Engaged

Six months after we first met, Melissa and I were engaged. At once, we combined our incomes and expenses, our dreams and ambitions, and I adopted all the responsibilities of horse ownership. It was a given. Of course, our first move was to get O'Reilley from Corvallis to a leased pasture for two in Wilsonville.

After O'Reilley arrived at the 3.2 acre site and walked the fence, I cut him loose. He took off, neighing, arching his neck, raising his tail and galloping with the wind! "Free to run, free of a numbing stall, see me, hear me!" he seemed to exult. All this activity wrapped Melissa's smile from ear to ear. Both of their radiance so infectious. All the neighbors so admiring! Even the other horses about calling back, "Welcome Prince! Your Arabian DNA resonates with part of our own."

O'Reilley settled down quickly, making friends of the Appaloosa and the mules over the fence, posturing with the two geldings across the road and puzzling about the cows on the other. His best mate, a mule, he took to racing along 100 straight yards of shared fencing, . He seemed to enjoy encouraging the mule to try to beat him. This racing activity raised O'Reilley's status among the neighbors. Their quarter horses seemed timid compared to this "hot" Arabian.

The mule belonged to a veterinarian who one day turned off the electric fence charger for repairs. That day, the mule found a chance to pull an ace from behind his hairy ears. He knew that he could bust through the fence and race past where O'Reilley would normally begin to stop. Perhaps he felt the extra 100 yards to the fence could be won by him!

Not so! As the mule broke down the wire cross-fencing and ran for the property line, O'Reilley took off ... no stopping now! Whoops, slope towards the road, hard to stop, skipping on his hind legs. Too late, over the fence he jumps! Alarm, alarm! Raise all available hands! fast horse and mule loose on the road heading towards the golf course!

Neighbors gave chase, helped in the capture, fence repair and trailering from a mile down the road. They were both in the local papers the next day! The neighbors even stopped by to check on the condition of O'Reilley's scrapped left hind. Oh, they had stories to tell! They knew O'Reilley was fast. Now they knew the mule was too!

Thank goodness for finding a new home for O'Reilley in a horse friendly community!