Friday, July 30, 2010

Auction Day: Calico Mountain Mustangs



Dear Readers,
Ghost Dancer will be traveling with me to the Wild Horse Sanctuary in California.
Shell Flower won't.
I'd never been part of ANY kind of auction, before (except fictional ones!), let alone an EBay style Internet auction, but my friend Anne advised me to hang back.
I made initial bids on Ghost Dancer and Shell Flower to make sure my computer worked on the Auction website, then waited 'til the last minutes of the auction to bid again.
That doesn't mean I wasn't WATCHING from the minute my eyes opened Wednesday, and I noticed (so did lots of you!) that a Texas bidder -- if you're reading, wow, you have fast fingers! -- had replace me as high-bidder on both horses.
My hands were shaking. My neck got stiff. I spoke harshly to Sherlock the cat when he sat on my lap and tapped the computer keyboard with a gentle gray paw.
And I worried. It wasn't likely, but what if the other bidder had Bad Intentions? I decided I had to make GHOST DANCER my first priority. At fifteen years old, she was listed as a sale authority horse. BLM discourages bidders from selling such horses for "commercial purposes" but she could legally be headed for out-of-the-country slaughter as soon as she was in the wrong hands.
BLM, in theory at least, is supposed to keep an eye on adoption horses like SHELL for a year.
But Ghost Dancer won't be traveling to California alone :) !
At the advice of a nice woman in BLM's Eastern States office, I picked a "safety net" horse.
I narrowed my choices down to mares no one had bid on.
Among them, I searched for one captured on the same day, in the same place as Ghost Dancer. I found her!
Little sorrel #0795, is now named Sage.
Hug your horses,
Terri


p.s. GHOST is 15 and SAGE is 2.
Who knows? They might even be mother and daughter.

Labels: Calico mountains, ghost dancer, Internet auction, mustangs, Sage, Shell Flower

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Posted by Terri Farley @ 5:09 PM

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Comments: Nice story Terri. I love the fact you searched for one that came from the same area on the same day! What if, she is Ghost's baby! The best plans are sometimes foiled, but this turned out sweet I think, and shows us once again, that we are not in charge, but our higher power. Sage is a great name for this little sweetie!
  Each one saved by Adoption; Auction or Selling is

A MUSTANG FOREVER SAVED !

Keep up the great work !

Anna USA ps they should let the Mare stay together with her Foal and adopt the pair out as a team !
  I pray that Ghost and Sage are kin! That would be awesome! If not, I still hope they form a bond! =)

Rach
  Terri
I am so glad you got Ghost Dancer. I remember when you thought she was a he. And that he had disappeared for a few weeks.

I hope Ghost and Sage get a chance to meet and bond before being moved. That way when moving day comes it won't be so scary cause they'll have each other.

If only we could tell them that this is the best we could do because of the BLM. That they'll be safe and have a forever home.

Hopefully Ghost knows you a bit and you can be there when she loads and when she comes off the trailer. It might be less scary for her since you'd be a familiar face.

Do you need any help with funds for this two????

Margaret
  Hi Margaret!
I'll be going out to Palomino Valley (again) to see the horses and I think it's a great idea to let them get to know each other.
I'll ask the guys if Sage can go into Ghost Dancer's pen.
Thanks for the great idea and for the inquiry about funds. As you've guessed, there are a lot of costs involved. So, I do have a donation page http://terrifarley.com/donate/
and I need to update it with Sage's pretty picture!
Hugs to you all!
Terri
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