Mayo's Return

After selling Mayo Lane, the first Thoroughbred I had ever owned, in April 2001, I had tried to keep track of her, but as I wrote in my last chapter about her, I had lost track of her during that following winter.

I would do internet searches for her, from time to time, hoping I'd see some offspring of hers up sale.  I searched all the usual horse sales sites and even did Google searches, too, but kept coming up empty.   I tried not to let it get to me too much, but I would do these searches every few months or so, hoping to find something.

For two long years, I came up empty handed, with there being no trace of my Mayo.   But in the spring of 2004 my persistance paid off.

While searching one of the popular horse sales sites, just hoping to find an offspring of Mayo's, so I'd have some clue as to where she was, I put in her name in the search criteria and when the results page came up and I looked at it, I sat there stunned.   I had not found a foal of Mayo's, but Mayo herself!

I clicked on the link to the ad, read it quickly, and then lept out of my desk chair.   My husband was at the other end of the house working on something and I just started screaming, "Mayo's for sale!  Mayo's for sale!  I found her!  I finally found her!"

The ad said she was still in Colorado, so I could only suspect she was with the same person who had bought in May 2001, from the people who only owned her for 2 weeks, before deciding they didn't want her anymore, not giving her any time to settle in and get used to them.   It was only a text ad and her price was $1,500.00.   This was a bit more than we could afford, especially considering what it would cost to ship from Colorado, but despite this, my husband said I could call the people, as they had a phone number listed, and see what the situation was.

I rushed back to my computer and grabbed the phone, immediately calling the number.   A woman answered and I started talking to her, to make sure it was the same horse, and it was.   I quickly found out she was not the person who had bought her in 2001, but another lady.   She had bought her in 2003.   This meant that Mayo had been through, at least, 3 homes in 3 years, and I couldn't help myself, I started to cry, as the prospect of a 4th home laid infront of Mayo.

I just could not believe that people kept buying her and then disgarding her so quickly.   I had never imagined this happening to her.   It hurt so bad, because I had no choice to sell her, when I did, and I became very fearful of what might happen to Mayo if this kind of pattern continued.

At this point, her son, Baron, who I still owned, was 5 years old, and quite the handsome fellow with a ton of jumping ability.    So, I asked the lady if they'd be negotiable on the price, if I could figure out some way to buy her back.   I told them that if I did buy her back, she would not be sold again.   She said she would talk to her husband about it and I would talk to my own about it, as well.   So, we agreed to talk further, the following day.

My husband, Gordon, and I had a tight budget, but it wasn't too bad, so we decided that if they would come down to around $1,000, that we could probably afford shipping and bring her home to Perfect Peace Farm, the farm that Gordon and I had bought so that I would never have to board my horses again, except for when they went to be bred, of course.

The next day the lady and I talked ont he phone and she said her husband was willing to come down to $1,000.00 and I was so happy to be getting Mayo back.

The lady told me that another person was interested in Mayo, which would have put Mayo even further away, in California, but since I had owned Mayo before, she'd sell her back to me.   I was so thankful.

She also told me that Mayo had spent the last year out on their land, where there were no buildings.  They only made it out to see the horses from time to time, so I don't know who was watching them, in the meantime, but it sounded like the horses just had to fend for themselves.

Poor Mayo had never gotten a good winter coat in all the years I had owned her, so I could only imagine what kind of condition I'd find her in when she arrived in Virginia.

So, I started making the arrangements for Mayo to come and make the cross country trip.  The lady took Mayo to a vet clinic that was going to board her for a few days, while she got her Coggin's and vacinations updated, so she could be transported across state lines.   The hauler picked her from the vet a few days after she was dropped off and she began her 4 day journey from Colorado to Virginia.

I had gone with a nationally known hauler, but it was one I had not used before.  But, I had not heard anything bad about them.   They kept in good contact with me and seemed to be doing a good job, from allt he reports I was getting.

Finally, one afternoon the trailer pulled up in front of my farm and I raced out of the house to meet it.  As they opened up the back door of the trailer, the first thing I noticed was how dark it looked in the trailer and that the top of it seemed kind of low.   It did not have very many windows, so I could not see Mayo, at all, until she was completely off the trailer.

I quickly attached my lead rope to her halter and I swear she knew it was me and though she was fairly fired up and happy to be off the trailer, she maintained control and never got out of hand.

I led her back to the barn and put her in the isolation stall that I had ready for her.   I got the papers from the hauler and they left us to get re-acquainted.   I called Gordon, who was at work, and told him she was home and that I was going to go over her, groom her, and then let her out in the small 1/2 acre paddock, to stretch her legs.

As I groomed and examined her, I found a wound on her poll, right between her ears, and then a big rubbed off spot in her tail, from where she had probably had to lean up against the butt bar in the trailer, to brace herself.   She was also very thin, as you could see all her ribs.   She had never been the easiest of keepers, but she wasn't the hardest keeper, either. 

Mayo wasn't and still isn't the most affectionate of horses, but she shows her gratitude in her own way.   When I let her out into the paddock, she kept coming over to me, so I knew it was as if she was making sure I was still there and that maybe it was a bit of disbelief that it was really me, so she needed to reassure herself.   This was her way of showing how happy she was to see me again and that she had truly loved me and still did.

I told Mayo she was home for good and would never be sold again.   I assured her that she was finally safe and that her "Black Beauty" like story had come to a happy ending and she'd enjoy many more happy years here at Perfect Peace Farm.