Amy began the session with Mitch and Maverick with a basic join-up exercise and studied their body language through the wooden bars as she was outside the pen with Bryce to give the horse and the man space to do what they needed to do. This way there were less distractions in the pen, and the one Maverick was truly focusing on was Mitch.

"Loosen up a little, he can sense your tension", Amy instructed, and Mitch followed the advice. Her eyes studied the situation, witnessing the obvious shift in the energy; the more Mitch eased up, the better Maverick looked as well. "That's better. - Good. See how he's already more relaxed?"

She let the duo work together for a while, independently, and watched as Mitch told Maverick to turn around by stepping toward his path. The horse turned his body around using his hind legs and started trotting the other direction.

It seemed like not much instructions were needed as Mitch had began to get the hang of this. Besides, this wasn't his first join-up and he only needed a little guidance to read Maverick's cues. Amy could tell Mitch had a natural sense with horses, maybe not as much as she did, but it was evident he was definitely in tune with his own horse. Maverick and him had come a long way from what they had once been.

"Never gets old, does it?" Bryce hummed a little as he leaned on the fence, watching the man work with his horse. Even though he was here to help, he couldn't help but find this as entertainment as well. It was just like watching a good movie - if not better. "I mean, how long have you been doing this again?"

Amy thought about it for a while and sighed thoughtfully. "Twelve years, I guess, more or less."

"And the horses are just as mesmerizing as ever?" Bryce said.

Even though it sounded like a question, Amy couldn't help but find it as a statement as well. It seemed like Bryce really understood her with this and it brought a smile to her face. The more she was around people who didn't think loving horses this much was crazy, the more it felt like she began to heal.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I don't think I could ever get tired watching them."

"Me neither", Bryce agreed. "And with the way things are going, I don't see myself stopping either."

"I'm guessing that means your business is doing well?" Amy asked as she watched Mitch reel in the middle of the pen, following Maverick's movements. The horse wasn't ready yet - and he knew it. He had the patience to wait, though.

"Yeah, actually. In fact, I've been offered more work. Not exactly the same kind of job, but in the same vein. It's another kind of rehabilitation. I still haven't made up my mind, though", Bryce revealed as they watched the horse go round and round. "In fact, now that I have you here, I wanted to ask your opinion. Do you happen to know a guy called Keith Rowan?"

"Keith Rowan..." Amy echoed thoughtfully. "Why does that name sound familiar...?" She looked at Bryce, wondering why she had a feeling she knew the guy but couldn't recall him right away.

"He has a ranch not too far from here", Bryce enlightened her, even though that still didn't tell Amy that much. A lot of people around here had ranches, after all. "He trains and re-homes wild mustangs."

That triggered some type of memory in Amy, but before she could really recall the whole picture, Bryce continued.

"I went to buy one of his horses for my place, and noticed these guys in similar... let's call them uniforms, helping out with the horses, so I asked what the deal was", Bryce shared. "He said that he has these guys, inmates from the Chinook Correctional Institute, come in every day to work with the mustangs."

That's when it hit Amy.

Oh yes, the place where he had met Ty's friend Joe for the first time.

"Oh yeah, I've been to his ranch", Amy confirmed briefly.

"Okay, so you must know the deal then. - I wasn't sure what to think of it at first, to be honest. I mean, criminals working with horses?" Bryce admitted. "I guess I kind of felt like maybe there are too many risks involved, but Keith said that even though they had done bad stuff in the past, he tried to focus on the present and - more importantly - the future. He's been doing it for years and seen how it has changed lives. He said something about wanting to turn their lives around so they don't end up back in the prison after they've served their time. The horses have somehow helped with that process as they teach compassion and structure. So, in a way it didn't sound bad."

"Well, horses can definitely do that", Amy said.

"That's the easiest part for me to understand too", Bryce admitted.

Amy then drifted off, thinking back to the time she had had to convince Grandpa to let her go to that ranch. What she had not really understood was the whole idea of Jack sponsoring Ty (and Scott), but then not letting her go to a ranch that had similar ideology behind it than Heartland did. Now, looking back, she understood more why Grandpa had been worried, because back then her experience mostly extended to Ty and Scott and how they had done their time and it wasn't necessarily that similar to the guys at Keith's ranch despite them from coming from a similar situation.

That being said, Amy's main interest had been in the horses and the work Keith was doing to save their lives and it was why she had paid a visit in the first place and had wanted to show the inmates how to help them gentle the mustangs using similar methods to hers.

Still, by visiting the place with Ty, she had gotten more than she had bargained for. She had received a reminder that Ty wasn't more than one step away from being one of those inmates gentling the mustangs. And yet, somehow, she had seen him as someone very different and couldn't have imagined him being like any of those guys despite knowing about his past.

And now...

Well... had he been that different after all? The step had been taken now. In a line-up of inmates, could anyone really say he was somehow different from the next - and why?

Amy wasn't sure what it had been - trust, faith or naivety - that had allowed her and Grandpa to trust Ty to turn his life around despite his circumstances. He had slowly proved them to be worth of that trust, but then somehow he had lost his way again, for whatever reason. And now he was doing time.

