From then on the progress was slow but steady. Amy taught Willy about the methods Heartland used, and Willy gladly used them with Cocoa. He could feel their relationship becoming stronger every day.
A few months later, it was time for Willy to face his biggest fear: riding. Ever since the fall, he was scared to get on again. What if he was dumped again? Amy went to get Cocoa and soon brought him out all saddled and bridled up. Willy gulped and, trembling, went over to him. Amy was going to hold Cocoa until Willy was on. Cocoa seemed to sense his human friend's fear and gently nudged him as if to say, 'It's going to be all right.' Willy patted Cocoa's neck, stuck his left foot in the stirrup, put his left hand on the reins and his right on the back of the saddle, and then swung into the saddle. He was on. Amy let go of Cocoa's bridle and backed up. Willy nervously settled himself into riding position. Then he squeezed Cocoa's sides with his legs. Cocoa started to walk slowly. Willy steered him towards the ring. Amy went ahead to get the gate and then closed it behind them. After a few circuits of the ring at a walk, they picked up a trot. Willy settled into the rhythm of posting and then, suddenly, the fear was gone. He was doing it. He was riding. He grinned at Amy and Charlie as he rode by them. After a few minutes he picked up a canter and then crossed the ring on a diagonal. Next came a circle. He was gaining confidence and relaxing into it. Cocoa was, too. The horse had been tense and stiff at first, but now he, too was relaxing. His movements were becoming more fluid. He arched his neck as he cantered along. Amy beamed. Perfect.
Just then a chipmunk came racing out in front of Cocoa. He spooked and bolted. Willy gave an alarmed squawk and grabbed tight hold of the reins as Cocoa galloped off. Charlie panicked. Amy knew what to do, though. "Circle him!" she called. Willy heard her and pulled Cocoa around in a circle. Just in time, too. A few minutes later and they would have crashed into the railing. Charlie held his breath as he watched. Hoping. Slowly Willy's circles got smaller and smaller. Then he managed to slow Cocoa down to a canter. Then a trot. And then finally a walk. Then they stopped for a moment. Both were trembling badly. Willy looked paler than he normally did. He ran his hands along Cocoa's neck and murmured softly to him. Cocoa arched his neck and awkwardly pranced in place. In a few minutes Willy collected the reins and rode over to the gate at a walk. About halfway, he suddenly realized what had happened, smiled, and urged Cocoa into a trot. When he got close enough, he called out to Amy and Charlie, "I stayed on! Even though he bolted! I managed to stay on! Other times a horse got scared like that I've been thrown."
Amy smiled. "I know," she said. Then she hesitated. "You mean the time you broke your leg wasn't the first time you fell?"
Willy shook his head. "When I was first learning to ride, I fell off once when a horse ran away with me." Then he rode off for a few circuits. He walked, trotted, and cantered briefly before dismounting and walking him back to them. "I think that's enough for now, don't you, boy?" he said. Cocoa snorted.
Charlie shook his head and commented, "You two have developed your own special language."
"That's what happens when you bond with a horse," Willy said.
After that, Willy would come to Heartland pretty much daily to ride and work with Cocoa until, finally, one day Amy said Cocoa was ready to go home. He was cured. Better than cured, in fact. The two of them now had what Willy had dreamed of having with Cocoa: a true partnership.