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One day of that same week, I approached Spirit, and he calmed at my touch. The bridle was on him, and he’d gotten used to it. So that day, Noah was helping me get him ready for the saddle.
His hair was soft, thicker because of the weather, and I pet him while keeping myself in his line of sight. I held the bridle, gently, as Noah showed me, and Noah set the saddle on the top slat of the fence, then the blanket on top of it. He came into the corral, walking slowly, and I could tell Spirit knew there was something about to happen.
“It’s okay, boy,” I told him, and I meant it. I knew Noah, and though he could be rough with me, he was as gentle with the horses. “He’s gonna ride you soon. It’s not all bad. The other horses seem to be okay with it.”
“You realize he can’t understand you,” Noah told me, laughing.
“I’ve seen you have longer conversations with animals, Noah.”
“I guess so.”
The blanket was placed on Spirit’s back by Noah as I soothed the horse, and he didn’t get jumpy in the least. His head lowered, and I silently laughed in celebration. “You’re doing great, the both of you,” Noah said, rubbing a hand over Spirit’s blanketed back.
“The saddle… does it hurt? I mean, I know it doesn’t hurt, but…”
“It’s a weight on his back. It’s a… restraint, in a way.” He patiently explained things to me, even the stupid questions. “Like your restraints. Sure, you like them, but him? Think about if you didn’t like them, like the belt. It’s annoying, but it doesn’t hurt unless you get hard. The bridle, the saddle, they don’t hurt him, they’re just… annoying.”
“I get it. Okay.”
The bridle Spirit wore was bitless, and I didn’t understand. Some of Noah’s horses wore bits, albeit the soft bits, and the rest wore bridles without them. “Why don’t you put a bit in his mouth? Tawny and Lover Boy wear them.”
“They were trained with them, so they’re used to them. I don’t train my horses that way. My Dad did, but that was how he was taught. You can control a horse with a bridle, so there’s no need for a bit.”
“But you use one on me,” I teased.
“You need one. You talk too much,” he jabbed right back, and he laughed with me. “See, he’s a skittish horse, being that he’s not used to all this. That bit in his mouth would make it worse. Some like it better. Well, maybe not like it, but they’re used to it. I don’t like ‘em. It’s like spurs or crops. You don’t need all that pain to manage a horse. Just humans,” he said with his eyes twinkling.
After an hour of soothing Spirit, feeding him a little sugar from my pocket, Noah had me set the saddle on his back, and he stepped back a couple feet, but then settled, nice and calm.
We’d been working with him nearly every day. At least a few minutes if we became busy with other things. I never missed a chance to talk to him from the outside of the corral until he was used to me. After that, I’d go into the fencing and pet him, be around him.
The more I did, the more he softened to me. Now, it was me placing the saddle on him. I know I might not ride him for years, being so inexperienced, but the satisfaction of helping him meant the world to me.
Noah didn’t ride him that day. He simply placed the saddle on him, took his reins and led him around the round corral, walking him like he would a dog. The same thing happened the next day and the day after, and I watched in awe as each time we placed the saddle on him, the calmer he’d be.
I thought, maybe, that he was enjoying the attention. I knew the feeling. Sure, being wild and free was great at times, but it got lonely. Maybe Spirit just enjoyed having us around so much.
The day Noah rode him the first time, my heart was in my throat, watching him mounting the stallion. I watched from the other side of the fencing, but I wanted to be in there, helping to calm him.
It wasn’t needed. I watched in utter amazement as he ran around in circles a few times, Noah holding on like it was nothing, and then… Spirit just slowed, bringing his head up and down a few times to show his annoyance at having Noah on his back.
All the movies I’d seen where someone breaks a horse, how they’re thrown off a million times and the horse bucked and fought. With Spirit, I thought it would be bad, but it didn’t take long before he was taking all the commands that Noah gave him.
Joel pulled up in his truck and came over to the corral, standing beside me, watching Noah. “He told Ma he was gonna break the horse today. Thought I’d come help.”
“I wasn’t needed. You’re not. Noah’s… got it.”
“He sure does. He’s a helluva rider.”
“He’s a helluva everything,” I bragged, then turned to see Joel blushed wildly, his light skin clashing starkly with his dark hair. “Listen, can me and you… talk about something?”
“What’s that?” He asked without so much as glancing my way.
He was leaned on the top slat of the fence, his face suddenly turning down to the mud and he kicked at the post with his cowboy boot. All signs he’d become nervous.
Taking Noah’s cues on how to wrangle a nervous creature, I spoke calmly, moved slowly and tried to get him to look at me, so I was in his line of sight. “Joel, can we go over here to the soddy? I’d like to talk to you alone about something.”
He glanced up then, like seeing if he could read my face. The look wasn’t long, but he nodded back to the mud instead of in my direction. “Yessir.”
