Patches AKA Sweets
by Ariel

My riding instructor one day decided to adopt a wild mustang. It came as a shock for all of us riders! This was a Saddlebred showing barn! A mustang certaintly wouldn't fit! Right? Wrong.

On a chilly September day, Our car pulled in to the stable's drive way and as I looked to my left I seen a beautiful bay gelding with a few white spots on his body grazing on my instructors lawn with a teenage groomer. My jaw dropped! He was beautiful!

It took them 5 hours just to get him out of the trailer. He couldn't even get into his stall with out spooking at his feed box! A few months later, he became Patches because of his white spots that looked like little patches a grndma would sew onto her grand kids clothes.

Later on, I became a good rider, quickly accending the ranks and one day, my instructor told me to not tack up Dave; my usual lesson horse. (Dave was the same size as Patches at 15.5 hands.) So she led him out of his stall and into the hallway. I gapped at her! She expected me to ride this puny little undertrained and not gaited mustang!

As much as I argued with her, she always gave me a reason back for it. So, I tacked him up. I got on. And I put on my best show face that I could muster. She told me to enter a trot. I a little more harshly than needed, kicked his sides. Suddenly, I'm floating in mid air! Patch did it! He was in a perfect saddleseat trot! I laughed out loud at myself. And patch stopped in mid way to the outside door.

He thought I said Whoa. All of a sudden there was a boom from one of the nearby stalls. A lady who was leading her 17 hand saddlebred fell over from the force of her horse bolting. I gasped. The horse was heading straight for us!

Patches had seen what happened. He charged at him! I held on for dear life, pulling as hard as I could on his reins. The horse stopped just inches away from his nose. Patches puffed up his chest and bit him harshly. The other horse layed his ears back and tried to bit him back, Patches shrieked at him and reared a few feet off the ground.

Me, I never fell off a horse and I wasn't about to break that record. I held on to his mane and his reins. When the fight settled, I got off. Patches turned around and nuzzled my cheek. I giggled at us both! I giggled at myself for not giving Patches a chance. And because his whiskers were tickling my neck!