I turned to look at Wade’s back. He didn’t look like anything to be afraid of, but he didn’t look like anything to interest me either. I ignored him and munched away on my dried grass. I walked over to take a drink. Wade didn’t move. He just kept sitting there, head down. He may have even been asleep for all I knew. The longer he ignored me, the madder I got. I was here because he picked me out of the herd, and now he was going to sit with his back to me.
I figured I could do the same to him, I moved around to where I could still eat my dried grass, but put my hindquarters to his back.
While we waited, back to back, the sun rose higher in the sky. “Well, Wade, how’s it going?” The other human had returned.
“Slow. He doesn’t seem to be afraid of me, but he doesn’t seem to have much need for me either. He’s just not interested.”
“Well, you might just need to wait him out. He’ll get curious about you soon enough. Have you been talking to him?
“No. I don’t know what to say to a horse.”
“It doesn’t matter what you say, he won’t understand you anyway. Just let him hear your voice. Maybe it will pique his curiosity.”
Now, just wait a minute! Who says I wouldn’t understand what Wade said? Ignorant humans! I understand what you’re saying. I just don’t care about it.
“Alright, I’ll give it a shot. It’s gotta be better than just sittin’ here.”
“Well, boy,” Wade said. “You and I are a lot alike. We both used to be wild and free and now neither one of us is. I got thrown in this jail because I was a little too wild, and a little too stupid, and did some bad things. That’s my fault. But it’s not your fault you’re in here; you just didn’t run fast enough. As soon as you learn you can trust me, I’ll show you humans can be good to you and maybe, just maybe, you’ll be able to find a good home someplace.”
*****
Things went slowly for Wade and me for the first couple of days. After Wade was told I wouldn’t understand him, he told me his life story. I just listened to him while I chewed my dried grass. He told me about his beginning. His parents fought all the time. They didn’t seem to care one way or another what happened to him, so he turned to lying and stealing to get the things he needed to survive.
Now, Wade, that’s the problem. Humans need to be more like horses. Horses are always honest with each other. I can’t understand why you would do such a bad thing like lying, but I do understand stealing if no one was looking, like getting an extra meal from another horse. Too bad you can’t understand me. I could teach you a great deal about life.
Wade told me he kept doing more and more bad things until he ended up in here, the Hutchinson Correctional Facility, as an inmate. Wade told me that I was actually part of the plan to help him show he was ready to be set free again. By learning to gain my trust, he would learn how to get other humans to trust him. By training me, he would learn skills for working with another living being.
After listening to his stories, I decided to help him. He wasn’t a bad human, he had just done some stupid things, and made some foolish choices. I knew teaching Wade wouldn’t be easy, but if either one of us ever hoped to get out of this place, then I would have to take the first step. So I did.
The next morning, while Wade was talking to me, I walked up behind him and gently nudged his shoulder. I heard him take in a quick breath. I tossed my nose up and got ready to bolt in the opposite direction, but he made no motion to move or turn around. He held his breath, but ignored me. So I nudged him again. This time I used my lip to feel his neck and ears. What a strange feeling that was. Since he let me do it, and didn’t make any sudden moves, I kept exploring my new human. This was kinda fun!
Up close, Wade’s scent was nothing I had ever smelled before. It was an interesting mixture of dirt, sweat, horses, with a hint of something sweet. The skin on his neck was dry and tough, like mine from the late summer sun. His short hair was coarse and tickled my lip. I sneezed and took a step back.
Slowly Wade turned around. He didn’t try to challenge me or look directly at me. He kept his head down and started whispering. “That’s it. See? I’m not going to hurt you. Good boy!” He raised his arm too fast and I quickly backed out of range. I wasn’t ready for him to move so suddenly. “That’s ok. We’ll get there.”
Over the next few days, Wade kept coming and telling me stories. I would go up to him and occasionally nudge him, and the next time he reached out to me, I was ready for it. I let him touch me. Hmm. A little strange, but nothing bad happened. My skin didn’t burn or freeze from his touch and while I would have preferred to have been groomed by another horse, this wasn’t so bad. He rubbed my shoulders and then moved up to my withers. By the end of the day, I had allowed him to scratch all of those itchy spots I seemed to have all the way up to my ears.
After getting to know Wade through the stories he shared with me, and watching him grow more comfortable within his own skin by working with me, I realized I didn’t mind spending time with him. I still would rather be with my own herd back in Nevada, but since I didn’t think I would ever see my parents again or find my way back to my home range, Wade would have to satisfy my need for a companion. I know I had been chosen by a kind human. Things could have been worse. I could hear some of the other humans raise their voices to the horses and yell at them. I knew Wade would never do that to me.
The next morning, Wade brought something in the pen with him, something long, thin, and twisted together. It was a tangled mess. As I walked up to him, he held it up so I could smell it. “This is a halter,” he said, “I have to teach you to wear this. After that, we can work on leading and tying. But this is the first step.”
