Marcy, Martin, and the Mustang

Marcy's mouth fell open.

"You think I could...I could really ride him?"

Rex grinned again.

"Well, it'll take a lot of training, but you're about half way there since he's letting you touch him. That's always the first step with training horses -- getting them comfortable enough with you to let you touch them. After that, well, I could show you some things to do...if you'd want me to anyway."

After that day, Rex began teaching Marcy everything he knew about training horses. The first lesson was to teach her how to get Montego to let her touch more than his nose.

"Horses like to have their necks scratched. Just start rubbing his nose and then work your way up the side of his face. He'll like that and turn his head so you can reach him better. Don't go all the way up to his ears though. Horses don't like having their ears messed with. When you get to his jawbone start working down his neck and then his back. It'll take a while, but when he learns how good that feels, he's want you to do it all the time."

That took a week, but at the end of that week, Marcy carried a brush from the barn when she went to feed Montego. She gave him a horse treat and then started brushing his neck. Montego moved so he was parallel to the fence and let her brush his neck, back, and his side.

The next week, Marcy used horse treats to get Montego to walk down the fence, through the gate and into the round pen. She fed him more treats and brushed him some more through the bars of the round pen. When all the treats were gone, Montego nickered and pushed his nose through the bars. Marcy laughed.

"You're greedy, Montego. That's all for this morning. It's time to eat your breakfast. Come on, back into the big pen."

The day Marcy put Montego into the round pen and then got ready to go in with him, Rex cautioned her.

"You'll be afraid and he'll know that, so don't do anything fast. Just stand still and talk to him. When he's ready, he'll come to you. That might not happen today, but it will happen."

Two days later, Marcy ran her hands over the muscles of Montego's body while he stood quietly beside her in the round pen.

Marcy was so excited she could barely stand still. She was petting a horse that only a few weeks before, Rex had said probably couldn't be tamed. Yet, here she was standing beside an animal that could have easily killed her, and he was acting like a pet dog. It made her feel as if she'd really accomplished something. Rex said she still had a ways to go, but she was more proud of this moment than in anything else she'd ever done. Montego didn't even seem to mind when she put her arms around his muscular neck and hugged him.

"Montego, I knew you were a good horse. We just had to work things out between us. Now that we have, I think I love you."

Montego just snorted and stamped his foot. He wanted another treat.

In two more days, Marcy could put a halter on Montego, and after one more day and a lot of coaxing with treats, she could lead him. He didn't always want to go where she did, but by talking to him, she could usually turn him. By the end of that week, he was following her around like a puppy.

That night at dinner, Rex told Ed he thought the bay mare was ready to breed. Ed asked how he was going to go about getting them together. Ed smiled.

"Well, I thought we'd put the mare in that birthing stall in the barn and the bring the stallion to her. That way, if she'd not quite ready, she'll be kicking the stall instead of the stallion. If she is, we'll put him in there with her and let him do his thing."

Ed said what he wanted to know is how Rex was going to get the stallion anywhere.

Rex grinned again.

"We'll have Marcy lead him."

Ed looked at Marcy and then at Rex.

"You mean to tell me Marcy tamed that stallion? She wasn't supposed to get that close to him. Why did you let her do that? She might have been killed."

Rex started to answer, but Marcy spoke up before he could.

"Uncle Ed, Rex didn't have anything to do with it at first. I just sat there by the pen until Montego came up to me. Then I started giving him horse treats until he'd let me pet him. It was only after that when Rex showed me what to do next."

Ed frowned at Marcy.

"Montego, huh? That's what you call him? You promised not to go near that horse."

Marcy dropped her head.

"I know, but he needed me...and...and, Uncle Ed, I needed him. We understand each other now. I know he won't hurt me, but I'll be careful. If he does anything, I'll let him go."

The next morning after fixing breakfast and then feeding the calves, Marcy took a pocketful of treats and a halter to Montego's pen. She stepped inside the pen and called the stallion, and when he came trotting up, she gave him a treat.

"Montego, today is your big day. You're going to see a girlfriend. Please be good and don't run away from me."

After two more treats, Marcy slipped the halter over Montego's head, buckled the throat strap, and then snapped on the lead rope. When she began walking toward the barn, Montego followed.

