Taste of The Wild: Life Through the Eyes of a Wild Mustang

Chapter 13

     The next thing I knew, someone was stroking my back. I lifted my head to see. Madison had spent the night by my side and was covered in a  sunflower blanket. While I didn't enjoy the petting, I didn't pull away. The thought of being in this situation made me shutter. I did not want my father to see.

     The sound of soft feet told me Tina was watching. "Flint's letting you touch him!!" She said and smiled warmly.

     ''Yes, but he's tensing up," She got up and brushed the hay off her. She exited the stall and grabbed the green rope halter. She walked back in with Tina and put it on me. I tensed up and stood as they pulled on the halter. I didn't fight it, the spirit was almost gone in me. I couldn't believe it. I thought I would win over humans. 

     Tina led me out into the sun, and across the yard. We stopped and waited as Ivy and Madison walked out too. Ivy was more lively than me, head up and almost trotting. My head was low and I walked along. When I realized that we were going into the pasture, the spark was in me again. I started to act like Ivy, excited for what was to come. I waited impatiently for Tina to undo the halter and let me go. 

     Ivy sped off like a rocket, and I ran after her, stretching out and gliding over the knee-high grass. I eased up to Ivy, and we ran and bucked and crow-hopped till we finally slowed to a trot. The pasture was big. Wooden fenced came up to my shoulder, and tall grass came up to my knee. For 15 yards it was all grass, then it turned into woods and willows. I wanted to run far into the valley as I ran through the thicket and came to a sliding stop as I met the fence. I trotted along the far side, looking for an entrance to real freedom. 

     I found none and kept trotting as I made it to the middle of the thicket. There was a  deep river. It crossed the pasture, and I recalled running through it in my search for freedom, but I was too focused on running. I drank long and hard. Ivy splashed in the water, and it reminded me of when my herd had found her:

     I was just a foal when we went to the waterhole, and I saw a buckskin filly playing and tossing in the water. No other herd was watching her, and my Father didn't chase her away. I walked up to her cautiously, curiously. She stopped her playing and trotted up to me, boldly. Soon, we got to playing and I was unaware that my herd had left. We hid in the woods and stayed close by each other. 

    I was so relieved when I saw my Father, and he took us both home. Ivy stood always from the herd, close enough to part of it, but not as close to being six feet. She always was bold, until she felt so fragile that she set into grazing for most of the time. I was sad when this happened, and thought I had lost my Ivy when my faith was restored enough when she would play from time to time. She was also faster than me, but smaller, and always so much more dignified. 

     I would roll in the mud, she'd roll in the dust. I'd bite a playmate to play, she'd start running in a circle around them. I'd lay down the water, she'd go leg-deep. 

******

    I liked the contrast, and now, I could see how she affected my life. I joined her in the splash game, and I laid down in the water, letting it run over my body. Later we walked out into the sun, grazing on the light purple flowers, eating the fresh, juicy grass. I bucked and rolled to my heart's content with Ivy, and she made her way to the front of the pasture when the sun was starting to play hide-and-seek with the moon, causing a display of pink and purple. I stayed in the middle of the long grassy area, and Ivy was grazing far in front of me. 

     We both lifted our heads at Madison and Tina's approach, and I stood stock still as they entered. Ivy let Tina put back on the halter and stood still as Madison walked past and towards me. I turned around and started to walk the other way, broke into a trot, then looked behind and watched again as Madison broke my bubble and pushed me further back into the pasture. 

     Once I was right at the edge of the forest, I let Madison get three feet from me, then I galloped off towards Ivy. Madison groaned and threw up her hands. I made a playful buck and finally let her put the halter on. 

     The walk through the tall grass was beautiful. The edges of the grass seemed like they were on fire. Mother and daughter laughed as led us back to our stalls. I munched happily on my mash. I was feeling much better. Maybe being here wasn't that bad.

     Before they shut the back of my stall I walked out and into the corral. I looked up to stars that shone down on my homeland, in the wild. The milky way was starting to light up, and I wished I could feel the coolness of the mountains, and the soft neighs and nickers of my herd-mates. 

     I walked back into the stall, pawed my shavings, and lied down to sleep.