To play the bagpipes, it is said, you must fill the windbag with divine breath. This thought was in the mind of a solitary bagpiper as he prepared to march in the Prescott, Arizona, 4th of July Parade. A deep breath from his soul filled the windbag under his arm with dignity and stars.
Soon, the first sound from those pipes would reach the sky and also touch that piece of sky inside every living creature within hearing distance.
A valiant Arab horse in gleaming silver tack stood majestically just behind the kilted piper. The horse presented "standing" as if he owned it, and he did. If there ever existed an incarnation of a free spirit, this horse was it. The freest of the free.
Such an Arab horse deserved a rider who would not manhandle him. And this Arabian was ridden by Maurice R. Johnson, who had come to master an intuitive touch of riding to release the horse. Barely noticeable to most onlookers he was not confining, or holding the Arab in place, but allowing him to stand free. The reins were held loosely, giving slack. There was no contact with the horse beyond a unique, intangable, extrasensory link.
Behind Johnson was going to ride Gus Meeker, who completed this three man segment in the local parade. Gus was rigged with a two way radio that was going to give guidance to Johnson on the Arab in front.
The necessity of such a radio link was unknown to the crowd along the parade route. Only a handful of spectators knew Maurice R. Johnson mounted on the majestic Arab was totally blind.
One such observer was Sally Barringer, a reporter for the local paper who had learned of the endeavor from parade officials. From the parade entry form she discovered the name of the blind horseman.
Johnson never liked being called Maurice and was usually called "Ream," his middle name, by his friends, while outsiders called him Maurice. Because Sally discovered him as "Maurice," an unlikely but momentous story would unfold which would change both their lives.
From the outset Sally thought the stunt was grandstanding and extremely dangerous. The danger wasn't because the horse couldn't be guided by the radio between Gus and the blind rider. The real danger was the possibility of the horse spooking or shying. Horses can shy at the most common things like a garbage can or a country mail box.
If something startles a horse, there is an unpredictable jumping reflex. His instinct is to bolt for a few yards away from the threat before determining the nature of the threat.
Sally bit her lip in anxiety as she thought, "Sure, a blind man could ride a horse, but it's an accident waiting to happen. With the first surprise the horse could bolt, throwing the rider into the crowd of spectators. How could a blind man anticipate such a reflex explosion in a horse?"
Having herself been thrown as a child from a spooked horse, Sally suffered from a fear of horses and was skeptical of this stunt. She knew first hand their unpredictable nature, and here was a blind cowboy about to ride a free spirited Arabian in a parade!
The bagpipes resonated their first sound, beckoning angels to the hearts of onlookers. It was a parade within a parade. The story of true blind faith between horse and rider, which would take them through a crowd of 20,000 excited spectators.
How this unlikely event came to be, and how Ream and Sally came to know each other began one year earlier....