Rex was there holding the door open, but he was standing where he could run if he had to. That was because of what he'd told Marcy.

"Marcy, when he smells the mare, he's liable to go crazy. Sometimes they do. If that happens, you drop that lead rope and get out of his way because nothing will stop him from getting to where that mare is."

Marcy stroked Montego's neck.

"OK, Montego, we're going inside now. You stay calm."

Montego was half way inside the barn when he caught the mare's scent. His scream split the air and he tried to run, but Marcy pulled on the lead rope and stroked his neck.

"Easy, Montego. I'll take you to her."

The stallion was prancing as Marcy led him to the stall. His nostrils flared when he saw the mare and another shrill scream echoed through the barn. He then arched his neck over the stall and sniffed the mare. She raised her tail to the side and Montego screamed again.

Rex was beside Marcy by then. He said, "She's ready. You unsnap the lead rope and get ready to let Montego go as soon as I get the stall door open."

Marcy unsnapped the lead rope, but held onto the halter even though Montego was jerking his head up and down. Rex rolled the stall door to the side, and then said, "Marcy, let him go now". When Montego was in the stall, Rex rolled the door shut again, and then leaned against the side of the stall to watch.

Marcy was fascinated by how Montego was acting. She'd always though most male animals just did it and the female animal just stood there. This wasn't at all what she'd expected.

Montego was making little sounds as he nuzzled the mare's flanks and neck. The mare had been just standing there, but when he started that, she lifted her tail and Marcy saw the mare open her entrance. A little creamy fluid flowed from the opening.

Montego sniffed the puddle, then curled his upper lip and inhaled deeply.

"He's making sure she's ready", whispered Rex. "If she is, he'll mount her next."

Marcy wasn't listening. She was staring at the long, thick, curved shaft of Montego's organ. She was wondering how it was going to fit when the mare spread her back legs and Montego reared up and landed with one foreleg on each side of the mare and his chest on her back. The curve of the organ straightened as Montego searched for the mare's entrance. When he found it, he lunged forward and began pumping in and out of her in quick short strokes.

It didn't last very long, not nearly as long as Marcy had anticipated. Montego was thrusting away, then shuddered a few times, then slipped off the mare's back and stood there with his sides heaving.

Rex said, "Well, he's done. If she's still in heat tomorrow, we'll try him again, but from the looks of it, I think he got her bred. Give him a minute and you should be able to put his lead rope back on and take him back to the pen."

Montego didn't do anything when Marcy snapped the lead rope to the halter and started out of the stall. Rex closed the stall door behind them and then followed them back to the stallion's pen. When they were inside, Marcy took the halter off Montego and hugged him.

"You were such a good boy, Montego. Maybe we'll have a little baby Montego one of these days."

As Rex closed the gate behind them he said, "Yep, in about eleven months, give or take."

He laughed then.

"I'll go get his feed and hay while you keep telling him what a good job he did. You're spoiling him, Marcy."

When Rex came back with the feed and hay, Marcy was still stroking the horse's neck.

Rex forked the hay into the rack and dumped the feed into the manger, but Montego didn't move. Rex laughed again.

"Marcy, you're going to have to stop petting him so he can eat."

Marcy kissed the horse on the nose and then came out of the pen. Montego went to the manger and started to eat. Rex smiled at Marcy then.

"You think a lot of that horse, don't you?"

Marcy nodded.

"He was afraid until I showed him I wouldn't hurt him. Once I showed him I wouldn't do that, he started to like me. He doesn't care how I look. He only cares that I feed him and brush him."

Rex thought for a moment before he said anything else. He didn't want Marcy to think he was saying something he wasn't.

"Marcy, do you think how you look is the most important thing to everybody?"

Marcy nodded again.

"It is, because I've seen it. My mother cried every time she looked at me. My father didn't. He just stopped looking at me. I couldn't stay there because all they were doing was reminding me that I'm ugly now. That's why I came here. I knew Uncle Ed would understand because of what happened to him and out here, I wouldn't have to have people looking at me all the time."

Rex looked at the ground because he couldn't say what he was going to say if he was looking at Marcy.

