The Story Behind the Poem: To Ride a Wild Mustang

I was recently thinking about all I had learned since getting my mustang. How riding her was one day only a dream, but now a reality. There were days when I thought it would never happen. Many days, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing.

But, slowly, little by little, and with great mentors, she taught me what it takes to ride a wild mustang. I had to learn to be more present. To pay closer attention. I had to figure out how to work together instead of insisting on being in charge. They were not just lessons for horse training, but lessons I learned for life.

Now not only am I privileged to spend time on her back but so are my children and other family and friends.

These are some of the things I was told and what I discovered.

To Ride A Wild Mustang

What does it take to ride a wild mustang?

“To want to do that, surely you must be insane!”

 

“They are crazy,” you hear. “Don’t do that!” they say.

Yet I still hear the mustang loudly calling my name.

 

“Just be ready to ride it out,” says one.

“Show them whose boss, it’s a fight be won,”

 

“Why would you want to?” they ask. “I certainly wouldn’t bother!”

“There’s no point in that,” chimes in the voice of another.

 

But still, I hear it, the mustang calling to me.

I see myself on her back, riding wild and free.

 

I just can’t say no to this urge that I feel.

Despite all the voices that try to repress my will.

 

So, the question persists, “How do you ride a wild horse?”

Surely, it’s something different not through fear and sheer force.

 

It’s not being cruel or winning a fight.

If you want a mustang to be yours, you must do it right.

 

It depends on patience and a whole lot of trust.

And you absolutely have to learn, that’s a must.

 

When you do this, your dream will come true,

not with bucks and bolts or riding it through.

 

Instead, you must walk with the mustang and understand their path.

You are part way there, now slow down for it won’t come fast.

 

You will need to let go of your world and enter theirs.

When you do you’ll be surprised at all that you share.

 

Forget what they say you should do, instead look on with new eyes.

Listen to what the mustang has to say and together you’ll rise

 

And find a relationship unlike any you’ve ever known

It’s not out of force and demands it has grown.

 

For the way that you ride a wild mustang, it’s true,

Is opening your soul and seeing the world anew.

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