My favorite picture of Sancho.Especially when it comes to Sancho. Over the last 12 years I have often wondered why I bought him and, more importantly, why have I kept him. I got Sancho when he nearly 12 and I was his fifth (maybe sixth) owner.
Sancho was foaled on August 3, 1987 and registered under the name Intimador de NFC. His first recorded owner was Sandra Erwin, of National Family Care Life Insurance Company (Dallas, TX), on August 29, 1989. I question if Mrs Erwin was the breeder/owner of Sancho because while she is the first registered owner, why did it take over two years to finally register him? I had thought somewhere in all of Sancho's papers he was bred and foaled in Oklahoma, but now I can't find that bit of information.
Sancho's second registered owner was Hacienda Classico in New Orleans (LA) on May 16, 1990. It was there that Sancho saw the rise and fall of his breeding career:
- May 5, 1992, buckskin colt, Intochable de Classico
- April 5, 1993, chestnut colt, Blaze de Classico
- April 8, 1993, bay colt, Starlite de Classico
- April 11, 1993, gray filly, Diamante de Classico
- May 4, 1993, bay colt, Virtuoso de Classico
Sancho's fourth registered owner was Karen Williams in Liberty (TX) on October 31, 1997.
I met Sancho on June 5, 1999 and I purchased him on July 21, 1999. I have now owned him for more than half his life. From the beginning, it has never been easy. I don't recommend anyone buying a horse like I did with Sancho, it was crazy stupid. Nor do I ever recommend buying a horse in such a condition, it was crazy insane.
6/5/99-SANCHO-new horse arrived by van last night. No one was present when van dropped off horse, this AM he was found to have about 5" laceration RR (Right Rear) caudal (back of) pastern, also has other wounds on RR. (Little abrasions here and there, except for one; located on the front of the RR cannon bone, it looked like someone took an ice cream scooper and scooped all the way down to the bone. It was the size of a 50cent coin) Exam: horse quite painful, slightly dehydrated, non wt (weight) bearing RR. Romp/torb to clean wounds. Pastern wound is quite deep, excessive swelling makes it difficult to assess completely. Wound extends medially to inside of pastern. Gave TT, Pen IM. After cleaning wounds, wrapped RR pastern & lower limb w/biozide & epsom salts, owner (Marsha or Peggy) has already given 3gm (grams) of bute (horse asprin) PO. Rec: 2gm tomorrow & next day. Plan: recheck in 2 days & suture at that time. May have to anesthestize w/Ketamine. Dispense 100 SMZTMP, (horse penicillin) Rx: 10 BID, (10 pills three times a day) start tonight.
I was suppose to be there when the horses were dropped off. It was around 10pm when I called my boss and told her the horses still weren't there. She told me to leave that isle of lights on and a note instructing the haulers on where to put Sancho and Mariah, a Classic Fino mare we were also expecting. I had to work at my other job the next morning, got off around 2pm and went out to the barn. Jake was there and told me that I just missed the vet and to go check out the new gelding. From there I got the story: Louise was feeding that morning and noticed the new gelding standing in the far corner of his stall. At a closer look, she noticed blood and cuts on his back right so she went and called the barn manager to let her know. The BM (barn manager) came out and then called B (my boss) and the vet. The pastern wound was so deep that a man could easily fit two fingers inside the laceration. It was just millimeters from the artery in the leg; he would have bled to death. There was nothing in his stall to produce such cuts on him. A claim from B and the BM was that there was blood in the driveway and that the haulers must of had trouble and just left him that way. I never saw blood out there and the haulers denied leaving the horse in such a condition. Sancho was completely freaked, didn't want anyone near him. I remember standing outside the stall door looking at him when B approached me and said that she expected me to care for this horse back to health. I took the responsibility fully.
6/7/99-SANCHO-recheck wound RR, swelling has receded significantly, but does not appear to be amenable to suturing. (The skin just hung over his hoof, suturing was impossible because everytime he would flex and move the stitches would get ripped out. It had to heal from the inside out) Horse is slightly lame at a walk but is using foot normally. Flexor tendons appear to be functional. (We thought they had been damaged) Cleaned & re-bandaged leg, dispensed betadine scrub & biozide gel. Showed owner (B and myself) how to clean & wrap. Dispensed another 100 SMZTMP. Recheck next wk.
