Dale was a ranch horse all his life, he liked to GO, the faster the better.  We had trouble explaining to him that he had reached retirement age and that he should consider taking it easy. The last time I rode Dale he still bounced as he came back into the yard, he wasn’t tired from walking out to the far paddock to move a lick tub.  Pulling the sleigh  through the snow would have been hard work since the tub was nearly full.  No matter, that’s what Dale did all his life, gave it his all.

Dale didn’t go to horse shows, he wasn’t particularly pretty, although he was eye catching.  He did go in many parades, but he was a bouncy ride with all the noise and excitement.  The event he probably had the most fun performing was Skijor Racing.  He was absolutely unfazed by a human flying along on skis behind him.  He could go as fast as he could run, and his rider was excited and happy to go at this speed. 

Dale was extremely sensitive to the rider’s mood.  If the rider was in pain, upset or worried Dale would become agitated. If the rider got impatient with the cows or another human, Dale was bouncing with impatience as well.  However, if you trusted Dale to take care of you and just relaxed, he got the job done with a minimum of fuss and bother and in a timely fashion. Dale was an absolute gentleman about grooming and hoof cleaning.  He appreciated praise but no fussing please.

Because Dale had impeccable ground manners, he was sometimes called upon to teach young humans how to groom, pick the hooves and lead a horse. One day Dale taught Coach Kelly a thing or two as well.  There was a very timid child working with Dale and instead of becoming agitated with her, he did his best to protect her.  The class had proceeded to the stage where trotting the horse in hand was being practiced.  There were several excited little students that thought this was great, and they had their horse trotting right along beside them.

The little gal leading Dale tried a few tentative steps at a faster pace, you might say she was jogging.  Dale just walked a little faster and stayed beside her.  I asked her to move a little faster and she did.  She was actually tugging on the big ranch horse to get him to go faster.  When he seemed reluctant to move any faster, I stepped behind him to “shoo” him forward.  When I started clucking at him, he swung his head back over his shoulder and gave me the most withering look.  “Can’t you see this girl is scared of me and if I go faster, she will be more afraid?!!”  Sometimes, the horse must get my attention, for me to see what’s really happening.

In 2020 when COVID shut the world down, Winning Ways was fortunate to have several talented young people who helped teach Dale and some of the other Winning Ways horses about the behavior of a vaulting horse.  One of the Equestrian Canada programs is Rookie Rider.  Part of the program involves gymnastic movements on the back of a horse.  Acrobatic exercises on horseback. Dale was extremely well suited to this occupation, with his broad back and smooth trot.  The Spanish gymnast was very agile and balanced, and made vaulting look extremely easy. 

However, poor Dale was confused, after more than 20 years of carefully standing still for mounting and dismounting, Dale thought the humans had lost their minds asking him to keep walking while a rider got on or off.  When working a vaulting horse, the horse must keep walking or trotting in a circle on a long line while the rider walks or runs along side and then vaults onto the horse.  If the rider is smaller then a spotter helps to lift the rider into position.  Winning Ways not only had a gymnast and horse handler but a very tall, strong spotter who could easily assist the rider aboard the horse.

These photos are not of Dale but they show how the horse keeps moving as the rider mounts.

There are photos of Dale pulling the wagon or sleigh with Kosmo, being a pack horse, a therapy horse, an English riding horse, just hanging around, sleeping in the sun, and many different riders holding, chasing, sorting cattle and working in the cattle pens.  Yes, Dale was a ranch horse who loved to be where the action was and getting things done.

“Your hoofprints may fade from this earth, but the memories we made together will last a lifetime. Goodbye, my faithful companion.”