A Dream Come True......continued
After we had acquired Pepper and found Little Bit we were totally in love with the Sulphur's. We knew that our chances of finding another were almost impossible and then as we were talking to a man at a local tack shop, we mentioned that we had Sulphur's. To our surprise he informed us that he also had one boarded at his Ranch, a Stallion and he was a son of Sulphur's Chance. Fred and I looked at each other, a Sulphur's Chance son, so close to us? We immediately got in touch with the owner who is now our dear friend Rob Martin, President of the ASHA.
Well, I now had a Stallion to breed my mares to but still wanted to increase my little herd of Sulphur's. In 2002 the Internet adoption photos were placed online and two Sulphur mares were placed on, I was thrilled but had never adopted over the Internet. I called the BLM office and inquired about the two mares, they were both supposedly given back by their previous adopters. I was informed that they were both very thin, neither had been handled and the living conditions that they came from were a nightmare. I was also told that both of these mares had foals but the BLM had no authority over them as they were already weaned and the personal property of the adopters.
These two mares were kept at a roadside truck stop, along with a Black bear, Bobcats, Coyotes and other wild feral animals. The mares were kept in small pens alongside predators, placed there for the public to see these "Wild Mustangs of the Old West" so the sign read. ( From my understanding the Humane society has taken all of the animals from this location )
Learning this I wondered just how a feral mare that had lived her first year in captivity alongside predators could adjust. I talked it over with my trainer, and his words still stay with me " Love can conquer all"
I mailed in all of my documentation and was approved to bid on these two mares for adoption. When the day came and it came down to the last hour my nerves were on edge and then it turned into a bidding war and I lost. I was totally devastated, how desperately I wanted this little grulla mare.
Then the phone rang, it was the BLM stating that the person that had outbid me declined her bid and did I still want this mare? I think I shouted "Yes" , ran and hugged Fred and we both were ecstatic about bringing home our new little Sulphur.
When we arrived in Tennessee to pick her up and saw her in the holding pen I can still see the fright in her eyes. This little mare was terrified of everyone and was kicking all of the other horses that came near her. As we loaded her in the trailer for the ride home I kept thinking of my trainers words and had faith that she would soon learn that love is all around her.
We had placed a halter on her before loading and my trainer attached a 32 ft. heavy lead line to her halter before releasing her to her holding pen. As we unloaded her she ran into the rail fence, trying desperately to free herself once again from human contact. Dallas looked at me and said we have to do this now, I had no idea of what he was talking about. With a soft voice talking to her he picked up the end of Dreamy's rope and slowly started pulling her into him, she ran in circles around him but he kept talking softly and getting closer. I stared in amazement as he got closer to her, she never tried to strike out nor kick. Within a short period of time he was next to her and she was trembling in fear but he kept talking to her. Then, to my amazement he was rubbing her as you would do a new born foal, desensitizing her, within half a hour she was relaxed and allowed Dallas to rub her whole body without fear. Three days after I brought her home she was walking on lead and today I could not ask for a sweeter mare, how forgiving she was for the life she had before I adopted her. Dreamy has since produced a beautiful filly sired by Sioux Socks and the story of her first foal Ne-Ga-Ho is one to tell in the next newsletter.
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