Brego is the kind of horse who loves people and is loved in return. He is always a barn favorite and everyone takes time to develop a special relationship with the big boy. Just today I was stuffing a hay bag, and a very young girl at the barn walked by singing "Ol MacDonald" but instead of singing "B-I-N-G-O", she sang "B-R-E-G-O". I laughed and taught her my special song for The Brego:
He's Big and Handsome and Handsome and Big
He's a little bit brown and he's also a pig
His mane was so long, we made a wig
'Cause he's Big and Handsome and Handsome and Big
Pretty catchy, eh?
Anyway, Brego not only inspires song and verse, but he has many nicknames. The usual derivatives of his name, of course: Breg, Bregster, The Brego, Big, Big and Handsome. As an amusing aside, I did actually notice that Brego responds to the word "Handsome" as much as he responds to his name. That is, he swings around and immediately opens his lips for a cookie. I think he knows he's loved.
Brego has acquired two more names that require a bit of explanation.
Back in Austin, we used to drive by this dive of a Mexican restaurant every day on the way to and from the barn. It got pretty good reviews in the local paper, but for some reason we never stopped. It was called El Borrego de Oro, which I think is loosely translated as The Golden Sheep or The Golden Lamb. It didn't take took long for someone to start calling my horse El Brego de Oro, which means, of course, The Golden Brego. Although it's a long nickname, it must roll off the tongue, because it makes the rounds quite often.
The final nickname was penned by my sister when she first saw Brego. She remarked that he was the "International Horse of Mystery". Sometimes, when he is standing tied, half asleep, with his lower lip swinging in the summer breeze, I don't see much mystery going on. But then sometimes, when we are really clicking and he's soaring over fences, I can start to feel a little intrigue, a little curiosity, a little... dare I say? Mystery?
At least I can say, "Yea, baby!"
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