Horse
Talk
The
next afternoon, Shannon went straight to Sun Dancer's
pen. She set up the alleyway so she could easily drive
the colt into the sorting shoots. Perhaps this would be
less stressful than roping him. Once down the shoots Shannon
slid the heavy partition into place that held Sun Dancer
in a confined space and hopped up on the walkway. In her
hand she had a simple rope halter with a twenty-five foot
drag line, easy enough to pick up once the colt was in
the open pen. Reaching through the bars, Shannon quickly
slid the halter over the colt's head and nose. Sun Dancer
tossed his head trying to remove the halter, but the light
rope stayed easily in place and no amount of fussing would
remove it.
Shannon
opened the exit to the shoots and the colt trotted out
into a holding pen. Sun Dancer nervously trotted around
the pen, clearly upset by the object around his head.
As he moved, he occasionally stepped on the drag line
causing his head to be jerked down by his forward movement.
Each time this happened, Sun Dancer fought the confinement,
his eyes rolling in fear. Shannon hated seeing this reaction,
but now she had only two choices. Run the colt back through
the shoots to remove the halter, risking getting the line
tangled somewhere along the way, or pick up the line and
teach him to yield to it.
Taking
a deep breath, Shannon quietly moved forward and picked
up the trailing end of the rope. At first Sun Dancer did
not realize Shannon had the rope in her hand as she moved
around the pen with him. Slowly she moved closer, shortening
the slack, and increasing the tension on the rope.
Instead
of panicking as she thought he would, Sun Dancer froze,
his muscles quivering, his little nostrils flared and
blowing. For a moment Shannon felt perhaps things might
work out after all. She was nearly close enough to touch
him and he had not bolted. Then with little warning, the
colt squealed, reared and struck out, then charged past
her.
Shannon
caught off guard jumped backwards and losing her footing
fell to the ground. Unfortunately she forgot to release
the rope still attached to the colt. It sizzled through
her hands giving her a nasty burn.
"Ooooowwww,"
she yelped and tucked her injured hands under her arms.
Feeling utterly foolish for not wearing her gloves, and
completely defeated for getting into this mess, Shannon
moved over to a fence post and leaned back in disgust.
"What
a mess," she groaned to herself and the colt. "You're
upset. I'm upset. And my hands are a wreck. How am I going
to explain this?"
"That
is a good question," came a deep voice from behind
her.
Shannon
turned and looked up into the face of her grandfather.
Louis Two-Red-Feathers was her mother's father. Shannon
was surprised to see him, since he rarely traveled off
of the Pine Ridge reservation anymore.
"Grandfather!"
Shannon cried, as she hopped over the fence to hug him.
"What are you doing here?" Shannon looked into
her grandfather's dark, glittering eyes. "Uh, oh.
Ma, called you. Didn't she?"
"Well,
I could say brother wolf came to me in a dream and told
me to come to you," he said with a smile that created
a thousand wrinkles in his dark, leathery skin. "If
it would make you feel any better."
"Ma
called," Shannon sighed and smiled at his little
joke, though she never knew with Grandfather. The wolf
was his spirit guide and did come to him in dreams. "I'm
just happy to see you. Unfortunately, I can't say the
same for my colt. He doesn't seem to be happy to see anyone
with just two legs. And now I have to figure out how to
get that halter off of him before he gets hurt."
"Hmmm,"
said Grandfather. "I see you've been swimming upstream
again."
Shannon
knew then she had been impatient with Sun Dancer. "But
Grandfather," she said defeated. "I've tried
everything. I thought after weaning he would learn to
follow me, like he did his mother. But he's not budged!"
Grandfather
looked at the little colt who was watching them intently,
his little ears flicking forward and back as they talked.
"You're right." he said as he climbed up over
the fence into the pen. "He will need to learn to
look to you for direction, but maybe you haven't been
talking to him so he can understand."
