My husband and kids and I moved onto a ranch where everyday I noticed a beautiful horse standing by a far gate by the road. He was very thin, dirty, and not well taken care of . Eventually I started to get out of the car and try to walk up to him, and he was very receptive, and very affectionate (if a little spooky). I knew that he belonged to the man who ran sheep and cattle on the land and after a while I started to ask about him.

"What is his name?" I asked.

"Well for know just call him Slim" was the reply.

I asked him what he was going to do with Slim and he said that he was "fattening him up."

As summer approached I noticed that Slim had no water up there and started to haul it from the house in big jugs. I did not ever realize that I was getting attached to him, I just knew that somebody needed to care for this horse or he would die. Eventually, I asked the man again what his plans were with Slim, and I found out that he was going to have him slaughtered. The reason? Because he was not fast enough to win a race, and he was a "cribber" and because of those two things he was "no good to anybody".

To say that I was shocked would be an understatement!

I asked him that if I could find someone to buy him for the slaughter price, would he change his mind and sell him to that person instead? He agreed.

That afternoon, I drove up and took a look at Slim; a different look. I looked at him as a five year old that was used to making money and then thrown away. I returned to the house and called several horse breeders in the phone book, but nobody wanted Slim; they either did not want to bother with him, or they already had too many horses, etc.

I realized that I was relieved, I wanted Slim, and I didn't even know it until that moment with the phone in my hand thinking of what a great horse he could be. I talked to my husband about it, who was not too surprised as I have nurtured everything from new hatched birds to bummer lambs, and he agreed to let me buy him.

I brought him close to the house, close to my sheep, and he loves it! He gets hay and grain and carrots, and all the attention he can stand. I had a farrier trim his feet and he was perfect. He stood so still and so regal; I was so proud of him.

Today I received his papers and found out that his real name is "Feeling Clever", but he will always be "Slim" to me.