 | CAESAR'S STORY By Rhonda Serr 2003 Western States Wild Horse & Burro Expo Poster Girl I stood in the alley of the rodeo arena nervously waiting for my turn. I would be the last to try out, and it was getting hard to keep my nerves from eating me inside out. Marie was a long-time Reno Rodeo flag team member, an admirable horsewoman, and someone I held in high regards. Her words were still ringing in my ears. "Ride him proud, Rhonda. Don’t you ever be ashamed of that brand on his neck. You’ve worked hard over the years and you should be proud because everything you have done to get where you are now you did yourself. Ride your mustang proud." | |
| The results of those tryouts would be a large step for Caesar, and for mustangs, for that matter. | ||
 | Caesar had a rough start, to say the least. In 1991, Nevada was in yet another year of drought, although this year was even worse. A News story caught my mother’s attention one Spring evening. It said that some parts of Nevada were so dry that water was scarce. |  |
| The wild horses were beginning to foal but the mares were abandoning their babies because with little or no water, they could no longer produce milk. The BLM was rounding up the orphaned colts, and were bringing a few hundred of these orphans into Reno. They were asking people to foster and/or adopt these few-week-old horses. | ||
 | With summer just around the corner, my mom thought fostering would be a fun project for our family to take on. We ended up bringing home two colts, though Caesar was extra special from the beginning. Standing among several other sorrel colts, Caesar stood out. He had a unique blaze shaped like an apostrophe, and his fear was so apparent you could see the white in his eyes, despite the fatigue he endured. His face, so full of expression, landed him in his new home. Caesar took longer than the other colt to come around, but expressed a great deal of intelligence. | |
 | Although my dad was the skeptic to the whole idea from the beginning, he and Caesar made a special bond very early. We spent a great deal of time with the colts over the passing months. Although our original intention was to foster the pair for the summer, we could not face giving them up, and adopted them that August. | |
| We spent countless hours taming, grooming, picking up feet, and getting them used to being handled. We were pretty much going into the whole thing blind, so we bought numerous books to learn as much as we could. Our family was somewhat new to horses, and we knew nothing about training.
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| When the colts turned two, a decision had to be made. My dad and I were doing most of the training, and we did not have the time for both colts and our other two horses. We sold the other colt and devoted all our time to Caesar. Since I was the smallest, 13 years old at the time, I was the first to ride Caesar. He managed to buck me off within the first ten minutes, a learning experience to say the least, as I did some extensive reading after that. |  |
| Over the next couple years my dad and I put endless hours on Caesar. We attended some clinics on horsemanship and applied much of what we learned. Often, we would ride Caesar in just a halter instead of a bit. He was very responsive, and did not need much to get his attention, or to learn. Over this period of time, Caesar taught us as much as we taught him. | ||
| In 1996 when Caesar turned five, we began to discover what a remarkable horse we had. I had been competing in gymkhanas and rodeos for the past few years, but this was the first year I used Caesar to compete, and he made it look easy. I was taken back at how easily he turned and how quickly he picked everything up. |  | Although he wasn’t as fast as some of the Quarter Horses we competed against, he could turn better than many of them. Everything I asked Caesar to do he carried out with ease and little coaxing. He enjoyed being in the competitive ring. |
 | That Spring I was also beginning my second season as a member of the Reno Rodeo flag team. I hadn’t planned on using Caesar yet that year since he was still young and somewhat skittish. However, I couldn’t use the horse I had been using and it came down to Caesar if I wanted to be on the team. That first year was somewhat rough. Caesar was scared, and we almost didn’t make it through the first few practices. But after the first three performances of the rodeo, he finally settled into it, and came through in the end. |  |
| Each year got better and better for Caesar and I. I would learn more, and Caesar became more experienced. However, even with immense improvements, we faced many skeptics and criticisms. Any of his shortcomings were quickly blamed on the brand on his neck. Even when he did perform well, the best I would get from most people was, "That’s pretty good, for a mustang." | ||
 | Caesar and I kept going. I continued competing and participated in the Flag Team each year. At some point during the passing years Caesar became more that we ever imagined. He became exceedingly versatile and was willing to go in any direction he was pointed. The more I learned the better rider I became, and the better Caesar performed. I was now able to ride Caesar without a bridle on his face at all. He could run, turn, stop, and back-up by simply responding to leg cues and the pressure from a rope on his neck. In 2001, I decided to enter Caesar in the National Wild Horse and Burro Show at the Livestock Events Center. I had some showing experience, but I had only shown Caesar in a couple of small shows. Since Caesar was so versatile, I decided to enter the Open class and go for the All-Around. This required learning to ride and show English as well as learning how to jump, none of which I had any experience. | |
 | With some coaching, I learned and practiced for three weeks prior to the show, and went out there knowing Caesar would do his best. The show started pretty rough for Caesar and I, and I was quickly humbled by the tough competition. At that point I was content just to get through the whole show. Things slowly improved and we began to place, doing exceptionally well in the English division. | |
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 | Caesar and I have continued to show and compete in various arenas. Caesar has shown that he is willing to do anything you ask of him, and he will do it well. He can barrel race, jump, and show Western or English, usually placing, all without blinking an eye. |  |
 | Spring 2002 landed us in the alley way of the Reno Rodeo arena, American Flag in hand. Marie’s words rang through my head the night of the American Flag tryouts, and Caesar earned his way to the top that night. We carried that flag through all nine performances of the Reno Rodeo, one of the largest rodeos in America, a large honor sought by many. Caesar was the chosen horse, and the only mustang in the rodeo arena. Caesar has earned a great deal of respect in the past couple of years. It is well deserved and a long time coming. He has shown that he can do as much as any registered breed, and more. Caesar has one quality that makes him stand out above the rest; he has a great deal of heart. It is not the brand on his neck that makes him unique, but his intelligence, willingness and his desire to please. | |
| He has overcome all the obstacles and odds stacked against him from the day he was born. He has proved he is more than "just a mustang" and more than just your average, ordinary chestnut horse. Not only that, he has taught me a great deal in my life as well. | ||
 | My adolescent years were given to this horse, and I couldn’t have had a better way to spend them. Throughout the years and hard work I have gained a partner. Everything I taught him I learned along the way, and it wasn’t always easy. Caesar taught me a great deal in return. I learned that horsemanship takes a great amount of patience and time. | |
| The path to excellence is full of happiness, excitements, struggles, frustrations, and a lot of hard work. I feel fortunate to have been able to do what I have done with Caesar, and even more fortunate that I have achieved success.
I knew he was something special, and it just took time for everyone else to see it. When it comes down to it, Caesar is as much of a horse as any other, even better. He just happened to be born wild.
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There were plenty of critics along the way, however, I have never let his brand and the fact that he is a mustang hold me back from doing anything I wanted to do. 
