I was whittling at the river, when a wail filled my ears
With the sound of fear and panic and despair
For the earth befell a cliffside, with the wild horses near
And a colt was seperated from his mare
He had stumbled in the slurry, he had fumbled in the fall
Then his body hit the water with a splash
When I watched him rise up gasping, with a strained and strangled call
I knew I had to grab him in a flash
The rapids took him southward, and I knew the river well
Enough to know it's forks and all its rocks
So I bolted down the shoreline, like a bat escaping hell
With knife and rope gripped closed to save the stock
I cut across the shallows, where the water kissed my boots
And I thanked the lord that summer still ran late
Since I knew if I could trap him in the reeds and grassy shoots
I could save the colt from drowning in my wake
I filled my lungs with humid air and bellowed loud and strong
The frightened thing was locked upon my sight
I fastened knots there hastily and I launched the rope along
Caught round his sturdy neck, and pulling tight
I hauled him to the shoreline, where the bulrush dried his mane
His palamino coat soaked to the bone
I pushed my palms hard downwards, and he fought the crushing pain
As I forced the water out through throttled groans
He rested on the sand and dirt, the sun shone off his tail
Clinging on to life with every breath
But his mob above had left him, they had galloped down the dale
And left their son to die a watery death
So I stayed with the good pony, as he found his strength to stand
I guided him to grass so he could feed
He let me brush the dirt off, with my rope burned, tired hands
And whinnied when I tried to leave him be
He followed me on back to camp and laid beside my tent
A wild horse that now was all my own
I named him after Moses, for both were river sent
And from that day, my hold became his home
