Of Longhorns and Mustangs

"...the law of the wild that the Longhorn blood coursed to fulfill...(114)"

IMAGE SOURCE: practicalethics.net

I actually had had a very difficult time deciding to come to UT. It had simply never been one of my top choices, and one of the reasons was that I couldn't identify with the idea of the Longhorn as a mascot. It had nothing to do with me, and I had nothing in common with it.

I'm certainly happier than I can express in words that I chose to come to UT, and happy to be proven completely wrong about the Longhorn. I was thinking from ignorance about an animal that I now realize I had misunderstood. I had envisioned a bulky, lazy animal, but the reading THE LONGHORNS has shown me that the truth is the complete and utter opposite. It is actually the above quote, "the law of the wild that the Longhorn blood coursed to fulfill" (114) that resonated with me the most from this selection. I fell in love with the story of Table Cloth, and found myself cheering for him to search for freedom against all odds. Once he had tasted the wild, there was no going back for him. He wanted freedom, and he was going to fight for it. "He was full of the pride and energy of life" (116). Nothing would stop him, despite fifteen years of escaping the whole Shoe Sole outfit. Even the cowboys who had been so intent on capturing him now celebrated his liberty and refused to infringe upon his well-deserved life.

I found this absolute need for freedom remarkably breathtaking. I believe in the importance of choices, and the ability to make your own path in the world, to celebrate your own uniqueness without a care as to the negative thoughts of others, and the liberating feeling of marching to the beat of your own drum. I found, through Table Cloth, that this animal has the same beliefs - and that set in motion a subtle yet significant shift in my mind - I started thinking of the Longhorn as an actual animal, with thoughts and feelings and instincts similar to our own. It came off of the paper as just a symbol, a mascot, a picture, and became a being.

For some reason, I had never had trouble thinking of horses in that way, however. Especially after watching the movie "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" as a child (and becoming more than slightly obsessed), I fell in love with the beauty of the mustang. I devoured books such as Black Beauty, National Velvet, and Seabiscuit. I learned how to draw a horse from the tutorial on the Special Features section of the Spirit DVD, and grew to appreciate the complex beauty and grace of their bodies. Trust me, horses are remarkably difficult to draw - and one of my greatest passions is drawing! I rode a horse a couple of times through Girl Scouts, at camp. Interestingly, I always ended up with the same horse - the black one named Beauty, with a reputation for being cranky and stubborn and walking away from the line of other horses in order to find some delectable grass to chow. Despite the frustration I felt at first with her, I soon came to realize that she herself was marching to the beat of HER own drum - she was not content with merely following others for the sake of following. She was intent upon following her own destiny... and it usually involved dinner.

 Therefore, reading MUSTANGS was a nice trip back to childhood for me.

 

"I remember wild Spanish horses running over a level in Nuevo Leon, the light of the morning sun on their streaking bodies." (131)

IMAGE SOURCE: all-natural-horse-care.com

There were several powerful quotes in this section as well. Like Table Cloth, the mustang is an incredible symbol of liberty. "The true conceiver must be a true lover of freedom - a person who yearns to extend freedom to all life" (110). It is such a beautiful sight to see  mustangs giving full rein to their inner child and galloping forth as fast as they want - the sight is used as scenes in movies and in books, and there is no shortage of horses in everyday culture, as mascots for high schools and sports teams, and they are prevalent in artwork. I think a lot of this is because there is something majestic and inherently wild about the horse that really strikes a chord with people on a very basic level. You can never fully, truly break its spirit - "The look of a caged eagle [is] still in his eyes." (131) A reined and domesticated horse is not quite the same as a wild mustang, but there is always a spark of life and of the wild in its heart.

I think what I've truly learned from this reading is that every animal has a very unique ability to touch the heart of a human, whether through its story or through its innate personality. Although I've formed ideas based on a complete lack of knowledge, I know that its much wiser to learn more about something first. The Longhorn especially.