken about where I was to meet up with the two horse rescue women who had agreed to assist. After waiting 45 minutes, I assumed my mistake and went on to Wendy’s house. I was apologetic when I arrived at her gate, but she came out and met me with a big smile on her face “He loaded himself into the trailer.” Praise God.
The Second Miracle
I was introduced to Roxie and Carol, experienced horse rescuers. I rode with Roxie to her place, which would also be Komma’s home for the next several weeks to perhaps months while we went through the process of gentling him. I immediately admired this horsewoman beside me who was locally renowned for her ability to tame and work with wild horses. She backed the horse trailer up to the door of her barn. She was determined to get a halter on him immediately to begin the process of halter-breaking him, as the vet would not come geld (castrate) him until he was halter-broke.
We entered the partitioned trailer together. As she entered the front part of the trailer, where Komma was, she instructed me to hold – but not bolt – the partition closed behind her. “If I get stomped to death, just open it up and let him out and then drag out my body.” God forbid.
Peering over the top of the partition I watched as she approached the frightened colt, talking to him softly in low tones, hand-tied rope halter in one hand. In less than three minutes Roxie had the halter on his head with the lead rope loosely draped over his withers. We opened up the trailer and allowed him to step down from the trailer into the barn at his own pace, then directed him toward the only available avenue of “escape” – his open stall door.
Training Begins For Both Of Us
He went through his stall and into the open-air run on the other side of it. His training was already underway. With his lead rope hanging down to the ground, he would occasionally step on it. His initial response would be to try to rear his head up, but his own weight prevented him from doing so. A brief moment of panic and then he would step off the rope and it was over. After a couple times of this he began to learn that the halter wasn’t going to kill him and that all he had to do was to lift his foot off the rope.
Roxie invited me inside her air-conditioned home for a glass of iced tea while we gave Komma a chance to settle in. She loaded me up with some audio CDs to listen to, a couple of DVDs to watch and an enormous 3-ring bound manual that she said I was going to begin reading out-loud to the horse. She pointed out some key pages about safety and bad behaviors and assured me that it was okay to be afraid of the horse. (I was surprised how well she could read what I thought I had hidden.) When my glass was empty, I knew it was time.
The Beginning Of A Beautiful Relationship
I set my camp chair up just inside the stall door. Komma was at the far end of the outdoor portion of the stall, unsure of the indoor area even though it offered him shade from the hot sun and fresh water to drink. I began to read:
“John Lyons’ Conditioned Response Training Manual – Ground Control – Teaching Manual for Unbroke and Broke Horses by John Lyons with Jeanne Wise Smith. Dedications – I would like to dedicate this manual to God, our loving and forgiving Father in heaven….”
O Father God, thank you so much for this horse. Thank you for rescuing him and thank you for giving me this opportunity. Please continue to bless him and protect him, and please help this process to go smoothly and painlessly.
I focused on my reading, only occasionally glancing up to see what Komma was doing. After several minutes he took a step closer to the stall. A few more minutes and another step. A few more minutes and he was standing at the threshold of the stall, looking in at me, ears cocked toward me, listening.
School was out for the day.