The midland journal., 1945-06-22

Goose Bar ranch, ROD mclaughlin,
Nell, his young New England wife,
and the black mare, Gypsy. Rob
bought more mares and built up his
foundation stock. Then, one spring,
Gypsy disappeared.
The Mclaughlin ranch was not
the only one in that section OF
Wyoming from which a fine mare
disappeared. There began to be talk
of a white stallion, "a big ugly devil
but q lotta horse" who had for.
merly ranged the open land Of Mon
tana, had come across the border
during drought, and had gathered
a band of mares In the open land
of Wyoming, stealing from ranchers,
tearing down fences, fighting and
even killing other stations.
He reigned for six years. Thenea
number of ranchers banded to-
gether, held roundup, and caught
the Albino and his mares, finding
brands from all over the state on
the hides of the stolen mares.
Gypsy of the Goose Bar ranch
was there with four beautiful colts.
Rob Mclaughlin was delighted with
their looks and speed and outstand-
ing personalities, and took them
home with him, feeling that Gypsy's
philandering might contribute valu-
able qualities to his polo stock.
But he found it impossible to
break and train the colts. Even
though the FLIES were bred by Ban
ner, the Goose Bar stud, than whom
no horse could be more intelligent
or better hammered, yet the off
spring showed the outlaw strain.
He explained it to his boys. "Colts
learn from their mothers. They copy
them. That's why it's practically inn
possible to raise a good-tempered
colt from bad-tempered dam. The
colts are corrupted from birth. That
is the rule. There are, Of course, ex-
ceptions-we have some very strik-
ing exceptions among our own
horses. Here Is Gypsy, the best-mans
nered mare in the world-with
bunch of wild hoodlum colts-abso-
lutely unbres eskable. - sssEzas1ss9r+
"Is it because they were born and
brought up with that gang OF wild
horses?" asked Howard.
"It's because of the prepotency OF
the stallion" said Rob grimly. "His
wildness outweighs all her gentle
ness and that of her long line OF
aristocratic forbears. Some stall
| ion!"
But all Of this was an old story to
Howard and Ken. They had grown
up on the Goose Bar ranch, familiar
with talk and speculation about the
near-mythical parsonage, the AL
bino, and witnessing their fathers
struggles with the outlaw strain
which, through Gypsy, had been in
troduced into the breeding stock.
Ken's actual involvement in this
tangle was Of more recent date. On
a day little more than three years
ago he and Gus had been working
| in the meadow, and came upon a
newborn foal and its dam.
''Luk at de little ficka!" ex-
| claimed the Swedish ranch hand.
"What does flicka mean, Gus?"
asked Ken.
Swedish fur leetle gurl," ex-
planned Gus.
And when a year after that, Rob
| Mclaughlin told Ken he could have
| for his own any colt on the ranch up
to one year of age, Ken chose that
same little golden FLY and named
her Flicka.
Ficka was out Of Rocket by Ban
ner. And Rocket was, by common
consent, the widest Of the offspring
brought home by Gypsy from her
| sojourn with the Albino.
Rob Mclaughlin was exasper-
ated. 81 was hoping you'd make a
wise choice, son." he said. "You
know what think Of Rocket, Of
that whole line Of horses-it's the
worst I've got. There has never been
one amongst them with real sense.
The mares are hellions and the stall
lions outlaws. I'd have got rid Of
this whole line of stock If they
weren't SO damned fast that I've
had the fool idea that some day there
might turn out one gentle one in the
lot and I'd have a race horse. But
it's not going to be Flicka."
But Ken had fallen in love with
her and could not give her up.
That summer one nightmare dis
aster followed the other. Flicka, as
wild as her wicked black mother,
fought beyond all reason when she
was roped and brought in. When she
could escape no other way, she
made a suicidal leap into the high
barbed-wire fence, and there ensued
her long illness from the infected
wire-cuts, terminating in McLaugh-
Inns command that, next day, she
would be shot and put out Of her
misery. Ken spent that night with
her, sitting in the stream where
! she had fallen, holding her head in
his arms. Gus came looking for
them In the morning, and carried
Ken, helpless with cold and exhaus-
%;nv, ,,r IN the hoI1Se