6/18/99-SANCHO-recheck RR, wound has granulated in (blood vessels that rise above the surface, also known as 'proud flesh'; reminds me of cauliflower *yuck*), horse walks favoring the leg. Rec: use trypzyme spray to control proud flesh & begin more exercise for physical therapy.
6/30/99-SANCHO-disp Trypzyme spray for wound, horse reportedly doing well.
Every single day I was there changing Sancho's bandages, hand walking him, grooming him, and loving on him to trust again. I even cleaned his stall, because no one else could do it like it needed to be - seriously. It stunk like no one can imagine. Since the injuries were so bad, Sancho couldn't be on sawdust (the small wood chips could bring on infection if they got into the wounds) so we kept him on straw. One day, I was called down to look at something in his stall and nearly got sick. The floor, which was clay, was almost a solid white -- from maggots!! I laid into people for doing such a lousy job on an injured horse's stall. That's when I took full control of Sancho, his care and rehab. I'd drive the 45 miles out to the vet's to pick up medicine for Sancho - medicine kept in my refrigerator at home, I called the vet weekly to give her updates on his condition, and when he needed new bandages, I went and bought them with my own money.
When potential buyers would come through the barn, B would always show them Sancho. He was well liked, but because of his injuries we didn't know if he'd ever be sound enough to ride again. So no one really showed enough interest in buying him. I had a few thousand dollars in my savings and kept telling myself that it was foolish to buy another horse. Then on July 21, 1999, B called me at the barn. Sancho's owner in Texas had called and wanted him sold or send back. B wanted to let me know and said she'd hate to see me lose him. I fell for it. Hook, line and sinker. I knew Sancho was originally $8,000, but we were going to sell him for $5,000, because of his injuries we had lowered the price to $3,000. For the next 15 minutes it was phone tag between the owner in Texas and B, and myself and B. Finally, B calls me and says, "What can you spend?" And off the top of my head I said, "$1,500." "OK, you just got yourself a horse," is all I heard her say. I didn't know what to say, I didn't even think before I said it, and my parents knew nothing. The next day, B was going on vacation and told me I could just deposit the money into her account, she gave the number and everything and I did it. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I got had.
Sancho, Paso Fino, geld, DOB 1994
Kelly bought Sancho from B.
8/6/99-SANCHO-rechec wound RR paster, still carries some swelling even though Kelly keeps it wrapped. May always be thick due to where injury is. Wound still healing, looks good, no proud flesh. Rec: continue granulex spray, keep leg open when Sancho is turned out but bandage if in stall.
I had Sancho a full month before my parents found out and they wanted to kill me. Once again B was on vacation and out of touch for me. Louise was feeding that Saturday morning and called me at 8am. She told me to sit down and said, "A lady just called here. Her name is Karen. She claims that she is Sancho's owner and is going to be sending a van to pick him up. I told her about you, how you bought him from B and how you've been nursing him back to health...she didn't even know that he was injured. She's going to be calling you, I gave her your number so that you two can talk."
About an hour later, Karen called me and it was all true. I was heart broken. B had lied to me about everything. Sancho wasn't a 5year old gelding, he was a 12year old gelding, Karen knew nothing about Sancho being in a trailer accident and didn't OK his sale price to be so low. We talked several times that day. Then Karen surprised me when she said that she didn't really want him back, they never clicked and she was afraid to ride him. By this time, I've only ridden Sancho once or twice and it was only for a few minutes. It was on this day that I had to come clean about my buying Sancho to my parents and everything started to fall apart.
I started getting phone calls from perfect strangers claiming they owned this horse or that horse and how B had scammed them. Then one night it hit me. I was so stressed and tired, and I remembered what B told me: That every horse that comes into her barn, she places insurance on them - just in case something happens. A way to compensate the owners if you will. The haulers denied Sancho had been injured in their care, Louise found Sancho that way, B and the BM claimed there were pools of blood in the driveway that morning, and Karen knew nothing. What if Sancho was worth more dead to B than alive? Would she really injure a horse in the hopes of it dying to collect on the money? I was hearing so many stories, saw so many things while working there, heard B say things, and we had owners coming in the middle of the night to take back their horses. Adding all of this up told me that something wasn't right and I was in way over my head. It would have been the perfect alibi for B to move Sancho, re-sell him and accuse Karen of stealing him back, all the while leaving me with a knife in my back.
