I knew way back last fall when I learned of Argo being captured that my heart ached for him. He had survived all those years in the wild only to be gathered into a holding pen to find out what his fate would be. Did he understand what had happened to him? What his future would hold? Did he think past the moment?
I watch him in his pen outside my indoor arena, and I long to know his thoughts. Does he wonder what goes on in this big white box that he looks at? Does he think this is better than a holding pen, or does he long for the ranges he called home?
I never thought I would be one of those people who would feel like God had touched them deeply in their heart with the presence of an animal, but that is how I feel when I am around him. In just 2 days Argo has managed to make me a blubbering idiot. Tears form just watching his grace and beauty, even in the pouring rain.
He is a sight to behold! And he does ask that you recognize that in him, I must emphasize that he does ask though. He has a surprisingly calm demeanor. Watching him move with such power, but yet lightness is just breathtaking.
It’s funny how quickly horses form opinions of people. I own a boarding facility and the horses here know me as the “food lady”. When the owners’ struggle to get their horse to come to them in the pasture, they look for me and I stand at the gate and the horses typically come in anticipation of food, unless they have just been turned out after a meal.
Argo, I feel has already formed this opinion of me. Last night, which would have been his 4th time he had seen me bring his hay, he stood in the middle of the pen, and “blew” at me. Kind of like he was saying “Where the heck have you been? I have been out of hay for a whole hour!” I again had tears in my eyes. I was honored that he recognized me and at least told me he did. I opened the gate and we did our mirror image of each other. He circling right, I circling left to his shelter. He stops about 5 feet away from where I place his hay, and waits for me to walk back the path I had come. He then heads in to eat his hay. As I get to the gate, I look back and he is watching me as if to maybe say “thank you”, and then he “blows” again, but much quieter this time. I want to believe it is a “thank you” and not a “get the heck out of here and leave me alone!”
I have noticed since Friday he has different tones to his “blows”. I’m not exactly sure what this means, but I would hazard a guess that these sounds are what the herds use to talk to each other, whether it be an alarm, daily discussion with other herd mates, or any various issues that might come up in herd life. I would feel it would be similar to whale songs and how they communicate with each other.
I am anxious to see his reactions to new things. He has not seen my dogs yet. I have four and they are all large. I am sure he will see them as a threat, so I have been keeping them in the house and/or barn. He has not seen the barn horses yet, out in their fields, which he has a view of all of the pastures. It has been raining here since Thursday night off and on and the pastures are soaked. So maybe tomorrow if things start to dry out, he will see the horses turned out. He has seen motorcycles and cars from the road below him and he is aware of them, but not spooked. He “blows” quite loudly at them, as if to say “There take that!”
I will finish for now as my head has seemed to have emptied out most of the thoughts that I can somewhat put together in sentences.
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