07/04/2024
Quite the memorable 4th of July today! My sister (Abi Fear) kicked off the morning with making me an aunt again with niece #2!
Then I rode my Mustang mare Salt in Michael Edison and Iās two-man parade down Main Street. I have never rode Salt with a flag before so we decided to skip the chuck wagon day parade in Big Piney and practice on a smaller scale at home for the Rendezvous parade next weekend.
Hope everyone has a happy and safe Independence Day!!
If you would like to continue reading a bit more- here are some additional details to todayās story:
Never did I ever; think that I would be able to ride Salt down a busy street with a flag. Not to mention the town chose today to spray for mosquitos. I soooo wish I had it on video: Salt, a previously wild Wyoming Mustang, proudly carrying the Wyoming state flag while a helicopter flew directly over head, and she wasnāt bothered one bit.
For reference of the importance of this moment- Salt was rounded up out of the wild by helicopter as a 4 year old from Green Mountain, WY (over by Jeffrey City). For those who think the mustangs suffer from PTSD of being rounded up by chopper, I strongly disagree.
Howeverā¦ my friend Mike allowed someone to jump on his horse for some special Independence Day photos. As you can see in the one photo, the girl riding Lima is only holding the flagā¦ not holding onto the reins at all. On one chopper pass, Lima decided it was time to go back to the trailer and took off (at a joggers pace).
More reference- Salt has less than 100 rides on her in the last 10 years since I adopted her as an untouched wild horse. In the last 2 years since I finished my ride across the country, she has only been ridden 4 times: my bachelorette party (last ride before becoming a bride), my wedding day (where she crow hopped a friend off that morning), last week on the pony express, and thenā¦ today.
So- for us to take off to rescue the girl on Lima, while carrying a flag, an energy drink, and a chopper buzzing overhead, was a scenario I could have never dreamed ending well while I riding the toughest mustang I have tamed and trained in my life. But it did. It went precisely as it needed to go!
The gal on Lima kept her cool and never dropped the American Flag. Salt was able to catch up without spilling a drop of my drink and our flag still upright. We were able to get ahold of Limaās lead and bring her and her passenger back safely.
I am so proud of Salt. I know not everyone has the patience and resources to wait nearly a decade for a horse to come around to the idea of domestic life, but I sure am grateful I made it happen. What Salt has taught me over the last 10 years of knowing her is completely priceless.
When I first brought Salt home, it was 2 months of consistently working her before she let me touch her for the first time. It was another 2 years before I rode her for the first timeā¦ itās been a long journey for sure.
I have bought, sold, and traded quite a few horses in the last 10 years, but I never did part with Salt in that time. I was so scared she would be one of the many misunderstood extremely reactive and outright wild horses that would more than likely end up in a bad place.
Patience is definitely one of my weakest virtues, but whenever I look at Salt, I realize maybe I am not so impatient after allā¦ or maybe the reality is that I am just too stubborn to give up.
Once again, happy 4th of July to anyone still reading this. Itās definitely an Independence Day that I will never forget. ā¤ļøššŗšø
Don't be afraid to be FearLis with Lisanne Fear! Watch horses (particularly mustangs) build their co
