Coyo Tay Ho'

Good Afternoon,

And, recoverin', I reckin'; run to Yellow Earth, see an old friend, meet a new one, get to talk to a horse. My neighbor friends, lookin' to get outta the house, see some dogs, havin' lost three this past year; one to cancer, two, we suspect, to gopher bait, placed by a careless neighbor, mom and daughter, Dianne and Danielle, missin' their help with their goats. Me knowin' Sandy, who not only runs the wild horse sanctuary, but also serves as the "de facto" lost dog shelter for most a northern New Mexico.

Didn't particular wanta go, or better, didn't particular wanta leave, all there is needs doin', hereabouts, but I had planted the seed, 'mong the parties, that Sandy did have some boarder collies and Dianne and Danielle were lookin'. And, I sure had been wantin' to meet Headlight and Melody, an artist and wild horse advocate, that moved in up there, give Sandy a hand. By the way, I have another friend believes Headlight needs a new name and came up with Coyo Tay Ho', which I kinda like, though I might stick to Headlight for the blog here, where there are so many folks, known him for so many years that way. And, he does belong to the folks up yonder, who seem to be satisfied with his old name.

Anyway, up we went; drove over to my neighbors and we all piled in their little honda, economy sake. And, it is one beautiful drive, here to there; up over the divide, down Mares Canyon to the Llaves Valley, and up through the notch, cross a curious stretch a desert, southeast corner of the Jicarilla, passed El Vado lake to a large plain, about ten miles west of Tierra Amarilla.

The girls all had a great time visitin' and sharin' stories, horse, goat, dog and fowl and soon as I could, I broke off and went ta find Headlight. I'm told he's quite a character and long as there's feed, he don't go too far, likin' to keep abreast a goin's on around the barnyard; passin' through several times a day. I found him just west a the barn, over a small rise, grazin' with his girlfriend.

And, I reckin' I knew a lot more about him than he about me, so it's no wonder he wasn't too quick to cozy up, where I also, bore some resemblance to the rodeo crowd, he likely didn't miss too much; least compared to the pasture and company he'd found down here. I walked a little, this way and that, kinda off to the side, get his attention, then pretty much set down, let him size me up and he did, maybe 20 yards off. As a younger horse, he'd run with the mares, southern Idaho, northern Nevada, Owyhee River Basin, though he'd been gelded later on, for his rodeo career and he met my fact with studly posture and curiosity; little wonder where even his later encounters with "man" had been, pretty much, conflict oriented.

Anyway, I sat a while, watchin' him graze, his "miss" peakin' out around him, once they figured I was pretty well set, took a few pictures and headed back, figurin', hopin' I'll get another chance, maybe, ta visit again; stay a little longer, maybe get a little closer.

But it did make me think, always, pretty much, anytime with a horse, but this case special, how the past can color our "now"; not exactly breakin' news. But, for me, knowin' his story, his career, his age, his "up for sale", knowin' the risk, raisin' a holler, makin' a fuss, gettin' folks interested, now seein' him here and all the feelings come with, he couldn't imagine. And, I figure it's same with us; we can get so sure of "how things are", based on "how they were", that we can not imagine anything else, when fact is, everyday we wake up, there's a universe of possibilities before us; and some of 'em could be good.

Have a nice night!

Best,

P.S. We did come home with a collie; Sierra. And, what I hear, she's so fast, the goats are sure they brought home four.
jeune