Totally not about guns - this is about a horse

[WHSmithIV]

My wife and I were given a BLM roundup wild Mustang a yea ago. I have spent one year becoming his friend. Today, i put a saddle blanket on him and a saddle I didn't put a bridle on him. Just attached reigns to his halter. Well, Patch and I had a nice ride and he was happy to do so with me. Then, I got my wife up on him, He was a bit nervous with Kati being on him but, he was kind.

This really made my day. I wasn't very sure that Patch would ever take a saddle. I am so pleased and thrilled, A former wild Mustang is my very good friend and I love him dearly. He is MY horse and I saved him and gave him a nice home with land to graze on and his own barn as a home. After one year of working with him... well he is now my good friend. It takes time to build up trust.

I honestly don't know how to describe the feelings I have now. I don't have any pics yet of me riding him. He took me around our property then he let my wife have a ride too. No problems. I'm an ex Navy guy. I know all there is to know about the seas and the oceans. I moved here to learn something new. I wanted to learn the mountains and my wife wanted to learn the mountains, Well, I certainly am learning all the time!

Here is my horse with my wife One year for him to trust us and become our friend. He will certainly live for around another 25 years. He's only 8 years old. I've never trained a horse before. Today I rode him and he helped me. I must have done something right!

Horses - this year may be getting better

This is my horse with my wife - we didn't take any pictures of him as we rode him today.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f59/whsmith4th/P1010010_zpsbkssxpjz.jpg

Today, I became a true friend with a formerly wild horse. To me, that is amazing. Next I will have to have him help me go to a place I know and I'll have to shoot a gun to teach him not to be gun shy.

Most of you will probably have no idea how I feel right now. But, I wanted to share it with you all.

Kind regards
Will

[Hmac]

Very pleased for you. That kind of a bond with any animal, especially a wild one, is very gratifying and an emotional experience that is hard to describe. I will say that horses don't readily trust just anyone. They're prey animals, and they can sense the kind of person that you are.

[Slippers]

Pretty amazing, man. I can only imagine the patience and hard work you put in to get to this point. Beautiful horse!

Do his ears a favor and use a suppressor. :)

[WHSmithIV]

I'll be careful with him when it comes to teaching him not to be gun shy. My little .25 ACP Italian Tanfoglio makes more of a pop than a bang. I'll use that first around him. That won't hurt either of our ears :)

Patch darn near died last December when he went through a fence and fell in our well pit in the middle of the night. Fortunately he had only been there for about 15 minutes before I found him. Then it took about an hour to get him out with a lot of local help. We have a lot of good horse people here in our valley. We had to lift him out of that pit with a tractor. Then the next day we had to get our pipes fixed and put in a new well pump controller. I was so very worried that he might have broken a leg.

This feeling is just so amazing. I am speechless about the level of trust he has for me. I've done something right for sure.

[WHSmithIV]

There is a lake I want to go to in these mountains. The only way to get there is with a horse. Now I know that Patch will take me there and I'll go fishing. Now I have to get a pony for my wife. Patch is 14.5 hands tall and I will need a much smaller horse for my wife or even a donkey. I am so amazed with this. I have never trained a horse before and I will never put a steel bit in his mouth. What he has done for me now was only because I became his friend.

I'm not a very religious guy - I do today say Thank You God for my very good friend and one of Your creatures. Thank You for allowing me to share my life with Patch. I was never sure he would let me put a saddle on him or hop up on his back. So, when I tried yesterday evening and Patch was quite happy with this. it was a very spiritual experience. It certainly renewed some of my faith that I have lost over the years. It's so special that there are not words to describe it accurately.

It's hotter here now than the halls of Hell. So I won't saddle up Patch again for a while unless it's an emergency. He has his own cool barn to go into to get out of the heat when he wants. Cool water is always flowing for him from our well and he knows where it is. He's drinking around 40 gallons a day with this heat wave. In cooler weather he drinks around 20 gallons a day and in winter he only drinks around 10 gallons a day (plus I have to help break the ice for him - he's actually quite good at breaking the ice himself too).

I made a deal with my wife when we moved here to Idaho from Finland that I wouldn't buy a motorcycle if I could have a horse. I'm very glad I made that deal. Patch is very special.

[toolboxluis00200]

That is awesome

[SwissyJim]

That's pretty damn cool. Must be a great feeling to get to this point. Good job!