Then I gathered a handful of grass and offered it to
him, and always I talked to him in a quiet and reassuring voice.
I had expected a battle royal; but on the contrary I found his
taming a matter of comparative ease. Though wild, he was gentle
to a degree, and of such remarkable intelligence that he soon
discovered that I had no intention of harming him. After that,
all was easy. Before that day was done, I had taught him to lead
and to stand while I stroked his head and flanks, and to eat from
my hand, and had the satisfaction of seeing the light of fear die
in his large, intelligent eyes.
The following day I fashioned a hackamore from a piece which I cut
from the end of my long Galu rope, and then I mounted him fully
prepared for a struggle of titanic proportions in which I was none
too sure that he would not come off victor; but he never made the
slightest effort to unseat me, and from then on his education was
rapid. No horse ever learned more quickly the meaning of the rein
and the pressure of the knees. I think he soon learned to love
me, and I know that I loved him; while he and Nobs were the best
of pals. I called him Ace. I had a friend who was once in the
French flying-corps, and when Ace let himself out, he certainly
flew.
I cannot explain to you, nor can you understand, unless you too are
a horseman, the exhilarating feeling of well-being which pervaded
me from the moment that I commenced riding Ace.
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