"Marcy, I don't think you're ugly."

"But my face...it is."

Rex shook his head.

"Looks shouldn't mean anything to somebody who cares about the whole person. Besides, your scars don't hardly show anymore. I can't see them from here."

Marcy felt her eyes filling with tears.

"You're just saying that to make me feel good. If you come over here, you'll see my scars, just like I see them every morning and every night in the mirror in the bathroom."

Rex walked over until he was within arms reach of Marcy.

"Yes, I see them now, but I see something else. I see a woman who tamed a horse I couldn't tame because she saw what was inside him. I see a woman who likes doing things for people and animals. Ed told me he was planning on letting you relax so you could find yourself again, but you didn't. You kept doing more things like feeding Montego and cooking for us.

"Did you ever think that you're a lot like Montego. He was scared to death of people because of something that happened to him until you convinced him he didn't need to be afraid. You're scared people will think you're ugly. You need to do for yourself what you did for Montego. You need to realize that inside you is a beautiful person and that you don't need to be afraid anymore."

Marcy wiped her eyes and sniffed.

"That's really hard to do when you look like I look. If I went back home, Mom would still cry and Dad wouldn't look at me. If I went back to college it would be like I'm there by myself. Nobody would talk to me, much less want to do anything with me. If I stay here, there won't be anybody either."

Rex touched Marcy on the shoulder.

"I'm here, Marcy. All you have to do is look at me to see that."

Marcy looked up at Rex. He was smiling.

"You mean you like me?"

Rex chuckled.

"No. That's why I spent so much time teaching you what to do with Montego."

"But you'd never want to be seen with me, would you?"

Rex smiled again.

"Would you want to be seen with me? I'm just a ranch hand without much education. You go to college. You're way out of my league. Even if I asked you, you'd probably say no. Maybe I should just ask you and then we'll both know. Wanna go to Cheyenne for dinner on Saturday? They have this Mexican restaurant there that's run by real Mexican man and his wife."

Marcy spent two hours getting ready, most of which was spent trying to cover the scars on her face -- twice. The first time, she finished and then stood back and looked in the mirror. The scars were gone, but she realized she looked more like a plastered wall than a woman.

Marcy washed all the makeup off her face and started over. The second time, she tried to blend in the scars instead of covering them. When she looked in the mirror this time, most of the little scars were gone, but the two biggest ones were still visible. There wasn't time to do it again, so Marcy got dressed and waited for Rex.

Rex didn't say much when he walked into the living room. He just smiled and asked Marcy if she was ready to go. The reason was he hadn't been out with a woman in over four years and he wasn't sure what he should say. He'd driven the pickup half way to Cheyenne before he made up his mind.

"Marcy, you look really great tonight."

Marcy said, "Thank you", but inside she knew he was just saying that.

Rex surprised her then.

"You don't sound like you think you do. Marcy, just remember one thing tonight. The only person in this world you need to look good to is me. Everybody else doesn't count. If they look at you, just ignore them."

Marcy didn't know how to reply to that, so she didn't.

Dinner was better than she thought. There weren't a lot of people in the restaurant, and those who were seemed to be occupied with the people at their own tables. Only the young girl who took their order really looked at Marcy, and she didn't say anything except to ask what they'd like to have.

Still, Marcy didn't feel really relaxed until they left the restaurant to drive back to the ranch. Nobody had stared at her, but she thought they were now probably talking about the ugly woman they'd seen that night. She was thinking about that when Rex interrupted her thoughts.

"Marcy, you're awful quiet, and I think I know why. You're thinking everybody in the restaurant was looking at you and deciding something was wrong with you, aren't you?"

"Something like that", she said quietly.

Rex moved his hand to hers.

"You know, I used to have those same feelings everywhere I went."

Marcy pulled her hand away and her voice sounded like she was angry.

"How would you know how I feel? People don't stare at you like they do me."

Rex touched her hand again, but this time he gently pulled it toward him.

"Marcy, you need to know something about me. Let me show you."

Rex kept pulling on Marcy's hand until it was over his right knee. Then he pushed it down.

"This is what you need to know about me."

