Parker Finds A Pearl

The Meeting
         
Our story begins on a hot, midsummer day, in a diesel shop in central Illinois. It was Freddie’s first day where my husband, Chris, had worked. It was later that evening that I found out that Freddie had horses, and he just happened to have one for sale. A one year old paint stud colt named Parker. The asking price $400.00.
The very next day, I went to look at him. It was love at first sight. Parker was a beautiful black and white with a perfect mitten on one side. He looked fat and healthy. He was very calm and even tempered. I just had to have him, but I did not have the money.  Freddie said he would hold on to him for a couple of weeks for me.
A little over a month had gone by and I still did not have the money. I was told that there was another buyer who did have the money who was very interested in him. I was heartbroken. My dreams of owning that beautiful horse had just gone up in smoke.
A week later, Chris came home from work and asks me if I would be willing to trade our old van for that horse. I thought it was a great idea, but wasn’t sure if Freddie would agree, then Chris told me that he and Freddie had already made the deal and I could take my horse home as soon as I signed the title, and laid it on the table in front of me. I felt the world spin as I fumbled to find a pen and sign just as quickly as I could. I went out right away and got a halter, lead rope, and a brush for my new horse.
Finally my lifelong dream of owning my won horse had come true. It was then that it dawned on me that I had nowhere to keep him. The barn wasn’t ready and there wasn’t even one fence post around the pasture. Parker would have to stay where he was at for now.
After 30 long days, a stall in the barn was finally ready. I would have to take him out two times a day to let him exercise, but I didn’t mind at all. On December 10, 2006 I walked Parker a mile down the road to his new home. It was all so exciting. As soon as I got him to the barn, I got him a bucket of water and some feed, and hay. I also gave him a de-wormer.
         A few days later, he got very skinny and looked sick. All of his ribs could be seen as well as his hip bones. Afraid I had done something wrong; I called the vet out to have a look. When he arrived, I told him exactly everything we did. He took a look around and told me it was nothing to worry about, that he was just passing the worms that were in his system, probably from the lack of care that he received with his previous owner. All I had to do was to keep feeding him good quality feed and hay, and keep his stall very well cleaned and he would be fine.
Life with Parker was wonderful. I always had someone to talk to. He would stand quietly munching hay as I rattled on about every detail of my life. The only thing he asked for in return was a good scratching when I was through. Life has not been un-eventful since Parker came into it. He is full of little tricks and antics. The first time he showed his true personality was when my dad decided that he was going to show me how to long line a horse. Parker did not like the idea at all and took off running. Rather than let go of the rope, dad decided it would be better to hold on and yell “Ho, ho, ho” to try to get him to stop.


 

The Past is the Past
         I always wondered where Parker had come from and what had made him who he was. What was it that made him do things like bite the dog back rather than run away? I stumbled onto my answers one day while driving around Missouri with Chris. We pulled into a driveway to look at an old car that was for sale. As we approached the house, I saw a horse that looked just like Parker. I was in awe at how much they resembled each other. I mentioned this to the owner and described my horse to him. He told me that the horse I was looking at was Parkers full brother. So this is where Parker started his life. In a shabby run down barn that wasn’t fit for rats to live in with small lots to the side that looked as if grass had not grown in them for a long time. There was scarcely any hay and the horses all looked sick, as if they could pass away at any moment.  He then showed me Parker’s dam and sire. They were not fairing any better. The dam was obviously pregnant, because her belly was the only thing on her that had any thickness to it. Through the course of the conversation, he told me all he knew about Parker, including the fact that all of the colts that he produced had but one purpose in life. Grow as fat and heavy as possible, so they would bring premium price at the slaughter auction. He told me that I should sell my horse for slaughter, because he was a worthless grade horse that wouldn’t be able to do anything. He wasn’t smart enough for anything but eating and standing in the butcher line. When he was sold to Freddie, his life didn’t get much better. Freddie used to grab his ear and twist it around to lead him. When Parker was very young, he had a bad habit of kicking. To cure this, Freddie tied him to a propane tank and ran the rope around his hind legs, so when he kicked, he would hit his chin on the propane tank and “bloody it up”. Parker also liked to nip at things, and Freddie took care of this by pulling his tongue out of his mouth and hitting his chin as hard as he could to make him bite it. He laughed that one time when he did this to him; Parker bit right through his tongue and couldn’t eat for two weeks. He was very proud of the way he treated him and bragged about it often. Parker did not have a good life at all before he came to me. He was underfed, suffered from parasite infestation, and was badly abused. I made up my mind, and made a promise to Parker that I would never give up on him and that he would always have a good home with me. Knowing about his past, may have been what caused me to spoil him rotten. Whatever Parker’s original destiny was, had changed when he came to me. I knew there was greatness in him, even if I was the only one that could see it.


