『
Wᴇ ᴄᴀɴɴᴏᴛ ʜᴏʟᴅ ᴀ ᴛᴏʀᴄʜ ᴛᴏ ʟɪɢʜᴛ ᴀɴᴏᴛʜᴇʀ's ᴘᴀᴛʜ ᴡɪᴛʜᴏᴜᴛ ʙʀɪɢʜᴛᴇɴɪɴɢ ᴏᴜʀ ᴏᴡɴ. -Bᴇɴ Sᴡᴇᴇᴛʟᴀɴᴅ 』
The papers were beyond soggy, and the pictures were worse. Ink had leaked everywhere, and I was almost afraid to set them down on my table, but I did anyway. I opened the letter, being as gentle as I could to avoid ripping the fragile papers within. The letter was only half legible at this point, but I was able to understand most of it.
A horse? I thought, confused. Why would my friend send a horse to me? I was new to horsemanship, and at this point I only owned Fantasy. Surely I should not be the one to take in this special case? I squinted at the pictures, trying to see if there was anything I could glean from them about the horse, but they were ruined. I could barely make out that the image was even of a horse, let alone anything about them. They seemed a brownish color, but I really couldn't be certain.
I sighed, "Well, it could be worse I guess." I muttered such phrases to myself as I put my things away and got prepared for bed.
Despite the circumstances, I couldn't help but be excited by the prospect of a new horse coming to live with us, even for just a while. I'd been interested in finding a friend for
Fantasy, because at times she seemed rather lonely. Perhaps this new horse could help satisfy her?
-
I woke up slowly a few days later. Despite myself, I had already grown attached to the idea of this new horse, but I had seen no signs of them yet. Anxiety had struck, and I had been worrying myself over whether the truck was lost, and how the horse was doing with the travelling, and whether I was even the right person for them... And there it was again. I shook my head, forcing myself out of my warm bed. It was time to get ready and go take care of Fantasy.
I showered quickly, using cold water to help myself wake up more. I was feeling especially groggy today, and I yawned even as the cold water cascaded down on me. I smiled when I heard an impatient whinny from the barn. Fantasy wasn't going to let me dawdle this morning. I finished getting ready quickly, so as to not offend her.
By the time I was walking out towards the barn, she was getting huffy. She snorted at me, giving her door a light kick and stomping to show her impatience. "I'm here, girl, I'm here!" I called, laughing at her antics. She lifted her head and glared at me, upset at not being let out at her usual time. Just as I'd unlatched her door, I heard gravel crunching in the distance. Someone was coming up the driveway. Fantasy launched her way out of the stall before I was prepared, and pranced down the barn. She was totally uninterested in the sounds of the truck, and was intent on travelling to her meadow.
I hurriedly closed the gate behind her and ran to greet the truck. A small horse trailer was attached to the back of it, and I could hear snorting and faint noises inside. The excitement surged back up in me as I saw a man get out of the truck. "Are you James Kenning?" He called to me.
"I am!" I replied, reaching him and shaking his hand.
"I've got a stallion here for you. Poor guy, we didn't have room at the shelter for him. Your friend suggested we bring him to you,
he said you've got a mare that looked similar to this guy and he thought you could handle him." He talked as he walked around to the back and opened the trailer. "He sent you his papers, right?"
"I wasn't able to read them, they got wet in transit and I could barely read any of it."
"Oh, man, sorry about that! I've got some travelling papers in here that I can give you. It'll probably have all the same information,"
"That's very nice of you!" I replied, glancing up to look at the horse. He was a tall, dark horse.
"Let's get him out here and I'll grab those papers for you. I'm sure he'd like to stretch his legs some." The man said, unclipping the horse from the trailer and releasing the latches on his stall. Almost immediately the horse shoved past him, muscling his way out of the trailer and fearlessly stepping down by himself. He shook himself out, visibly relaxing once he was back down on the ground.
"Here," The man handed me the halter rope, "let me go grab those papers while you two get acquainted."
I got my first good look at my new resident. He was tall, but not as dark as he looked in the trailer. Along his back was a dark black,
that faded down into a reddish bay color. Faint white marks marred his flank, and his tail had whisps of white at the base. He was a gorgeous stallion, with a unique coat that I was unfamiliar with. My friend had been right though, he looked very similar in structure to my Fantasy. Perhaps I had another Rajarshi Draft in my hands?
"Here they are!" The man called, bringing the papers around to me. "If that's everything you need, I actually need to be heading back."
I nodded, said my thanks and my goodbyes, and watched him leave before turning back to my new horse. He was pawing at the ground and looking around uncertainly. I held the rope carefully and started looking at the papers. Whoever had him before had done some extensive work on him, and he had a full phenotype and genotype ready. He was a sooty bay rabicano, and the genotype described him as an Ee | AA | StySty | Rbrb. I was amazed by how detailed it all was, and I kept reading. Part of the papers were registry forms, and the rest were from the shelter. The shelter said they had taken him in from another shelter, and he had apparently been passed around many times, to the point where his origins were so muddled nothing was certain. Somehow his papers stayed with him every time though.
Poor guy... I thought to myself, looking up at him. Surely there was a reason all of those shelters couldn't handle him? He seemed plenty calm and reasonable to me though. Even so, I gently started trying to lead him to the barn. I would rather have him penned until I could get him to meet Fantasy and I could learn more about him.
