Henry petted the colt’s sleek gray neck, head and rump, then took a hold of the stirrup closest to him and gave it a gentle tug. The colt briefly lost his balance when Henry pulled on the stirrup, but quickly got his feet back under him and squared himself up. Henry pulled on the stirrup again. This time the colt was balanced and solid and Henry was unable to move him. Henry looked back at Jessie and smiled, then turned back to the colt, placed his foot in the stirrup, took a hold of the saddle horn and the cantle of the saddle and placed a little weight in the stirrup. The colt was unbothered. Henry put more weight in the stirrup, then a little more, and finally he lifted himself off the ground for a second before returning to the ground. The colt looked as though he would fall asleep.

Henry turned to Jessie, shrugged his shoulders as if to say, He doesn’t seem too bothered, to which Jessie agreed by shrugging hers. Henry turned his attention back to the colt, put his foot in the stirrup and bounced up and down a few more times before once again lifting himself smoothly off the ground. He stood in the stirrup, but didn’t throw a leg over, then let himself down and lavishly petted the colt. Henry then put his foot in the stirrup again, bounced a few times and lifted himself. He stood in the stirrup for a few seconds, watching the colt. Seeing he was comfortable with what was happening, Henry gently lifted his right leg over and just as gently sat in the saddle.

The colt wasn’t troubled by what Henry was doing. The work Henry had done with him the day before went a long way to helping the young horse understand what was going on. Between that and the picture he was getting from Jessie, he was actually very clear about what was happening. Not only that, but the colt had been through a lot in his short life, much more than many of the older horses on the ranch. On at least two occasions he had literally faced life-or-death situations and come out alive, and those experiences had given him a quiet confidence that allowed him to see that dealing with something like this was going to be relatively easy. So far it was.

Sitting quietly on the colt’s back for the very first time, Henry turned to Jessie and smiled broadly. She returned his smile and pretended to clap, and then pointed at him with a look that said, “You owe me.”

Henry, still smiling, slowly bent over and petted the mustang on his neck. “You just lost me a month’s pay,” he said quietly. He then turned back to Jessie and nodded in agreement.

It was, indeed, a most perfect morning.

CHAPTER 38

The gray colt had no idea how many days had passed since the first time he allowed Henry to sit on his back. Horses don’t think in terms of days, or weeks or years. They think only in terms of survival. A day behind them is of no consequence once it has passed, other than how what they learned during it will help them survive. The colt had learned some very valuable lessons of survival early on after being banished from his herd, lessons that were serving him well now that he was living amongst humans. The most valuable of those lessons was that he should first pay attention to what the rules are—whatever the rules are—and not overstep the bounds that have been placed on him, no matter what.