Wild, Wild Horses

Even before the lockdown, it took a lot to get me to leave my house.  Even for a weekend. It isn’t just because I love my place and the quadrupeds. With four dogs, a cat and two canaries there are a lot of moving parts.

Occasionally I’d like to get away. Frankly, sometimes all of those pushy fur people get on my nerves. But if I go, it means someone else has to stay and take care of them.

It isn’t easy to find someone who is not intimidated by all of them and their quirks. Luckily, I have a great house sitter who I trust completely, with good reason. Last Fall she managed to get everyone evacuated in the fires. Understandably though, someone with her abilities (she’s also a vet tech) doesn’t come cheap.

So I try to limit my time away from the house to sporadic trips East to see Mom, and horse shows.

My college friend, Debbie, moved to Tehachapi from Vermont three years ago.  Tehachapi is only about two hours and a million light years away from Los Angeles. I really wanted to see her and her lovely husband Kevan, but I was n’t moving fast or going anywhere. Then she mentioned the magic words.

Wild horses.

That got my attention.

The closest I’ve ever been to wild horses was a trip to Chincoteague and Assateague Islands when I younger. (C’mon, you remember Misty of Chincoteague!!!!) Visiting the ponies was a bucket list trip.

There is something about wild horses. I wanted to see more.

So I jumped at the chance.

Finding the right time was a little complicated. When I go away, I have to leave my SUV just in case someone needs to go to the vet, or evacuate. That meant I had to drive my 23 year old BMW Z3.

I love this car beyond words, but it is a two seater convertible. It leaks in the rain and I’ve never driven it in the snow. Tehachapi is in the mountains. Where it snows. It was January.

We picked a weekend when the worst of winter was technically over. Debbie called the lady to make an appointment to see the herd, and I was on my way.

We met in nearby Bakersfield, because the zoo there puts on the most insanely, fantastic holiday light display I’ve ever seen. Or heard about. I’m a sucker for twinkle lights and this lived way up to the hype.

Worth a trip. But the best was yet to come.

On the way to Tehachapi from Bakersfield,  Debbie gave me the scoop on the horses. There were about a hundred of them, spread through three or four bands. They are not BLM managed horses, on public land. Instead they live on private property owned by a turbine power company. You’ve probably even seen them in a million or three car commercials. You know, the ones with windmills and horses in the background. I don’t remember the cars.

Technically, the Oak Creek Wild horses are not even ‘wild’ horses. They are more likely feral descendants that escaped or were let loose by different breeders about 100 years ago.

 But make no mistake, these are wild horses. They are handled only when absolutely necessary, such as for medical needs, including gelding some of the colts to manage the size of the herd and to capture some of the weanlings for adoption.

Diana Palmer has been the caretaker for the herd since the late ‘80s. With the droughts and wildfires, she also provides supplementary hay for the bands. In fact, that is the price of admission to the wonderful world of the Oak Creek Wild Horses.

The morning we were to going to see the horses we stopped at a feed store and picked up about six bales of hay (the feed store knew what kind they eat) and we were on our way.

We met Diana in front of a chained and super-muddy roadway, surrounded by giant wind turbines. (Those things are HUGE when you are close.) We passed through a few more access ways and followed her to where she figured a group of the horses might be.

Bingo!

At first they were tiny dots in landscape, but those horses know trucks mean easy eating. We stopped the trucks and they appeared out of nowhere, running straight for us. Within moments we were surrounded by about 30 pushy horses. I am comfortable with annoying, careless foals, so I didn’t find them intimidating, but I wasn’t stupid enough to get between them and their snacks.

Adults. Foals. Geezers. All shades of black and bay with definite Morgan characteristics. They were healthy and wild. You can get deceptively close to most of them, but only a few allowed a human touch.

Diana could pick most of the individuals out, including one distinctive filly that had already been chosen for adoption. We hung out with the first group for about 45 minutes and then reluctantly left to search for another band, which we quickly discovered.

I am a sucker for foals, so I began following a few around with big dreams in my head. Morgans are small, compact obviously tough, horses that are so very different from my large, hunky, chunky Warmbloods or svelte Thoroughbreds.

A lot of the adopters ride their babies, but an equal number drive them. While we surrounded by them, I remembered that I have always sworn when I was too old to ride, I’d get a pair of matched Hackneys to drive.  In my musing, I switch out the hackney for an Oak Creek Wild Horses.

Never mind that the extent of my driving ability was the day before when Debbie let me drive her mini-horse. I was terrified I’d break it.  Still.

The dream lasted exactly as long as it took me to drive home that day and look at my FIVE hay burners. Two of which earn their keep.

Still, there’s always time, right?

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If you’re interested in learning more about the Oak Creek Wild Horses, or helping or adopting Creek please go to their website: www.OakCreekWildHorses.com