Two Women and Lonely Mustang
Cruiser is cruising into a new and better life
By Sara Baiza and Debora Lay
Sara’s Story
“There should be a support group for people like me – I’m addicted to horses!” Sara Baiza said, as she spoke of her experience with Cruiser, a three-year-old Mustang gelding. She saw a notice for a young blue roan gelding, free to good home.
Sara and her husband and went to see him that evening. She had always been interested in and admired Nevada’s wild horses ever since she once rode among them as a girl. Cruiser was alone – and lonely. Previously adopted from the Bureau of Land Management, he needed a better situation; she immediately knew they were taking him home.
Cruiser is a terrific success story. Although he was young, kind of pushy, and virtually untrained, he had a curious and intelligent nature. She knew her skills were lacking in training a green Mustang and turned to her friend and trainer Debora Lay of the LayzD Ranch and the story of this “Living Legend” began.
Debora’s Story
I’ve been told I have a way with animals, especially horses. I’ve found that you start by taking steps forward and backward until you are going forward most of the time. I’d taken backward steps the day I arranged with Sara to pick up Cruiser, as I did terribly at a clinic with my Andalusian, and was seriously considering my ability to handle the new mustang.
It was a nasty weather day with rain and cold winds. Sara was concerned about Cruiser loading and his tendency to nip. Surprisingly he loaded up pretty easily. My mood brightened; this might go better than I thought.
When I got home, I considered just driving into the arena and letting him unload himself, but knew if I did that I wouldn’t know what he could do or what to expect from him. Instead, I untied him from outside, let him turn around to face the door, clipped the lead, and out he came nice as could be.
I believe that if you expect a horse to misbehave he will, so I try to expect good behavior. I put him in a pen to talk to the other horses over the fence and settle in. Within a few days I confirmed he was quite mouthy and liked to nip. He was halter “broke” but not well trained and liked to pretty much run over you on the lead. He just needed to be shown how to behave and learn what was expected of him.
Cruiser has learned to lead well at a respectful distance and stand quietly when you’re doing something else. He carries a saddle and is okay with the tightening of the cinch. He took time getting used to the bit and mastered “Whoa.” He was a smart and willing student.
If he didn’t do something correctly, I’d examine how I was asking for the task to be sure the confusion doesn’t come from my end. He has come farther and faster than expected.
I interact daily in the pasture with Cruiser and the other horses. They’ve allowed me to be their leader because they trust me. Leadership in the herd only comes with trust. Horses in the wild follow their leader not out of fear, but because they trust the leader to keep them safe.
Safety equals survival in the wild – and is the first step in my training process: trust me to be leader even if off halter or lead. I work Cruiser in halter about twice a week – no more than an hour at a time and try to do different exercises with him. If I stay too long on one task he gets irritated because he likes stimulus and variety. So, it seems that Mustangs are no harder to train than any other breed. It simply takes time, patience, kindness, and most of all, trust. And, he doesn’t bite any more either!
“Cruiser would make a great horse for a youngster 12 and up who wants to spend all day with him, or as a 4H project horse. He would also be great at gymkana or barrel racing,” Debora said. “We are still looking for a home for him, and after winter time-off and a spring tune-up will be ready to go. We have a video site of him in action for anyone looking for a great horse.”
Debora Lay of the LayzD Ranch in Reno, NV, focuses on ground training, trail riding lessons, and layover boarding. Located at 10800 Silver Knolls Boulevard, she can be reached by calling 775-972-4334, or by e-mail at
LayzD@charter.net
BATMAN!
A dog with his very own signature song
By Ron Shulman, Reno, NV |
My wife named Batman because of his sharply pointed ears and intent black eyes. He’d stare down anyone who cared to look directly at him. His coat was solid black and his pupils were so large that almost no white showed in his eyes. Due to this monochromatic scheme, it was sometimes hard to tell what part you were looking at – or was looking back at you.
She saw an unusual animal one day and asked what it was. It was the first time we’d heard of an affenpinscher – originally bred in Germany to kill rats. Affen means monkey, and the monkey dog is related to schnauzers and Brussels griffons. The result is a lively small animal that has a feisty and independent disposition. Like a monkey, it can pick pockets and climb to the highest point of the furniture for a better look out the window. It’s often mistaken for a cat or a monkey – only rarely identified at first glance as a dog; and, if you’re looking to meet new people – this breed is a “babe magnet!”
Batman joined our family at eight months old and it was love at first sight. Since, he’s established himself as our guardian when we’re with him. When we leave him alone, at home or a hotel room, he becomes an ultra-quiet pacifist and hides from any visitors.
In keeping with his catlike appearance, he is paper-trained. On walks, he smells every feature of the great outdoors; but will lift his leg only after he’s home to his newspaper. Batman had the run of a three-story house before we moved into a two-bedroom apartment in Reno and would surprise us with his creative ideas about personal waste disposal. We could describe his behavior then as “good, but not perfect,” but here – he has surprised us to “almost perfect” by adapting to fewer choices.
