Me and my sister, Janie, with Jack–the donkey my dad brought home to me because I begged for a horse!
I used to speculate that I came out of the womb loving horses. Maybe I did.
As soon as I could express my love of horses, I asked my dad for a horse. He told me he would get one for me when I was thirteen. He probably thought I would forget by then, but every year I reminded him.
“Dad, it’s only 7 more years until I am 13!”
In the meantime I found horses wherever I could.
My mom took all of us to a rodeo because I loved horses.
We lived in Pacheco California until I finished the 4th grade. A man who lived near us had horses. On Saturdays he would pick up his granddaughter and a couple of horses and bring them to his place. I would wait on the corner of the road for her and the horses to arrive–every weekend. I would wait for them for hours. Once my mom enrolled me for swimming lessons on the weekends. I skipped the lessons and waited for the horses. I never did learn to swim.
When we moved to Orinda. I met Lefty. I was about 10 years old. My mom introduced me to her because Lefty loved horses. Lefty was caring for a couple of horses. She would often pick me up on Saturday mornings to go feed the horses. I waited for her EVERY Saturday, but some days she did not come, and once when she did my dad had taken us girls for a “tennis lesson”. That was the last tennis lesson I ever went took.
When I was about 11 my dad brought a donkey home for me.
I loved that donkey. His name was Jack, and he was a jack—intact male. We got in trouble when he wandered off to a local stable. The owner was irate. He was afraid he would end up with a bunch of mules in his barn!
The first night we had him he ran away. I found him tied to the bumper of a neighbor’s car. The neighbors had been having a party. When their guest started to leave they found Jack in the yard, brought him inside and started the part all over again!
Orinda is a town in the East Bay area, over the hill from Berkeley, I always described where we lived as “over the hill from Berkeley” see my story about meeting a classmate on an airplane who described her childhood home the same way.
I loved Jack. I rode him all over Orinda. One day I rode him past the Safeway store. He saw himself in the reflection in the window and started braying, VERY LOUDLY!
I would stake Jack out on the hills near where we lived before I went to school. My school, Pine Grove Junior High, was on the hill opposite to the hill we lived on. At recess I could hear jack braying from the opposite hill–miles away.
In the mornings I would wake up hearing Jack warming up to bray, taking deep breaths. I would dash out to his pen trying to get there before he cut loose, mostly I didn’t make it before the HEEE HAA, HEEE HAAA would bellow out of him!
He had a sense of humor, too. At least once when I was riding him, bareback, in the hills he would put his head down and start to trot causing me to slide off of him, over his head. Then he would stand over me, throw his head back and laugh, HEE HAA. HEE HAA!
My dad kept his word. When I was 13 he bought me a horse, an untrained filly I named Bonnie Jean. He even made the garage of a vacant house on our property into a barn for Bonnie Jean.
I didn’t know anything about caring for horses at that age, but I loved having one. Eventually I hooked up with some other teenaged girls with horses who helped me learn how to care for them.
I had several horses during my teens, the last one was a palomino mare named Dutchess.
When I was 15 my friend, Larryann Long bonded with Dutchess. She used her to compete to be Miss Rodeo for the Annual Grand National Cow Palace horseshow and rodeo in San Francisco. She won! That year Roy Rogers and Dale Evans were the hosts. I was thrilled that my horse was in the arena with Roy Rogers! He was my childhood hero. I had wanted to BE Roy Rogers. I had a dog named Bullet and a stable full or stick horses named Trigger before we moved to Orinda. Because of the problems I had with my name, I had no use for Dale Evans. See “The Lord Knows My Name” another post on this blog.
After the rodeo, Larryann purchased Dutchess from me, and I was horseless for next 15 years or so.
When Bob and I bought a house on five acres in 1976, I bought some horses for me and girls.
