Voices...........A Resolution..........

Part 1


Dave has always been good at diffusing combative situations. He actually worked as a bouncer when he was a young man and I can assure you it was not because of his size or an aggressive demeanor. The man is a pussy cat but he knows how to get big bullies to stop and think.  That was definitely a skill needed in this situation.

This young man before him was behaving aggressively. The way he had jumped out of the care shouting spoke road rage all over the place.  Dave didn't flinch or scream back, instead he calmly and almost nonchalantly responded, "Too fast for the 1200 pound animal in the road." 

The angry man's body language immediately changed as he comprehended Dave's words. "Oh, sh-t, there's a 1200 pound animal in the road?" he almost incredulously parroted.

Dave nodded telling him about the buckskin horse he was following and the possibilty there could be more horses out there. The neighbors have half a dozen horses and if one had found a way out, others could have as well.

Confronted with the hidden danger of our dark, country road the young man decided he would not venture forward until the way was clear. He got back into his vehicle and waited for Dave to fix things.

Dave made his way carefully through the darkness knowing it was important to not move in a manner a horse might read as being chased. The last thing the man wanted was for the buckskin to  flee again. If the horse did that he was likely to run past its home and further into the darkness and the possibilty of oncoming traffic.

The owner of the buckskin horse has about 40 acres of land. The back portion of that he hays and sells so they can retain their tax status as a working farm but the people do not live on the land. All the animals there are unattended. There is a gated entrance that is kept locked and the animals are kept of the roadside portion of the place.

Luckily, a hay customer of theirs was driving up the road as the buckskin horse ran from Dave. The man spotted the horse in the distance before it hit the low spot in the road that had made it invisible to the other driver. This man called the horse's owner while pulling his rig at an angle across the road with his flashers on hoping to warn other drivers of the danger and help discourage the buckskin from continuing down the road.

The flashers on his rig caught the attention of another neighbor so she came out to see what was happening. That pair worked their way towards the farm the horse had escaped from, while Dave closed the gap from the other direction.

As the gap closed they began to see other horses in the area in between. All together there were 5 head out on the road that night.

The usually locked gate of the neighbor's farm was wide open. With three people herding them, the group managed to get the horses closest to the gate to make the turn into their driveway. Once the first one made the decision to return home, the others easily followed without resistance....except for the buckskin horse. Obviously the most adventurous individual, he took some persuading but with the people having a basic understanding of herding horses, he finally decided he would rather join his herd than be caught by one of these strangers...which was a good thing since there wasn't a single halter or lead among them.