Kobi- Memoirs of a Mustang

by Heather Hamel

  “I guess we can give it a try. Keep this with you, just in case.” She handed Daisy the hated lunge line and whip.

  Nah, you won’t need that. No lunging. I’ll make sure of it.

  I did everything Bianca asked me to do. And I did it the first time she asked. I didn’t want to take any chances she would feel the need to lunge me. I kept my head tucked perfectly as we went through our pattern. I walked when Bianca wanted, trotted when she asked, and stopped when she requested. We performed beautifully. I knew this was my day to really shine. It was my last show: The Championships. Daisy, Wendy, and Bianca had worked me hard to prepare for this day. They believed in me. I was not going to let them down. They were counting on me to prove Richard wrong – again.

  “Come on, Kobi,” Bianca said. “It’s showtime. It’s our turn to go in.”

  Showtime! I felt my pulse quicken. This was it!

  I trotted into the ring. My head was tucked down, my tail raised, my feet moving out. I felt on top of the world. We halted for the salute. I bowed to the judge as well; it couldn’t hurt! I trotted out again. I didn’t cut the circles short or sway from the center line. I stretched as low as I could, trying to graze the sand with my nose. I gave it all I had. Bianca was quick to correct me any time my nose came out or my head came up and I responded to her hands each time. We worked together well and I knew it was beautiful. Then before I knew it, we were halting again for our final salute. Whew! It was over fast. I had done the best I could. The only thing left was to wait for the scores.

  Daisy met us as we left the arena. “You were beautiful, Kobi,” she whispered, “just beautiful.”

  I looked over at her to see why she was whispering. There were tears in her eyes. “I’m so proud of you.” She looked up at Bianca and added, “Thank you.”

  Then Holly and Wendy came up, and they were crying too! Everyone wept and started hugging each other, all the while saying that they couldn’t believe it.

  I could believe it! I knew all along I had it in me. I just didn’t see why I had to prove it to all those other humans I didn’t know. A little faith, please!

  Bianca dismounted. Daisy took my reins and led me back to my stall. We only had one ride, so I was able to rest now. I was untacked, groomed, watered, and given a snack. Life was good!

  It seemed as if we had to wait forever to find out the results. They made us wait until the official awards ceremony in the afternoon to tell us our score.

  Then, finally it was time to get groomed and tacked up again. As soon as we were ready, we headed back to the arena. Since I wasn’t performing again, there was no need to warm up. I just had to stand and wait until it was our turn to go in for the scores. After what seemed like an eternity, they waved us to enter.

  Bianca and I walked into the center of the ring, turned, and faced the judges. While we waited for the other horses to enter, the judges were scurrying about, as if they were still trying to figure out what they were doing.

  Come on, the suspense is killing me. Just tell us how we did.

  I didn’t let my impatience show, though. I was as calm as I could be, standing in one spot, not moving or dancing like I normally do. I tried with all my might to will them to hurry up.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen,” a voice announced from the sky. “First place, Champion, with 64 points, goes to Katie Nichols on Little Dreamer. Great job, Katie.”

  What? ‘Katie’ sounds like ‘Kobi’. Was it us? Did he say my name wrong?

  Lost in my thoughts, I almost missed the next announcement.

  “Second place, Reserve Champion, with a score of 63 points, goes to Bianca Holt on Kobi Juan Kenobi.”

  I didn’t hear anything after that. I barely noticed Bianca stroking my neck and didn’t hear how any of the other horses in our class did.

  63 points! Second place! Reserve Champion! I knew I done my best, and the judges noticed!

  Before long, it was time for us to get our enormous ribbons. Being Reserve Champion meant I got to wear the big red and gold ribbon around my neck. Little Dreamer was the Champion, so he was awarded his blue ribbon first. But he wasn’t having any part of it. Each time they tried to put the ribbon around his neck, he would back away.

  What was wrong with him? Didn’t he know that he was the Champion and that it was an honor to get to wear the ribbon? It was something to be proud of, not afraid of. Silly horse! They finally gave up and handed Little Dreamer’s ribbon over to his rider, who draped it across her shoulders like a sash.

