“Go see him tomorrow and have a talk.  It will make you feel better.” My dad says gently.  He is right. I always go to Clay’s favorite place on the ranch before I leave home and we ‘talk” it always helps. I can feel him there.  It is a beautiful field that has a river running by it.  It is where we put our mares after they foal.  He used to love going down in the early morning and watch the young foals play.  I do too.

I stumble down the stairs early next morning, still groggy from lack of sleep.

“Hey kiddo, come with me to feed the horses before you take off.” My mom says. 

I just nod.  We walk, arms linked, out to the barn in silence.  We are ok with it.  It is a good silence and it is comforting.  My mom has always been my biggest champion.  When I came out to her I was so scared to loose that relationship we had and that I would disappoint her.  She never once said she didn’t love me.  She has had a hard time understanding some things about my life but she never lets it cloud our bond.  

She slides open the main door and Chance pokes his head out of his stall and nickers softly at us.  He is the only one that does. 

“Looks like you made a friend yesterday.” My mom says.   “Your dad said you handled him expertly.”

“He made me look good.” I laughed.  “He let me put the bridle on in the first 20 minutes and I even had a tight front cinch on the saddle by the end of the day.  He is just totally cool with what ever you want to do to him. He is going to make an awesome reining horse…he is built perfectly.”

“So I take it you like him, his owner, Tim, is going to have to make sure you don’t steal him away.” Mom said after listening to me sing Chance’s praises.  “You haven’t been this excited about a young horse since Ace.”

My first gelding Ace had a special place in my heart.  He was retired now.  His knees were to arthritic to ride any more, so he was living out life in style in one of our best pastures with 3 other horses the family would keep till they decided to leave us.  Two of them were Clay’s and the other my mom’s favorite mare.