Oklahoma!
         We moved to Oklahoma on June 1, 2007. Dad wanted to move back to the place that always felt like home to him before he passed on, and I am glad that my husband and I moved with him. It is a wonderful place to live. The people are more laid back and friendly, and there are horses everywhere. This is where I met Veva and Anthony. Veva is a ranch owner, and Anthony, her son, a horse trainer. They are wonderful people, and we have come to be like family. Veva a second mother, and Anthony, the big brother I never had. They have always helped us in any way they could, and they even get onto me when I do stupid things, as if I am a daughter or little sister. I love going out there and just watching and scratching on the horses. I really enjoyed watching Anthony work with the horses on the ranch, wondering why he did what he did with them. The ranch sort of became my second home. If I was not at home, I could usually be found there. As I got to know them, Anthony started showing me techniques to help me with my horse. I wanted to become a horse trainer just like him, and felt lucky to be able to learn from the best in the business.  I would go home and try these new techniques on Parker, to no avail. It just didn’t work for me the way it did for him. Anthony decided I should bring the horse to him so he could see what I was doing and work one on one with me.
 

The Hard Road Ahead
         I loaded my horse and took him over. Everything was going great, until I started to take Parker out of the trailer. He started acting like never before. He was talking to all the other horses and started pawing the trailer. When I finally got him out of the trailer, he reared up on his hind legs. I lost the rope, so dad grabbed it, and then Parker started running. Anthony saw what was happening and ran over and took over. He got Parker settled down then tied him to the hitching post.
         After everyone got settled, Anthony and I went out to work with Parker, but this task was proving to be more difficult than either of us had bargained for. We tried to long line him, but he kept running into the corners. After enlisting everyone’s help, we had him going.
         The next order of business was to have him do some simple, stand still, exercises. Even this was not easy. The cows came to to get a drink and Parker was upset all over again. Anthony decided to take him into the cattle pasture to meet the “boogie man”. This upset him even more and he started acting even more erratic. It was back to long lining. Parker had become angry and got Anthony into a corner and started pawing at him as if he were trying to kill him. Anthony managed to crawl through the fence and tie Parker to it in one swift move.
         After Parker and everyone else settled down, we went back at it again. This time things went as planned and I got my “assignment” of things I was to do and work on every day. Parker now got his reward of resting in a pen.
         After an afternoon of talking with friends and watching other horses being worked, it was time to go home. I took Parker to the trailer, but he would not load. It was Anthony to the rescue again. After a short lesson in trailer loading, he was in safe and sound.
         We talked a while about Parker’s attitude and the seriousness of it. I found out the hard way that all that spoiling I had done with him to try to “make it up to him” for his horrible life before he came to me was a very bad thing. Anthony told me that if it was his horse, and he was in my position, he would sell the horse and buy something already broke to ride, because “green and green make black and blue”. A phrase that Anthony would repeat to me more than once throughout Parker’s training. I told him that I would not give up that easily, that he was my baby and I would do whatever it took to make him a good horse. Deep down inside, I wanted to prove to him that I had what it takes to train a horse and that I was worthy of his teaching. I also wanted to prove him wrong about Parker.
 