  Now it was my turn to get a ribbon and I didn’t move a muscle. I stood proudly and completely still so they could get the ribbon around my neck without misplacing my mane. I did drop my head down a little to make it easier for them to fasten it.

  I could almost hear my old herd from Nevada laughing at me. They were wild and free, and here I was with my mane braided, smelling like strawberries, and wearing a huge ribbon around my neck, all with a human on my back. While it certainly wasn’t the life they would have chosen, I was glad it was mine. I showed everyone that my mustang brothers were capable of achieving anything if they had the proper attitude and the right human willing to work with them and give them a chance.

  As soon as the ribbon was in place the judge moved out of the way so people could take our picture. I know I looked handsome. My coat gleamed in the sunlight, my perfectly braided mane and forelock showed the lines on my face and neck, and that big red and gold ribbon glistened around my neck. There wasn’t a mustang between here and Nevada who looked any better than I did at that moment. I was sure of it!

  After the others had received their ribbon, it was time for our victory lap around the ring. We were supposed to go in order of ribbon: the Champion went first, followed by me, the Reserve Champion, and then the others.

  We started out that way, but Little Dreamer was going too slow. To keep things moving, I was going to have to pass him. The way I looked at it, since Little Dreamer wouldn’t wear his ribbon, I should be first in line anyway. So I passed him. Bianca, though, had other ideas. Before I knew it, she had me trotting around in a circle so Little Dreamer could keep his lead. We were back in second place.

  What an injustice! I was just trying to take my rightful place.

  We followed Little Dreamer out of the arena, and we stopped at Daisy’s side. She was crying again. Within seconds, here came Holly and Wendy, and they were crying again too.

  I swear, I have never seen humans cry so much in one day.

  I may have finished in second place, but I knew in Daisy’s heart I was her Champion.

  As she led me back to my stall, with my enormous ‘Reserve Champion’ ribbon slung across my shoulder, we walked directly past that jerk, Richard. I saw Daisy square her shoulders as she made herself walk taller. As we passed him we both had the same thoughts. Under her breath, I heard Daisy’s “Humph!” She didn’t look over at Richard or make any kind of eye contact. She just kept walking, proudly, with her head held high. I didn’t look in his direction either. I walked past him, holding my head high, too, and my tail a little higher. Daisy and I were quite a pair.

  Not quality? Well, Richard, what do you think of me now?

  When we got back to my stall, Daisy threw herself around my neck.

  “Kobi,” she whispered, “you did it! You proved that a wild mustang has every right to be in dressage. You proved Richard and any other mustang-hating idiots wrong!”

  Daisy fed me a handful of treats to show me how happy she was. Next came all of the photos with Bianca: me wearing the ribbon while tacked up, me wearing the ribbon untacked, me wearing the ribbon in the show ring, me wearing the ribbon while standing under a huge American flag…you get the idea. I loved every minute of it, too. I was Kobi, the Reserve Champion!

  Finally it was time to go home. Daisy and Wendy were determined to get me into the tall red trailer, but I was just as determined I wasn’t going to get in. It wasn’t my normal trailer. Plus, there wasn’t another horse in it. What was going on? Why
should I go? I liked all this fuss over me and wanted to stay here.

  Finally I relented and I ended up getting into the red trailer all by myself. It was a lonely ride home.

  We pulled all the way into the breezeway when we got back to the barn, but no one was hurrying to let me out of the trailer. In fact, for some reason Daisy had grabbed Jake’s halter and jogged out to the pasture to get him. Shortly she returned, leading Jake towards the trailer. The other side of the trailer opened and Daisy tried to lead Jake into the trailer with me. I was so confused.

  I’m ready to get off, now. Why are you loading Jake? What’s going on?

  It took Jake a few tries and some sweet feed, but before long he was my partner in the red trailer. I felt the ground start to move and we were off again. This was strange. Where were we going? What was happening? At least I wasn’t alone this time. Whatever was going on, Jake and I were in it together.

