Gold continues to recover from her nasty wire cut. The wound is doing exactly what it needs to be doing... healing from the inside out. In the interests of keeping the wound clean and preventing additional injuries from confrontations with other horses, Gold has been stabled overnight and put out on pasture in her own pen. Several of my horses would resent being separated from the herd but Gold has blossomed in many unexpected ways.
Gold has been the matriarch of our herd since the fall of 2002. She rules her domain with no uncertain terms. I have always described her as the consummate professional. She does as she's asked, she does it to the best of her ability every time but she has no time or patience for goofing off or repetitive, pointless exercises. She has never been the stereotypical "in your pocket" curly and prefers to do without gratuitous affection.
These traits have combined to make her the one horse I trust implicitly. I have never known her to come unglued and there have been many occasions when it would have been well warranted. In 2003 while on a conditioning trail ride we ended up losing footing and tumbling down a hill together. When we came to a stop one of Gold's feet was in the small of my back, another on my neck. Had the mare panicked and stood up my life would be vastly different today, assuming I still had a life. She stayed very still while I struggled to my feet. She only stood up once I told her it was alright to do so. We limped home together that day and after a few days off we were back out on the trails again.
The morning we found her in the field injured must have been profound for her on many levels. First off she was vulnerable. On an instinctual level she was aware that she could have very well be lunch for some lucky predator. From the herd stand point she was stripped of her status. She was weak and in enormous pain. She was resigned to death.
We are now at the end of 4 weeks of twice daily doctoring. In another 2 weeks she'll be ready to rejoin the herd. In the meantime she has changed. It's as though not having the responsibility of the herd has made her relax and enjoy the little things. She has become clingy with us. She nickers in anticipation of food or company. She loves rubs and scratches - I have never seen that mare camel nose and now she'll do it when scratches are imminent. I've taken the opportunity to do some reining exercises with her and though repetitive at times she enjoys every minute of it (as opposed to showing her contempt by twitching her tail or cow hopping) She carries on when she sees her bridle in my hand and is eager to have it put on. I am looking forward to riding her again.
I have always loved and respected Gold. She is very much my "once in a lifetime" horse and I knew it that day in 2003 when we lay at the bottom of that hill. Perhaps she sees me differently after that day I found her, helped her to her feet and led her back to the barn to start the process of healing. She saved my life and now I've saved hers.
