February 27, there was a posting on Craigslist for a little buckskin miniature stallion. The pictures were absolutely gorgeous and he is fine boned and resembles an Arab horse instead of the pony looking miniatures that own me. I read the ad and it bothered me that the listing said this horse was not a year old yet but that for some reason, his back legs had gone crooked. But my Dad's saying came popping up in my head, "you can't save them all". I must have visited Craigslist 2 or 3 times a day. The picture of this beautiful horse kept bothering me. Finally, I showed Ed the picture and he wouldn't even look at it. I tried to get him to look at the picture for 3 weeks and he would have no part of it. "We do not need another horse." "Why are you looking at more horses?" I told him that this horse was calling me. I know that sounds strange but for anyone who truly knows me, it isn't. I couldn't get this little guy out of my head. I would wake out of my naps(haven't truly slept in years) thinking about this horse. Finally on March 9th, I told Ed that I had contacted the woman and I was going out to see this horse. My Mom was going with me and he was more than welcome to join me. I got the hairy eyeball but he begrudgingly decided to join me. This way, he could say no to someone else! Yeah, right. So we drive out to the little village of Dundee and I passed the place because I said they couldn't possibly have horses in the village like this but guess what? There was a place with a whole bunch of fuzz balls right in the village. Looked like it was about an acre lot with only half of it fenced off for horses. 16 horses. Yes, miniatures but still not enough room for them. At all. I get out of the car and was talking to the owner of the property and Ed took off to look at the horses. He came running back like a little kid in a toy store and told me that I had to come look at this little guy. He loved the color and he's so cute and if he had a choice he would want that one....on and on he went. The woman walked over with a halter and leadrope and fetched the horse that I had come to see. The exact horse that Ed had just picked out because he wanted to take him home. Remember that Ed wouldn't look at his pictures so it's not like he knew which one to pick out. And considering this little guy no longer LOOKS like his pictures, this is another one of those God winks that happens to me all the time. I go in the paddock to see him and start asking a few questions because it doesn't really matter to me what she tells me about this horse, he needs to come home with me. No if's and's or but's. She had 5 stallions on the property. 16 horses with 5 stallions. 2 young stallions. Ranger was one of them. She had Ranger, this little guy that resembled a marshmallow and a very pregnant mare in a paddock that was 11 X 14 with an 8 X 8 run in shed in the middle of it. I couldn't find a salt block anywhere. She told me that she had put a brown block in there but they ate it in 3 or 4 days and they cost $3.00. Then she told me that she can't afford that for all of them. This was after she had the vet out to see why Ranger's legs had gone crooked. She said the vet told her that it was due to malnutrition after he was weened. Well, of course it was. He was weened in October when he was put on a horse trailer to make the trip from Texas to Dundee. Yes, he's a Texan. He whinnies with an accent. And when he got to her place, she gave him hay. In a small paddock. With 2 other horses. The vet told her what to feed him and so she had started giving him some grain and vitamins but he had gone from October to March with minimal nutrition for a growing boy. His hocks were touching, his front legs turn out so that when I walk up next to him to love him up, I step on his hooves. He was walking on his back ankles. I bought him and we told her that we were going to pick him up the next day and we would be using my pickup truck. We went back the next day, picked him up(literally), put him in the back of my truck and Ed rode all the way home with him. 2 days later, he was no longer walking on his ankles. 3 weeks later, he's running, his legs are straightening and when my most awesomest hoof groom gets over here to trim his feets, hopefully, he will be moving like a gorgeous horse again. He has about 4 inches of fur that is going to be taken off this week because I know what I'm feeling underneath all that hair but I need to see it. I feel a backbone, hips, shoulders and ribs. He's so little, I couldn't find a blanket that would fit him so I found a dog blanket that fits just fine. He removes his buckets from the wall. Including his water bucket. He's itching for some companionship but he needs to be gelded first. Another eye roller for the woman I bought him from. She asked. I told. We do not need any more horses on this planet. We do not need to send any more of our beautiful horses overseas to be consumed for the wealthy. And I do not need to have him jumping fences to get my mares or vice versa. So as soon as the nuggets show up, OFF!! And then he can go out with my motley crew and become a horse. So this is Night Ranger. When he got out of my truck and we walked him into the barn and put him in a 9.5 X 9.5 stall, he let out the biggest sigh I have ever heard from a horse. Put his head into his bucket, finished the 6 kernels of grain I had put in there for him and looked at me with gratefulness in his eyes. I'll do the best I can for you big guy!!