  After a short and bumpy ride, we stopped. I had no idea where we were. Daisy hopped out and tried to get Jake’s head loose so he would be the first one out. Fine by me! Jake can check this new place out first. If he doesn’t like it, then I just won’t get out of the trailer.

  “Jake’s ready!” I heard Daisy shout, “Come and catch his head as he backs out.”

  “I got him.” Rex hollered back. “Let him out!”

  Rex? Rex is here at this new place too? What’s going on? Where are we?

  Daisy came around and clipped the lead rope to my halter. “Ok, Kobi’s ready.” The door behind my rump opened and I slowly backed out of the trailer. Jake wasn’t in any distress and Rex was here, so this place couldn’t be too bad. Could it?

  At last I was out and back on solid ground. I looked around and saw Jake was already grazing, with Rex holding on the other end of his lead rope. Daisy held my rope, but I wasn’t interested in grazing, I needed to look around and figure out where I was. Wendy was there, too, and was busy giving Daisy directions as I led her around the pasture to check out the new surroundings. Then Wendy got out some bags of feed, and that really got my attention.

  There’s feed! Were we going to be staying here?

  I was still checking out my new surroundings, when I saw something out of the corner of my eye, moving towards us. Fast. I spun around to face the fast moving threat. Blowing hard to get its scent.

  “It’s okay Kobi, it’s just Cuzzin. You remember him.”

  Oh, right. The dumb dog you like to keep around for some reason. I thought you would have gotten rid of him by now.

  I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard Daisy tell Rex and Wendy, “Okay, let’s go to the barn, put them in their stalls and get them settled.”

  A barn? Stalls? We have stalls here? Yes! We are going to be staying here!

  Daisy and Rex led Jake and me around back to a little two-stall barn. Aha! The mystery was unfolding. It was just going to be the two of us living here. When Jake and I got in, we found the two largest stalls I had ever seen. They were twice as large as any other stall I’d been in, and completely covered with wood shavings. Wow! This new place was pretty nice. And then Daisy and Rex fed us dinner.

  Barn! Stalls! Wood shavings! Food! I love it here!

  *****

  It had only been a few wonderful and relaxing months since that wonderful evening before I realized that every morning, when I woke up, I would have Daisy there to feed me. Imagine!

  Life had slowed down now. No more cold, stinky, perfume-filled baths, short haircuts, or long, hot sweaty workouts. The only thing I have to put up with now is that dumb dog Cuzzin. I pay him back though. Each time he tries to sneak out and run away, I’m always watching. This way whenever Daisy looks for him, all she has to do is watch where I’m looking. She’s caught that stupid dog every single time!

  I’m fortunate enough to spend most of my days with my big brother Jake, eating the lush grass in the green pastures. I spend all of my nights comfortably in my stall crunching hay into the wee hours of the morning. It doesn’t get much better than this.

  I would have been content to live this way forever, but I should have known by now that things never stay perfect. Life always has a way of changing and surprising you.

  CHAPTER 11 — FOUNDER

  Life was perfect until that one cool, rainy day. The day started brilliantly. The sun was shining and there was a nip in the air, signaling the brutal Florida summer was finally coming to an end. To top it off, there wasn’t a bug around for miles to bite me. In short, it was a great day to be a horse!

  Around mid-day, storm clouds started rolling in and Daisy took that as her cue to put Big Jake and me in our stalls. I love it when we get to go in our stalls before the rain comes, instead of after we are already wet. I think she’s finally realized how much I hate getting wet. I’ve overhead her tell Rex the main reason Jake and I go to our rooms when it rains, is because Jake has something wrong with his hooves and they have to stay dry. While I know Jake’s hooves are Daisy’s main concern, I know in the back of her mind she also knows how much I hate being wet. I know she’s also doing it for me because she wants me to be as comfortable and happy as I can be. I really love Daisy!

  Anyway, even after we were put up, it was still a good day. Daisy gave us a mid-afternoon bran mash for a snack and kept coming out to give us enough hay to keep us busy. That afternoon, when the rain was starting to slow down, Jake started grumbling that his belly was beginning to hurt.

  “Kobi, I don’t feel so good. My belly feels all tight and my hooves are hurting. I think I’m going to lay down for a little bit.”

