Do you ever wonder sometimes what those little coincidences in life all mean? What about that cat you see sitting around nearby, obviously without a home, how does that make you feel? Do you wonder if it’s a sign? Should you take this cat home? Should you put in the effort to find its owner? Or do you just shrug, and go about your day and leave the cat on her own? Would your life be different, if you chose one path over the other? Of course it would. So the underlying question then remains, is your life better for the choice you made?

In life we are often faced with many choices, and it can be difficult to know how to respond. What do you do when faced with circumstances like these? Do you feel calm, and at ease, while you consider the options? Or do you feel your heart pounding, your pulse quicken, as you grow uncomfortable with the impending decision heading straight at you?

I felt that way at that Mustang Auction at the Horse Expo the year before last. We walked by the pens where the little baby wild horses were being kept, under the bright lights, right in the middle of the big arena, for everyone to walk by, stare, and point at. The babies were dirty, bewildered, and looked so lost and sad after their ordeal. You can only imagine what they have been through. Rounded up, terrified, by helicopters and trucks, running like mad over uneven terrain, trying to keep up with the herd, seeing others trip, fall, break their legs, and have to keep going. Finally finding themselves trapped behind high steel bars, with nowhere to go. Crammed into small spaces with all of the other horses, being at risk of being trampled by the terrified adults hitting the fences, desperate to escape.

Then, somehow, being separated from their mothers, the only source of security they have known out in the world for the past few precious months of their young lives. Calling for her. The mare calling back, also terrified for herself, her family, and her baby. Yet, for all their strength, and power, and resourcefulness, horses are still subject to the will of man, even wild horses. So the babies are then herded again, now into a truck, with insecure footing, fumes, and loud noises and footings, and the babies are made to stand for hours inside this cavernous, moving, loud, shaking metal box down the highway, with no understanding of what is happening or why. They travel for hours, across state lines, moving further and further from everything they have ever known. Perhaps they stop somewhere in between, and get unleaded into a new steel corral with fresh hay and water, with fresh smells and terrain. But who can eat after all that? And besides, these are babies whose tummies are hungry for mother’s milk, and have little yet learned to live by the taste of grass. But only for a moment, because the most beautiful of the babies, six in particular, are hand chosen, separated again, and pushed back onto another truck, for yet more highway travel, before arriving at the Horse Expo, exhausted, terrified, bewildered, hardly having the strength to care anymore about the bright lights, and crowds of gawking people come to stare and point at them. They are just so tired, and their adrenaline is spent, their life is total upheaval, and nothing will ever be the same again. And their opinion of humans, with this being their first experience with them in their lives? Can you imagine? Can you blame them?



This is how we first encountered Chilli and Natalia, so beautiful and precious. I had no interest in another horse for the rescue, so I forced myself to look way, like at that cat in the alley all alone. I didn’t want to get involved. But as the days wore on, and so little interest was shown in the horses due to the snowstorm and the love turn out at the Expo, I grew more and more anxious for the fate of those babies. I knew they wouldn't go to slaughter, well, not immediately. But I also knew if they didn’t get adopted, they would go back to a holding pen at the prison, with an uncertain future ahead of them. I agonized over not wanting to get involved. How could we afford to feed them? How could we even get them with our trailer stuck also in the snow? Is this something I even could handle dealing with, when already feeling buried in the finances and responsibilities of running an animal rescue, and a business, and being a single mom?

Then, being a mom, that’s what did me in. My daughter felt an immediate connection with one of them, and, then, I noticed with my heart sinking that no one was bidding on either one of them, there just weren’t enough people around to have interest in them. And I slowly, reluctantly, thought, well, we do have room, they are small and won’t cost a lot to feed (for now), and we have trained a wild Mustang before so I knew we should be able to handle them. I had no idea what I was getting into, or if I was about to make my life much better, or much worse, but it sure seemed that God had put that circumstance right in front of me for me to experience, and see how I would respond. So I took a deep breath, braced myself, and I didn’t walk away, & reluctantly readied myself to embrace whatever that meant for us in the future, the struggle to feed them, to train them, just to get them home.

When God, or the universe, puts situations like this in front of you, how do you respond? Do you get involved, or walk away? Or do you support those others out there making the tough decisions, so you don’t have to? As this new year of 2026 unfolds, I encourage you to embrace those situations where you are walking into the unknown. For that is how we grow, as humans. If we always stay the same, there is no room for something more. The risk must be taken, to create expansion for something different, for more. So if this is the year you decide you want to give more, so that you can get more (because that’s how it works), please consider being a monthly supporter of the ResqRanch, so we can continue to do our little part, with less anxiety, about being able to care for wild mustangs like these and the other aging horses in our care. And if being around horses this year is part of your New Year’s Resolution, join our newsletter so you can be the first to know about upcoming events, where you can come and smell the wonderful smell of horses, and contemplate the life these animals have had, and would you be as kind, if you had endured a life like theirs? And is my life better for having made the decision to bring home Chilli and Natalia? I think my daily YouTube videos that mostly show Natalia bee-lining for me every single morning pretty much answers that question, she is the palomino wild mustang I had no idea I needed, and that now I never want to be without.


Thank you as always for your support of Aspen Park Vet Hospital and the ResqRanch, wishing that 2026 is a breakthrough year for you, and brings you nothing but blessings, easy decisions and good fortune!

Check out my YouTube channel for a daily "Good Morning!" from the rescues and lots of free tips and training resources. https://www.youtube.com/@the1drq

​​