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I came upon a horse today. He was a very curious horse, not just because he was walking along a very deserted twisty road with a broken rope still wrapped around his neck and trailing underneath his hooves, but because of the way the brown and the white on him streaked his body less like a horse and more like a zebra. And his face, which was all white, and his eyes, which were a very very light blue, gave him the appearance of an albino, if that is a trait a horse can have. I couldn’t say.
But I have never seen a horse with such blue eyes. Both of them; steely, icy blue.
When I came around the corner he was just walking at a disinterested gait, but
when I slowed, so as not to surprise him, my brakes squealed a bit and he took off, on the pavement and in
the wrong lane. I went after him.
We went across a one lane bridge together at about 20mph an hour
and when I saw that he was going to round a corner to the right, in the right lane, heading into opposing traffic, I sped past him. I locked up the brakes and and ditched the bike quickly, around the
corner, and I ran into his lane and spread my arms out and
made a ssshhing sound and, thankfully, he slowed, then stopped, and did a couple of three sixties.
There were two cars coming towards us, and I made a motion
with my hand up and down towards the ground, indicating they should slow down. I turned to him and shushed him again, to calm him. He stood still and the cars went around us.
So now, its just me and the horse, and he doesn’t seem too
pleased that I am impeding him. He sticks his neck out towards me and his lips purse and his mouth opens and he is about to say something but for the first couple of seconds he looks as though he is whinnying but no sound comes and it occurs to me that perhaps this horse is possibly a mute. Again, I don't know if that is a trait a horse can have.
But then it comes, a long, sorrowful and very loud whinny
which echoes back at us from the hillsides. I'm feeling his angst very clearly, so I approach him slowly, talking to
him and I think that maybe my helmet and sunglasses should come off, so I take
them off and lie them by the road. I also think how funny it is that a cyclist
in full kit is trying to wrangle a wild kiwi horse. I must appear to him as an alien, in both sound and sight.
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| The Inn where I am staying in Mangonui. |
He allowed me to touch his head and I continued to talk to
him and I took his leash and led him off of the road, to a post, where I
tied him up and told him I would be back, when I found some help.
I went to the first house I found, and a woman came out. I
described the horse to her. She said “no idea who it belongs too,” and was
generally non-plussed. Right. Try the next house.
There were two dogs who came quickly to greet me and I
sprayed them with water. They backed off. Since there were two cars in the
driveway, I yelled “Hello, is anyone home? I have an emergency!” Nothing. I did
it again, and nothing, again.
So I got back on the road and about 2 miles down a farming truck passed me, coming the other way. I flagged him down and asked him if he was
from around here. He was. Only about 50 people or so are from around here,
based on the houses.
I told him about the horse, that it was loose, that I had tied it up. That it was
probably going to get hurt or hurt someone if it got loose again. Here is what
he said “Aww yeah, that’s quite common around here.” To which I felt like
saying “Well, thank you for confirming the probability of
coming upon a loose horse in this area. Have a great day!” He seemed pretty put-out, to be honest,
to be stopped and told my fascinating story. (Not uncommon, in fact.)
So what I was getting back was, outside of myself, no one
really could give a shit. But goddammit it’s an animal, and we kind of bonded,
and I was not going to let people not give a shit.
I thought about adopting it myself, how to get it to the
states, where would I put it, how old was it anyway? Yeah, those thoughts went
through my head.
Since I was doing an out-and–back ride, I knew I would come
back upon him, but I was hoping he would have been claimed. An hour later, when
I came back, he was still there. Still tied up, but grazing now and seemingly
quite content.
The only thing different from an hour before was that there
was an apple, and also a lighter, at his feet. So someone had thought to throw
an apple his way, and some fire in case he wanted to light up an apple bong, I
guess. I’m just making a report
here, I don’t want to even begin to think about the genesis of those two
unlikely items finding their way to my horse.
I petted him again and I asked him where he was from and he
just kept grazing and eyeballing me and wagging his tail. I didn’t know what
else to do for him, and I realized that this was the end of our story. I would
ride home and he would stay tied up and I guess someone would find him and make
some calls and that would be that.
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| Sunset just across the road from the Inn. |
I didn’t know that after waiting three hours outside of the
lodge I booked in that town for someone to show up that there was an email
waiting for me that said they had had an emergency and were canceling my
reservation. I got that email after becoming a little frustrated, driving back
into town, buying some internet time, and collecting my emails.
I did not know, that as a result of that cancellation, that I
would have to spend another hour driving north, to Mangonui, to stay at the
only other place available tonight within a reasonable distance. I did not know, as a result, the only
road near that hotel that I could safely see myself riding was the road to
Taupo Bay.
And I did not know that on that road would be a blue eyed horse,
who was the best part of my day.
I wonder what I don’t know about tomorrow?
_________________
"Yet, in time, as the creature refused to cling again, the current lifted him free from the bottom, and he was bruised and hurt no more.
The river delights to lift us free, if only we dare let go."
-Richard Bach, "Illusions"
And the ride on the following day: (best viewed in HD)
