The Mustang Tamer

The silver colt bobbed his head, rejecting standing still so long. The Tamer leaned back slightly to keep the horse in place. A white truck with black lettering was making its way up the dirt road to the barns. The Tamer frowned.
It had to be going to another barn. But there weren’t any other barns this far up the mountain. The Tamer sat farther back to back the colt up. But the colt was still green and reared.

The mountains were beautiful, Beth through. All green and blue and white. She’d already seen a herd of wild mustangs and a few domestic horses grazing on the hillsides.
As they rounded a bend, a flash of silver caught her eye. She immediately honed in on it and saw a gray horse standing in the trees. As she watched, the horse reared, muscles rippling, black mane flying. But then she noticed something different about the horse-a rider clinging to its back.
“Dad look!”
Before Ben turned, the rider managed to turn the horse and they’d disappeared into the trees.
“What is it?” he asked.
“There was a horse…someone riding it!”
Ben scanned the trees. “Beth I think you’re seeing things.”
Beth frowned at the hill. Nothing. Maybe it had been her imagination…

Ben stopped the truck in the middle of three barns, all made of wood. He heard a hoof bang against the trailer that prompted him to get out. Beth did the same.
“Hello?” he called.
Suddenly, he heard the clicking of nails on concrete and loud barking. The biggest German Shepard he had ever seen burst from the barn on the right, snarling and showing two rows of monster teeth.
“Beth get in the truck,” he commanded, practically shoving his daughter into the back seat and slamming the door.
Just as the dog was about to launch an attack, a feminine voice called from the barn on his left: “Outlaw heal!”
The dog came to a sliding stop in from of Ben and both of them turned towards the barn. A woman emerged and for a moment, Ben was struck speechless. She was tall, probably about five nine or five ten and a little bulky. All muscle, he discovered upon a more thorough inspection. She had dark brown, nearly black, hair, pulled into a sloppy ponytail. Her eyes were like blue flames and she looked over at him. She was wearing a brown, shabby tank top, faded jeans, and brown suede boots. “Can I help you?” she asked.
It took Ben a moment to respond. “I’m looking for The Mustang Tamer.”
She frowned and whistled. The dog trotted over to her and sat by her side, looking up at her adoringly. She bent slightly at one knee and regarded him. “The Tamer doesn’t train anymore,” she said, looking pointedly at the horse trailer.
He expected her to have a hick twang like his relatives in West Virginia. But her voice was moderate, even if it did have a slight accent he couldn’t’ place.
“I know but-”
He was interrupted by the thundering of hooves. The next second, a gray horse came barreling around the side of the barn, heading straight for them.
Beth recognized the rider less horse the second she saw it: the silver horse on the hill. The woman who had come out of the barn gave one long, shrill whistle and the horse skidded to a stop not ten feet from her.
Beth opened the door and got out. The woman had produced a peppermint from her jean pocket and was feeding it to the horse.
“You just let horses run around like that?” Ben demanded.
“Not all of them,” the woman said. “but this is one of The Tamer’s hand selected horses. They’re never led or saddled.”
“Or fenced?” Ben asked sarcastically.
“Oh they are. The Tamer normally brings them down to brush them down but…probably saw you coming.”
“Wouldn’t he be a little curious of a stranger coming onto his property?”
She didn’t bat an eye at his grating tone. “I’m down here all day and we have at least one dog around here at all times.”
“I’m sorry, but who are you again?”
“I’m Tessa. The Tamer’s groom.”
“You’re the only one?”
She shrugged. “I can handle all the work.” She made a vague motion with her hand. “Go to your stall. I’ll come brush you in a minuet.” As if the horse actually understood what she was saying, it turned and trotted into the barn.
“How old is that horse?” Ben asked, amazed.
“About five. He’s stubborn and the Tamer had-and still is-having hell training him.”
“Well I have a horse-”
“Obviously.” Her attention turned to the truck and trailer. “Quarter of an Hour. Nice horses.” She flashed a grin.
Ben frowned. “How do you know?”
“My cousin bought a gelding for her daughters from you. Apparently he’s a great little horse.”
“Which horse?”
“Don’t remember her name. I know he’s a stocky little bay and that’s about it. You train horses Mr. Delany. What do you need The Tamer for?”
The change in subject gave him whiplash. “Yeah well-this isn’t what I’m used to. My daughter,” he nodded to Beth, “accidently bought a mustang stallion at a slaughter auction. He’s already attacked two of my horses and one of my friends’. Niki said he could help me-”
“Wait. Niki? Niki Ty-uhh Martez?”
It took Ben a moment to remember that Niki had changed her last name. “Yes.”
“Niki sent you up here?” she asked, looking skeptical.
“She said you could tell me if The Mustang Tamer would be willing to help me.”