How would have things gone over if that person sitting in that Correctional Institute had been Ty instead while Joe had gotten away with their crime due to Ty's sacrifice? Maybe the only difference between Joe and Ty's situation was that Ty had been given more chances. By Marion, by Grandpa, by her. But who was to say why the other person was more worthy from the next?

What had Marion seen in Ty back when she had taken him in? Would she had seen the same in Joe?

"Do you think that's possible?" Bryce pulled Amy back from her thoughts. "That a criminal can change his ways?"

Amy glanced at him, wondering what to say. She realized she had personal bias at the back of her mind, but she was trying to keep things as neutral as possible.

"I guess they can", she said. If anyone had proven her that it was Scott. He had chosen a road and stuck to it. Ty... it was all still undecided. It seemed like he was still on his journey to recovery and the jury was still out for that one, if for not anyone else then at least for Lyndy's sake. "But they have to really want it and be prepared to face the rocky road ahead, believing that something better might be ahead. Staying humble helps."

Bryce nodded, taking in Amy's opinion.

They both watched as Mitch took a position in the middle of the pen and waited for Maverick to reach him. The horse walked behind him and touched his shoulder which caused Mitch to smile with a relief.

The join-up was complete.

"Good boy", Mitch said with a soft tone, scratching Maverick's neck.

"Nice work", Amy commented, focusing on the job at hand again. This was a promising start. "Now, let's move to the jumping ring."

Mitch nodded and put the lead on Maverick, heading toward the gate so they could walk out.

Meanwhile, Amy helped Bryce move since the yard was slushy from all the melting snow and it was harder for him to steer the chair because of it.

"So... you would be working at Keith's ranch then?" Amy asked, going back to why this had even come up.

"Well yeah, maybe. Or at least he offered me a chance for that, but I haven't decided yet. I mean, I'm a trained counselor, he has guys with PTSD... But I guess I have to deal with my own prejudices first - if I decide to accept the position, that is", Bryce admitted. "I mean, I'm a soldier by heart. We are supposed to fight the bad guys. - Right, Mitch?" he asked when the man and the horse walked beside them.

Mitch glanced at him, feeling like Bryce wanted to connect through their common experience but at the same time feeling like he wasn't able to, due to his own complicated reasons. Still, the time to bring those out probably wasn't now.

"Yeah, I guess that's the goal..." Mitch said, even though he no longer painted things with such a broad black-and-white brush as he once had. Because by Bryce's standards, was Zach just a bad guy too? Or a hero, despite the destruction he had caused?

And what about him - the one who had convinced Zach to join the army? Who was to say who really was a hero and who was not? Was there even such thing and weren't they all just human with their flaws?

Amy noticed the hesitance in Mitch's voice and could only guess what it was like for him to talk about his experience as a soldier because he probably viewed it very differently than Bryce, for example.

"This is a good exercise", Amy changed the subject, "walking by the chair. To see it won't hurt him", she continued, looking at Maverick and his reaction. He seemed calm down, next to Mitch.

"Looks like he doesn't mind it", Mitch commented.

Amy nodded. "That's definitely promising."

"So, what's the plan?" Mitch asked then. "How do we go about this?"

"Well, we'll have Maverick walk around the chair first so he feels he's more in control and he can see the chair from all its sides. Then Bryce will move around him and he has to be okay with not seeing him all the time, but he'll be hearing him still. We want him to be basically bored with the chair", Amy explained. "And if that goes well, we'll try to get him lay down on the ground. After that, we are hoping to get Bryce on the saddle", Amy walked him through the plan.

"That's a lot of steps", Mitch said, wondering if Maverick was able to handle it all at once. He had never asked this much from him before.

"We won't be pushing him more than he can handle", Amy assured. "Even if I said getting a horse to lay down doesn't take long - if done right - then that doesn't mean it's what I'm expecting from him or that we'll make it happen just because ideally it would be possible to do in a short amount of time."

"Yeah, have a little trust on Amy, she knows what she's doing", Bryce said to Mitch.

"You're right", Mitch admitted. "Sorry, I guess I'm a little nervous myself." He smiled absentmindedly, looking at Amy and hoping she wasn't taking his doubts personally.

"I get it. I mean, if anything, your worry for him shows that you want to do this on his terms. That's a good thing", Amy said. "It'd be worse if you would be the one giving me a deadline and expecting Maverick to perform miracles in just few minutes."

"That won't happen. Big things take time", Mitch knew that much even if he wasn't a horse expert.

"Okay... Let's get started", Bryce said when they were in the middle of the ring and had found a drier, sandy spot. "Circle around me."

"Will you two be okay here while I'll get the saddle?" Amy asked when the men and the horse were in their positions. They would need that for when Bryce would get on.

"Absolutely", Bryce assured.

Amy started heading back to the barn to get the saddle where Mitch had left it while the man circled Bryce in his chair in the middle of the pen.

Mitch looked after her, wondering about the dinner tonight. It seemed like despite the circumstances, they were able to not behave suspiciously around each other while someone else was present. But would that all still be possible with Lou around? Their relationship with her was different kind of personal than it was with Bryce.

That remained to be seen.