Noelle has had a rough life. This little Corolla mare is full grown. She had two foals by the time she was a little over three years old. When she was captured she was already bred and had one foal nursing her. On top of that, she had had a fracture in her hip and an abscess that took over a year to treat and completely heal.
The result is that she would be a very hard young horse for which to find an appropriate owner. She has healed but it would take an experience, very confident small rider to train her to saddle. The other complicating factor is that the treatment for the abscess was often painful. She grew to fear humans because of the pain, instead of merely instinct.
For her future to be brighter we are taking her training to a different level. We are training her to carry a rider while being lead. I hope that she will have a future either in a therapeutic riding program or as a family pony in a family that has a child with a disability that would turn their home into a one horse therapeutic program.
The established horse world has perverted the concept of a horse's value to equate value either with the horse's sales price or earnings capacity. It is that equation that is responsible for most of the suffering that horses endure.
No horse has a greater value than a horse that brings joy to a child with a disability. No ribbon won signifies greater success than the smile on the face of a child with a disability as that child takes its first steps while in the saddle.
I cringe when I see horse salesman describe their horse as a "quality" horse. All horses are "quality" horses. Some people are quality people.
Noelle can be adopted by contacting the Corolla Wild Horse Fund. Tough little horses like her help create quality people.
(My granddaughter, age five is preparing to mount up for Noelle's second ride in the picture above. Yesterday's training session went even better as Noelle allowed children to mount up from a mounting bloc showing no fear or resistance.)
One of my very favorite movie quotes of all time, was when the old trainer in Seabuscuit said, "We don't throw a whole life away just because it got a little banged up. He's good for something, he can pull a cart, or, heck, if nothing else, he is pretty to look at. If we're going to do that, we may as well kick Me, Steve, Edward Teach, and Tradewinds over in a hole. We are all a little banged up. Noelle is a gentle little soul, friendly and willing, an easy keeper, sh does not demand much. There are two horses I ride most at the horse lot, Snow on Her and Medicine Iron, and they have formed a subherd in the band they live in, Noelle is one of four or five that hang out together. Yesterday, as I was leaving after Snow and I participated in a couple of fairly strenuous ride..those three were standing together napping..all three head to head..I wish I had taken that picture.
ReplyDeleteNoelle is a prime candidate for the most important purpose a horse can have. No, not winning a race or show ring ribbon, pulling a beer cart or the carriage of a wedding party...no, she is uniquely suited to introducing young children to the world of hte horse, particularly children who need the love and healing that a horse can provide. She is also a wonderful equine companion in a small package. Medicine Iron told me so. What a wonderful girl to be owned by! -Lloyd