It was barely daylight when Ben took the lariat from Ezra and vaulted the fence, moving easily as the horses shifted away from him. The stallion was a beauty, gray the color of cast iron, a rump mottled with white spots, arched neck, a black mane and tail. He had been shipped from Oregon, where he was named Nitro for his tendency to explode. They said he had injured a man or two, that getting him loaded on the train for the journey to Wyoming had taken eight men two hours. Ezra and Ben had no trouble getting him onto a trailer to haul him out to the ranch, but getting him saddle-broke could be a chore.

There were three horses between Ben and the gray. He waited for them to move, building his loop carefully down beside his thigh so as not to spook the horse. The others slid away and the skittish gray lifted his head just as Ben tossed the loop and caught him clean around the neck. Nitro spooked and backed hard, slinging his head and fighting the rope, but Ben hitched the rope behind his hip for leverage and held him tight. Once the gray stood still with his nostrils flared and flanks rippling, Ben made the rope fast with a double half hitch over a corral post and saddled and bridled him before he slipped the lariat off the gray’s neck. Ezra perched on the rail next to the saddle, offering a steady stream of advice.

“Don’t mind if he fights you a bit, he’ll do that. Just don’t let him get away with a solitary thing. If he beats you once and you let him, he’ll keep beatin you and you’ll never get the nasty out of him.”

Ben nodded, feeling the strength of the animal. He knew everything Ezra was telling him, but Ezra needed to feel he still had something to teach, so Ben went along with it. Horses were big, strong, dangerous, so it didn’t hurt to be reminded about things you already knew. Once he had double-checked the cinch, he swung into the saddle and the gray hopped a little to the side. He rode through it easily and held the gray and turned him to the right, toward the corral fence, then left to get him on the correct lead as he eased into a canter. The gray did three turns around the circular corral.