By Karina Rapp
of aLion
Bjerjløve Av Drömmarna translates to “Mountain Lion of Dreams.” It is the apt name of a little colt whose first glimpse of the world was from the jaws of a cougar. The horrors that he endured in his first moments
of life were traumatic, but with the help of a few very special “angels,” the colt—even more aptly nicknamed “Charlie”— not only survived but has a promising future ahead of him.
Baroque’n Dreams The Knabstrupper is a Danish breed known for its unusu- ally—and dramatically—spotted coat. Charlie is a rare pure- bred “few spot” Knabstrupper (‘few spot’ is an almost solid white horse that, when bred, always produces a foal with a spotted pattern of some kind) and the last colt to be born out of the Baroque’n Dreams (BnD) breeding program, which was owned and run by Diane and Patrick Truxillo until their retirement last year. Horses bred by BnD carry the extension Av Drömmarna, “of Dreams,” as part of their name. The Truxil- los’ stallion Pegasus vom Niehaus-hof, Charlie’s damsire, is a spectacular baroque few spot who has performed at many exhibitions and been used as a dressage mount by members of the United States Para-Equestrian Association. Diane, who is currently the American ambassador for the KNN (the Knabstrupper breed registry), first became entranced by the breed in her childhood when she watched the movie Pippi Longstocking. She loved Pippi’s horse on the porch and says, “I had always assumed the spots were just painted on. Years later, I learned that it was a Knabstrupper. The horses were spotted like the Indian ponies that I loved as a kid and were Scandinavian, just like me…I was in heaven.” Her husband, Patrick, is a former member of the Camp Pend- leton Marine Corps Base Mounted Color Guard. He was always fond of the guard’s baroque-style Lipizzans. Together
14 January/February 2018
heart A Newborn Knabstrupper Survives Cougar Abduction
they wanted to produce someone’s dream horse: hence the name, Baroque’n Dreams. Anza, California is a breathtaking high
desert landscape of scrub oak, wild cham- omile, jackrabbits and quail. BnD is tucked at the end of a picturesque winding road that gradually climbs in altitude. It’s a rural but attractive area not far from the artsy mountain community of Idyllwild. Fall has a nip to it and winter can bring enough snow to close the smaller roads. Spring
is preceded by an abundance of wildflowers and blooming sage, while summer brings a flush of heat and the portent of rattlesnakes. They are always on guard for danger, Diane says, as
coyotes are an almost constant presence and the rattlesnakes come around every year. She and her husband are realistic about the area they live in and the wildlife they share their home with. “We were unaware that a cat was in the area at that time, but all of us up here are more than aware that we are in the territory of such animals,” she says. (Mountain lions and cougars are the same animal, whose scientific name is Puma concolor.)
A Fighting Spirit At 5 am on December 30, 2016, Diane was on foal watch. She checked on her young Knabstrupper mare Phlicka Av Drömmarna, a bay near-leopard maiden mare, but she was showing no signs of going into labor yet. So she decided to take a nap before the next alarm. Shortly after 6 am, Diane and Patrick woke to a cold 31-degree pre-dawn morning and started to get ready for their day. Their morning was shattered by the sound of their two dogs’ frenzied barking. Darlin’, their panda German Shepard, had been pulled from a shelter on the day she was to be euthanized. Cole, a pit bull, had been abandoned; he decided to adopt the Truxil- los and make BnD his home. Both dogs have fierce protective
Photo at top of Charlie at ten-months old by Hanah Fields-Austin
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