Patience...

...is a virtue.  It's one of my favorite sayings, one that I grew up hearing over and over, and one that I may have repeated to my children a time or two.  Patience is the number one lesson that we learn with mustangs.  The gentling process requires lots of patience, as well as faith, respect, and trust.  We patiently wait for the first touch, but even before then we have to be patient and wait for the mustang to arrive.

Do you remember when I was excited because I was getting a fresh mustang in my gentling pen, and I said it would be here in a few days?  Well, days turned into weeks, while I patiently endured one delay after another in the delivery arrangements.  Finally, more than a month after I expected her, the new mare arrived tonight.  Her name is Belle, and she is a four-year-old from the Stinkingwater Herd Management Area of Oregon.  Her color is listed as sorrel, but she looks more like a chocolate palomino.  Her coat is a warm toasty brown, and her mane and tail are a lovely shade of golden.  She's built nice and sturdy, true to the draft heritage that her herd is known for.  She reminds me a bit of Malibu Barbie, with her dark tan, bleach blond hair and her big, curvy physique.

Belle has a sweet face, with a star shaped like the State of Texas, and a well-placed snip on her long Roman nose.  She stepped out of the trailer with aplomb, and looked around with a Winnie-the-Pooh expression that  read, "Oh, I'm here.  Well, of course I am.  Where else would I be?"  She gave herself a quick tour of the pen, then relaxed and posed while I took one hundred and twenty-seven photos of her.  Seriously!  Belle was curious about everything, and had fun splashing her muzzle in the water bucket before she settled in to her dinner.

Capri greeted her new friend very politely.  They got acquainted (re-acquainted?) through the rails, and spent some time just hanging out together.  I haltered Capri, tied her up, and brushed her, while Belle ogled the process.  Horses can learn a good bit just by watching other horses, so this was the beginning of her education.  Tomorrow I'll get started on the rest!