Whispers from the Tent 

Getting to the soul of a horse.

"He really taught me the coming and going aspects of a using horse: how their feet move in the rocks, when they’re winded, how much water they need when they’re hot, how you shouldn’t let them eat when you’re gathering cattle or they will learn to dive at a gallop because idle hunger has struck; why you should get down when your lariat is under your horse’s tail, why nose flies make them throw their heads in your face, why geldings make that noise at a trot, why Old Paint will always walk off and leave you; how a horse will, finally, sell out for grain, how a horse can get you home from the mountains in the dark when a mule can’t; and above all how, when you do such things long enough with one horse, you begin to see things in him, to look deep in his eyes and to make your deal, which is a kind of interchange of respect."

– Tom McGuane