Mayito Carbon Copy
The morning
sun shines softly over Clinton, Missouri, USA.
Bernice McClellan drives the eight miles from her farm to the pasture
where her three dreamy stallions are grazing. The stallions are in a leased
pasture that can be seen and accessed from the main road. Everyday Bernice
feeds the stallions first. After feeding her stallions, she then feeds her herd
of mares located another three miles off the main road. Finally, Bernice
travels home to care for her geldings and yearlings. But today Bernice’s
routine would be forever interrupted.
It is
early afternoon on September 17, 2010.
Bernice is driving to collect Mayito Carbon Copy, her beautiful Paso
Fino stallion, to breed a ready mare.
Upon arriving at Mayito’s pasture, she is stunned to find that he is
missing! Bernice’s world is instantly changed. She says, “I have a small place,
five acres divided into three sections. I had all the stallions in one pasture.
Mayito, my beautiful 16 year old black and white Paso Fino stallion; Dream Weaver
de Holandes, a 10 year old Dunalino Paso Fino stallion; and SV’S Shadowfax, a 4
year old Perlino Paso Fino. The pasture is right on US Highway 7, so the horses
were able to be seen from anyone passing by.”
Mayito
was stolen in the middle of the night. Whoever stole Mayito probably did not
know he was a stallion. The perpetrator
would have been attracted to Mayito’s flashy black and white markings, flowing
mane and spirited disposition. The thief may have been contemplating taking all
three stallions, but approaching and catching a stallion in the dark would have
been tricky. Bernice says, “Most people don’t keep a bunch of stallions
together in one pasture. Since there
were no mares around, the stallions all got along great. All of my horses are
easy to catch and love people. If you catch one and the others come up too, the
one caught feels trapped. So, I think
when the thief caught Mayito, Dreamer and Shadowfax came up as well, and Mayito
squealed. It scared the thief and he just took Mayito and got out of
there. He probably discovered that
Mayito was a stallion afterwards, and I don’t think they realized that he was
16 years old. I think the thief was looking to make a quick buck.”
Bernice
immediately called local authorities and filed a report with her local
Sheriff. She explains, “I made flyers
and had my son and his friends hang them anywhere they could, in all the
surrounding towns. I sent out emails to all my friends who told me to contact
NetPosse.” NetPosse is a group of
dedicated volunteers who maintain a website and network to help find lost,
missing or stolen horses. Early on, Mayito was spotted on nearby trails by
other riders. Over time, sightings have been reported less and less. The last sighting of Mayito was on September
19, 2010. Mayito had been seen on the
Lead Mine Trails, about 20 minutes from Lebanon, Missouri. Riders alerted
Bernice to the sighting, but it was another dead end.
After
months and years of searching, Bernice has not been able to locate Mayito. Bernice
explains, “When Mayito was stolen from me, it devastated my life. Before he was stolen, I had 26 head of
horses. I have gone from owning and breeding a wonderful breed of horse,
something I loved doing, to selling all but just a few so I can keep them close
to me. I weighed 117 pounds when they stole my boy, within three weeks I had
dropped to 96 pounds. I could not eat or sleep.
I lived and breathed finding my boy.”
Bernice
has a lot of horse history. She has been
a horse-lover all of her life. Bernice
says, “I have been riding horses since I was a little girl; my first pony at
the age of six. My sister and I would
ride from sunup to sundown. We lived on
our horses. We rode bareback because it
took too long to throw on a saddle. We
would take lunch with us and head out into the woods, riding all day. Even if
it was raining we would lead the horses into the barn and play with them all
day, or until it quit raining. After
school I moved away, didn't have horses again until I moved back close to home
in 1996. We had Quarter Horses at the
time and my daughter joined the MoKan Youth Rodeo. I began training horses for friends. In 2002 I worked a horse for my friend
Joe. You could not touch the horse’s
head or the horse would strike at you.
Within two weeks I had the horse loving to be touched and he rode like a
dream. That was my first experience with
Paso Finos. After that, I decided that
was the breed for me. I sold or traded
most of my Quarter Horses for Paso Finos. I’ve been breeding and raising Paso Finos
ever since.”
Mayito
was Bernice’s most loved stallion. She
says, “Mayito was very well-mannered. He
had sired several foals, giving them his long, luxurious mane and forelock, his
outstanding disposition and his wonderful Paso Fino gait. He was not homozygous for pinto; only if
breed to the right mare. He would take
your breath away watching him. He would
arch his neck and hold his head up high.
His front legs came up so that you thought they were going to hit his
chin. He had a majestic presence about
him, yet he was very sweet to handle and loved being groomed. He was my dream
horse.”
Today,
Bernice helps others find their lost, missing or stolen horses. She works
diligently with NetPosse in teaching others how to protect their family horses
from being stolen. Bernice says, “Most
of the people I talk too have no clue that horse theft is such a big deal. A
thief doesn't just steal a horse; they steal a part of us, a member of our
family. There is not one day that goes
by that I don’t run to the computer to see if I have an email from someone who
might know where Mayito is. I know as time goes on its less likely I’ll find
Mayito. He is 18 years old now. They say things happen for a reason. Maybe mine is to help other victims. Maybe it is to get the word out about horse
theft. They say hope can be paralyzing.
I am here to tell you it IS paralyzing. I will never give up my
search. I long for the day I can wrap my
arms around his neck and run my fingers through his long mane…and never let him
go.”
If you
have any information on Mayito,
please contact Bernice via the following:
© Gina
McKnight is a freelance writer from USA.10/15/12 http://www.gmcknight.com
Archived Article.
Original publication Going Gaited Zine (c) 2012 gmcknight
All rights reserved.
1 comment:
I have his daughter Contessa de la Fortuno i can’t believe you still have not found him.
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