Close encounters of the Horse kind

   Since I can remember, I have loved and appreciated nature; particularly animals. With the exception of horses. That didn't come until later. As a child I was afraid of horses, and they didn't seem to like me either. Any time I would approach a horse it would kick it's feet and/or bite at me. So I just left them alone and hoped they would do the same. When I was a teenager, I had a friend who's sister got a horse as a gift. I wasn't a big horse. In fact it was kind of small as far as horses go. Everybody was checking it out. As I came close, it seemed to "tolerate" me, so I thought everything was cool. Then my friend's sister, Anne suggest I try him out. he was already saddled and had several riders. I thought "well, he's not that big so what could it hurt" I mounted him and intently listened to Anne's instructions on handling and steering this equine. The second she handed me the reins and let go, he bolted and I was on the ride of my life. He headed, full gallop, for a small bush. He went over the bush, I went up in the air, and landed in the middle of it. That was pretty much it for me and horses. After quite a few years later, I had a career fixing appliances. I worked in the suburbs and had many opportunities to be with horses. Knowing that I had to conquer my fears, I started approaching horses with grass or straw. Once, a customer said,"If you bring them sugar cubes, They'll be your friend for life." I tried that and sure enough it worked.

   jump ahead a few more years. My wife Andrea and I were checking out a ranch to purchase, as a prospective ministry for inner city kids to see what ranch life was like. We were given a tour of the compound, as well as the stalls where the horses were kept and cared for. Some stalls had horses in them. I went to one stall and started talking an stroking the occupant. He seemed to be enjoying the company. Suddenly, the ranch owner came up to me and said "I don't advise you do that. That horse doesn't like anybody and will bite. So I left him alone and rejoined the tour. A little while later we were shown the shower area where they clean and groom the tenants. As I was watching, I kept getting nudged in the back of my head. I turned around and saw the horse "that doesn't like anybody" trying to get my attention. He wanted more petting. The owner was shocked and said that horse had never done that before. I had a friend. Unfortunately, the deal didn't go through and I never saw my new friend again. 

   Jump again to a few years ago, when Andrea and I were at a church retreat in Angel Fire NM. My friend Bruce and I were hike to check out old abandoned structures. We came to a fenced in grassy field. Inside it was a structure Bruce wanted to see. There were also two very big horses there.

They casually walked up to the fence to greet us. Bruce wasn't sure that was a good idea, but I went up and petted them as well as fed them some grass. We hike a little further and found a gate that was not locked. The horses didn't follow us and were up over the hill somewhere. We went in an explored the structure, or should I say foundation of a structure. Nothing interesting there so we hiked up the hill a little farther, where we encountered our friends again. They weren't over comfortable with us being in their pasture and one let us know that.

I greeted the larger one, and the following pictures tell the rest of the story.

 

Bruce sat down and is greeted.

They really liked his hat.

Bruce needed a little shade and they happily followed.

They loved having our company. It was quite an enjoyable time.