Mustang Saga

Sometimes you just know that things are happening for a reason.

My sister had decided to quit looking for a horse to ride during chemo. The horse advertised as a"dead broke kids' horse" turned out to be a bolter and she just didn't want to look anymore. It really scared her. So she prayed, saying she wasn't going to look, but if God wanted to He could send her a good horse.

Wednesday I noticed a new ad for a good kids' horse, mountain horse, pack horse. He's done who knows how many miles in the Selway, packed moose, elk, bear, and an injured Norwegian hiker who had never seen a horse before. Not to mention anyone who came over and didn't know how to ride.

Weird how it all came together. They just happened to be asking exactly the amount my sister had. They just happened to have ridden together years ago. He just happenned to be a loaner horse at Cowboy Bible Camp three years ago, and my sister had really liked him and offered to buy him for her kids. Of course he wasn't for sale.

How odd that his ad would go up the day after my sister offered up her prayer, and that I would see it (I normally don't check this website often) and we would get to him before the other people who called.

She tried him out that night and I went home and got my trailer and hauled him home for her.

He's funny. He doesn't really like me or most other people. He doesn't do anything bad, just would rather not be touched. But he follows my sister around like a puppy. He also hums when she rides him. They warned her he makes funny noises, or she might be worried his noises were a precursor to a blow-up. But nope, he just hums along with the rythm of the ride, then eventually tries another noise for a while. Watching her ride, I'd say there isn't a thought in his head except to do exactly as he's asked. Not that he's stupid, he's just present, ready to carry her wherever, in whatever way, without much of a thought to anything else. Very Zen.

Yesterday she wormed him and he was very uncomfortable. He hadn't been wormed all year. I hope he's feeling better today.

Meet Rusty:

He's a certified therapy horse. Well, okay, so he's not certified, but he's going to make my sister's life a lot more bearable over the next year. He's already doing his job, bringing her joy.