Marcy felt something hard. She moved her hand down over Rex's knee and felt the hinge of an artificial leg.

"I didn't know", she said. "It doesn't show when you walk. What happened?"

Rex sighed.

"The summer I graduated from high school, I took a girl to the movies to see "Grease 2". She liked the romance. I liked the motorcycles. I had a job on a ranch by then, so I saved my money until I could buy a bike. I thought I was gonna be hot stuff, just like the guy in the movie. Well, I got a little too hot one night and pulled out in front of a pickup. It looked to me like I had time if I gunned the engine, but when I did, the bike spun around and went down with my right leg under it. I couldn't get out from under the bike and there was no way the guy could stop his pickup before he hit me. I got drug down the road under that truck until the guy did get it stopped. When they got me to the hospital, my right leg was busted up so much, all they could do was amputate it just above my knee. After I healed, they gave me this leg and taught me how to walk with it.

"At first, I thought like you think -- that everybody was watching me. The people who knew about my accident were always telling me it'd get better, but I knew it wouldn't. I'd always be the guy everybody whispered about. I was sure of that when Doris dropped me for another guy and the rancher I was working for said he didn't need me to come back.

"Ed heard about me somehow -- I figure it was from that same rancher but he's never said -- and he came to the house once I was up and walking again. He said he was thinking of raising some horses and had heard I was good with them. He said he didn't know much about horses and he needed a man who did if I was interested.

"Well, I was good with horses. My grandpa raised quarter horses for a living, and I'd been around them since I was old enough to sit on one by myself. I told Ed I was interested, but he had to know that I only had one leg.

"Ed frowned then and said if I was going to let that stop me, he couldn't use me, but if I was ready to work, he could. That was the first time anybody ever did anything except pity me. When I said I'd try, Ed told me to get my stuff in the back of his truck.

"I've been working here ever since. That first year was pretty hard, but Ed didn't cut me no slack. He said I was capable of doin' anything he could if I put my mind to it. If I complained about something, he'd just laugh and tell me there were people in this world a lot worse off than I was, and that I should be thankful I hadn't lost more than part of a leg.

"I didn't know about Ed 'til the first summer I was here. It was hot as hell and we were baling hay. When Ed took off his shirt, I understood why he'd been so hard on me. His whole chest and back are just a bunch of scars. When I asked him what happened, he said it was a bomb that exploded under the truck he was driving in Iraq but it wasn't as bad as it looked. Well, it looked to me like they'd put him back together with baling wire and bubble gum and ran out of bubble gum in the middle.

"I got a lot more respect for Ed that day. He told me he was treating me like the people in the VA treated him. What they told him was he could feel sorry for himself for the rest of his life, but he'd probably die in a few years if he did. They said if he worked hard, he'd get well again and would be able to do most of what he used to do. Ed said it was hard, but he found out they were right.

"That's what I found out too, Marcy. You can do whatever you have the guts to do no matter what other people think, and when you do that, people change their minds about you. They don't see me still limp a little now, and I usually do by the end of the day. You didn't see that limp because you didn't know so you weren't watching for it.

"See, it's not other people who make you feel like you do. It's you that makes you feel that way. I wasn't embarrassed to be with you tonight. In fact, I'd like to do it again if you can put up with me now that you know about me. I don't give a rat's patoot what other people think. That's their problem, not mine."

Marcy sniffed because she was crying.

"You want to go out with me again?"

Rex chuckled.

"If you can let yourself date a one-legged horse wrangler who thinks you're a really great woman, I do."

A lot of things changed on the ranch over the next month.

Marcy was amazed at how fast the six calves were growing. They'd suck down two quarts of milk replacer and then look up at her for more. Instead, she started putting cattle feed and hay in their manger. They were hesitant at first, but once they tasted both, the started eating and grew even faster.

Rex worked with Marcy, and soon had Montego used to having a saddle on his back. He bucked a little the first time, but Marcy had talked to him, gave him treats, and scratched his neck until he accepted the weight on his back. Marcy wanted to ride him then, but Rex shook his head.

"Let him get used to the saddle for a while, Marcy. You don't want to get bucked of. Believe me, I know. It hurts like the dickens."