Chapter 22

Teechi, Teecha, and Nagat were heading toward mama and her pups as I made it back near the cooking fire. I tagged along with them and was surprised when I saw that mama wolf perked up and flicked her ears forward when she saw me. I walked over beside the pen and she took a sniff or two in my direction, but by then Teecha was inserting her food dish and she lost interest in me.

"Does she ever growl at any of you anymore?" I asked.

"No. She doesn't growl at anyone now. I think it is because we've warned everyone to be kind to her and several people bring her little treats. The children especially do that. They are fascinated to be able to come so close to a wolf.

"I'm pretty sure that some of them even put their hands inside the cage to try touching her," Teecha said.

"It won't hurt a thing until she bites one of them," I said.

"I don't think she will do it unless they do something besides just trying to touch her. She might if they pull her hair or her ears or something, but she has been letting them touch her without even a warning growl," Teechi said.

"She lets me touch her and even pet her," Nagat said.

"How can you stand to put your hand in the cage. Aren't you afraid of those big teeth?" I asked.

"I was at first, but once when I put a little piece of meat in there she took it from me without even nipping my fingers, and then she licked them to get the grease off," he said, and smiled.

"Well, maybe you have a friend in her," I said.

"If not mama, then I have two friends in the pups. They like to come and play, but sometimes they will put their teeth to me. They aren't big enough to hurt me though," he said.

"No, and they aren't trying to either. You are right. They just want to play now," I said.

He showed me then that the pups would come to him when he urged them too, and he was right. They scampered right over and would even let him pick them up. He grabbed one, petted it a little and then scratched its belly, then he handed it to me and snagged the other one.

To me it was just like holding a puppy. It wanted to nip at my hands one second and then lick a finger or two the next. I gave its little ears a good scratching and it seemed like it wanted to be still and let me keep it up from now on. When I put it down it wanted to play with my fingers when I held them in front of it, and I decided that they were close enough to dogs for any purpose I could think of. I might even try letting mama out on a leash in a day or so.

When they'd been fed and watered we went back toward the cook fire and Nagat and I found our spot. Saytha came with our breakfast in a few minutes and she had my coffee cup with her too. Nagat spied it and for the first time he asked what it taste like.

"I don't know of anything else that taste like coffee. Would you like to try a sip?" I asked.

"Yes, may I?"

"Yes, but be careful, it is hot. Do not try to take much at one time," I said, and handed him the cup.

He took a tiny taste, screwed up his face, and then handed the cup back. I could see right away that he was not going to join Cowta and I as another coffee drinker.

"You were right, it does not taste like anything else I've ever had in my mouth. I think I will let you and Cowta drink my share from now on. Thank you for the taste though," he said, and then smiled.

"I was afraid you might not like it, but at least now you don't have to wonder about it."

"You are right again. I am not a bit curious now," he said, and Taachachi, who had come up with another little bit of fried bear strips, laughed at us.

"What will you do with the horses today?" Nagat asked, between bites.

"More of the same. We will keep teaching horses to follow when we lead and we will keep teaching people to lead so the horses will have someone to follow.

"After I have the horses at the post started leading I'm going to try riding the stallion," I said.

"That will be difficult won't it?" he asked.

"It will be time consuming at the least. Now that I think about it, I will probably put the saddle on him first thing and then give him a few minutes of walking around with it on. After he settles down I will let Biltee lead him around while I deal with the ones at the posts. When I have them in shape for others to lead them I will take the stallion again and if he seems ready I will try riding him."

"I want to be ready to watch that," he said.

"You are welcome to watch, but you will have to stand pretty far away at first. I don't want anyone getting his attention or distracting him while I get that part started," I said.

Originally I intended to let the riding lessons wait until after travois lessons, but I changed my mind this morning. If I could get a few hours of riding on the stallion I'd be able to let him haul me around to help haze and round up the others. It would probably help get some of the others more interested in the horses too.

It took over two hours to get all twelve of the horses at the snubbing posts moving in a halter. I got caught up with it and forgot all about saddling the stallion before the leading around started. No matter, it would work out sooner or later.

Once all the new trainees were out of the pen and my helpers were giving them the real leading lessons it was time for Biltee and I to reload the posts. It went faster than I'd expected and it seemed that just spending the night in the surround pen with the other horses at the posts had calmed these a bit.

We had all the snubbing posts showing new students how nice it was to be tied up and it still wasn't time for lunch yet. I went back to camp anyway so I could dig around in the loads from home and try to find my hackamore rig, saddle pad, and saddle for the stallion's amusement.

Luckily Biltee had come with me, so I let him carry the saddle while I took everything else. I could tell that he didn't mind the heavy load at all, because curiosity was shining all over his face. He managed to keep from asking any questions for the whole trip down near the pen but I don't know how he did it.

Caysha was giving the stallion his practice at the moment and they weren't far from us. I called to her and motioned toward us. When she reached us I took the stallion and tied him up close to one of the pens living post.

After spending fifteen or so minutes rubbing the saddle pad all over him, and especially on his back, I put it where it would do the most good and picked up the saddle, making sure the off side fender and stirrup were laid back over the seat so they wouldn't flop around when I put the saddle in place.

Even after taking these precautions, putting saddle to horse was a dicey moment. I could see him tense up and he showed he didn't know what was going on. That was normal and I hadn't expected any better. He was considering having a fit about it. He didn't though and when it was in place I spent a few minutes rubbing around on his head and ears to try calming him. So far, so good.

After ten minutes or so it seemed he was calm enough for the next step. I walked around to his off side and gently lowered the stirrup and girth to hang down. Back at the other side I reached under and took hold of the girth, pulling it up in place and checking to see if I needed to do any adjusting. Everything seemed right, so I threaded the latigo through the girth's D ring and back through the one on the saddle.

After all this careful and slow moving around it was time to tighten things up a little. He tensed up again as he felt the girth get snug so I kept still to let him settle again. When I started up again he took it well and I tightened everything up as if I was going to ride him. He shook himself good once but when the saddle didn't fall off he seemed resigned to another indignity out of me.