Tessa looked from him to the trailer and back. She heaved a sigh. “I can take a look. But I’m not guaranteeing anything,” she said as she walked over to the trailer.
“Careful,” Ben cautioned when she climbed on the tire to peek in. “He-”
He broke off when the trailer erupted with squeals and began to rock. Tessa hopped backwards and landed nimbly on her feet.
“Hmm…could you back up to that paddock?” she asked, pointing.
“He-uh-jumps fences.”
“Not this fence he won’t.”
“How do you know that?”
“Don’t worry about it. Just back up to the gate.”
“I don’t have a halter on him.”
“I’ll open the gate and you can back the entire trailer in.”
“I can open it.”
She gave him a steady glare.
“Alright,” he sighed. He got into the truck. Beth followed Tessa to open the gate.
“Do you actually know The Mustang Tamer?” she asked.
Tessa regarded the younger girl. She looked wary and hopeful. “Yes.”
“So,” she paused. “You can convince him to work with my horse?”
Tessa opened the gate and looked back at her. “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”
“Beth.”
Tessa motioned for Beth to back up as she motioned for Ben to back into the paddock. “Beth there’s a certain process The Tamer goes through to train a horse. The first thing is to decide whether or not to train it. I can try my best but…that doesn’t mean The Tamer will listen to me.”
Beth looked defeated. “Dad was talking about taking him back.”
Tessa whipped her head around. “Back? Back to the slaughter auction?”
Beth nodded.
“Now why the hell would he do that?”
“He attacked one of Dad’s stallions and then one of Dad’s geldings. Niki siced Tribute on him and he fought with Tribute. Niki said Tribute won.”
“Crazy,” Tessa said with a faint smile.
“He’d not crazy,” Beth said defensively. “He’s just scared. He’s really smart. At the auction he seemed to be…almost calculating. Waiting for a weak spot so he could break through.”
“I wasn’t talking about your horse. I was talking about Niki.”
“You don’t think he’s crazy then?”
“I haven’t seen him yet,” Tessa said as they truck engine cut off. The stallion started slamming his hoof against the trailer.
“Hmm,” Tessa murmured as she approached the trailer before Ben could. She released the single latch and quickly stepped out of the way.
The horse lurched out, his breathing labored, sweat dripping down his sides. He came to a halt and wheeled in a circle. Tessa frowned when she noticed the notch in his left hear and that unforgettable blue eye that no other solid-colored mustang in the area had. She took note of the brand on his neck that fish and game used to identity their horses and translated it the best she could without close examination. The state and year matched. As did the ear. And there was the eye…
The stallion seemed to sense her gaze and looked at her. His ears, flat back until now, pricked and he stopped pawing. He flicked his ears once and then took off across the paddock.
“Is that paddock even fenced in?” Ben cried as he came around the trailer.
“Most of it,” Tessa assured him.
“Most of it?” he demanded.
“One side is a cliff that goes down almost a thousand feet. I don’t think he’s stupid enough to take a flying leap.” She was already filing away the information she’d gotten from looking on the horse’s neck. “It’s getting dark; I’ll show you to the guest house.”
“Guest house?”
“We used to have owners stay here all the time.”
“How much is this going to cost me?”
“Depends.”
“Depends?”
“On how much the horse eats. And how large a bill you run up in the guest house. Right now the horse is eating just grass and I don’t even know if The Tamer’s going to train him.”
“So how long am I going to be here?”
“Again it depends. It could be a week, maybe more.”
“Well…what’s the longest you’ve ever had a horse here for training?”
“I think it was ten weeks.”
“Ten weeks?! I have my own farm to run and Beth has school-”
“I don’t have to go back for almost two months,” Beth pointed out.
“Well you’ll know in a couple days whether or not The Tamer will work with him,” Tessa assured.
“Why can’t you just tell me?”
“Because I don’t know the answer to that question.”
“Then how am I supposed to know?”
“That pen,” she motioned to a pen overrun with weeds made entirely of tube fencing; a larger version of a round pen, all rusted, “He’ll be in it in three days if The Tamer decided to train him.”
“And if not?”
She shrugged. “You get your horse and go home.”
Ben gaped. “That’s it?”
“Yep.”
Ben looked doubtful.
“Give me a second and I’ll take you over to the guest house.” She disappeared into the barn.
“This is a bunch of bull,” Ben muttered. “How the hell do you know if there even is a Mustang Tamer if you can’t meet him?”
“I think I saw him,” Beth said.
Ben turned to her. “What?”
“Remember I said I saw a horse? It was that gray that came into the barn. Someone was riding him.”
“It could have been Tessa.”
“But Tessa was down here when he came running.”
“I don’t believe they just let horses run around like that.”
“He listened though.”
