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Welcome |
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Although it has nothing to do with horses, no story
could explain better why we do what we do:
There was a man walking along a beach covered in starfish that had
washed ashore. Eventually he came across a small boy. This young boy was
picking up the starfish one at a time and putting them back into the
ocean. The gentleman came up to the boy and asked him what he was
doing. The youngster replied "I am putting them back into the ocean,
back to their home". The man was surprised and he said to the boy, "But
there are thousands and thousands of them. You are only putting them
back one at a time. You can never put them all back so what is the point
of even trying? You are not making a difference." The young boy bent over and picked up another starfish.
Before throwing it into the ocean, he looked
up at the man, held up the starfish and said,
"It makes a difference to
THIS one"
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Painted Promise Ranch
and miniature
equine rescue
So many
people have asked about the name of our ranch, I decided to put the
story behind the name on the website. I could simply say, it's
named after my horse (or horses)... but there's a lot more to it than
that.
My first
horse, years ago, was a gelding I bought as a green-broke 3-year-old,
figuring we could train him up ourselves. Although Renegade was a
beautiful horse - unusually colored and marked as he was a dun snowflake
appaloosa - and he was a great ride with an awesome rocking horse slow
lope when the girls and I went riding "just us", unfortunately whenever
we rode in a large group with our club his behavior changed drastically
in a negative way. He refused to stand still while I was mounting.
He would not walk, but danced and pranced, trying to run when I wouldn't
let him and not wanting to stop when I did let him run. He would
rear up to show his frustration and even fell all the way over backwards
once - luckily I fell to the side and not underneath him! I hoped
to calm him with more miles but the older he got, the worse his behavior
"in public". It was hard to reconcile his different behaviors -
almost like he had a split personality. I couldn't bring myself to
part with him since he was so good sometimes... one of his
best points was his willingness to give his feet to be picked up - even
anticipating which hoof I would be asking for next and having it up and
ready for me. And he was gorgeous in a James Dean kind of "bad boy"
way...
Randy and I
hadn't been married long when he started asking me to sell my horse.
"I know you love him", he said to me, "but if you will sell him before
he hurts you, I PROMISE we will find you a GOOD horse!" It took
him a while but I finally saw the sense in his suggestion - the older I
got, the less willing I was to put up with the aching arms, shoulders
and back after every club ride...it just wasn't enjoyable to fight with
my horse for a 6-hour trail ride. So we put him up for sale and
started our search for the promised "good" horse.
Long story
short, an acquaintance was selling a 15-year-old retired roping horse so
we went to try her. She was a BIG mare, which was rather
intimidating, but her behavior was awesome - she was so calm and gentle
that their kids had outgrown her and were ready for more challenging
mounts. I, on the other hand, was looking for a horse I could
relax with. Of course she's not perfect (although great with
people, she's a real witch to other horses - very much the BOSS MARE -
and it gets worse when she's pregnant...) but she is a joy to ride and I
no longer suffer after every trail ride. I wouldn't hesitate to
put anyone on her and feel assured of their safety - no matter their age
or lack of experience. Randy has peace of mind as well, no longer
worrying every time I ride. And if you haven't guessed by now, the
mare is a registered PAINT - in fact, although her registered name is
Merit's Top Hand, she's been called "Paint Mare" for so long that's what
she answers to.
During this
same time period, another portion of the story unfolded. About the
time we got married, we had several friends expecting foals. My
daughters and I had "baby fever" and 3 geldings... Randy didn't
say a word to us but began watching the paper and one day said to me
"let's go look at something" - which turned out to be a 2-week old dun
filly and her half-starved, wild Indian pony mother. We loved
raising a baby and gained a lot of experience rehabilitating, calming
and training the mare. As babies do, the filly grew up, and at
that time we didn't have enough land to keep all the horses. The
filly became a 4-H project for a young girl and the mare was sold as a
trail horse. But the "baby fever" remained... and one day Randy
once again said "let's go look at something" - which this time turned
out to be a miniature pinto mare and her pinto filly (see Jasmine and
Lily on the PR Group page). Even when these babies grow up, they
are still small enough to satisfy our "baby fever" - and they were
"painted" too.
When it
came time to name our ranch, we spent days mulling over different
choices and I was on the verge of giving up when the perfect choice just
popped into my mind - a way to honor my husband and acknowledge his
efforts to make my dreams come true. We designed our brand, using
a mirror P to denote Painted Promise, and added a rafter - a shelter -
to represent the rescue portion of our ranch. Randy continues to
listen to what I say - and even what I don't say - and does his best to
make things happen for me. There's a lot in my past that wasn't
pleasant but God blessed me with three wonderful daughters and, just
when I had decided I would be better off alone, He sent a man into my
life who was exactly what I needed. We give thanks to God for
bringing us together and for allowing us to make a difference in the
lives of some of His beautiful creatures.
HUGE THANKS to Fred at LinkII for hosting this site since 2003!
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the name to visit
Lost Spoke Ranch, Benson, AZ |
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Thank you Angelwings for being a
good friend |
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