Treasures' Trove Boarding Stable

     His name is Stoney.  He was taken from his home in Nevada and somehow ended up in Georgia.  he is a mustang, and he is my friend.
     It all began when a human friend called me and said she knew where I could get a horse...for free.  Now, you have to understand something.  I have wanted a horse since I knew what a horse was.  The funny thing is that I cannot for the life of me remember a time I didn't know what a horse was.  I remember sitting on the floor in a home for children watching Fury.  I remember that big, black beautiful horse rearing up, pawing the air, and although I was only five years old, I was enthralled.
     The closests I ever came to having my own horse was when i was 14.  A small Shetlan stallion pony was given to me by my foster parents.  I learned alot from Bubbles.  We would go into the woods and find apple trees and eat to our hearts' content.  He was kind-hearted, gentle and loved to pretend he was going to nip me.  I outgrew him, although I still loved him.  I outgrew my home too, and left to go to another home.  I was never to see him again. 
     Now, here i was, listening to  my friend, telling me I had an opportunity of a life time.  I think there are two kinds of anxiety:  the one where you are scared something bad is going to happen.  Then there is the one where something is so good, you are scared that it won't happen, and all your jubilation will be dashed against a concrete wall.  It is the waiting that will kill you, and I had waited so long.  I was fifty years old now, and I knew it could be gone in an instant.
     But the day came when Stoney belong to me.  That meant he couldn't be sold or taken away.  No longer would anyone tell me that I wasn't needed around the stable and the horses, and I could now go home.  Icould buy things for him, play with him and I could see him any time I wanted--in the dead of night if it so pleased us.  Ahhh, this was wonderful!
     I went into the pasture adn walked up to him, and he stepped back.  It seemed he wasn't sure if he liked humans or not.  He didn't run, fling his head or stomp his foot.  He just backed up and stood there.  So, I backed up.  He came forward.  I waited.  Another step.  Another.  I lifted my hand and he backed up again.  I was told that he wouldn't come out the gate, and yet here he was, not even allowing me to touch him. 
     As I was soon to find out, this is Stoney.  Typical mustang?  Well, in a sense there is no such thing--yet again there is.  But, at least to me and to others that know him, he is unique.  He can be stubborn, (and that is where he got his name from) but up to a point.  Only kindness and patience would win out because he comes to you on his own terms.  He loves treats and he loves praise, but gets miffed if he thinks it is a bribe.
     Step by step we worked together, trying to learn each other's language, movement, and personalities.  When he turned, I jumped.  When I dropped something, he jumped.  I promised I would never hurt him, and he promised he would never hurt me.  There were days neither one was sure of the other, but now I don't get scared when he is startled, and he trusts me enough that we can sometimes play games, like when I try to pretend I can outrun him.  He thinks that is funny.  Sometimes we play dodge; I try to run around him and he blocks me.  I believe he would make a great cow pony.  Maybe I can enter him into the Augusta Futurity...if I can ever get him into a trailer!
     I hadn't realized how much I had left the world of horses.  I had almost stopped reading, learning and thinking about them.  Stoney reopened the door for me.  Because i wanted to enhance my training abilities, I sought out trainers that were my kindres spirits, so to speak: Pat Parelli, John Lyons, and mark Rashid.
     I learned my instincts were right, even from the time I had trained Bubbles: gentleness, communication and compassion coulpled with knowledge is the right path to effective understanding, and thus, training.  Training in this sense is a lot like a friendship because I am not he only one training;  I am also being trained.
     We have only been together for about a year and a half.  Howver, during that time our relationship has really grown.  he doesn't jump becasue of anything I do, and he comes to me instead of backing up.  Sometimes, he just listens to the humans talk, just hanging out.
     I realize that our journy has just begun, and to continue to build on this foundation I still have a lot to learn.  But, with the help of God, we will be together until He calls one of us home---and I know one will wait for the other.