Hay is for Horses : ``Oklahoma ranch receives generous gift.
Posted on Saturday, August 9, 2008
LITTLE FLOCK - When Ginger Treece watched the 2004 movie "Hidalgo," she fell in love with the story of Frank Hopkins and his intrepid mustang named Hidalgo. As she read the credits at the end of the movie, Treece became inspired.
Learning that the wild mustang population in the U. S. was dwindling and that some horsemen in Oklahoma, like Bryant Rickman in Soper, were responsible for increasing the herd's numbers, Treece decided she should do something to help. Soper is in southeastern Oklahoma near the Texas border, just outside Hugo on U. S. Highway 70.
Sitting in Treece's barn were more than 100 round bales of high-quality Bermuda hay that she and her mother, Patricia Wagoner, were selling. Treece had previously given 30 bales to Clearcreek Rescue in Huntsville for its horses, and she knew giving the remaining hay to the mustangs in Oklahoma was the right thing to do.
"I saw the movie'Hidalgo, ' and at the end, it tells about these ponies," Treece said. "This is the same line that Hidalgo is supposed to be from."
"My mom and I were coming back from Texas after we had seen the movie, and we decided to try to find Black Jack Mountain and see the horses. We never did find the horses, but we did decide we could do our part to help feed them."
Finding the right person to give the hay to was not as easy as Treece thought it would be. The process has taken Treece more than two months to get everything done, making phone calls to people all over the country along the way.
Treece's 114 bales of hay will help feed more than 400 wild mustangs that live at the Rickman Spanish Mustang Ranch in Soper, Okla.
"I am really excited about getting the hay, but I was really excited more about someone being willing to do such a nice gesture," said Rickman, who owns the ranch.
Rickman was especially happy to hear about Treece's gift because in February he lost the lease on the horses' million-acre grazing grounds and had to begin rounding up the mustangs to be moved onto Rickman's own 300 acres and an additional 750 acres he is leasing specifically for the mustangs.
With the loss of grazing ground, the mustangs are now more reliant on the food Rickman puts out for them - 1, 000 pounds of grain and five to six round bales of hay each day.
Treece's hay will help feed the horses, and because it is a high-quality hay, Rickman may be able to cut back on the grain.
"It is just nice to be able to have the chance to do something nice," Treece said of the gift of hay she and her mother are giving to the ranch. She and her mother usually sell the round bales for $ 55 per bale.
"This was an awesome way to get (the hay ) to somebody and do some good," Treece said.
Treece has been passionate about horses since her mother gave Treece her first one when she was only 9 years old.
"I have always had horses, and once you have them, you have an attachment to them. You notice the ones you see going down the road. You notice it when you do not see them," Treece said. "Something just comes over you when you get on one."
"My mom would probably have a full field of them if she had a chance," Treece said.
Today, Treece and her mother are patiently awaiting the arrival of an 18-wheeler at their horse farm in Little Flock to pick up the donated hay. From there, the women plan to follow the hay to the Rickman Spanish Mustang Ranch to visit the mustangs that will benefit from the gift.
Anyone interested in adopting a mustang from Rickman should visit www. rickmanspanishmustangs. com for more details. Rickman is hoping to adopt 300 of the horses.
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