Batman has interesting travel habits. When he sees we’re about to take a trip, with no guidance from us, he limits his intake and ups his output. On planes he rides in a carrier that fits under the seat in front of us, and once inside, curls up and goes to sleep. That’s it. If we change planes he enjoys his short release, but refrains from any other form of relief. When he arrives at his destination, he continues to hold on until we produce the magical newspaper.
While travel isn’t his favorite activity, he understands his humans are going to do it whether he likes it or not. When the suitcases come out, he makes sure he’s included by climbing into one. He knows we’ll remove him, but his message is unmistakable.
One more anecdote about travel is we were warned he gets carsick. In the years he’s been with us, he’s always sat on Diane’s lap, and over thousands of miles, lived up to his bad reputation only once! Rides are one of his favorite pastimes; it’s my belief that the lap he sits on is the key to happy motoring.
One attractive aspect of his pacifist nature concerns his desire that our grandchildren not fight or wrestle with one another. He barks and tries to distract them should he think that one might hurt the other. He accompanies his noise with an attempt to get between them as if he were a boxing referee breaking up a clinch. When you consider that he weighs under six pounds, you have to give him credit for his fearless ambition if not his good sense. Once, because we were too generous with people food, he gained almost a whole extra pound; requiring that we put him on a cottage cheese diet to get him back to his ideal weight.
The TV show Batman had a catchy theme song that Diane sings, and if she’s in just the right falsetto, our dog joins in and sings along! We consider him to be one of very few dogs who have their own signature song. Come to think of it, he may be the only such dog.
He looks you in the eye when you speak to him, and gives the impression that he understands a lot of what we say to him. While his vocabulary is limited, it definitely includes words like: treat, out, toy, no, go for a ride, and up. I’m hoping that he’ll teach me even more useful words in the future.
Ron Shulman of Reno, NV, sent this interesting story of this interesting breed to
PetFolio. What a character! Thank you, Ron!
My Guardian Angel Cat
This was not just another day
By C.L. MORGAN, RENO, NV
On December 23, 2005,
Mr. Magellan fell asleep on one of my lawn chairs and had been there for
about four hours. I tried to pick him up as it was getting dark, but he made
a noise which sounded hurtful, so I immediately went across the walk and
down two apartments where his owner, Mr. Allen, was out on the balcony of
his third floor apartment.
I flagged him and told him about the situation, and he came
over, pronto, to my apartment. Mr. Allen was kneeling by the chair on one
knee petting and talking to Mr. Magellan while at the same time telling me
of his history as a veterinarian and the story where he’d rescued Mr.
Magellan, brought him home, and had kept him for about three years.
“Mr. Magellan’s fine – really,” Mr. Allen told me, explaining
that was the way this cat expressed that he was too comfortable to be moved!
Then, I almost fell off my chair when Mr. Allen said to me in his eloquent
manner, “Do you, Ms. Morgan, want to keep him?” Are you crazy? Are you
kidding? I loved that cat! I wanted to kiss Mr. Allen, but ended up crying I
was so happy. Well, now this was the greatest Christmas present and New
Year’s gift ever!
Before, I’d been anticipating settling down in Oregon for the
remainder of my years. But, of course, now that my angel Mr. Magellan had
come into my life (after adventures), I had no reason to go.
Mr. Allen gave me all of Mr. Magellan’s food, his bed, and
vet papers, adding that Mr. Magellan was an outside cat and would probably
still come over to visit him and Freckles, his calico, from time to time, so
not to worry. So life began with Mr. Magellan. He would wake me early every
morning. I’d feed him and let him out – and after about 45 minutes if he
hadn’t returned, I’d go hunt for him. He’d come home with me, I’d relax and
have breakfast and shower.
There was this one day when I was doing my laundry and not
all of my clothes were dry, so I strung what I could over the wall heater.
My family came by that afternoon with my two grandchildren and my three
great grand children.
After having a long overdue visit, they left and I was so
tired I decided to take a nap and laid down on the bed. I guess I was real
tired and slept for what seemed like minutes before Mr. Magellan pounced on
my back! Well, I woke real fast and smelled smoke. The whole living room was
filled with smoke, I rushed to open the window – the fire alarm hadn’t gone
off!
Perhaps if Mr. Magellan had not been there as my guardian
angel and friend, this story would have a different ending – but he was
there in his guardian angel glory. There were no serious consequences that
day after all, so I thank you, and love you, my guardian angel.
This warm-hearted hero’s story was sent to PetFolio by C. L. Morgan, of Reno, NV, and expresses just how wonderful our precious pets are, whether they make a big difference in our lives or simply are a part of them. Thank you for bringing this fine story to us!
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