Curious George Gets a Home

When my husband and I got settled into our new life back in the states, I started looking around once more to immerse myself in the horse culture. I quickly found that there didn't seem to be even one single Parelli person in El Paso, and certainly no horse-people on our side of town. So I did what any desperate person would do, I put an ad up on Craigslist, purporting my desperate need to spend time with horses and if you did Parelli, even better. Through that ad I found Kimber, http://www.uppervalleyriding.com/, and her little "ranch", she offered to let me come out and ride whenever I wanted, as long as I wouldn't mind teaching lessons every once in a while. My first day out there I walked up to the arena, waved hello, and Kimber said, "Hey come take over this lesson, I gotta do something real qucik!" Oh boy! But I stumbled through it and later in that day met her neighbor A, who owned 2 horses, both bought from the auction, both in need of "training". I told her I did Parelli and she asked me how much I would charge. I told her no charge, I just wanted to play with horses. I re-enlisted in the savvy club and got new equipment, and I played with her horse Dakota, who had been severely beaten in the past, and got somewhere. But then we weren't going anywhere, then he didn't want to be caught anymore, and I found out that Dakota was pretty much a lost cause, you cannot help people who will not help themselves. You cannot help a horse not be afraid of people when he's still getting it on a daily basis.

So I told myself that I didn't need to play with horses; I'd just hang out and watch lessons, clean stalls, and ride on occasion. I noticed another neighbor of Kimber's had a big, crazy thoroughbred gelding. His stall and small run was next to Kimber's arena, and any time a horse went by he flew into spins, crowhops, bucks and general mayhem. I drooled. He was just GORGEOUS. He was so athletic even in such a small confined space. I asked Kimber about him, "Do you think I could play with him? What's his story?" She told me that his barn name was George, as in Curious George, because he always had to have his mouth all over everything. He'd been raced  four times then injured himself, and that was all she knew, other than her 16 year old daughter had offered to exercise him but had been shot down.

I hemmed and hawed for a few weeks, occaisonally going over to say hi to George. The first time I walked up to him he decided that my jacket belonged to him, he clamped on and didn't let go for about five minutes. I was in love! I eventually worked up the nerve to ask Kimber for his owner's phone number. And about a week later I worked up the nerve to call her and ask if we could talk about George. I met her an hour later at her barn, and we talked for about two hours. He had indeed, broken an ankle while racing in July, and he hadn't been out of his small enclosure since then. He got oat hay in the mornings, alfalfa at night, and grain twice a day (that explained the surplus of energy...maybe). I told her that I was looking for a horse to make my partner, one that I could put a good solid foundation on and eventually oneday do dressage. I told her I didn't have the money to outright buy him, but I'd love to pay his expenses if she would let me work with him on the weekends. She said, "Well, I have a better idea. I'm bringing some horses home from the track in April, and I need the space. As long as you have him out by then, you can have him."

And the rest is history...

I played with George for the first time this weekend. I already knew that he was very dominant, so when I took him out of his stall I snapped on my 22-foot line before doing anything. He hadn't been outside of his stall in eight months, and he was full of energy. The first time I asked him to get out of my space he swung his head like a stallion, the second time, he reared and pawed at me. So I told him to get out of my space, and spent the next few hours just chillin in the yard with him, making sure he stayed at least 12 feet away from me. He explored and jumped and played and had his mouth on everything, including Kimber's kitten. Hopefully this weekend I will be moving him to his new home, a place where he can run and jump and play as much as he wants to, not even all that far from where he is now. They have a few round pens and also an arena. I cannot wait to play with George more and learn all about him!

Interestingly enough, I (as well as many other Parelli people I am sure) am really used to people asking me, "When are you going to ride that horse?", and now have a slew of people akwardly asking, "Um, you're going to ride that horse?" The answer, I can say, is exactly the same for both questions: "I'll ride when we are both ready to ride, however long that takes." There is no greater feeling in the world than the joy a relationship brings, be it with a human, a horse, a dog. I can't wait to have a relationship with George!