  Uh-oh. I’ve had a stomachache only once in my life before; it was one of the worst experiences of my life. I didn’t want to tell Jake that and scare him, since he had enough to think about with his stomach, but I decided to keep my eye on him until Daisy came back out to check on us. She helped me to feel better last time; I knew she’d be able to help Jake. I just wished she’d hurry up.

  A little while later, the rain had stopped, the sun was trying to peek back out. Daisy came to let us out of our stalls. Jake was doing more than lying down, he was laid out. His entire body was on the ground, his neck was stretched out, and his head rested in the stall shavings. Daisy went into action, like I knew she would.

  “Jakey, honey, what’s wrong?”

  Jake raised his head in response to her voice, but didn’t answer her.

  He’s sick. His stomach hurts. Come on, Daisy. You know what to do.

  Daisy wasn’t listening to me. She got out our cookies like she always does when she wants to make sure we still want to eat. Jake didn’t show the least bit of interest in the cookies, showing just how sick he was. If the big guy didn’t want to eat cookies, it was bad.

  My own stomach rumbled when the sweet smell of the cookies reached my nose.

  Hey! Don’t forget me over here. I still want my cookies!

  Daisy heard my nicker that time and gave me a handful of the sweet snacks. She led me out of my stall to the front field to turn me loose to graze. I knew when she left that she was going back to the barn to get Jake up. I knew he was in good hands, so I tried not to worry anymore. After being in my stall all morning, I was hungry. I waited a few minutes for Jake to join me. When he didn’t come I knew he was still with Daisy, so I found a good place to graze and started eating.

  A little later, Daisy walked around with Jake. He was wearing his halter and Daisy was leading him with his lead rope. He started sniffing the ground like he was going to start grazing, but lay back down instead.

  This isn’t good. Come on, Jake. Time to get up and start eating again.

  He answered me by trying to roll.

  Come on, Daisy, do something!

  She heaved, tugged, and pulled Jake back up into a standing position, and started walking him around. I saw her get a box the size of her hand out of her pocket and start talking into it.

  “Hey, Wendy, it’s Daisy. I’ve got a problem here with Jake. I think he’s trying to colic.”

/>   Oh, no. Not colic. I remember that’s the bad stomachache I had. Give him that shot. It will make him feel better. It worked for me, remember?

  Before my thoughts were complete, Daisy was yelling into the house. “Rex! Grab me the shot of banamine out of the fridge, and bring it out here please.”

  Daisy let Jake lay down again, as long as he promised not to roll anymore. I think he would have promised anything so long as he could lie down. While he was lying there, she went ahead and gave him the shot. “That’s it, Jakey. In about 20 minutes, you’ll be as good as new again. Just relax.”

  Sure enough, in a little while, Jake got to his feet again. I was glad. Before long, my stomach was telling me it was dinner time. Daisy brought us back to our stalls for a light dinner.

  “How are you feeling Jake?” I asked him after we ate.

  “Better. But something just doesn’t feel right. I can’t figure out exactly what it is, Kobi, but I just feel tired and icky.”

  I was somewhat relieved knowing Jake was eating, and seemed to be improving even if he was tired and icky. It didn’t last long though. He felt poorly for the next few days. It didn’t matter what Daisy tried. It would work for a little while and then he would stop eating and lay down again.

  I continued my watch over him. Every time he would lie down, I would go and stand next to him so I could protect him and make sure nothing would attack him. Once again, he laid himself out, with his head resting flat on the ground. I didn’t like that. Not one bit. I had only seen one other horse do that, and that was when I was still running wild in Nevada.

  Back then, one of the older mares had gotten sick and lay down like that. When the herd was ready to move on, she didn’t get up. With the safety of the herd at stake, we couldn’t wait for her to get back to her feet. Mother told me we had to leave the old mare behind. “It is the way of life,” Mother said. “Survival of the strongest. She is old and not strong anymore. We have to leave her here.” When we left, I turned to take one last look at the old mare I had known since I was born. She was up on her feet again, yet slowly walking the opposite way that the herd was going.