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Jed =s
Ryhia
On the second Tuesday of every month, the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM), Moore Field Station in Moore, OK, offers wild horses
and burros for adoption to qualified individuals at the Pauls Valley,
Okla., adoption center. (Pauls Valley is approximately 60 miles south of
Oklahoma City, Okla, just off of Interstate 35). I have attended many of
these adoptions to either adopt a horse for myself or to pick up a horse
that I am going to gentle and train for someone else. I have been
gentling and training wild horses for ten years and enjoy every minute
of it.
In November of 2000, Pauls Valley conducted a special
adoption in which the BLM was offering several mares that had been part
of a birth control study in Nev., using PZP, a drug which is temporary
and does not injure a foal if the mare is pregnant when she receives the
inoculation. I went to this adoption, taking along my mom and my best
friend, Peggy. I was saddened to see that many were left unadopted due
to their ages (most were nine and older). A little strawberry roan mare
caught my mother =s
eye. I told my mom and Peggy I didn=t
need another wild horse, but my mom did not relent. I went inside the
facility to ask about the mare. Darla, who works for the BLM, told me
the mare was nine years old, had been Ain
the system@
for three years and was from the Buck and Bald Herd Management Area in
northeastern Nevada. I knew this herd had an excellent reputation for
temperament, but I still was not convinced. Then came Pat Hoffman,
Facility Manager of Pauls Valley, whom I have know for several years
through the BLM adopt-a-horse program. He knew the trick. He teased me
just a bit, with a smile on his face, telling me that maybe I just
couldn=t
gentle one that old. That was all it took. I walked in the office and
adopted the little mare. We named her Mariah.
A wild horse will sometimes get diarrhea the first few
days after adoption from the stress of being hauled to a new location.
In Mariah =s
case the diarrhea did not subside. She quit eating and began to quickly
drop weight. We tried everything; she simply would not eat. After many
trips to the vet, it was finally decided she had ulcers and a systemic
infection. She was started on Nexal shots, Banamine shots for the fever
and B12. Now that was an adventure! She was barely gentled and now had
to stand for shots. After 10 days the vet said it was up to her; she had
to decide if she wanted to live. There I stood in the pouring, freezing
rain begging this little mare that I hadn=t
even wanted to just eat. I cried and pleaded with her.
I wish I could say it was I that started her on the road
to recovery, but it wasn =t.
My son Jed, only four at the time, had walked outside to tell me to come
in. He walked in the round pen and Mariah walked over to him and nuzzled
his face. He reached up and petted her face; when he turned to walk
away, she followed. From that day forward she would watch his every move
and nicker when she saw him. She never missed another meal.
Within 30 days Mariah was turned out with the rest of
the horses. She was still timid and quiet, but somehow trusted us. One
evening when I was calling her in I shouted, ACome
on, Mariah.@
Jed looked up at me and said, ANo
Mom, she is NOT your Ryhia she is MY Ryhia.@
From that day forward her name has been Ryhia except to Jed, who still
calls her AMy
Ryhia.@
In the summer of 2001, we began saddle training Ryhia,
who was now 10. We started slow, with lunging lessons followed by ground
driving. When it was time for a saddle, she took it like she had done it
her whole life. Jed was there, of course, begging to sit on her. So
Peggy sat Jed on the saddle on Ryhia while I held her. Ryhia never
seemed to mind anything we asked of her. She never got tense, and just
turned and looked at Jed and sighed. Since I train horses for other
people, mine often get put on the back burner so Ryhia was lucky to get
saddled once a week.
In September, I broke my back from a bad fall off
another horse. There was no riding for me for several months. January
came and it was time for me to start riding again. I spent a few days
going over the basics with Ryhia. She seemed to remember everything and
was eager to learn. One day I knew it was time and I climbed on. I must
admit to having a healthy dose of fear in the pit of my stomach. There
is nothing like hearing your own back break to teach you fear and
humility. Ryhia was almost the teacher that day, as she carefully did
all that I asked of her even when she was frightened. She simply stopped
and thought her way through it. After a few weeks of daily riding, no
more than 30 minutes at a time (as that was all I could handle), it was
time to let Jed have his Ryhia.
He started in the round pen with me giving him a little
lesson. Ryhia has never cared for a bit so he rides her in a side-pull.
By spring, Jed was taking Ryhia and riding her in an open field. She
will take him anywhere he asks, but she will NOT so much as trot much to
his dismay. For a little horse that I didn =t
even want, she is one of the greatest gifts I have ever had.
Now when I am at adoptions and I hear people say one is
too old to adopt I simply laugh and tell them Ryhia =s
story. I have since adopted another Aold@
mare. She is eight years old with two years Ain
the system.@
She, too, has gentled down wonderfully and should be ready for a saddle
this summer. Her name is Hope as she was adopted on September 11.
I hope through sharing Ryhia =s
story, others will be open minded enough to take a chance on the older
horses available for adoption. The horses may take a little more time
and patience, but they certainly have big hearts and learn just as much
as the younger ones.
Joyce Turner , Wild
Wishes Farm
Fletcher, OK.
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