Love at first sight

ST. MARIES - Sarah Thaut delicately spoke into the soft, pointed ear of her chestnut mare, Twiz, on a hot mid-August afternoon.

"Open up, it's OK girl," Sarah said, working a bit into the sweet-tempered horse's mouth.

Twiz, whose full name is Twizzler, blinked her eyes and lowered her head as she permitted Sarah to proceed with the bit and bridle.

"We drove nine hours to get Twiz," said Sarah's mom, Cheri Thaut, of St. Maries. "The woman was pretty sure that she was not going to sell her to us until she talked to Sarah and saw the bond between them."

Twiz was not yet broke at 5 years old. Her previous owner was hesitant to hand then 6-year-old Sarah the lead rope, but finally conceded to see how the young girl would do.

"Twiz followed behind her, just like that, head hanging down," Cheri said. "They handed me the lead rope, that horse pushed me every which way but Sunday."

For Sarah and Twiz, it was love at first sight.

"I'll go out there when she's lying down, I'll lie down with her, hug her and all that," Sarah said, cracking a smile. "I'll dress her up in hats and scarves."

Twiz is no regular horse - she is a special breed known as an American curly horse. And Sarah is no regular 11-year-old - she was appointed the world's first International Curly Horse Ambassador by Friends of the Curlies earlier this year. Friends of the Curlies comprises members of the American Baskir Curly Registry (ABCR) and the International Curly Horse Organization (ICHO), who are dedicated to promoting, preserving, protecting, registering and researching these rare animals.

Curly horses, or "curlies," have coats that are wooly and curly in the winter, much like sheep, and their manes and tails can have textures similar to dreadlocks or crimped hair. Curlies generally have very hard hooves, wide-spaced eyes, curls in their ears and smaller nostrils and mouths than other horses. They vary in color and in size from miniatures to drafts, they're curious, highly intelligent and tend to be calm and easygoing.

Best of all, they're hypoallergenic, so even Cheri's extreme horse allergy was not an obstacle to Sarah and Twiz finding each other.

"I came down with a food allergy so I went in and got tested," Cheri said. "One thing that came up was horses. On a scale of one to four, I was a four-plus-plus."

Cheri explained that by the age of 5, Sarah had caught the "horse bug," but when they went out to the SoaringHawk Therapeutic Equestrian Program (STEP) to consider bringing home a baby horse, Cheri's eyes swelled shut and her allergy symptoms overcame her.

Then Cheri began conducting research, and she discovered the answer: the hypoallergenic curlies.

"After being with them as long as I have been, I'm not allergic to other horses now, as much," Cheri said. "I can't brush them, and I can't rub my eyes afterward, but it's not an instant reaction anymore. That's happened to a lot of people in the curly horse world."

The origin of the curly horse is debated. Curly Horse Country's website, www.curlyhorsecountry.com, discusses several theories about the presence of curlies in North America, including how they may have traveled into the continent on the Bering Strait land bridge during the last ice age, or how they may have been imported from India in the late 1800s. They are also quite rare; Cheri estimated that only about 4,000 curlies are left on the planet.

Sarah's mission as International Curly Horse Ambassador is to promote curly horses, educate people about the breed and let the world know that people with horse allergies can still enjoy friendships with these majestic creatures.

Sarah's equine family now consists of Twiz, the gentle palomino curly Abbie Jane, two white miniatures that aren't curlies and a newly added percheron. Sarah rides in STEP and with the St. Maries Saddle Club and she will be sharing her equestrian passion with the world for the next year as she goes through sixth grade at Kootenai Junior/Senior High School. She and Twiz will be riding in the Paul Bunyan Days Parade in St. Maries on Labor Day and competing in STEP's fifth-annual Hunters' Widow O-Mok-See Sept. 12-13 at the Benewah County Fairgrounds with Friday night barrel racing on the 11th.

"I like riding her," Sarah said. "I like that I have a friend to come to when nobody else is home." Sarah also has a 2015 Curly Horse Ambassador Facebook page to support her mission: "Please follow me on my journey doing what I love most - telling people about my curly horses!"

Info: www.facebook.com/groups/900831273311382/?pnref=lhc or www.curlyhorsecountry.com.