“Beth, don’t get your hopes up. He might not be able to train this horse.”
“I think he will Dad.”
Ben opened his mouth to correct her, but then he heard the ringing of hooves on cobblestone and then Tessa appeared, bareback on a graying bay.
“What is that?” Ben asked, taking in the horse’s monstrous size.
Tessa glared. As if sensing his rider’s mood, the horse squinted at him and laid his ears back.
“Tank,” she responded. “The only horse on the farm that’s not a mustang. We got him on loan once and fell in love with him and never gave him back.”
“He’s huge!” Beth exclaimed.
“He’s a warmblood Clydesdale cross. He’s only seventeen and a half hands.”
“Only,” Ben scoffed.
“Well if you’re coming, let’s go,” Tessa said, starting off at a trot. “Follow the road!” she called behind her.
“Ben got into the truck, motioning for Beth to follow and kept Tessa in sight. The big horse was fast for his size and was a good quarter mile away by the time Ben started following it, making him wonder how far away the guest house was.
When he caught up to the pair, the horse was galloping. His huge head has high and straining at the bit, making him look more like a thoroughbred than the big lug he was. Ben looked at Tessa. She seemed to be sitting completely still on the horse’s back, even as he attempted to get the reins through her fingers. She held fast, but Ben saw the muscles in her arms straining.
As he watched, they came to a small bridge that was a ditch in the field where horse and rider were galloping. Tessa released the death hold she had on the reins and the horse took one last step that could have matched three of a smaller horse and went airborne, leaping over the ditch, landing and pushing off towards a lowered part in the upcoming fence. He covered the ground in two strides and bounded over the fence that was easily four feet.
Ben accelerated a bit keep up with the horse as they rounded a bend and came upon a house. He began to slow but looked over at Tessa whom was shaking her head and motioning him forward. He frowned but followed.
A moment later, a log cabin came into view and Tessa began to pull Tank up. The horse shook his head in protest and began to buck. Ben pulled into the driveway and cut the engine to watch. Other riders, even himself, would have been talking to, if not cussing at, the horse. But Tessa wasn’t saying a word, just riding out the bucks and twitching the reins until the horse came to a halt, tossing his head.
Ben got out of the truck as Tessa swung her right leg over the horse’s neck to slide off.
“Nice riding,” Beth said and went over to the horse to pet his muzzle.
Tessa smiled. “He was a good jumper in his day. Even now if I don’t keep him working he jumps the fences. The stallions do not appreciate it when he does.
“How many stallions do you have?” Ben asked?
“Well,” Tessa motioned to the field behind the house. “That’s The Tamer’s field. You’ll only see The Tamer’s horses and your horse in there.” Ben opened his mouth to speak but Tessa continued. “The field we passed on the way up here is eight hundred acres of reservation. There are two separate herds. One has almost two hundred horses and the other has just over fifty. The gate down by the barns,” she motioned to where the barns were visible, “leads to three-hundred acres that house The Tamer’s little herd. We round them up four times a year to pick out foals and yearlings. Sell some, some go back. We geld a lot of the colts and send them back. Come to think of it, summer round up’s coming up in a few weeks.”
“How do you round them up?”
“We hire temporary hands. Most of them have been coming up for years. The Tamer doesn’t trust easily.
“You sell the foals?”
“The Tamer picks some out and puts them back. The others get halter trained and sold.”
“You have foals year-round? Dad’s only come in the spring.”
“We don’t restrict breeding that much around here. Your Dad keeps stallions and mare separate right?”
“Yeah.”
Tessa shrugged. “We don’t. Our mares go into season year-round and we have three or four stallions.”
“How many mares do you have?”
“Just over sixty. Plus a dozen young mares that aren’t ready to have foals yet that we keep separate until they’re four or so and send them back.” Tank suddenly pulled on the reins and Tessa was nearly yanked off her feet. “Alright well this big lug is tired of my yaking. I’m going to look your horse up tonight-”
“Look him up?” Ben asked.
“Unless I miss my guess the horse if from the herd The Tamer rescued a few years ago.”
“You mean he used to own him?”
“He was part of the herd but I don’t remember bringing him back here. A few horses were sold before I snatched up the rest of them.”
“How do you know that he’s part of that herd?”
“Have you noticed the notch on his ear? It signals he’s part of a herd that was going to be sold. The Tamer had heard that in the herd we were buying, there was a three-year-old colt with a blue eye that had a wild streak. He was going to be one of The Tamer’s personal mounts. I won’t know for sure until tonight and I’ll let you know in the morning.”
“When in the morning?”
“Just full of questions aren’t we,” Tessa mumbled then said aloud, “Just wander down to the barn. I’ll be somewhere. Good night.” With that, she turned, scrambled onto Tank’s broad back, and trotted off.