I was curious and a bit nervous as to what he had in mind. He began to fit the halter over my muzzle. I started backing up; I didn’t know if I really wanted my nose in that thing. Every step I took backward, Wade matched it with a step forward, keeping the halter loosely around my nose. When my rump hit the fence and I couldn’t move back anymore, Wade seemed to sense I was getting uncomfortable and he dropped his hands, removing the halter from my nose so I wouldn’t panic. He turned and walked away, giving me some space to move again.
Wade waited, with his back turned to me, until I was ready to return to him. When I did, I allowed him to slip the halter back over my nose. I didn’t back up this time, I just stood still. He placed the top of the halter over my ears, where he had scratched me dozens of times before. I didn’t move. He tied the two pieces together and backed away, leaving me wearing the halter on my head.
“Now look at what a handsome boy you are.”
Me? Handsome?
“You get to wear this all day today and all night tonight, to get used to the feel of it. But be careful when you walk around and try not to step on the lead rope.”
Try not to step on the what? My head was quickly snatched down. I tried to lift my head but it wouldn’t budge. I started to get scared. Why couldn’t I move my head? I reared up, and released my head again.
Wade started laughing. “I told you to watch out for the lead rope! It’ll get you every time.”
I learned quickly that when I was wearing the halter I should walk slowly. That way if I stepped on the lead rope it wouldn’t catch me by surprise and jerk my head down.
The next morning, when Wade came in to see me, he spent a great deal of time just rubbing his hands down my neck, withers, rump, and legs. It felt so good to be groomed. It almost reminded me of being back with Mother. She had groomed me like that, too, but with nuzzles and nips. When Wade reached my face and head, he rubbed my ears, then around my eyes, and finally my muzzle. Once he had me completely relaxed, he practiced taking the halter on and off of my head. I was in such a calm state that I didn’t think twice about what he was doing. It was all good!
“Alright, my little prison pony. Today we’re going to start taking you around with the lead rope.”
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, I felt a gentle, co
nstant pressure on the side of my nose. I tipped my nose in his direction and released some of the force.
“Good boy! Now let’s see if we can get those feet moving in this direction too.”
I started feeling a little more pressure on my nose. It didn’t hurt, but he was using enough force for me to think I knew what he wanted. I sidestepped one step in his direction.
“That’s it!” Wade startled me. He came up and started rubbing my neck. “Let’s try the other side.”
I found that it was much easier to do what he had asked, and to yield to the pressure when he switched over since I knew that’s what he wanted. He was so pleased with me that he kept the day’s session short.
“You’re doing so well that I want to end this on a positive note.” Wade threw me some extra dried grass. “You worked hard today!”
The next day Wade tried to teach me to walk right beside him while he held the lead rope. I had no idea what he wanted. I knew how to walk by myself wearing a halter and I knew how to turn with Wade guiding me, but to walk beside him while he held my lead rope was a different level of challenge. At first, I couldn’t do it. I froze and refused to take another step.
Wade sensed my confusion. He got a super long rope, one that was long enough to go all of the way around my body. He clipped one end to my halter and ran the rope behind my rump. He held onto the end of rope and used it to push me from behind and encourage me to walk with him.
I kept jumping ahead like a frog, trying to keep the rope away from my hindquarters. Wade kept up with me and before long, we were walking all of the way around the pen without a single hop. Now that I knew what he wanted, Wade clipped the regular lead rope back on my halter. I stayed right beside him. I figured it was much easier than having something around my butt the whole time.
After he had me walking beside him and turning when he asked, we moved on to “whoa.” I soon found out “whoa” was just another word for stop. It was pretty easy to figure out after the first or second time, and I found out I didn’t mind “whoa.” It was the easiest thing we did together. I could stand there and do nothing just perfectly!
I was pleased and ready to move on to the next stage of Wade’s training when he did something that surprised me. One day, after a really good session together, Wade came up and put his arms around my neck.
“Well, my little prison pony,” he whispered into my mane, “I guess this is goodbye. I’m going to miss you, boy. Thanks to you and all of our progress together, I should be getting out of this place in a couple of days. After I’m gone, there won’t be any reason for you to stick around either. You’ll be sent out, too, with the next group of horses. You’ve taught me more than I taught you, and now that you’re halter broke, I hope you’ll find a really good home, one with really good people who will appreciate you for just being you.”
I had no idea what Wade was talking about this time, but when he left that evening, my mane was damp from where he’d rested his head while he said his goodbye.
Wade wasn’t as bad as he thought he was.
CHAPTER 4 — THE ADOPTION
After Wade left I found out he was right, there was no reason for me to stay in the Hutchinson Correctional Facility any longer. So when the next group of horses came through, I was loaded into their moving cave.
With a loud CLICK, I was off again. Another new life ahead of me!
Thankfully, this trip was very short. We rode a little while, were unloaded, and settled into a large field all before the sun went down.
This new pen was, by far, the largest I had been in since the humans captured me. There was grass as far as my eyes could see. I could run in almost any direction I wanted to and my legs would be burning, my heart pounding, and my breath coming in short gasps before I saw another barrier either too tall for me to jump over or too low for me to scoot under.