I needed a change and I needed an out. Driving home one night, an ad was on the radio for a local community college and their open registration for the next day. I thought about it all night and the next morning, then I decided I was going. I picked up enough classes that it made it hard for me to be at the barn so much. I was slowly dissocializing myself from everyone. B knew something was up and her checks started bouncing. At the same time, I was working on my parents to move Sancho home. Since B's checks were bouncing it helped me convince my parents that I needed to get out of that barn and get Sancho home. On September 26, 1999, Louise did me a favor and hauled Sancho home for me. I was free (for a little while at least) from B and her lies, and I had Sancho safely home.
Karen claimed that she never got her money from B and B's stories kept changing. I understood when Karen told me that she wouldn't sign Sancho over to me and never argued it or seeked legal help in obtaining his papers. There was so much fighting going on and lawyers involved, then on top of that the FBI calling me, I was just happy I got out and still had Sancho. At one point, B even called me and gave me 'friendly' advice, "Don't get involved by talking to these people, if I go down you're going down with me..." But her and the BM didn't stop there, they bad mouthed me all over the area. I just disappeared and waited it all out. Quickly they both lost credibility. B was run out of the area, and has been bad mouthed all over the horse community, and thanks to the digital age: the internet. Honestly, I have no bad feelings towards her, I just wish things hadn't turned as nasty as they did.
On August 3, 2001, Sancho's 14th birthday, I got a phone call. Karen was signing and sending Sancho's papers to me and all I had to do was sign them and send them in to the PFHA. Sancho was mine, all mine - finally!
Today, Sancho is a happy guy. He's my Boi. My big (albeit, little) tough gelding that thinks he's all that, but scoots with his tail between his legs when you yell at him. Not once in the last 12 years has he been lame on that leg and not once have I had any other problems with that leg. As a matter of fact, you have to look closely to see anything. It looks virtually normal. He walks into a trailer fine and hauls comfortably. Everything that he shouldn't be able to do, he does. Off and on through the years, he has been for sale; and each time I deliberately placed the asking price too high.
.....
As I was thinking about writing this entry I tried to conjure up any emotion and I have none that just jumps out. There is pride, joy, love, admiration, sadness; Sancho came into my life at such a crucial turning point. There's also frustration. Sancho is not easy to get along with and I often joke (kinda) that I understand why he was sold so much, he's just plain difficult. I can't remember all the times I got angry phones calls because Sancho couldn't be caught and brought in from the pasture. Or how many times and DAYS that he lived outdoors because he couldn't be caught...okay, I think he eclipsed 30 days at one time. By then I wasn't trying, I didn't care and then he suddenly did care...but I still didn't care and he continued to live outside. But in the end, he has constantly redeemed himself as my "go-to" horse.
After my riding accident and I wanted to start riding again, it was Sancho who helped me heal. When I wanted to experience parade riding, I took Sancho - who always loves a crowd, the larger the better.When I wanted to get back out there going to shows and clinics, Sancho was perfect the horse. Challenging Sancho with dressage, found he loved it and he quickly moved up schooling second/third level movements. He can perform a shoulder-fore, shoulder-in, leg-yield, half-pass, walking pirouette, turn on the haunches, haunches-in, etc., best of all he performs them correctly.
While dressage may seem crazy to some and fun to others, my personal favorite was hitting the trails. Over a five year period, Sancho and I racked up nearly a 1,000 miles. I taught him to jump up to 3', over ditches, and up and down banks. He is road safe, ATV safe, bike-roller blade-skate board safe, barking-chasing dog sane, and it took some work (okay a LOT of work) but Sancho crosses water, too. It doesn't even matter where Sancho is in the group, he can lead, bring up the rear or be somewhere in the middle - its all the same to him. Best of all six, seven or eight hours later I'm not sore like other members of our group. ;)
So yes, I bought Sancho on a whim.
Yes, I have had him for sale numerous times over the years.
And yes, he does frustrate me like no one other.
But much like how I think Dino and I were meant to find each other, with the passing of time I think the same of Sancho and myself. And in the end, this is his home, his forever home and I can't imagine not having him now. He's a part of my life and I'd like to think I'm apart of his.
Slippery Elm Trail, Sancho's and mine's favorite place to ride. It's paved the entire way, allowing me to lose myself to the music created by Sancho's hooves. 
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