How it all began

Born and raised in Germany I've always been fascinated with horses. Unfortunately my parents didn't support this passion. I never learned how to ride, never actually learned anything about horses at all. Sometimes though, when we were on a vacation with a riding stable near by I was allowed to participate in one of those 1 to 2 hr trail rides, were you actually just sit on the horse...

I was in heaven! I tried to hang out at the stable as long as I could and asked if I could help brushing the horses... Just being close to these magnificent animals made me happy.

I remember one time when Christmas was around the corner, I started pestering my mom what I was gonna get. Finally she gave up the first letter of the present. It was "P".

Well, the German word for horse is Pferd. Boy was I excided, could hardly wait for Xmas eve to arrive (in Germany we get the presents on Xmas eve).

Well, it turned out the biggest disappointment - I got a fur coat, the German word for it is Pelzmantel. I pretended that I was happy about it but I went to bed crying.

But then there always was Bonanza, the TV series. It came on every Sunday afternoon and I was glued in front of the old black and white TV with the harmonica doors.

Of course I had a crush on Little Joe, and wow! he rode his paint and he rode him fast wherever he went.

I was rapt; I wanted to be in the "Wild West".

I now call it the "Bonanza Syndrome"

But then life got in the way, I had to work but eventually found myself living in Arizona. Destiny? Yeah, I guess so. The moment I set foot on American soil I was HOME!

Occasionally when friends or family from Germany came to visit, I took them to a riding stable by the Superstition Mountains. We went for the usual two hour trail rides and while sitting on the back of a horse I could forget all my sorrows and was on cloud nine.

Then the book "The Horse Whisperer" was published and after reading it I was sure I now knew everything there is to know about horses and I decided to buy one.

So I studied the newspaper for horses for sale and compared prices, not really understanding what actually to look for.

I lived in a nice suburban area and whenever I drove to town I passed by that boarding stable with the nice white post and rail fence.

"Perfect", I thought, "I'll just board the horse there; it's only 2 minutes from my house."

One Saturday I came across an add "ranch horses for sale".

I decided that would be a nice way to spend a Saturday morning, so I hopped in my Jeep and drove clear cross to the other side of Phoenix.

That day my life changed forever!

It took me more than an hour to find the place. While driving I talked to some friends on my cell phone and they all warned me: "don't buy the first horse you see".

"Oh no, I'm not that stupid" I replied, "I just want to look around a bit"

When I got there it turned out that this was some horse trader who bought horses at auctions in Mexico. Most of them were just little fourteen hands, scrawny looking ponies.

But there was this Paint. He was tied to the fence, standing there none responsive and dull. He looked pitiful, thin and his mane was chopped of. He had the saddest eyes.

And I knew instantly that this was my horse! I bought him, made arrangements with the boarding stable and had him delivered the same evening.

The rude awakening came Sunday morning, when I went to see my new horse.

He was standing in his pen, turning his rear end to everybody, afraid of being touched...

So apparently he was a bit tranquilized when I saw him the day before.

I spent hours standing there, talking to him, and finally getting my hands on him.

After I learned a little more about horses we figured that he probably was one of the feral horses in Mexico who get roped (he had a bad rope burn on one of his hind legs and the scar is still there), then they just get "manhandled", shoved around and off to the auction...

To be continued...