EC Blog – My Horse, My Hero

Tales from the Ranch Riding World ….

By Jamie Walters

Have you ever looked deep into your horse’s eyes and told him you love with so much emotion that it’s usually reserved for a lover or a young child?

A few days ago, I was showing Flash and Stoney over in Arizona in some ranch riding classes. Normally, these classes are kind of boring. They take about two minutes, and you run a little pattern and the only people who are interested in them are your team and maybe your spouse. These ranch riding classes are a family affair with young children hanging out in the warm-up pen, little girls play in the sandy corners with their Breyer horses, and dogs are everywhere. Basically, there are a lot of people on foot in the arena supporting the riders. It’s a nice introduction to the horse world for many first time horse people.

Well, I was sitting on Flash (Sail On Vintage) at the back gate alley, over in a corner, minding my own business, watching someone run a pattern. Flash was calm and flat, and all the sudden I hear on the other side of the warm up pen, a giant commotion! In fact, the announcer started yelling “Loose Horse! Loose Horse!” over the loud speaker. Women were screaming. Mixed in with the screams, I could hear hard, fast hoofbeats circling the warm up pen connected to my alley about 50 feet away. It was absolute chaos, and I looked out in the show arena and everyone was stopped dead still. I thought to myself, “I’m fine here in the corner on Flash, tucked away. No horse is going to get me here.” Right then I glanced behind me, and a horse was running as hard as a horse has ever run down the alley STRAIGHT FOR FLASH AND ME!

Let me back back up for a moment. I am by no means a hero. I do not look for danger. I have watched countless hours of rodeo and have deep respect and reverence for all the pick up men handling broncs and bulls. That being said, I am by no means, nor do I have any  desire to be a pick up man. I am not a cowboy. I would never put myself in the middle of a wreck on purpose. But if a wreck is headed my way ….

So, there we were up next to the closed gate in the alley. The runaway horse was headed hard our way as fast as a horse is able to run. A woman backed up her horse and slowed him down a bit, and suddenly that horse darted between me and Flash and the gate. I thought Flash might spook as the loose horse slid into the tight space between us and the gate, but he didn’t. He became very still, and he PINNED that horse up next to the wall. Then the horse tried to dart out the other end, and intuitively Flash backed up and CONTINUED TO KEEP HIM PINNED, squeezing him hard against the wall. I started talking to the horse and whispering “Whoa, you’re fine, everything‘s fine, you’re going to be okay”, over and over, and I reached down and slowly took a hold of the remnants of his bridle, which had been torn to pieces, hanging from his ears. The horse was a pretty palomino, but his eyes were glazed over, and he was pretty shaken, but he started to settle.

I backed up a little bit, still holding the horse and by this time, a whole bunch of people had started coming down the alley towards us to help. They all paused and walked up really slowly, and suddenly a lady appeared, and she said “THAT’S my horse!” I quietly said, “Be careful” as I kept holding the horse. The trainer asked me to reach over and grab the long bag hanging from the saddle horn (maybe that’s what spooked him so bad?) I got the bag and kept telling the horse he was okay. The lady took the remaining pieces of bridle which were in her hands, including the bit attached only to a set of reins, and noticeably shaken, she walked the horse away.

And then I looked down at Flash, with tears in my eyes, and I whispered, “I don’t care how you did in the show pen today. I don’t care. I don’t care. I don’t care. You are the most WONDERFUL horse in the whole wide world for standing through all of this – the screaming, the announcing and the loose horse running straight for us. I’ve always felt like Joan of Arc on you, and today, you were absolutely MAGNIFICENT and STOIC. With all those people and children out there, you may have save somebody’s life. I love you.”

I couldn’t believe it, my little sweet pony, the BRAVEST THING ON EARTH, pinned that frantic loose horse against the fence and kept him there until he calmed down. Flash, you’re a TRUE HERO and TRUE RANCH HORSE.