I called him Beta: The story of my first heart horse. 💖

  When I was young I always wanted and dreamed of meeting  'my' horse.  A lifer!

 From a very young age, I had this fascination, an infatuation with horses (and dolphins) and thought that I would finally feel whole if I could raise my horse from a baby.   

                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It began back when I was about 19 or 20 years old.  I rode my bike to work (with horses) daily and generally took a short cut through the local small cattle stock yard on the way.   I rarely saw horses, but this day on my way home from work,  there was 2 weanlings in the front field.   I had aninstant love for the beautiful buckskin coloured one. 

I parked my bike on an approach that was near the fenceline.  The colts, ,even though clearly un-handled and 'wild,'  curiously came investigating my presence.  There he was!  My dream horse buckskin.   The other one I felt sorry for but he did not interest me at all.  Just a lowly Bay  ‘wiener horse’ who had a long upside down ewe neck, was thin, dull and wormy.   

 It was settled,  I wanted the buckskin, and then went to the office to ask about him.   

“…the buckskin colt in the front field, is he for sale?  I want to buy him …”

and before I could finish my sentence he said…

“oh sorry that one is sold, the guy who just left in the truck, but I have this nice little bay for sale”

Bah… it wasn’t meant to be then and I said thank you and went home. I'll find my buckskin someday I thought.    

---------------------------------------------------
 
 (enter my first buckskin Tanman 30 years later) but that’s another story… and a different coloured buckskin 

 

 

I went home and thought nothing of it and went about the rest of the day. I generally don't have good dream recall, but I had this dream and I still see today.  

I dreamt of the little bay colt, the one that I ‘snubbed’ earlier that day. and in my dream  he looked at me and I felt him say pick me!  Please pick me.   He did have beautiful eyes and in the dream I gazed into them, falling deeply for him as the dream progressed  ...  

...and then 💥 BAM … a guillotine to the neck and his body flopping like a chicken. 😳 Sorry to be so graphic...

 I was now wide awake and sitting up in bed, horrified!    I was breathing so hard, and my heart rate was off the charts...  it scared the begeebers out of me and I vowed then and there that I would go 'pick' that bay colt. 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the morning the 2 colts were not in the field they were in the evening before.  I immediately went to the office. 

To my surprise, the buckskin was gone on the trailer I just passed coming in, and the bay was making all kinds of noise getting loaded to a cattle truck to head for slaughter.  The man kept talking and said no one wanted him.  This bay colt was nothing but a cull from a breeding program and they didn’t want a ‘horse like that’ to represent their breeding program.  It was a mistake to breed him and he was to just ... go!  

 I told the man I wish to buy him, do not load him on that truck.  

 

"Too late he is already on it!"

 

"Please take him off "

 

"Are you sure?  OK Pay me before I do…"   

 

"I can’t but i will by this afternoon"

 

Somehow he believed me and took the bay colt off the truck and put him in a pen.  He warned me another truck was here at 4pm and if I’m not back by then, he’s not putting him up for the night… he’s gone!

😳 ok 

I called in sick to work and went home fast on my bike.  I had to find the money for him ... he was already in my heart!

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Long story short.   I had a Sony Betamax machine still in the box and it was well worth the couple of hundred they wanted for the colt.   My uncle heard my plea and gave me the money I needed.   I found out years later that he still had that machine, in the box. 

 But it took all day, and it was almost 4 pm .  I rode my bike so hard to the office and burst in and put my money down.  The office man laughed and said congrats you now own a wild wormy meat horse!  

 

    Years later, I had Beta in a show in the town where I

    got  him and the same office man  stopped me while

     I was riding past him

    and asked me "hey what ever happened to that little

    mangy bay horse I sold you " 

 

     I said "I'm sitting on him" 

 

      He laughed and didn't believe me....

      thought I pulled one over on him.

 

 

A journey of 3 plus decades began when I bought the mangey throw away colt I named Beta. 

He was a constant in my life and took me through many doors,  discovering and delving into many different riding styles and disciplines and on to national competitions, demos, lessons, clinics and writing a book, and Equinextion itself.  

 He showed me the way for the natural horse, he showed me the way to barefoot, bitless riding,  and helped educate numerous people on good movement and proper schooling of the mind and body, something I now call Elevated Horsemanship.   He was my friend and companion, and quite a handful (as am I) at times!   He was my longest relationship … so far. 


He was and still is, in my heart. 

Do you have a heart horse?   We would love to hear about it!    

~Lisa

 

 

...from the book Triminology 101.  Get it now...

Close

99% Complete

WELCOME TO EQUINExtion Functional Health Campus.  

 We value your presence and interest in Equine functional health and promise to notify you when we post new educational material or opportunities.