Yesterday, a good friend asked a number of us the name of the first horse that got us into the horse rescue/sanctuary life. To me, the answer was simple. She was……..
LITTLE BIRD SING PRETTY
This little angel girl was, without a doubt, almost personally responsible for the creation of Tierra Madre Horse Sanctuary. Because it’s her spirit & her story that changed my life & so many others’ lives forever.
Her name was Little Bird Sing Pretty. And her spirit is still here to this day. Every hour of every day.
About 20 years ago, I got a call from my late friend, Holly, who ran the Horse Rescue of North Scottsdale: “Jim! There are eight horses who’ve been turned loose out in the desert & we have to go save them!”
Me: “On my way!”
We found them wandering around – horribly skinny kids just trying to find food in the arid desert, where there is no food.
Because we found some temporary fencing, Holly & I & a couple of friends were able to round them up – in the blazing heat of the Arizona summer. And we took them all back to Holly’s place.
Skinny, half-emaciated horses, but they were now safe & sound.
A couple of days later, Dr. Rollins (our late vet) was here, doing whatever he was doing with whatever horse needed help.
Both of our phones rang at the same time: Holly & her daughter, Madison.
“Get over here, right now! One of the horses from the desert is giving birth! Right this very minute!”
Doc & I both jumped into our trucks & we both made it to Holly’s in a matter of a few short minutes.
Doc jumped into the pen.
The baby had been born.
“Jim”, he said, “get that little mare out of here. She’s so weak that I’m afraid that she’ll fall & crush this little colt.”
I put a halter on her & led her over to another stall, where she just about fell down, she was so drained. I sat on the ground with her – put her head in my lap – & said, “Little Mama – you’ve just given birth to a wonderful baby boy! Be proud, Mama – be very proud!”
See, she was so skinny & so emaciated that nobody realized that she’d been pregnant. But – oh, yes – she had been.
And she’d just had a beautiful little boy.
But, because of her condition, she didn’t have the colostrum & all that mamas need to have to properly nourish their kids.
So, Holly built a pen for the little guy in her garage, bought a whole lot of colostrum & she & her daughter fed that little boy – every two hours, night & day – for six weeks. He grew big & he grew strong. And Holly sort of named him after me: Jimmy McCricket.
Anyway, about three days after Jimmy’d been born, Holly called me. “Jim”, she said, “I can’t care for this little boy & his mother & the other emaciated horses along with the other dozen I have here. Could you possibly take his mom? She needs all the help she can get, right now……”
Me: “Send her over.”
She got here.
No name.
No nothin’.
Just a little gem of a girl from the desert who’d recently had a beautiful baby boy.
And I remembered a guy I knew from my childhood – an Indian – from Indiana. And his name was Little Bird Sing Pretty.
And I always thought that that was just about the prettiest name I’d ever heard.
And, so, when that little girl got here, I called her Little Bird Sing Pretty.
She was little – for a horse. She was free – like a bird. And, man, when she bore that little boy a few days prior, did she ever sing pretty. The name worked like a charm & she seemed to like it, too.
We put Little Bird Sing Pretty into the place right next to my door. I wanted to keep my eye on her & make sure she had all the food & water that she could ever want.
Three days & nights passed.
And she seemed to be doing just swell.
But then, one evening a few nights later, my late partner Mikey started barking when we went out to check on everyone around nine at night. Barking at Little Bird Sing Pretty. “What the hell are you barking about, Mike?”, I asked him. He obviously knew. I didn’t.
The next morning, at 5AM, we went out to feed everybody.
And Mikey started barking at Little Bird Sing Pretty again.
So, I went in to see her.
And I could see in her eyes that she was in big trouble.
Although it was well before dawn, I called Dr. Rollins.
God love him, he said, “I’ll be right over.”
And, when he got here, he found that Little Bird Sing Pretty was bleeding from her vagina.
“Oh, Jim”, he said. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but this little girl is dying. Obviously, because she was so starved, her internal organs just didn’t have any elasticity. And when little Jimmy McCricket made his way down the birth canal, his hooves scraped the sides of it. And, right now, she’s bleeding to death internally. There’s nothing anyone can do. For her sake, we have to put her down……”
“Oh, no”, I said. “This just can’t be happening to this little girl after all she’s been through.”
“I’m sorry, Jim……but it is…….and I couldn’t feel any worse than you do.”
And he did what he had to do.
And, then, Doc & I hugged.
And we both cried on each other’s shoulders.
Because both of us felt the same way: that this little girl had been horrendously mistreated. She’d been forsaken. She’d been turned out into the desert to fend for herself in a completely inhospitable environment. And, even after that, she’d given birth to a wonderful baby boy. A handsome young colt that would go on to become whatever he’d become.
And she had to die because of all of that.
I don’t know whatever happened to little Jimmy McCricket. I wanted Holly to send him to me. But she didn’t. Oh, well. I hope he’s happy & healthy.
But I DO know that Little Bird Sing Pretty was one of the most amazing little girls I’ve ever met. One of the most courageous spirits I’ve ever known. With one of the prettiest faces you’ve ever seen.
And we lost her on a Friday morning.
Seven days after we’d found her in the desert – trying to eat scruffs of desert grass.
And five days after she’d given birth to a beautiful little boy.
Little Bird Sing Pretty will ALWAYS be the reason that Tierra Madre Horse & Human Sanctuary exists.
Because NO horse should ever have to deal with what she dealt with.
Her halter will hang forever in our breezeway.
And I will go to my grave loving that little girl.
Little Bird Sing Pretty.
You will live forever, Angel.