On November 3rd of 2011, I was driving from Highland Meadows to Los Lunas on a desolate stretch of Hwy 6 in New Mexico. As I drove past a portion of the Isleta Reservation, I saw an extremely emaciated horse standing along the fenceline. When I pulled over, I was dumbfounded at the condition of the bay gelding (there is an album in photos). The words that fell from my mouth were "no way. there's just no way" dotted with expletives. I noticed the dried mud on his legs and knew he needed water along with food so I left a small bit of alfalfa that was in the back of my truck and, telling him I would be back, I continued on to Los Lunas which was still a half hour away. When I returned to where I had left him, he was no longer there. I left the water for him and drove along the fenceline looking for him. I finally saw him cresting a small hill heading away from the road. No matter how much I called to him, he did not turn around. Unfortunately, it was the last time I would see him alive. The day after I saw the gelding I called and spoke with an Isleta Ranger about the horse and he told me that someone had dumped him on their property a few weeks prior. They had tried to catch him when they first saw him but he avoided them and, as the reservation encompassed thousands of acres, they had no idea where he had ended up. He was willing to let me on the property but, since it was a Friday, I would have to wait until the following Monday for him to be available. After the phone call, I went back out to try to find the gelding. I would drive along the fenceline with binoculars, call for him, and hope that he would show up. I spent hours waiting for him on Saturday and Sunday. He never drank the water or ate the hay I left him so I could only hope he had found some elsewhere. Come Monday morning, I met the Isleta Ranger at the gate and he let me in with my trailer. My plan was to ride out and find the gelding. As I unloaded my horse, the Isleta Ranger said he would drive the fenceline and see what he could find. Just as I was stepping into the saddle, the Isleta Ranger came back and said riding out was not necessary. He had found the bay gelding laying dead along the trail leading to where I had left him food and water. He gave all he had left trying to reach what could have begun to save him. I spent some time with the gelding and, as I stroked his neck, I apologized for the humans who had let him down. I told him that I was sorry that I could not get to him soon enough and I named him Ranger for his preserverance and for the Isleta Ranger who had tried to help. I told him that he would not die in vain or be forgotten. That I would use his name to help others like him and in that moment, with my hand resting on the body of the little bay gelding, on November 10th 2011, Ranger's Legacy Equine Rescue was created.
