Xaloc, it must be a sign

Of all of the strange and wonderful experiences that I have had in my life, I believe that the circumstances surrounding the new coming of Xaloc are the most extraordinary.

 Xaloc is for me the most romantic word that I have heard in the Valencian Spanish dialect. Literally it means that wind from the West or the interior blowing towards the Mediterranean Sea. The wind from the sea is Llebech. The spoken word Xaloc has a wonderful sound.

I lived in the beautiful village of Javea in the Communidad Valenciana on the South Eastern Mediterranean coast of Spain for about 12 years from 1970 to 1982. It was here that I met the people, ate the food, learned the language and embraced the life of this sunny coast.

 It was only natural that in 1978 when I purchased my dream dog that I should seek a Valenciana name for him. Xaloc was my first German Shepherd and although he is long since dead, I will always remember his loving nature and his willingness to give and his brave heart. He came with our family to the States and protected us and loved us in our new home until he died in 1989.

 I am at another crossroads in my life. I was very fortunate to sell my Caribbean yacht charter business well and since then a few months ago, I have been working on what to do with the rest of my life. I have always had an extraordinary affinity and empathy with animals. One of my key decisions is never again to be locked up in an office for hour after hour and year after year and it was natural that I should make animals a focus to keep me busy and active.

We have also kept Spanish horses since our time in Spain and two of them have been with us here in the States since our arrival in 1982. I purchased a newly born colt from my friend Ximo in 1986. The horse has lived there in Spain, foreign to me except for once or twice yearly visits, when I would ride him along the beaches and the streets feeling more like a mediaeval king than a stressed out businessman. My dream was always that Carinoso, literally “darling boy”, would come home to our place in Virginia and eat grass and be with me and have beautiful babies. He is PRE, Pura Raza Espanol, a registered Andalusian horse.

 It was natural that when I sold my business and that time and money constraints relaxed, that I should try to deal with the unfinished pieces of business in my life. One of these was Carinoso. My animals are not livestock, not even pets but rather children of a different race. The responsibility to meet their needs and my concept of what is right and caring is very onerous to me and thus the plans were very swiftly made to bring Carinoso to his American home.

 I had last seen him in May of last year 1998, when I passed my joint birthday party with my old friend and ex employee Tony Thirsk here in Javea. The business was not sold or even near to being sold at that time, so I rode him and loved him and covered my sadness when I left him again.

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