Eclipse is a striking black and white paint gelding and has been part of the Riva’s team for over 15 years. I purchased him green-broke at the age of 5 and it didn’t take long after he arrived for him to express his very adventurous and mischievous character. And despite of, or maybe because of, his colourful personality and wild behaviours he and I knew that we would be together for a very long time.
Genetics can explain a lot and it turned out that Eclipse (DC Homers Lilstar) was the grandson of Casper. That meant nothing to me at the time, but sure does now. Casper, aka Dial Bar Hemp Moon, was Pat Parelli’s black stallion. Pat is known for the development of his Natural Horsemanship Program and is an acclaimed horseman. Now apparently Casper had quite the personality – he loved to play and was a real bucker when Pat first got him. Casper turned out to be quite the challenge even for Pat. One of the training issues was to keep him mentally connected - Casper’s habit was to stay connected, but only up to a certain point, at which time he would deliberately break the connection and run off.
Based on that description I can definitely tell you that my Eclipse, fondly called “Clipper”, is a blood relative to Casper. He was also prone to “breaking connection” - on a whim, and similar to Casper, he didn’t telegraph it either. One minute he was there and the next he was gone. Now, while this was made for a very interesting partnership when doing ground work, it was a tad dangerous when riding, made even more exciting by his speed (racing quarter horse) and his agility. Eclipse could and still can spin 360 degrees in a split second and accelerate a few hundred meters before you finish blinking. And to make these heart pounding experiences even more exhilarating anytime he saw something or someone behind him on the trail – real or imagined - he bolted like a dragster. Not surprisingly, I’ve left a few hats behind. I’ve now given up wearing hats so that only the hair on my neck is left behind. I’ve ridden on his neck a few times too – that trick-riding maneuver was usually launched when any of kind animal – deer, dog, coyote, bear, chipmunk, or a ground feeding woodpecker - crashed out of the bush behind us.
Oh yes, Eclipse is full of mischief.
One time when I left the Ranch for a couple of hours he decided to take Riva and Riva’s new baby (Riva’s Little Remedy, aka Sapphire) who was only two weeks old at the time out to jump some fences. Of course poor baby Sapphire sustained her first (and last) incident of scraped knees; she hadn’t even jumped a garden hose yet let alone a four foot fence into the arena. Luckily Eclipse knocked off the top rail first on his way over so she only had to jump two and a half feet instead of four. Imagine my surprise when I got home and saw Ma, Pa and the baby all standing in the arena with their tired heads bowed with the broken rails behind them. Sapphire would have felt safer with a drunken babysitter.
My horses are always spirited but Eclipse took it to the max. When he first moved to Riva’s Ranch he found a tiny corner on the lawn in the bushes where he could break some old fencing. Never one to travel alone he took the donkey, Bo, with him. By the time I found out they were gone, they were seen galloping down the road a good kilometer away. Lucky for me, Bo got nervous, stopped dead on the pavement and refused to go any further. He wanted to go home but couldn’t convince his renegade big brother to turn back. I caught up with them beside the country corner mailboxes, threw a rope around Eclipse’s neck, hoped the donkey would follow, and coaxed them both home. But not before several alarmed motorists stopped on the side of the road to gawk at this mini circus in disbelief.
Eclipse also liked to visit the neighbours –without calling first of course.
One day the herd of five was relaxing and grazing on the two acre lawn on a nice sunny day. When it was time to round up, Eclipse was nowhere to be seen – one minute he was there and the next he was gone. Apparently finding his way through some thick shrubs and wire fencing he abandoned all of his friends to follow the bush trail. So I put the rest of the horses away, called my Catahoula hound dog, grabbed a rope halter and headed off behind him on foot to try out my tracking skills. I found his tracks, left behind at a happy trot, and followed them for just under three kilometers. They led me right into the driveway of a neighbour’s Arabian horse boarding farm! An hour earlier, the stable owners, their young grandson and some boarders were visiting in the yard when all of a sudden a black and white paint charged up the driveway in a cloud of dust at a full gallop sending everyone scattering. Thankfully they managed to round him up in a spare paddock. I rode the wild steed home on the same trail bareback with a rope halter and the hound following behind. Crazy I know but he was oddly quiet and seemingly sheepish, having sown his oats earlier I suppose.
Eclipse has the wildest play drive I’ve ever seen – he plays running games with me, trots behind me through the trees, holds his own lead rope, begs for human food, jumps in the water trough every day year-around, plays in the kiddie pool in the summer, paws madly in the creek under saddle, and takes it upon himself to exercise the ponies by practicing his cutting skills, skills that he has never formally learned. He even cut the mares away from me one time at a full gallop when we are all out freely walking in a forested part of the field together. Clearly I was not yet up to his standards in my role as a herd member, leader, or even partner. The mares thought otherwise and returned within a few minutes to walk at my side, enjoying our free time together.
But aside from all these shenanigans Eclipse’s real mission was to come into my life and teach me about horses, and the human-horse relationship.
Together we learned about trust, bonding, and how far a horse will really go to cement a relationship with his human. We learned to trust one another, not through repeated training exercises or leader-follower drills, but simply by being together often. Aside from training and riding, we strolled together, explored together, and spent many a night under the moon. I conveyed to him an unspoken message of trust and friendship and the more I trusted him, the more he wanted to be trusted. He never wears a bit, can be ridden with or without headgear, and always tries his best…with a little mischief in between.
But truly, it is Eclipse’s spiritual warrior skills and his capacity for love and healing that makes him the horse that he is.
He has been my ultimate protector as he sponges any of my health problems, and takes the hit during times of emotional pain. He joins in on healing retreats, helps participants deepen their spiritual understanding, and attends fire ceremonies as a guardian and shaman. He prepares himself for these celebrations by powering his energy up beyond the imaginable by snorting, stomping, and repeatedly charging in short spurts until he feels ready to enter the healing circle with his colourful healing blanket worn across his back. These performances are viewed in awe by all those who have been fortunate enough to witness it. Beyond a doubt this horse knows what his real job is.
Eclipse’s grandfather Casper passed over on February 12th, 2017 at the age of 26. Eclipse is still going strong at the age of 20 and is sure to pound the lawn for many years to come. I love you Eclipse. Happy 20th!