Jasona and Cinnamon, Heather and Peaches
And for myself:
Twylight
We had Twylight bred to an Arab Stallion
She gave birth to Rosco
We all gave up the horses when we moved to Ferndale in 1986.
In the meantime my friend, Lefty, called me and told me to come meet her new horse. She lived in Oregon. She had just purchased a Peruvian Paso. I had never heard of them, but I knew that Lefty loved gaited horses.
Lefty and Paco Rogue River Ride in Oregon
Lefty and I went for a ride where she lived near the Rogue River in southern Oregon. I was riding her Tennessee Walker named Gaita and Lefty was riding Paco, the Peruvian. After we had gone a mile or so, we switched horses.
I felt as if I had gone from a farm truck to a Farari! I told myself that my next horse would have to be a Peruvian.
It took 25 years.
Then in 2005 Tim and I bought five acres in Custer, Tim said “I think it’s time for you to get your horse.”
I had $2500 saved. That was nowhere near enough to buy a Peruvian, but I looked. The internet was available then, so I searched, and searched. Peruvian Pasos are rare. I could find nothing nearby, but eventually I found a yearling in Montana. I knew it would be years before I could take this guy for a ride, but the price was right. When I talked to the seller I told him that I knew nothing about Peruvian pedigrees, perhaps he could tell me something about this colt. He told me that there was a guy in my neighborhood who really knew Peruvians well, and that man would be happy to help me. So the seller sent me the colt’s pedigree, and I contacted the other man, his name is Gill, who was in Mount Vernon, less than an hour from where we lived! How I missed this guy in the first place, I have no idea, but I called him. He said he would be happy to look at the colt’s papers. I made a date to come to his farm in Mount Vernon. Gill was not home, so his wife showed me around the property while we waited for him.
There were several pastures and pens with horses in them. At one point we stopped at the top of a slopping paddock where a black gelding was pastured. The lady told me that the horse had been boarded at their place. The owner had purchased the horse for their young daughter, but the horse was too much for her. The people stopped coming around and eventually moved away.
Teresa told me, “We just got permission to sell him to pay the past due rent. He’s going to be cheap, only about $2500.”
“Whoa! I guess I’d better take a look at this horse!”
I called Tim who was doing business in Seattle. “You had better stop in Mount Vernon on your way home,” I told him. “I am about to buy a horse.”
His name was Santo. He was everything I had hoped for. I had him for 10 years until I had to give up horses to take care of my mom.
Me on my last ride with Santo
During the time I had Santo I could ride him on the access roads on the raspberry farms next door to us. I could ride for hours. I felt like the Princess Bride.
Santo had never done anything but get dressed up in the Peruvian gear and make turns in an arena.
Here is typical Peruvian garb.
The first time I put a normal bridle on him he tossed his head up and down as if he could not find the bit. Small wonder. As you can see in the picture, these horses are typically trained with lots of restraining equipment. Santo loved me, partially, I am sure because I took all that stuff off of him.
Peruvian horses are part of a special group of horses called, “Gaited”. Most horse have three “gaits”, or ways of going—walk, trot, canter. In western riding they are sometimes called walk, jog, lope. Gaited horses have extra, natural gaits. The Peruvian’s gait description:
“The natural four-beat lateral gait of the Peruvian Paso horse is primarily called the paso llano (also known as paso castellano). This smooth, isochronous gait is the breed’s hallmark, characterized by a rhythmic sequence of left hind, left front, right hind, and right front hooves hitting the ground, which eliminates the vertical bounce found in other breeds. The breed also performs a faster, more energetic variation called the sobreandando, which features a 1–2, 3–4 lateral rhythm and can reach speeds comparable to a canter while maintaining smoothness. A distinctive physical trait accompanying these gaits is the termino, an elegant outward rolling motion of the forelegs that is unique to the Peruvian Paso.” AI description.
While I had Santo, we also got other horses. My granddaughters rode with me. And I rode in a draft horse drill team. I will be adding more stories about those adventures.
