Day Four - continued
Anne recalls some of the special times she had
with Lynndon. With tongue in cheek, she said that there were three things that
she didn’t ever want to own in her life and that was a Cadillac, a mink coat and
a park horse. Lynndon was destined to be a pleasure Morgan, or so Anne had hoped
for. Anne decided to send him to a trainer with the implicit instructions to
give her a nice pleasure horse as he seemed so placid. But as is so often the
case in life, we can’t always have or get what we want. A day or two later, Anne
received a phone call from the trainer informing her that she had a natural born
park horse stallion on her hands. To make a long story short, MM Lynndon went on
to be World Champion. In hindsight, I think Lynndon was trying to tell them
something by his antics when he hit the ring. They were just not listening very
well.
After attaining this pinnacle in his show career, Lynndon came home to Wyoming and the Mears Ranch. In keeping with Anne’s character, she wanted Lynndon to have a normal life out of the spotlight. She tells us that she took a lot of criticism from professional trainers and the like when she allowed Lynndon to play with cows and have a new career more in common with his surroundings. She was determined that Lynndon would not live in a glass bubble after his crowning success in the show arena. So this world champion park horse was now a reining horse. In true Morgan style, the versatile Lynndon made the transition well and worked cattle as good, or better than his Quarter counterparts. The only minor adjustment that the roper had to make was to swing high enough to clear Lynndon’s ears; a problem posed by his natural high head carriage.
Lynndon
was happy with his new found lifestyle as cow pony and was gentle enough for
children to ride on his off days. At age 16 while coming off a mare he was
breeding, Lynndon collapsed and died. An aneurysm had claimed this versatile
horse too soon before his time. Ironically, the mare settled.
Anne’s final comments about Lynndon were profound. As she sees it, "you may own a good horse, but you are very lucky to own a great one". Lynndon was her great one!
With the tire changed and Raker back in his rolling box stall, we bid farewell to Anne and Mears Morgans.
Back on the road, the landscape continues to impress us. Just like in the old western movies, the almost desert like terrain continues on an endless trek of sage and scrub, dotting the ridges of imposing rock. It is so difficult to even contemplate how settlers making their way west ever navigated this territory. And what a life it must have been for the native Indians who once claimed this land as home. A road sign pops up as we travel through this state announcing the great Continental Divide. More signs announce the past residents of outlaws such as Butch Cassidy and others. The road stretches out before us, beckoning us further west as Big Blue purrs with a steady monotonous groan heading towards our final destination in Utah.
The red mountains with their white peaks rise up in a grand and silent welcome to Utah and Salt Lake City. The phone rings at the Edgington residence. We are about ten minutes away from our rendezvous. Young Scott answers the call and excitedly asks the inevitable question, "Is this Cathy?" He tries to guide us with more detailed instructions, but his verbal road map is not clear. Dad walks into the house and takes over the call and we decide to meet in a shopping mall. After brief hellos, we continue on to Raker’s new home at Jerry’s brother’s place.
The ramp is lowered for the last time and Raker is finally home. No more long hours bouncing in the trailer. No more startling blasts from air brakes or pungent smell of diesel at truck stops. This is the end of the long trail of pavement. Raker has travelled more than 2,200 miles in four days. Tonight he will spend his first night corralled next to his new companion; a registered paint mare named Cheyenne.