"What
do you mean, 'talking' to him?'" Shannon asked. "I
talk to him all the time."
"Not
like people-talk," Grandfather said. "But horse-talk.
How does his mother talk to him? Is it mostly with her
voice? Or with her body? Horses talk with their bodies
and their actions. This little colt is a proud one. It
might take him a little longer to learn, but one day he
will be a strong one, a warrior."
"Don't
say that!" Shannon cried. "Dad'll never let
me keep him."
Grandfather
turned and looked back to his granddaughter, for a moment
confused by her distress. Then remembered the old stallion
and he sighed heavily.
"Your
grand-daddy O'Connor, nor your father, never did understand
that horse," Grandfather said. "They did the
same as you. Kept tying that horse down. Forcing their
will on him until the horse had to either stop being who
he was or die trying. There seemed no other way, for either
side."
"But
Grandfather," Shannon said, uncertainty making her
voice tremble. "Does that mean Sun Dancer is just
like Warrior? That he can't be gentled? If that's true,
then its hopeless. Dad will sell him." Shannon dropped
her head, fighting the tears and being ashamed for being
so emotional.
"Well,
I didn't quite say that," Grandfather said to Shannon,
placing his weathered hand on her shoulder to comfort
her. "He just needs to be handled a bit differently
than some horses. He needs to learn his place but so its
natural to him. So it comes around in his mind, that it's
the best thing to do. Not fight and give up, because I
doubt he'll ever just give up." Grandfather pointed
to the paddock. "Let's go back in and we'll try something
different."
Shannon
and Grandfather climbed into the paddock. She trusted
Grandfather, not only because he was a wise man, but because
was also a fine horseman, having spent most of his life
working on cattle ranches and following the rodeo circuit.
Shannon's father had asked him many times to come and
live at the Crooked K and help train their cutting and
reining prospects, but each time he declined. After his
"wandering days
" as he called them, Grandfather,
a tribal elder and Lakota medicine man, had returned to
his home at Pine Ridge, where he said the people needed
him.
"We
will begin," Grandfather said. "By telling him
which way we want him to move by where we stand and how
we move. I am like the lead mare. In the herd, the lead
mare would make a naughty youngster behave by forcing
him out of the herd." Shannon shadowed her grandfather
as he began moving the colt around the pen just by applying
pressure with the physical presence of his body. To increase
the pressure, he spread his arms wide to make himself
appear bigger. If the colt tried to stop or turn, Grandfather
applied more pressure, stepping forward, controlling which
way the colt ran.
"To
horses, the herd means safety and protection from predators.
We are forcing the colt to move away from us. He's not
welcome in our herd. Soon he will change his mind. He
will stop running around, tossing his head, and being
naughty. He'll decide he wants to come back where it is
safe. And of course we will let him."
Shannon
noticed Sun Dancer's attitude slowly change. His trot
slowed and instead of sticking to the outside fence rail,
he had moved closer to them. His head and tail had dropped
and his lips were less tense. One ear was trained inward
toward Grandfather as if intensely listening. There was
a softness to Sun Dancer's body language Shannon had not
seen before. Grandfather moved into his path, turning
him in the other direction. The process was repeated.
It was almost like both sides had to learn separately.
Head high and tail swishing, Sun Dancer streaked about
the pen. Shannon marveled at his beauty.
Finally
after turning the colt several times Sun Dancer turned
more easily and moved in a calm manner. Reading the colt's
willingness, Grandfather dropped his arms relaxing his
own body and moved his gaze away from the horse. Miraculously
Sun Dancer stopped and faced Grandfather and Shannon lightly
blowing from his exertion. Slowly he took a few tentative
steps forward and stopped.
"Now
it is your turn," Grandfather said. "Work with
him a little longer. When you sense he is willing to listen,
when his ear is turned to you for attention, his head
is low and relaxed, he is asking, 'can I come back to
the herd.' Then make yourself small. Turn your side to
him and walk a few steps away. This way you are saying,
'come back where it is safe. If he is unsure, then continue
moving him until he has made up his mind. He seems a very
smart fellow. It won't take too long."
