The Queen

If the truth be known it is me who will benefit the most from her – No matter what other troubles I might have, she is my cure.

Guilty Girl

I recognized it the very first time I met her. There was just something about her that I just could not get off my mind. Not what I pictured when envisioning my dream horse by a long shot. Guilty stood a mere 14.3 hands, was at least 200 lbs. overweight, her feet were neglected horribly and she had not been handled or ridden for about 6 years. She stood in a small backyard paddock with her 3 year old filly who had never been out of her sight and was spoiled rotten with treats from her owners and the neighbors. But she was special. I may have been the only one who thought so at the time, but I knew that this was the horse for me. Something about the name “Guilty” rang true with me. How could a horse with a name like that be anything but special? After many months of finagling and bartering, I finally brought her home. Guilty actually has the very regal registered quarter horse name of “King Leo’s Golden Bars” and her grandmother’s name was “Quilty”. Somehow this morphed into the absolutely perfect name for her although it came about because of the way her coat shines with seemingly golden threads running through it when in the direct sun- like gilded gold. I have never seen another like it. Nor have I ever seen another horse like her. She may be the smartest horse I have ever dealt with and she definitely earns her name. I have volumes of stories about her antics, her bravery and her character. She is the matriarch of our herd without question. In her own quiet and passive way, she gets her point across time and again. When challenged for her position by a newcomer, she doesn’t fight. Rather, she merely picks up the entire group and moves them to another part of the pasture leaving the newbie all alone and wondering what happened? As soon as she is humbly acknowledged as the leader, she welcomes the new horse into the herd graciously without any violence. She behaves like royalty – demanding respect in a dignified manner, and she gets it. She will not be bullied by horse or human. Unless asked politely and correctly, she refuses to even acknowledge the request. Trust me, I have learned more from this horse because of her “resistance” than all the rest put together. Asked nicely, she will do anything for you – just don’t try to make her do anything. Not too much to ask from a mare who is now almost 24 and has never kicked, reared, bucked, bit or bolted, no matter how unskilled the rider or handler. She is one of those horses that you wouldn’t take a million dollars for, couldn’t get a nickel for, but would give away if it meant a better life than I could give her. That is what I have decided to do. She has a chance to have a home with someone who knows her, appreciates her little quirks and loves her like I do. She will actually get much more attention than I have been able to give her recently and I foresee even less in the future. She deserves it and it is what I want for her, as much as I will miss her. As her new soon-to-be owner, her barefoot trimmer and I stood discussing the transfer of ownership, we watched her performing her role as the “main squeeze” in her pasture where a new horse had just arrived. The remark was made that Guilty was a princess. I quickly corrected that by stating “Oh no, she is the “Queen”.