Bochica

Bochica Tejas Santo

I truly believe both  serendipity and synchronicity played a role in Bochica coming into my life. The story begins about 13 years ago in Puerto Rico. My husband and I  were on a reward trip there from his company, to be the last before he retired. We were staying in a wonderful resort. The entertainment one night was a man riding this magnificent little chestnut horse-the horse was highstepping across a cobblestone courtyard, and the man's hat was not even moving. I was entranced, and asked what breed of horse this was. I was told that it was a Paso Fino
.
Unfortunately, my husband became ill on that trip and when we returned home, things progressively got worse. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and that was the beginning of the most terrible year of my life, watching day by day as the man I loved wasted away. At that time we lived in Georgia and were planning to retire on the Guadalupe River in Texas. After a long hospital stay,  much  treatment and a lot of thought, we decided to go ahead and build our dream house, hoping that he could spend a little time in it. Alas, it was not to be. We moved to Texas a month before the house was to be finished and rented a little cabin nearby. We had been in Texas two days when I had to rush him to the ER in the middle of the night. He went by ambulance to San Antonio that night. The next day the Dr. did exploratory surgery and informed me that the cancer was widespread. He died a month later. I moved into our home two weeks later with my two standard poodles. It was a trying time to say the least. The only people I knew there were my builder and the realtor.

Well, although still in shock, I decided to carry on and invited his grandchildren to visit during the summer. I took them to nearby dude ranches in Bandera. And fell in love with horses all over again. I told one of the ranglers that  I had always wanted to ride an Arabian and he suggested that I try a Paso Fino. Synchronicity? Well, I looked around and could not find one, but did find an Arabian to ride. I didn't like the breed after all.

Fast forward three years--by that time I had moved from the river-to Sun City-I was very unhappy and just floundering. My son had moved to Colombia and wanted me to come visit. I thought it was too dangerous at first, but he convinced me to come by telling me that he had met a man who bred Paso Finos and had one I could ride. Hmm, synchronicity at work? Well, to make a long story short, I went, rode a Paso Fino and fell in love with the breed. What a smooth ride-no bouncing! I came home, and much to my family's surprise (and dismay to some), I bought  Bochica. . I fell in love with his picture on a breeder's web site. After two visits, I bought him and moved him to a boarding facility. Boy, was my knowledge about horses about to be broadened! I thought I was a good rider and understood horses, but lo and behold, I had purchased a high strung, spooky and probably abused horse. I was to learn that Paso Finos are very different from Quarter Horses. To be fair, the sellers did tell me this in so many words, but I didn't understand those words. :-)
I credit Bochica with literally giving me life again.(But that's another story) Now I had a focus-training him. We've come a long way in these 7 years. I now have had Bochica at home with me for 5 years and they have been filled with lots of hard work, lots of lessons, training and reading and most of all, working with this little horse almost every day. I love to ride him-it's a fun ride. He is still spooky and I've taken a few spills, but in my old age :-) have become very careful. Yesterday I rode him after us being idle for the winter. He was a dream!

Remind me to tell you about Bochica, the snake and me! And Moe, the companion horse! Stay tuned!