He Did What?
         I began working with Parker the next day at home. With my new arsenal of techniques, everything went great for a week, then one day, Parker wouldn’t do anything I ask of him, and he was trying to get mean with me. It was time for another attitude adjustment. Back to Anthony we went. He got him straightened out again and taught me some new things to add to our routine. Our work continued on.
Parker had finally settled down and became a good boy with good manners. He was safe to be around again. Dad even started fishing in the pond that was in the pasture again.  One day while dad was sitting on the bank relaxing, Parker had come over to see what was going on. Dad paid no mind to him and continued to fish. Parker just stood there for a while. I could tell by the way his ears were twitching back and forth that he was thinking. All of a sudden, his personality came out full force. He picked up dads tackle bag by the strap and flung it up in the air, slinging tackle everywhere, getting the bag caught on his head, he then jerked his head down and threw the bag back on the ground, blew air out his nose right in dad’s face and walked away. Dad tried so hard to be mad at him, but he couldn’t stop laughing.
We were making daily progress so I started working him with a saddle and a headstall. Everything went great. He started picking up on the lessons very fast. I was even able to sit on him while he was lying down in the pasture, which is when a horse is most vulnerable. I was ready for my first ride on him, and felt that Parker was ready as well. No one else felt the same. Everyone was afraid that I would get hurt. They were afraid that he would run, spin, or even buck, but they would not take that first ride either. They all remembered that first day, and did not trust him.
         It seemed as though this horse would never get rode, until one of our neighbors came over one day who was brave enough to try out my handy work. As he climbed aboard, everyone held their breath and I crossed my fingers. Success! Parker stood still and let him on. After he was up there, Parker just stood there and looked at his hitchhiker as if to say “What in the world are you doing up there?” He would not move, he just wanted to stand there and look at this guy on his back. After a little coaxing, he did finally walk forward, and was a perfect gentleman about the whole experience.
         After that, I began riding him and teaching him the basics of stop, go, and back up. He was such a willing student, and he picked up on each new lesson with lightening fast speed. In no time it was like I had been riding him forever. He came to be so calm that I started putting children on him to learn how to ride. Not once has he ever made a wrong move or done something his rider couldn’t handle, and “spook” was not even in his realm of thinking. He took everything in stride and became a very reliable mount. He turned out to be a go anywhere kind of horse.
 

A True Miracle
         Through the following year of working and riding, Parker and I developed a trust like no other. We truly loved each other, and would give our lives to save one another. That trust and love was put to the test on Christmas Day in 2008.
         It was an unseasonably warm day, and I decided that I wanted to teach Parker how to lope. We packed everything up and headed over to Veva’s house, so I could use her arena. I don’t remember much about that day, and what I do remember is dreamlike. I have been told that everything started out good. Parker and I were trotting along just fine, but when I asked him for a lope, he would take a few steps at the lope, and then slow back down to a trot. No matter what I did, he would not stay in a lope. Then it happened. I lost my balance and started to fall. I grabbed a hold of the saddle and hung on for dear life. One of my spurs became tangled in the saddle, and I could not get free. Parker simply stopped and braced himself against my weight on his side. They said that he turned around and looked at me as if he were saying “What are you doing there? That’s not where you’re supposed to be riding.” Anthony came over and helped me get down, and made me get right back on again. I do remember that when I tried to get back on, the horn of the saddle had caught in my coat pocket and I kept saying “The saddle’s in my pocket, the saddle’s in my pocket”  at first, Anthony thought I just didn’t want to get back on, so he tried to push me on up. When I was finally able to get back down, my pocket had ripped. I took the coat off and climbed on up. My first fall, and I had made it through alive and in one piece. I was told that had it been any other horse, I would have been killed hanging on the side like that.
         We were off again. We were successful at the trot, but only managed a few steps at a lope. And off I came again. Parker immediately stopped, turned and put his lips to my forehead. Anthony was so proud of me. I just fell off and didn’t hang on. His proud moment didn’t last long though. I didn’t get up. Chris ran over to help me up, but I couldn’t stand. Veva told Chris that I wasn’t there and when she ask me who she was, I got a confused look on my face and acted as though someone had just dropped me in the middle of the arena. I was asking where I was at and how Parker had gotten there. They realized that something was wrong. I was rushed to the hospital and Parker was taken home.
         After a long night by my side, the doctor finally told Chris that I had been having one seizure right after another all day. Was this the reason Parker would only trot? Was he able to sense what was happening to me? We all began to wonder. I believe he knew and did everything in his power to protect me.
 

What Now?
         I have since made a full recovery. The next day, I was back on Parker riding again. Nothing will ever keep me off of him. He is my friend, my confidant, and my protector. What lies in store for this wonderful horse that otherwise would not have been given a chance? I am not sure, but I do know one thing. He will live a long happy pampered life with me. Every creature on earth has greatness in them. They only need to be given a chance to show just what they are capable of.