When Henry was finished, he opened the gate to the round pen, and ponied the saddled colt across the ranch. For the next three hours, Henry, Mic and the colt rode out toward the back of the property, looped around through the sand wash, up over the mesa and back down toward the river, where they stopped. For the first time in nearly a year, the colt was able to drink from a cool, running stream, just as he had when he was in the wild. The colt enjoyed being out of closed-in pens and in the open again, and he felt a genuine appreciation to Henry and Mic for taking him out into the open, big spaces he so dearly loved.

Henry and Mic took time to help the colt learn how to stop, turn and back up from pressure on the halter, and then practiced it until the colt understood each cue. For the colt, the idea was a difficult one to grasp at first, but soon he began to realize it was really no different than what Jessie had showed him shortly after she put a halter on him for the first time. Within a short time he understood what Henry was asking of him when he applied the pressure and he was able to respond correctly in nearly every instance.

The trio then worked their way back to the ranch, where Henry tied both Mic and the colt to the hitch rail by the tack room, unsaddled and groomed each one, making sure to give the colt an extra long rubdown on his back and in the area where the cinch had been. The colt, appreciative of Henry’s attention, started to realize that perhaps living with humans would not be so difficult after all. Henry unhitched both horses, and walked them to their respective pens for the night. The colt was tired but not worried like he had been when the day had started. As he munched on the hay in the paddock Henry had put out for him, with the sun setting and a cool breeze coming up from the valley, the gray colt found he was actually looking forward to what new things tomorrow might bring.

CHAPTER 37

It was a most perfect day. By eight-thirty in the morning, the sky was already sapphire blue and cloudless, and there was just the hint of a breeze coming from the north, which kept the air from being too hot. The gentle wind carried with it the sweet smell of sage, and as Henry looked toward the house, it also seemed to be carrying Jessie toward him. Her movement was very close to being back to the pure and effortless gait Henry had had gotten so used to seeing during his months at the ranch. For him, the way she floated across the ground when she walked had always been part of her natural beauty, and he hadn’t really appreciated how well she did move until it became hard for her to move at all.