eddy Mouse here. Wanna know a nasty little secret? Bubba Zoodie doesn't have.......Oh, I'm sorry, this is no way to start a new chapter of Rocky's story. First, let me reintroduce myself, in case my readers have forgotten who I am, and where I live. I'm Reddy Mouse, sometimes rudely referred to as "that rodent" by the less educated. I live in the barn with Rocky the Mustang and lots of other horses, including Bubba Zoodie, Rocky's young friend and confidant.

Ok, before I tell you the rest of how Rocky came to live with us, I'm about to tell you something I found out about Bubba Zoodie. It has been a long winter, and I had a lot of time to poke around in the barn office records. I was in the drawer that holds the pedigrees of all the horses, and, for Zoodie, all I could find was his bill of sale and brand registration. Could it be that Zoodie, for all his bragging about how handsome he is and what good papers he obviously must have, really has no papers at all? I certainly couldn't find any anywhere. So, I guess that maybe that means that papers are not all that important if the horse is a good horse, as Zoodie certainly is. And, of course, Mustangs don't have papers, but are often the best of horses. So, maybe whether a horses is a good horse just depends on whether he has good conformation, you know, straight legs, strong back and all that, and above all a good disposition, and has been well brought up.

In my experience, the character of all children depends on whether the mother is a good mother and has taught her child good manners. Zoodie certainly has good manners and a good disposition, and I don't think I'm going to tell him that I found out that he doesn't have a registered pedigree. It would only hurt his feelings. We mice are able to find out many things in our travels through drawers and cabinets, and our mothers always teach us that we should only tell if it doesn't hurt anyone. So don't tell Zoodie what I just told you if you ever meet him.

But, I digress. I'm supposed to be telling you what happened to Rocky when it became clear that he wasn't cut out for ranch work. He was put up for sale, as I think I told you in the last chapter. Also, I told you I had a surprise for you, so let me get on with it.

Just at the same time that Rocky was put up for sale, my people were looking for a new horse to train for trail riding. They didn't want too young a horse, because sometimes it is better if the horse has some experience so that he or she doesn't spook at every little strange thing that happens. And they didn't want a horse that was used to sleeping in a barn or having a blanket on at night, since they often camp out in the wilderness for a week or so, and the only shelter the horses have is the trees they are tied near. Also it is usually much colder at the higher elevations of the mountains, sometimes freezing at night, even in the summer. So when they found out about Rocky being for sale, they immediately went to look at him.

By now, Rocky was six and quite mature. My people were impressed with his sturdy good looks and his good manners. They especially liked his large, kind-looking eyes. So when they found out that he had worked for the Forest Service, and had been in the wilderness, they decided to buy him. Having done so, they made plans to come for him the following week with a trailer and another horse to keep him company for the long ride.

As my readers can probably guess, the horse they brought to keep Rocky company was Bubba Zoodie. So now we are back to the beginning of the story where Zoodie meets Rocky, and Rocky tells him his story.

Of course, Rocky had no idea where he was going. All he knew was that he had failed miserably at being a ranch horse. So he thought that he was going to be punished or worse. Certainly he was afraid that he would be stuck back in a tiny pen with no hope of ever getting out, because no one would ever use him again. He started to feel very sorry for himself, and very ashamed that he had let his mother down by failing to be a good ranch horse. After all, he was the Son of First, and of royal mustang blood with a reputation name to uphold, and now he was being sold yet again. It seemed that he just wasn't good enough for any of the humans who had ever owned him. Of course, he didn't know that his man at the Forest Service, who had loved and valued him very much, would have kept him if only he could.

So, as he told his story to Bubba Zoodie during the long trailer ride, he began to think that perhaps it was time he gave up trying to be a good domestic horse. The more of his story he told to Zoodie, the more sorry he felt for himself. Not only had he been taken from his family in the wild, but he continued to be separated from all the friends he had made since then. For the first time in a long time, he began to think about Skylark, and if horses could cry he would have as the painful memory of his separation from her surfaced once again. It seemed the whole world was against him having a happy life. So, in desperation, he began to plan how he would run away as soon as he was let out of the trailer. He accepted the thought that he might be very injured in the process, since he would probably have to run through a lot of fences. He felt, however, that even if he died trying, that would be far better and more befitting his heritage than spending the rest of his life without his family or friends, cooped- up in a small space with no room to run around, and no one who would care for him other than dropping off hay and filling his water bucket once a day.

Finally, the trailer pulled into the driveway of his new home and came to a stop. Zoodie had finished his hay, and as we know, he had been unable to persuade Rocky to push any from his side over to him, so he was happy to be home as it was getting close to his dinner time. He had no inkling of Rocky's desperate plan to bolt as soon as the trailer door opened.

