Symphony Solstice BLM- Mustang

[Tockita]

2000 BLM Mare, Twin Peaks HMA, Susanville, CA Adopted 6/23/02


Just Adopted! 6/02



Growing fast! 8/02 w/ Sassy


April 05


First Clinic 12/05


Playing in the yard


w/Angi @ Mounties Boot Camp 7/06


Christmas day 06

[eirualaerdna]

nice rump on that horse! He's very well put together. Very attractive!

[Tockita]

Thanks!! She's my Fatt Butt Stud mare... I am taking her to an obstacle day tomorrow and Chris signed her up as Fatt Butt instead of Symphony. (lol) Chris is Godmother (she gets Symphony if I die)

[mustang1]

She is beautiful, She reminds me of my Bronson, Mustangs are so the way to go!!

[wendyp]

Hey Kathy,

How did obstacle day go? Any pics? She is a lovely mare..........

WendyP/Bend, OR

[Tockita]

Chris has some, I haven't looked at what Beth took yet. Symphony was pretty good, I haven't done much with her this winter. Cold and dark when I get home from work. She did jump for once! Not the barrels but over bales of hay... She did so well weaving through the cones Chris made me try it backwards. Now THAT was a challenge! It wasn't pretty but we did it.

The only thing she really balked at was the "water" only the tarp had shifted and it was just a muddy tarp. She had no problem crossing a clean tarp. She played with the ball and "Aunty" Chris stole her to sit on her a bit (she can't wait for me to croak so she have her.)

We took Chester along as well, since Beth took a friend that had never been we wanted someone easy for her. He took the ball around the arena 3 or 4 times, and we tried to have him jump the barrels with another Awesome little black horse.. but Whisper is young and she would hang back when Chester got next to her. It was fun to try. At one point Chester decided eh just didn't want to be driven on his right and had a little snit but got over it pretty quick. Its hard to remember sometimes he is still a bit of a baby himself. He won't be 4 until this summer, but i have no doubt with his personality and tenacity that he would have been a herd stallion had he stayed in the wild. He is only completely submissive to Symphony, and she is completely submissive to no one!

[Tockita]

Sunday my horse had her first real ride. She walked and trotted in the arena, a bit hesitant at first but without any fear or drama. I was there, I saw it happen, yet I was home before I accepted what really happened, and then I cried.

It is sort of fitting that I came home to digest what this horse, my horse did yesterday because 5 years ago when I met her.. I walked away. I went home and dreamed about, and was haunted by this filly. That she chose me, ME out of all the people that went by that pen. She saw me, and she looked right at me, and then moved slowly past the other horses, curious and courageously to sniff my fingers and allow me the smallest touch on her nose. She was wild, she didn't have to. I wasn't anyone special. I just brought my daughter and some of her friends to see real mustangs, so they could know that they are living breathing creatures, and not a mythical creature. I was wrong.

Mustangs are magic, and music.. poetry in motion, and Symphony is a unicorn. She may be brown, and you can't see a horn, but she is as noble a beast, who is loving, loyal and proud. She guards, she watches, and she protects the other horses. When I am sad she comforts me. She gives me the softest looks, and she lends me strength, delivering it in gentle puffs of breath.

What adventures we have had in our 5 years together, and we have hit a few blocks, things we couldn't figure out alone. So we did the things we could, and put the others aside for a later time. I wasn't in a hurry. I wanted her to be all grown up before I rode her, and we had at least thirty more years to spend together so there wasn't any need to rush. I moved and bought a house where we could be together everyday, and we even added a second mustang to our herd. Life was good.

When it came time to start Symphony I lost my nerve. I couldn't do it alone! I had failed at some basic stuff like the farrier and trailering, how could I get her ready to be ridden? So my quest began. I picked up some trainer ads and crossed off everyone who did speed events! (since I just want to walk down the road.) I also crossed off all the ones that said NO MUSTANGS. (and was sorry to see how many there were) Then I was stuck, frozen, and frightened. This was worse then picking a babysitter for my children! It's not like I could bring her home every night and ask her what happened at school that day..

I turned to the people who gave her to me, I cruised the links on the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Website and somewhere among the wonderful info on the Wild Horse Mentors, Calif Adopters Assistance, LRTC, and Mustangs 4 Us sites I found Lifesavers. They saved wild horses, they love wild horses, and they had programs to help people who have horses wild or not! It wasn't too far away, it wasn't expensive, and when I tried to warn them about my horses so they would know what would be arriving the voice on the phone was very kind and welcoming. She kept telling me, "Don't worry, it'll be fine, just come". So we did.

They helped me find someone to haul the horses over, and back home again, and we were ready for our first clinic! We had to shove one, and spook the other into the trailer. I felt like a hypocrite. We arrived at the clinic and my horses stood there while we wagged ropes at them, and I thought how good they are, they don't move at all! Except they did want them to move and I went home the first day wondering if I did my horses a favor at all. I had spent 3 1/2 years tossing things at Symphony and having her follow me, and now... I'm asking her to move away from me, they are asking her to move, and she didn't understand. I thought she must be so confused and frustrated. When I arrived back the next morning she doesn't seem confused, she is moving.. with some attitude but she was moving!

Angi picks her for the trailer loading demo, (GOD bless her!) I think that the rest of the clinic participants hated my horse long before she finally got into the trailer, but I loved her even more. She was true to herself, she wasn't going to be rushed. She was willing to look, and sniff, and touch the trailer.. but until she decided that trailer was OK, she was NOT getting in! She was also willing to share her opinion with anyone who questioned her. I can still picture her face when at one point, (with 2 feet in the trailer) she looked back over her shoulder as if to ask why I wasn't rescuing her from her predicament.

Through those 2 days I watch Angi and Chris, they cheered success, they laughed at tantrums, and they kept asking her to try and rewarding her for it. It is the first time I saw someone giggle at a horse that tried to mush them! I'm told they speculated we might never return.. HA! It was wonderful to find a place where my horses could be themselves, and be more then just something to be used. Where we were encouraged to make them an equal partner. It was the place for us to move beyond where we were stuck, without compromising who we were to each other, and so we returned, and returned, and returned. We have taken other horses, Our darling Chester, abused rescue horses, a wild rez baby, and a spoiled little quarter filly. All have been welcomed, and had what ever they needed most addressed on their visit. Some we did nothing more then learn to be haltered on their first visit, and some like Symphony are moving onto a new playing field, one with endless possibilities. Ready for a world much larger then our back yard.

Taking our horses to Lifesavers is the best thing we have done with, and for them.

I tell people that, and I mean it. I wish for everyone to find a place near them with people as knowledgeable, dedicated, patient, and kind.

Yesterday after Lisa long lined her, I watched Angi ride Symphony. Chris reminded all that she gets her if I should die (and she does), Rob joked, questioning if I had adopted her there and could they revoke the adoption somehow.. It was a happy day, one to remember. We were with good people, in a special place, doing something we all loved.

The horse that walked around that arena yesterday is not the same horse that arrived there 18 months ago. She is just as magical to me as ever, but now others also see her magic. She knows she is loved there, that she is safe there, and she takes that love, and the confidence it brings with her when she leaves.

No Rob, Symphony didn't come from Lifesavers, but she grew up there.