This month's featured horse: Wranglers Tequilla
I’m a well known member of the MVA family. And I
should be, I’ve been here for almost 22 years and have
earned my place among the best horses here. In those
many years I’ve done and seen it all. From wild trail
rides into the mountains to fancy show rings all over
B.C., I’ve been there. I take pride in my
accomplishments as I do in my ever growing family. As
you can guess from my many spots, I am an
Appaloosa. For those of you new to horses, that’s a
special breed
known for its
color and its
stubborn streak.
Now don’t get
me wrong, I
know I can be a
little wilful at
times, but I
always have my reasons. You see, I come from a
proud line of Appaloosas that have challenged their
riders, confronted insurmountable odds and always
taken care of those we loved. For us, our family
extends beyond the herd and into the human world.
I was young when my dam (that’s my mom) taught me
that good humans had to be cared for properly. She
hadn’t always known gentle hands, so she knew the
value of a good human. She never let her riders take
her for granted, but she knew which ones were worth
hanging on to. She found a human family who loved
her and returned their love tenfold. I was a spirited
filly, but she urged me to pick carefully when it came
to human friends. I found a partner I could bond with,
a rare thing with guarded humans, and we went
everywhere together. That girl dragged me every
which way; but oh the fun we had. We climbed to the
tops of mountains, through mighty rivers and raced
through waving hay fields. Then she would haul me off
to some horse show where we would prance and
dance in sparkling outfits and shiny fur. I knew how much these things meant to her so I
always tried my best to behave. Nevertheless, as the years passed I was starting to get tired.
Any horse knows they’ve found a good human when they listen to our whispers, and my
partner saw that I wanted to be a mom and let me hang up my show time saddle.
Today, I am the proud dam of six beautiful foals and a granddam to many many more. My
human family teaches others to love and respect horses so I decided I would help. I’ve taught
many other humans to ride and know the joy of partnering with a horse. Maybe I can stop
some other horses from knowing the pain my dam knew. As an Appaloosa, I know my job will
always be to remind humans of our worth. For those that learn the lesson well, I will do my
best to make their hopes and dreams come true.