A Girl Named Haiku

Granite Range, Nevada / 2000

Haiku is a millennium baby. A filly born in the year 2000 (we believe March) at an unknown location in the Granite Range, Washoe County, Nevada. The Granite Range is a mountain range in northwestern Nevada, just west of the town of Gerlach, near the lower Black Rock Desert and alongside the border to California. She has high desert and mountains in her blood. It is all there, laid bare, in her unblinking jet pool eyes.

Haiku was untouched by human hands and barely 17 months old when I caught sight of her in a pen at a BLM auction at Cornell University. For me, tt was love at first sight, although surely not for her. Squarely rooted behind a taller and probably older filly she quietly commanded her fellow captives with a quick flick of an ear, a well timed swish of her tail, and barely audible grunts.

Determined to bring her home, I deftly tried to outbid myself, until the kind auctioneer refused to let me proceed and settled on my initial bid of $125.00. I named her on the spot. She was a haiku. Nature oozed from her pores as did her brevity. And so it began, my journey into unknown and wild territory, the gentling and training of a wild horse named Haiku.

Fast forward 22 years, Haiku and I have had quite the life together. At 15 hh, she rules the barn and easily checks a 16.3 hh German Warmblood and 17.2 hh Irish Sporthorse in line. I count our life together, our coming to terms and understanding as one of my greatest accomplishments. Haiku is like no other and has taught me well. How to watch and listen are her forever gifts.