FARM ;LIFE There have been sparkling horse dreams in my eyes as long as I can remember. Summer days at my grandmother’s ranch were joyfully spent with her Paso Fino horses, a naturally-gaited breed known for their grace, endurance, and no-bounce ride. The breed, a mixture of Andalusian, Barb, and Spanish Jennet, began in the Caribbean with horses imported from Spain over 500 years ago by Christopher Columbus. My grandmother, a teacher, enjoyed sharing the history of these horses as she promoted the breed. They recognized her love and goodness and came running when

MaryJane Butters she called them. As the small girl at her side, I was enthralled by their soft eyes and noses and the apple-oat-grass heat of their breath, the past alive in the present. To be so visibly loved by something so powerful, yet so soft and beautiful, made my little-girl heart race. My first love was a horse.

The dream to have my own horse never left me, and perhaps it haunts you, too. Like me, you’ve learned all you can from other people’s horses. You’ve gotten dirty grooming them, feeding them, Amy Hatkoff, author of riding them. You have the time, resources, and space, and it’s time. By the time my daughter was The Inner World of Farm 8 years old, I had already been “horse shopping” for seven of those years. I wanted to share this Animals: Their Amazing dream with her as my grandmother had shared it with me. When we bought our own acreage Social, Emotional, and recently, I saw our future horses, their hoofbeats getting louder, closer. Intellectual Capacities (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, At my aunt’s horse farm, each May brings a crop of frisky foals, descendants of my grandmother’s 2009, $19.95) combines herd. I went for a visit, and, unexpectedly, the hoofbeats I’d been hearing stopped right in front of the latest scientific and me. One colt stood in my heart. There was something about him that reached out and grabbed psychological research on me—it left an invisible band around my lungs and a stinging in my eyes. He was my horse. No these sentient barnyard other horse had claimed me like this before. The voice of reason argued, “Don’t fall in love with creatures with poignant a horse at first sight. You can’t ride pretty. A 6- to 10-year-old well-trained horse is the way you stories and soulful photos should start.” I bought him. that bring their inner world to life. She’ll show you While my colt continued to grow by his mother’s side, we got ready for his homecoming. We how farm animals can built fence, cleared hazards from our pasture, and stocked up on hay. I learned about a problem demonstrate sophisticated with his legs—he needed special shoes and physical therapy. I questioned my sanity. I attended problem-solving abilities, a meeting with his vet to learn more. One day he seemed to go lame. A hernia surgery saved his possess rich social lives, life, and he became a gelding. Life is so delicate, even with horses, and so many things can go and feel a wide range of wrong along the way. Taking on a horse means learning and adjusting. emotions. In other words, they’re really no different Summer ripened and passed in a blur of videos and photos of my growing and steadily improving from the dogs and cats we colt. In October, he came to live with us, leaving his special shoes behind. I remember the love so much ... and they whispered quiet as my small, recently weaned, long-legged blinking bit of fluffy gold emerged aren’t too different from us, from the trailer. The responsibility and joys were now mine. I took the lead, and he followed me either. From the story of through the gate and around the perimeter of his new pasture. Separated from his herd for the a two-year-old heifer who first time, with no familiar sights or sounds, I was prepared for a frightened, nervous, dangerous walked seven miles in an creature. But it was as if we had been working together for years. He was unafraid and curious unfamiliar area to find the and followed me calmly. farm where her calf had been taken, to the pig who I spent that first night nearby in my Airstream to monitor his transition to the new surroundings. squeezed through a dog Listening in the night for signs of trouble—a high whinny or panicked hoofbeats—all I heard door and stopped traffic by Michelle Van Dyke were howling coyotes, the sound of the heater, and my daughter’s breathing that answered mine. in order to save her owner orse reams I rose early that fall morning, expecting to search for my golden colt beyond the bluff. Instead, from a heart attack, you’ll he watched me come from my silver trailer, waiting for me at the gate. I heard a sound coming be amazed by these truly from the creek to the north and watched for his reaction. He turned, and together we watched incredible creatures. a flock of migrating swans fly toward and over us close enough to see individual feathers. It was HThere’s just somethingD about an unreal moment, our first encounter together with nature’s magic revealing itself in the quiet morning. Michelle Van Dyke teaches the outside of a horse But horses are herd animals, and alone isn’t natural to them. Careful shopping led me to a English and Spanish at fantastic senior horse companion, Scout, to complete our “herd” of two. Scout eats like, well, a National Blue Ribbon that is good for a horse. And due to his age and the condition of his teeth, he requires special feed. Is it worth K–12 school in Rosalia, it? For us, yes! A retired police mount and 4-H horse, he is steady and gentle, yet spunky when Washington, where she “ asked. He fits my 8-year-old daughter perfectly as she learns about horses. lives with her husband, the inside of a person. Steve, daughter, Sydney, and If you have hoofbeats pounding in your dreams, give yourself permission to listen to your little-girl horses, Almucantar “Quigley” – Winston Churchill heart. The self-confidence, patience, and responsibility learned from owning a horse is priceless. and Scout. 72 MaryJanesFarm | Makin’ Hay | Aug–Sept 2009 ”