"Are
you sure, Grandfather?" Shannon said tentatively.
"I don't know if I can do this?"
"But
you already have, Granddaughter," Grandfather said
as he looked over Shannon's shoulder.
Shannon
turned slowly to look behind her. Sun Dancer stood not
five feet away. His ears twitched now and again, but he
stood relaxed his weight shifted onto one foot in the
back.
"Now
I think I'll head up to the house," Grandfather said.
"My daughter promised me a piece of hot apple pie
and a strong cup of coffee."
Shannon
wrapped her arms around her grandfather. "Pilamayaye,"
she said, which means "thank you" in Lakota.
Grandfather
tucked a strand of his silver white hair behind his ear.
"You are welcome, granddaughter," he said as
his smile crinkled the skin around his eyes. "Perhaps
you'll come to see me this summer. We can talk more about
your colt."
"His
name is Sun Dancer," Shannon said. "Do you think
it is OK?"
Grandfather
paused and looked at the little golden, bonnet-topped
colt. "It is fitting," said Grandfather and
headed for the house.
Shannon
turned to face Sun Dancer. When she took a step forward
he backed away, not quite ready to accept her. Shannon
arched an eyebrow and said, "OK, Dancer. If that's
the way you want it." Shannon stretched out her arms
and stepped forward. Sun Dancer turned and ran off, but
his show of defiance was short lived. She circled him
to the left, then stepped into his path and circled him
right. She realized as she lowered her arms and became
smaller, Sun Dancer would relax, slowing his gait, and
dropping his head and tail.
When
she felt he was ready, Shannon dropped her arms completely,
relaxed and turned away from the colt. She took a few
steps away from
him, her heart pounding in her chest.
Would he come? Would he accept her? A few moments later
he was there. Standing beside her. She could feel his
soft breath on her arm. Shannon turned slowly and gently
stroked his forehead.
"Easy,
boy," Shannon said in a whisper to the colt. She
was so happy it was hard not to jump up and down and celebrate,
but she knew she must be calm and steady so that Sun Dancer
would trust her. She continued to stroke him working over
to his neck and down his side.
"That's
a good boy. We're going to have great fun together. We'll
be the best herd ever."
Shannon
gently slipped the rope halter off of Sun Dancer's head.
She would wait until he came easily to her and would allow
her to touch him all over, before she tried to restrain
his head again in a halter. It might take a bit longer
after today's experience, but he was a smart, little colt.
He would learn. And now she knew she would be able to
teach him. He would be her Sun Dancer.
* * *
Six
weeks later, Shannon watched as Sun Dancer trotted out
to freedom with the rest of the colts and fillies who
had been selected to stay at the ranch. The pretty little
black and white filly, now named Midnight Moonlight, followed
not far behind playfully nipping Sun Dancer's flank as
the two picked up speed and joined the rest of the herd.
Next
to Shannon, her father watched the same scene, his usual
quiet demeanor broken for just a moment.
"I
didn't think you could do it," he said to Shannon.
"Especially after that mess with the halter and rope."
Shannon's
cheeks burned red. "Dad!," she exclaimed. "How
did you know?"
"Lets
just say the rope burn on your hand gave you away,"
he said with a twinkle in his eye. "I thought I taught
you well enough so that you would have at least put on
a pair of gloves."
"Sorry,
Dad," she said. "I guess it wasn't one of my
better days for making decisions." Shannon didn't
say anything about her Grandfather helping. That would
be their secret for now.
"He's
a fine looking colt," he said. "Lets give him
some time to grow up and then we'll see how it goes."
Shannon
had a feeling that neither she nor Sun Dancer were completely
out from under scrutiny just yet, but for now her colt
and the other youngsters were free to just be horses,
roaming their range on the Crooked K.
The
End
