excerpt
Fixing Fence
The Circle H Ranch
Willow Springs, Montana
It was the first time that Joel rode the sorrel gelding into the
hills on its own. He had saddled up the sorrel, and instead of
leading it to the corral, Joel had sensed that both of them would
benefit from a ride in the hills.
Over the last little while, all of the horses had spent some time
in the hills, escorted by another horse and rider. Most of the
horses only needed the escort’s company a couple of times before
they were ready to explore on their own. For some reason, the
sorrel gelding was slower to settle down than some of the others;
and today would be the first time solo, just him and the rider, in
the hills.
The sorrel had seemed pretty steady to Joe. Maybe a little hesitant
to start, but after some time and some miles in the hills, the
gelding was either getting tired or had settled down. Joel wasn’t
sure which one it was, but he was enjoying the smoother ride.
The sorrel spooked a little when he had first saw them before
Joel, but as soon as Joel felt the shiver run through the horse and
up into the saddle, he knew something was up. “Probably a deer,”
he thought. But no. There were three heifers on Joel’s side of the
fence that were obviously part of the herd of several hundred on
the other side of the fence. No wonder these three wanted to
escape onto his pasture. The contrast between the lush prairie
grasslands in Joel’s pasture and the barren patch of dirt on Buck
Smith’s side of the fence was something to see.
Manolis Aligizakis 