When the trailer door opened, Rocky had already turned around to face the opening, and was prepared to hit the ground running in order to have as much momentum as possible when he came to the first fence. He hoped that maybe it would be short enough for him to jump, but if not, he felt that he was powerful enough to break through it if he just had enough speed going into it. However, as he jumped out of the trailer, a quick glance around showed that his plan was doomed to failure. The trailer had been backed into a corral with very sturdy, very high, six-inch thick log fencing. In anguish, he let out a loud whinny to tell the world around him of his deep sorrow, as he realized that there was not even any point in trying to break out of the stout pen he found himself in, no doubt, he thought, for the rest of his life. To his amazement, however, he heard an answering whinny from one of the horses in the next corral that sounded very familiar. Who could it be? Then a possible answer flooded into his brain, as he realized it sounded like Skylark's whinny. But how could that be? He whinnied again. And again he heard the same familiar sound in return. For a long moment he didn't move savoring the fantasy that it was indeed Skylark the filly calling to him, which he was certain would prove to be too good to be true in reality. Then he heard the same familiar whinny again. Unable to contain himself any further, he dashed excitedly to the adjoining fence, and peered as best he could through the space between the logs. There in adjoining corral he saw the happiest sight he had ever seen since his captivity. Standing there with three other friendly-looking horses, who were all looking in his direction, was Skylark! Then he whinnied loudly again, but this time it was a joyous sound. Skylark and the others trotted over to the fence, and she greeted him fondly by nickering softly, and poking her nose through the crack to touch his.

Well, readers, as you can probably imagine, Rocky's plan to escape was forgotten in the ensuing hubbub of his reunion with Skylark. He couldn't ask questions or get the answers to them fast enough. How did she get here, and where was he, anyway? Was this a good place with good people who often let you out of the pens? What did she get to do when she was let out? Over the course of the next few days, Rocky, who was now happily installed in his new home with Zoodie to keep him company in his somewhat spacious corral, talked with Skylark and the other friendly horses in the next corral. She told him how she had been bought and brought here right after Rocky had been sold the year before. She reassured him that this was a very good place indeed. He saw that she and the other horses were let out every day into large pastures to graze and socialize together. Furthermore, after several days went by, and his new people saw that he seemed happy and calm in his new home, they let him and Zoodie out with the others. Click here to see picture of Rocky and Skylark together that fall in the pasture, and Rocky, Zoodie and Skylark grazing together the following spring as the grass turned green.

There wasn't much good weather left when Rocky arrived at his new home that fall, but when his new people figured out from his records that he had been with Skylark in the Forest Service, they were again paired together on the trails for the rest of good weather. They found that, like Skylark, he had all the skills necessary to be a premier trail horse. He was used to being ridden, and had the stamina to go all day on trail rides. Also he was used to carrying saddle panniers or other various things on his back that sometimes clanged together or made other noises, and sometimes had strange shapes. Click here to see Skylark on a trail ride where Rocky comes along just for fun. He was in fairly good shape from being ridden at the ranch all summer, but he began to be in even better shape since he was taken out almost everyday.

Skylark told him that she was in such good shape from being ridden out all the time on trail rides that her "man", who was actually a woman, had ridden her in some endurance races that past summer, and that she had won two of them. Rocky was fascinated, and wanted to know all about such races. He asked if they were like the race run by Hildago, a famous Mustang that all other Mustangs have, of course, heard about from their mothers. "No, silly," she said." Even though we are Mustangs like Hildago, we aren't super horses like he was, no matter what your mother told you. And they aren't likely to make a movie out of one of my races like HILDAGO. The races I go in are only 25 to 50 miles, not thousands of miles like that race, and we don't face the perils that Hildago did. However, "she bragged, " I did win two races. Also, when the vets checked my vital signs which they do at two or three stops during the race to make sure that no horse is being dangerously stressed out, they found that my heart and lungs are in better shape than all the domestic horses, even the Arabians." Click here to see Skylark at the vet check in one of her endurance races, and to see the two ribbons she won.

Well, patient readers, I have finally found the time to tell you all I know of Rocky's story as told to me by his still faithful friend, the Bubba Zoodie. It is now many years later, and Rocky has long ago fulfilled his promise of being a great trail horse. He and Skylark often go on trail rides together, and even get to camp out in the wilderness in the summers as they did in their younger years when they worked for the Forest Service. They still get to feast on the best of grasses, but now that they are much older and very experienced, they sleep much better than in those early days. They know that Zoodie, young horse that he is, is mostly wide-awake all night, afraid that one of the dark shadows might turn into a sinister beast intent on his destruction. Sometimes they even tell him scary stories before bedtime to make sure he remains alert for real danger while they sleep.

So, instead of the miserable end that Rocky had envisioned for himself that day when he first arrived here, he has found himself in the best of homes that maybe, just maybe, make up for being taken from the wild and his family those many years ago.