Give Lorenzo a raise!…read more
My wife and I were vacationing with friends in Santa Fe who have family in NM and had been on these rides a few times before. My wife is a former show rider, so we all made the drive down for an evening ride. I was put on Hollywood, who is a good boy, despite his headstrong nature. With us were a family visiting from London: Mum, Dad, and two sons aged 10 and 7. Our guide was leading us, and Lorenzo the wrangler was bringing up the rear. The ride itself was beautiful, and relatively calm, if a little boring- there wasn't much commentary, and we didn't get to go up and see any petroglyphs, which I was told would happen, although I wasn't the one who booked it or looked into things beforehand. Part of this may have been due to the fact that the older child's horse, Johnny Cash, was going very slowly, so only myself and my friend were up with the guide while the rest of the party was a ways behind with Lorenzo.
We were about 2/3 of the way through and on the loop back when Johnny Cash started actively ailing, and twice tried to lie down with the older kid still riding. The kid was fine, as everyone was paying good attention, and he jumped off like they told him to with no problem. The first time he got back up on the horse, but the second time we stopped and decided that Johnny Cash was in no shape to continue. Our guide was understandably distressed, and was trying to coordinate pickup from the ranch while keeping the rest of us steady and safe. The stopping and Johnny Cash's distress also started getting to our horses; Hollywood was especially ornery, and our guide wisely instructed me to dismount, and my wife later had to get off hers as well due to its attitude. Eventually reinforcements arrived and were able to cart us back to the ranch, and they didn't charge us, although we all made donations.
Cash's distress was the most upsetting part, which wasn't anybody's fault, but he did start trying to drop and roll, which could have quickly caused fatal intestinal torque. It was at this point that Lorenzo leapt into action with a calm professionalism that a U.S. Marine under fire could only dream of. He rigorously kept Cash walking for most of the time to clear his intestinal blockage, and when the horse tried to roll, Lorenzo kept him in check. Lorenzo's own horse, Malibu, cantered off a short distance during the ruckus, but he kept his calm and eventually retrieved her when he was done. All the while night was falling, coyotes started howling in the distance, and he fielded constant questions and comments from the kids with an easygoing charm that never dropped. At one point he was calmly leading two or three of the ornery horses. I hope Johnny Cash is okay, but at least I know that he walked back to the stable on his own four hooves, and we have Lorenzo to thank for that.
