This is a true story, but I never knew the end until today.
Even when I was on active duty, I always kept horses. A long time ago I had them in a commercial barn, which is how I came to meet the Appaloosa, a 4-year-old bay gelding with a gorgeous blanket. He stood about 16 hands. His daddy was quarter horse The Ol Man, one of the fastest quarter-milers of the time. He was bought at auction by a fellow as a gift to his girlfriend. However, he registered the horse in his own name. So when he lost the Appaloosa in a poker game a few months later, Girlfriend did not have a legal leg to stand on, and the horse went to a fellow Marine whose passion, whose ONLY passion, was gambling.
The Marine quickly discovered the Appaloosa was the fastest horse around and he made a killing match racing him. He boasted that he made $30 grand on the horse in less than 6 weeks. At which point folks stopped racing against him. By now poor Appaloosa was standing knee deep in a filthy stall and the barn own said clean it or git. So the Marine sold him.
The buyer was a young woman from my barn. She bought him for her husband, an over-the-road trucker. The day they delivered him was the first time I laid eyes on the Appaloosa. He was a beauty .but hyper from the mishandling he'd received by the Marine. Trucker was still over the road, so Wifey dealt with Appaloosa for about a week until her husband got home. She was plainly afraid of the horse and never let him out of the stall all the while feeding him a 16% protein feed. Trucker came home to a horse that was high energy, to say the least. They had several ugly scenes together, twice ending with him beating the crap out of the horse and shoving him back in the stall. The first time he and Wifey went riding, Appaloosa blew up and Wifey's mare was seriously injured. The vet wanted to destroy her on the spot and Wifey tearfully agreed. She was really torn up over that poor mare. Barn owner said because of his zoning the horse could not be buried there. So they had no choice but to sell her to the Meat Man.
He arrived first thing in the morning and loaded the crippled mare. Meantime Trucker tried to feed the Appaloosa and got either bit or kickedI don't think he actually knew which, only that he was bleeding. Angry, he sold the gelding to the Meat Man on the spot. But the Meat Man was nobody's fool. He agreed to buy the horse and even agreed to Trucker's price BUT Trucker had to put the gelding on the trailer.
When I got there, the Meat Man was long gone and the gelding was loose, without even a halter, out in the arena. It had apparently been quite a rodeo and now nobody could catch the horse. Trucker had posted a big notice on the arena gate to the effect that he was giving the horse to whomever could catch it. Everybody tried and one guy even wound up in the ER over it.
Next morning, a friend and I roped and sidelined him, and hog-tied him in the middle of the arena. He fought like a wild thing until I covered him with horse sheets until only his nostrils were showing. It took him a couple of hours to quit fighting and relax, at which point I uncovered him, put a new halter on him, and let him up. He came like a gentleman and was a total sweetheart for the next 6 months that I owned him.
By then Girlfriend had found out where he was and she came every day to see him and talk to him and generally just hang around the barn. She did love that horse. Even a blind man could have seen it. So when I got my orders for Pendleton, I wasn't too surprised that she asked me to sell her the horse.
I really struggled with that one. He was a grand horse. She plainly loved him. I finally said yes. Afterwards I found out that she gave up her apartment to live in her car just to pay me. So I gave the money to the barn owner. It paid a year's rent on his stall. Then I spent the next 20-odd years wondering if I'd done the right thing. Did I do the Appaloosa a kindness or did I put him back in harms way?
Today I got my answer. In one of the horse mags that I read, in the Death of Horses section, I read that he passed away at age 29 of complications of old age. His owner was listed as the Girlfriend.
Rest in Peace, old friend.
Rusty
Even when I was on active duty, I always kept horses. A long time ago I had them in a commercial barn, which is how I came to meet the Appaloosa, a 4-year-old bay gelding with a gorgeous blanket. He stood about 16 hands. His daddy was quarter horse The Ol Man, one of the fastest quarter-milers of the time. He was bought at auction by a fellow as a gift to his girlfriend. However, he registered the horse in his own name. So when he lost the Appaloosa in a poker game a few months later, Girlfriend did not have a legal leg to stand on, and the horse went to a fellow Marine whose passion, whose ONLY passion, was gambling.
The Marine quickly discovered the Appaloosa was the fastest horse around and he made a killing match racing him. He boasted that he made $30 grand on the horse in less than 6 weeks. At which point folks stopped racing against him. By now poor Appaloosa was standing knee deep in a filthy stall and the barn own said clean it or git. So the Marine sold him.
The buyer was a young woman from my barn. She bought him for her husband, an over-the-road trucker. The day they delivered him was the first time I laid eyes on the Appaloosa. He was a beauty .but hyper from the mishandling he'd received by the Marine. Trucker was still over the road, so Wifey dealt with Appaloosa for about a week until her husband got home. She was plainly afraid of the horse and never let him out of the stall all the while feeding him a 16% protein feed. Trucker came home to a horse that was high energy, to say the least. They had several ugly scenes together, twice ending with him beating the crap out of the horse and shoving him back in the stall. The first time he and Wifey went riding, Appaloosa blew up and Wifey's mare was seriously injured. The vet wanted to destroy her on the spot and Wifey tearfully agreed. She was really torn up over that poor mare. Barn owner said because of his zoning the horse could not be buried there. So they had no choice but to sell her to the Meat Man.
He arrived first thing in the morning and loaded the crippled mare. Meantime Trucker tried to feed the Appaloosa and got either bit or kickedI don't think he actually knew which, only that he was bleeding. Angry, he sold the gelding to the Meat Man on the spot. But the Meat Man was nobody's fool. He agreed to buy the horse and even agreed to Trucker's price BUT Trucker had to put the gelding on the trailer.
When I got there, the Meat Man was long gone and the gelding was loose, without even a halter, out in the arena. It had apparently been quite a rodeo and now nobody could catch the horse. Trucker had posted a big notice on the arena gate to the effect that he was giving the horse to whomever could catch it. Everybody tried and one guy even wound up in the ER over it.
Next morning, a friend and I roped and sidelined him, and hog-tied him in the middle of the arena. He fought like a wild thing until I covered him with horse sheets until only his nostrils were showing. It took him a couple of hours to quit fighting and relax, at which point I uncovered him, put a new halter on him, and let him up. He came like a gentleman and was a total sweetheart for the next 6 months that I owned him.
By then Girlfriend had found out where he was and she came every day to see him and talk to him and generally just hang around the barn. She did love that horse. Even a blind man could have seen it. So when I got my orders for Pendleton, I wasn't too surprised that she asked me to sell her the horse.
I really struggled with that one. He was a grand horse. She plainly loved him. I finally said yes. Afterwards I found out that she gave up her apartment to live in her car just to pay me. So I gave the money to the barn owner. It paid a year's rent on his stall. Then I spent the next 20-odd years wondering if I'd done the right thing. Did I do the Appaloosa a kindness or did I put him back in harms way?
Today I got my answer. In one of the horse mags that I read, in the Death of Horses section, I read that he passed away at age 29 of complications of old age. His owner was listed as the Girlfriend.
Rest in Peace, old friend.
Rusty
