Our Extravagant God

We awoke to a frosty morning.  A quick look outside, and we saw the older bachelor band still grazing below us.  With binoculars, David found that the main herd had returned from behind the mesa, however, they were still a hike off the main road.  This would be our last morning in the Davis Mountains.  I only hoped that we could capture at least a few more shots of the herd before we turned south.

I had named the older stallion band "the boys."  They seemed seasoned enough not to bolt at the sound of dirt bikes or ATVs, however, whenever they interacted with the main herd, they were instigators.  They were also totally unimpressed with me and would just as soon turn their behinds to my camera rather than smile and pose... typical incorrigible bad boys.

I managed to take a few shots with them after we broke camp and headed to the main road.  But the light was wrong, and they were most uncooperative.

David and I decided to try to see how far off the road the main herd had moved.  They appeared to have drifted quite substantially over the past hour while we broke camp.  To our utter amazement, we discovered that they were heading to their watering hole, which was only 30-40 yards off the main road.

I choked with emotion.  David and I agreed... this was nothing short of God's generosity. He didn't have to do this... what a beautiful parting gift.

For the next three hours, David and I watched the Davis Mountain herd of wild horses at their watering hole.  We saw two young colts sparing.  The bay colt was relentless in chasing the young black.  The bay chomped the black's tail as they circled and romped.  They were, obviously, practicing to be big boys.  While I shot stills, David took some amazing (albeit fuzzy videos... we have got to get him a better camcorder rather than our little  Powershot!!!).  I must admit that after watching the bay colt harangue the black for so long, it was very satisfying to see the black give the bay his due!

As we watched the colts, "the boys"... the older stallion band... meandered in to join us.  Immediately, the dynamics changed throughout the herd.  All of the stallions began to gather together, each wary of the other.  Our white stallion seemed to be the greatest challenger of them all.

The stallions seemed to have pre-fight rituals.  They would arch their necks, press foreheads together, and paw the ground... sort of like a Samuari wrestler's stomping ceremony.  Here's a video that David took of their interactions.  It was obvious that our young colts were practicing for future encounters.

Over those three hours, we watched the horses interact with one another.  Some of their behavior was easy to understand.  Others, no.  For some unknown reason, one of the stallions was being shunned by the entire herd.  Every time that he tried to re-enter the family circle, one or more of the other horses would drive him back out. 

Shunned

We watched horses taking dust baths, drinking, playing, mating, and jousting.

The stallion fights were the most amazing... and there were plenty of them.

As this amazing wild horse herd began to move and graze beyond the watering hole, we felt as if we were among the most privileged on the planet.  I had only hoped for a few more shots of the herd.  God in His infinite generosity gave us this wonderful gift.  I only pray that He is pleased that you, too, are able to share this experience with us.  As we left, we couldn't help but sing, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow.  Praise Him all creatures here below.  Praise Him above ye heavenly host.  Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."

"This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you.  He gives you something you can give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God...."  2 Corinthians 9:10-14