Patas
Blancas would be so much easier to deal with if he were gelded. While I prefer dogs and cats who are
sterilized, because they behave better indoors, I feel differently about the
horse. In my fantasies my beloved horse
is a stallion, not a gelding. It is my
way, complicating my life by eschewing the easy way out.
When
Martin was here in January, he helped me out taming the wildness of my three
acres. He did not discuss with me that
he had a horse, much less what he planned to do with it. That is a pity. If we had discussed it, he would have had
time to build a corral and stable for the animal, making a proper home for the
animal. Instead, he left the horse with
a neighbor, the guy he worked for during his short visits, and who supplied him
with housing. That was a poor plan, as
it turned out.
After
passing from hand to hand, Patas finally has a home here with me. Thanks to Tomas, we finally have the
infrastructure set up for him. Tomas is
a young man, mid thirties, who went to high school in the States before he and
his family returned to Nogales, another tiny village in the district of
Canatlan. Having a worker with whom I
can speak English is so much easier. He
anticipates my needs, he gets the subtleties when we chat, about my expectations. Within a week he and his cousin built a fence
around a quarter of these three acres.
My friend Lupita’s husband built the stable a week earlier. Now Patas has a routine, and like any child,
he is responding well to having his day follow a predictable pattern.
In the
morning, as the sun rises, I bring malted grain to the stable where the horse
softly nickers to me. When the grain is
consumed, I clip a lead onto his bridle and walk him the twenty feet to the
gate of his corral. He follows docilely,
and spends the day roaming and grazing the lovely green growth. It is rain season, so there is plenty of
that.
As the
sun sets, I walk the horse back to the stable where I have laid fresh sawdust
for his bed. I am currently out of hay,
so there is nothing for him on his feed tray.
Coincidentally, that means less poop for me to scoop in the
morning. Last night he was at the far
end of the field, near the road. I
called him. He slowly walked the
distance, as I stood patiently waiting at the gate. He let me clip the lead to him, and he calmly
walked to the stable. Soon I think I can
leave off the lead. No more biting, no
more trying to push me down. He seems
much happier now, and less aggressive.
Tomas’s
cousin is well-experienced in horse husbandry.
It was a joy to see the two of them ‘break’ the horse to the
saddle. Tomas held the head firmly in
control, while Cousin mounted the horse and held on for dear life as Patas
tried to buck him off. Cousin stayed on
the horse, using only a rope across the mouth as ‘brakes’, and rode him up and
down the pasture for an hour. The
following day the guys were busy with their work, repairing roof leaks, cutting
grass, and did not try to ride the horse.
The following day, however, I asked Cousin to ride him again to further
teach the horse. This time I gave them
the unmatched rigging I had, of harnesses and bits. They put together a rig that fits well and
works, and so this time, for the first time, the horse rode with saddle and
bit. It was glorious to see.
There is
an interesting detail of the Mexican saddle that presents a dilemma to me. I
don’t know the proper nomenclature for all the parts of the saddle, so I
clumsily describe it here. There is a
strap that goes under the horse and secures the saddle. There is a leather strap coming down to meet
it, and allows tightening of the saddle.
The saddles I used in the States have a length of leather with holes
punched, to allow the cinching to the buckle on the under strap. Here that length of leather is very long, and
it is wound round and round upon itself until the strap beneath hugs the horse
tightly, and the cinch is buckled closed.
I find that it takes more strength than I am capable of, to tighten that
strap. My challenge is to take the saddle
to a leather worker, and have it cut down to the size I need to cinch the strap
simply, directly. I suppose that the
buckle is not well engineered, so that it might slip out. Is that the reason for needing to loop the
leather so many times around itself? I
do not yet know.
In
Mexico that type of short strap is associated with a ‘Texas’ saddle. There are other subtle differences, but I
have only seen that type on the internet, for sale through Mercado Libre, the
online shop for all things Mexican.
Certainly the base of the whole saddle, the seat, is made
differently. The saddles I saw online
from Texas have the horn and top edge covered in leather. Here, it is just a big piece of molded
plastic, and the horn is left exposed.
From videos I’ve seen on YouTube, the American seat base seems to be made of different
material and more lightweight. Whereas a
good Mexican saddle can be purchased here in town for about $200 - $250 USD,
the Texas saddle sells for $600 and must be ordered.
I am a
master of procrastination, so I need a boot in the butt to get me down to town
with the heavy saddle, to find a shop called ‘Miguel y Miguel’, the
shoemakers.
Just as
I was making breakfast today, having just turned on the drip coffeemaker, the
power went out. Here I sit with no
power, so I can’t watch my Tuesday favorite TV show, ‘Hollywood Medium’, the
Tyler Henry show. Yesterday I exhausted
myself cleaning up the house, the stacked dishes and the muddy floors, and also
made a fresh batch of Bran Muffins. Tomas,
the worker, did not show up for work yesterday or today, so I have no one to
supervise. The silence is
deafening. So I head off to town,
dragging the heavy saddle with me, and hope that when I come back the power
will be on.
A
heaviness has lifted off me, now that Patas Blancas’ life is well moderated,
and he is happier. The next challenge in front of me is to actually ride
him. He needs the exercise, and so do
I. Martin tells me he will be here is a
few weeks and stay for a month or three.
He anticipates bringing a female horse as a companion for Patas. Twice the maintenance expense and work, but
in time we might have lovely colts to sell.
This justifies keeping him a stallion, too.
So,
without further delay, I am off to town.
PS I tried adding photos of the saddle. I will check again later to see if they downloaded correctly, and if not, try again.
