“When he sees that you are giving him the respect he deserves, and the understanding he needs, he will start to trust you in return.” She took a sip from her milk glass. “When you have his trust, you’ll have the horse. Once he trusts you, putting the saddle on him won’t be a problem.”

“You’re sure of that?” Henry asked, already knowing she was.

“I’m sure.” Jessie smiled. She then let out a long, relaxed sigh, and then turned to look at Henry. “The flower is beautiful, Henry. Thank you.”

The picture of her smiling at him melted his heart. It was all the thanks he would ever need.

CHAPTER 36

For the past two days, Henry had been bringing the colt into the round pen and turning him loose with the saddle and saddle blanket sitting on the ground near the pen’s middle. On the first day, the colt acted as if he’d never seen it before, although Henry knew he had. The second day, the colt went right up to the saddle and pad, and not only put his nose on it, but also began to paw at it and move it around. By this, the third day, Henry turned the colt loose in the pen, and then carried the saddle and pad in with him. Although it was a strange sight for the colt to see the saddle and pad being carried instead of sitting on the ground, it wasn’t long before he had approached Henry and tried to get his nose on the items to get a good whiff of them.

Henry then placed the saddle and pad on the ground, and brought in a thirty-foot-long, five-eighths-inch-diameter cotton rope with bull snap braided into one end and a loop braided in the other. He doubled the rope up, and then slowly, but deliberately began rubbing the colt all over his body with it. Eventually, holding on to one end of the doubled up rope, he slipped the other end over the colt’s back, letting it hang down on the opposite side from where he stood. Cautiously, he reached under the colt’s belly, took a hold of the loose ends that hung down on the other side and brought them under the colt and back to his side.

Henry brought the rope gently snug around the colt’s barrel just behind his front legs, and softly sawed the rope back and forth across the colt’s hair. When the colt was comfortable with that, Henry then incrementally tightened the ropes a little at a time until they were stretched firmly around the area where the cinch of the saddle would ultimately be placed. The colt scooted around a little at the unfamiliar feel of the tightness around his body, but soon seemed to get used to the sensation and much to Henry’s surprise, settled down nicely after only a few minutes.

Henry spent nearly an hour putting the ropes on the colt, tightening them around his barrel, then loosening them and removing them. He did this over and over until the colt was able to accept the feel of it without question and without worry. Once he felt confident the colt understood what he was doing, he haltered the colt up and took him back to his paddock.