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If you have never met High Price you may not appreciate some of the things I tell you today – so you had better at least take a look at him…
Here is short synopisis for you – He killed a goat with his front hoof. He once bit my thumb so hard I could not move it for three months. He picked up Jock in his teeth and tossed him over a hedge. Jock was a 40kg German Shepherd Dog. He sent two of my grooms to hospital by biting or kicking them. In short – he was a nasty boy. Today, 20 years after I took charge of this bay gelding he is one of my closest friends. In that time he has changed my life and I have changed his.
When a horse meets you for the first time he forms an opinion of you. Most people are blissfully unaware of the judgment hanging over them. The horse sniffs your scent, lays his big, wary eye upon you and that is all he needs to sum you up. One of the joys of owning a horse is watching this process happen. Here we have Nomatter, an eight year old girl and Jade a 22 year old mare. They are fast friends. Even if you have no clue about horses just look closely at the photos, paying particular attention to the eyes of both the animal and the human. Nomatter is a child who lives in a mud and wattle house with her 6 siblings and widowed mother. Loice and all her children survive day to day.
Two years ago a woman approached me as I was walking my horses home and she asked me for a job “I can look at them” That is what she said and pointed at the animals. My horses had stopped, seemingly of their own accord and High Price leaned towards Loice and gently blew through his nose. His ears remained pricked and neither horse nor human moved. I smiled inwardly. He had just interviewed her and she was found to be suitable. I hired her on the spot. Since that day Loice has taken care of my little herd of four. She feeds, grooms and follows them around the fairways of the Chimanimani Golf Course, scolding them if they put foot on the greens and shouting Shona swear words if they dare to nibble somebody’s maize plants. She herds them around like goats… and except on windy days they wander around behaving as she wishes. The horses chose her and Jade befriended one of Loice’s seven offspring. Nomatter, like her mother was – is the chosen one. Jade did the choosing.
Teaching children to ride can be a dangerous chore or pure joy. Jade and Nomatter are the latter.
Jade has worked with children in South Africa and Zimbabwe – her ability to calm a frightened child has always astounded me. I used my horses to teach leadership skills. I placed overactive, overconfident, loud fifteen year old boys with High Price and timid, nevous girls with Jade. The transformation High Price wrought on those boys had their despairing school teachers transfixed with wonder. The boys stood like lambs next to him and listened to every word I said with eyes wide and hands dead still. Jade on the other hand could calm the most nervous little Indian girl for whom any animal represented a form of terror.
Zimbabwe is a tough place to live right now. The people and the horses have suffered unbelievable hardship, in some cases torture. This relationship that Jade has struck up with Nomatter offers us all a precious pin-prick of light and for me it is simply a joy.
This heartwarming posting has really made my day – thank you for sharing it. The love and trust of an animal, freely given, is surely up there with the best that life has to offer, and it is so good to know that there are still wonderful caring people out there who make such a difference in the lives of others, four-legged and otherwise. Thank you.
Fantastic! How brilliant to be able to spot such a talent and act on it right then and there. There should be a whole lot more of this going on everywhere. xxx