The humans left me and my new herd alone, mostly. They probably figured there was nothing else they could do to us, so they just let us be.
I was wrong again!
After the winter snows had begun to fall, the humans began scurrying about. At first I thought they were straddling small animals that were squat and low to the ground. Then I realized they weren’t straddling animals. The humans had changed their shape again, like they had done before when they turned into the strange silver bird or large dragonfly.
This time, the creature the humans became closed in on us much too fast, faster than I’d ever seen an animal run. When one got closer, I saw it wasn’t an animal. It didn’t have a head or legs. And it was loud!
I’ve seen this before. Where? Think, think, think!
The sound made by the strange creature was one I was vaguely familiar with. It was somewhere between buzzing and growling. The closer it got towards us, the louder the growling became, forcing all of us horses to run like the wind to try and escape.
That’s it! I saw them when I was with Wade. The humans rode them when they brought our dry grass and water to our pens. They weren’t dangerous then; they just helped the humans carry more food and move faster to feed us. But there’s no food on them now, and they are moving way too fast this time. What are the humans up to now?
It wasn’t too long before one of the horses in this new herd, one who had experienced this situation before, took the lead and started moving us all toward an opening in the field barriers. For the briefest of moments, I was transported back to the time when Father had us all following behind the Judas horse, changing all of our lives forever.
I don’t have a good feeling about this.
I shook my head to break up those disturbing thoughts that were clinging to me like a spider’s fine web.
We followed the lead horse through several fields, pursued by the humans and their small, swift, growling creatures. By the time the lead horse came to a stop, we once again found ourselves rounded up into a small pen. The walls were tight around us.
“I just knew it! A Judas horse!” I screamed in frustration. I decided right then and there I was not going to follow any more horses. From now on, I would be the leader of the herd or nothing.
“Alright boys, everybody on the trailer,” yelled one of the humans as they herded us into yet another moving cave.
Anytime I found myself around a human, I paid careful attention to what they said so I was beginning to understand their language a little better. I thought it would be in my best interest to know what they were saying so I could figure them out and what they wanted with me. I understood now that when they talked about “trailers” they were going to put us in those silver caves and move us again. I wish they just would have said that from the beginning. I may have come willingly.
Probably not though. I wasn’t ready to leave yet. So far this was the best place I had been since I was captured, and part of me wanted to stay here eating grass and spending time with my latest herd. On the other hand, another part of me wanted to continue this journey I had started, hoping at some point to be reunited with Mother or Father. While I was considering my options, I found myself being loaded on one of the waiting trailers.
So much for being a leader and not a follower! I need to learn to wait and think before I act.
CLICK!
This leg of the journey seemed to take forever. It was daylight when we started, but it soon became dark, which made the cool air around us even colder. But since there were so many horses huddled together in the trailer, we were able to keep each other warm. We travelled this way for another full day and night. As soon as the sun started casting its light for the second time on this journey, we had stopped and the trailer doors opened.
As we came out, I noticed the air was nowhere near as cold as it had been when we were loaded up. I couldn’t see the smoke coming from my nose when I breathed and my fluffy winter coat wasn’t sticking straight out anymore. It was almost as if I walked on the trailer in winter and walked off in spring. I looked around trying to see and smell the signs of spring: the green buds on trees, or t
he sweet smell of tender shoots of grass. I was surprised to only see dirt and more pens.
As we walked off the trailer, there were barriers set up so that we were only able to travel in one direction, toward more waiting pens. Once there, they separated us into smaller pens to keep the stallions separated from the rest of the horses. I looked around, trying to catch a glimpse or scent from Mother, Father, or any of my former Nevada herd. I didn’t recognize or smell anybody I knew from home. They were all strangers to me here.
After a long day of moving us around, I heard a human announce, “After we give this group of horses some hay and water, everyone can go home for the night. I expect to see everyone here bright and early tomorrow morning. We have a lot of horses to adopt out, and I’m imagining we are going to have a large crowd here tomorrow. It’s been awhile since we’ve brought mustangs to Florida, and we always seem to do well here.”
Then the humans started rushing about, making sure that each pen had hay and a few buckets of water. I wanted to know what “hay” was since I hadn’t heard of it before. I was happy to see that hay was the name for enormous piles of dried grass. I was famished!
*****
That human was right. There was a crowd of humans as soon as the sun rose the next morning. Before long, there were at least four humans for every horse. They just milled about, looking at us in our pens, and then moving on to look at another pen of horses. Their constant talking was like buzzing in my ears. I kept trying to hear what they were saying, but all of their voices blended together into such a loud, droning sound I couldn’t make out any individual words.
Before long, I noticed the same pair of humans kept coming back to my pen. They were talking about me. I made my way over to the fence beside them so I could try and figure out what was going on. The couple consisted of a smallish, wiry male, who reminded me a great deal of Wade, and a petite female. I pricked my ears in their direction. They smiled at me.
Kobi- Memoirs of a Mustang Page 3
