Mr. Nine, 4 years old
Christina de Pinet

I first saw the Mustang number 9007 in a chute being loaded into a borrowed trailer. I was so excited! I was picking up my first wild horse and I had 100 days to play with him, then meet up in Fort Worth, Texas to compete in the 2008 Extreme Mustang Makeover. I had spent the last couple months scrambling to get another row of pine poles on my 40 foot hand made round pen so the height would reach 6 feet, and saving up enough money to make the trip to Oklahoma and back, then to Fort Worth and back.

The Mustang with the loading number 9007 never hesitated loading into the trailer. One wave of a flag from the people on the ground and he stepped into the trailer like an old pro. On the way home to Arizona we traveled like a champ. I was able to stroke his muzzle at gas stops. At first I didn't want to get too attached to that animal; I would be giving him up at the adoption in Texas and I didn't want to be heart broken. So I named him Nine, for his loading number. My mom suggested James Bond from the 007, but he was just too gentle to carry the name of an assassin so he ended up Mr. James Nine, or just Nine for short.

That summer I learned more from Nine than I ever did in school. I had a one year old daughter and only enough money for three days a week at the baby sitter's, and he was my first attempt at starting a horse under saddle. So it came as no surprise when September came and I still hadn't ridden him. But I was competing in Stars, the lowest division, so we held our heads high and trucked on to Fort Worth regardless.

Nine tied the best score in health and conditioning, but didn't so well in the in-hand class because I couldn't get him to trot. And we didn't ride so our under saddle score suffered. But we pulled in a sixth place finish out of 15 horses that were signed up. Then came the day of the adoption. I had barely enough money to get home, and the truck and trailer we had borrowed had already started back for Arizona. There was no way I was going to be able to keep Nine, the horse I had fallen in love with whatever precautions I took.

I cried my eyes out as we entered the sales ring, my 17 month old daughter sitting in Nine's saddle with her daddy at her leg. The bids shot up to $700, the highest bid on any of the Stars horses and even most of the Idols horses. Then a man in the audience asked if I wanted my horse. Of course I did, but there was no way I could afford it! It was impossible, I couldn't even get him home! But I don't think anyone heard that part, because the man said he would pay the $700 fee and I could sign the adoption papers and keep Nine. The crowd was clapping to hard for me to hear anything!

Getting Nine home was a challenge; I called everyone in Arizona who might be able to give Nine a ride home, but everyone's trailers were full. I had to try half the people from California before I found space on a trailer. I had to borrow $400 from my grandmother to pay for Nine to get within 15 miles of home, where he would be transferred to another borrowed trailer and hauled home.

It has been nearly 8 months since I brought Nine home for good, and he is doing well. I rode him a couple times that September, but was bucked off one too many times so took the winter off. He has since has two successful rides and we will take him out of the round pen very very soon.

For anyone and everyone reading this, take a lesson; These magnificent horses bred by Mother Nature are worth their weight in solid gold, but you must respect them. They need time to adjust and get used to sharing your ideas. Take that time, and you will truly have a partner for life.