Monday, May 19, 2008

Number 8117


Was that all he was or is?


I look at his ID tag that the BLM gave me, and I have mixed emotions about it. It signifies so much of what has happened to Argo. His capture from the wild, the only world he knew for 17 years. I don’t know whether to hide it in a drawer, or hang it proudly. I have moments where I wish the BLM had never included him in the gather.


I know they are only doing their job, and there are some fantastic people who work at the BLM, from Craig and Joe, to Randy and Karen. I know there are countless others who I have never spoken too, but I know they are there. The BLM though is a double edged sword so to speak. Their job is to manage the herds and keep the numbers to a level that the HMA can handle for the amount of horses on it.


I have to wonder though as to why a horse, Argo’s age would be stripped from the land he knew, only to be put into the world he finds himself in now. I can make guesses as to why, but I look at his big bone and his strong hip and his graceful movement and think why was he not left on Riddle to pass on these traits to the next generation. One of the biggest flaws I see in a lot of the Kiger Mustangs, both captive bred and the gathered ones the past few years, is the lack of the very best traits Argo has. It is a shame, not only to the genetics that Argo could have offered, but to his lifelong home.


So for now, Argo I am sure is wondering what on Earth has happened to his life since last October, as he watches the “Food Lady” come in to his pen carting a muck bucket and fork to clean up what he has left behind, and “blowing” softly at her asking when the next meal will be brought.

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