He followed grudgingly, giving small bits of resistance occasionally, but nothing too bad.
-
Over the next few days I learned more about our new friend. He was a little on the shy side, and preferred to be a bit of a loner it seemed. He would listen to me, but he certainly had a mind of his own. He acted like a wild animal at times, and he showed a fearlessness that I had never seen before. He quickly became a bit of a menace to other animals in the yard.
I watched him stomp a snake to death one morning, even. One second Fantasy was chewing on some grass and the next she was bolting far away, ears pinned back and whinnying in alarm. The next, there was the stallion, flailing and stomping. He trampled that thing to nothing, and waltzed away calmly.
Such incidences weren't uncommon, and he seemed particularly aggressive to a lot of animals, including people. I quickly learned why the shelters were unable to contain him. His free spirit made him hard to tame, and the aggression went unrestrained when paired with his bravery and boldness.
Even I struggled to feel as though he weren't the one leading me around. Such a horse was hard to handle, and even worse when I considered what might happen if he ever got out. I didn't want him to be injured, and I surely didn't want someone else to be hurt by him. I was forced to keep a close watch on him, in hopes that I would be able to help if anything went wrong. For the most part though, Fantasy seemed to keep him reigned in.
--------------------------------------------
Many calls and struggles later, I'd determined that the shelter wasn't going to be responsive. Sable, as I'd decided to call him,
was apparently going to be mine forever. Since I was keeping him, I'd also decided to give him a show name, mostly for the fun of it. I gave him one to match Fantasy's own, and decided on Dreams of a Raven. Despite my attempts to integrate him into life at my farm, and despite how well he got along with Fantasy, he just didn't seem cut out for the "tame" lifestyle.
Everything about him reminded me of the stories I'd heard when I was looking into getting Fantasy. I'd assumed they'd been wrong,
because she was too sweet and mellow to be from a tribe of warriors. Sable, though, fit the description perfectly. He was a spirited young horse, with every bit of the power and the aggression he would need to fit into the tribe. It was awe inspiring to me to watch him, to watch his reactions.
I'd slowly been coming up with an idea though, a way to let him be his true self. I wanted to see if I could maybe bring him back to the tribe, to let him live where he would be most comfortable. The more I thought about it, the more I felt it was right. Something about leaving intrigued me about it as well. Perhaps we all just needed to get away.
Before I'd even really realized it, I was packing. I was putting my meager things away, and within a few hours I was packed and ready for a long vacation. I hadn't yet decided what I was doing, but I was ready to go once I had. Both of the horses were looking at me through the window, leaning their heads over the fence. They seemed curious about what all the movement was for. I smiled at them, thinking about how much happier Sable would be if he were able to really be himself. To be brave and aggressive and be praised for it, rather than ridiculed.
I vaguely remembered a quote about a torch and smiled to myself as I left the house. I called the horses over almost immediately,
and they both trotted over to meet me by the gate. Both were calm when I hooked the leads to them, obviously curious about my own excitement. I brought them over to the trailer, gently leading them both in and making sure they were securely locked in their stalls. They both still looked at me quizzically, and Fantasy was beginning to look nervous about the trailer. I locked the door to the trailer and ran inside to grab the last of my things.
Once everything was settled, I hopped in the truck. I still wasn't entirely sure what I was doing, and though I should've planned it out better, I was still brimming with excitement. I started the car and just started driving.
Before getting Fantasy, I'd done a lot of research on the Rajarshi breed. It wasn't very common outside of their original tribe,
but they were known for their unswerving loyalty and ability as war horses. I knew the general direction to go to find them,
but they were a little outside of civilization. They still existed as a tribe, even today. I slowly decided that I would look for them,
and try to get them to take in Sable.
Despite the dangers posed by such a life, surrounded by war and a more primal group of humans, I thought he belonged there.
He would be happier there, surrounded by those like him, who would revere him for his strengths. He had been bred for it, after all, and he couldn't help who he was. I was confident the tribe would not refuse a strong stallion like him, especially seeing as he was surely one of their own.
I mulled over these thoughts for a long time, long after the roads had transitioned from smooth to broken and pot-holed and the sky had gone dark. These roads were not often traveled, and had long ago been neglected. I kept along, doing my best to avoid the worst of it so as to not jostle the horses. I would hear Fantasy give a little whiny every now and then, but there was little I could do about it.
It took many hours to reach the end of the road, which was where I assumed I was going. I still wasn't quite sure what I was even doing, but there wasn't any other hope I had. I stopped the truck, and slid out of the seat. I walked around and let the two horses out, saddling up Fantasy and climbing atop her. I tied Sable's lead to her saddle, and began walking.
I let Fantasy lead the way. She picked along the trail, her ears back and looking rather unhappy with the situation. Sable plodded along steadily behind us, ears up and alert. I wasn't sure if this was the right thing for him, but it was the best I could do. If he stayed locked in my pasture, he'd never be happy. He needed freedom, and a way to express his true nature.
A while after the truck had faded into the background, I heard the sound of more hooves. They were stealthy and I surely wouldn't have noticed, except that Sable looked up. His ears were pricked, and he scanned the surroundings for a second before turning entirely to face the sound.
A horse and rider were approaching us, having given up the pretense of surprise. "You've got a sharp horse there." A masculine voice called out, a heavy accent lacing his words.
I faltered for a second, unsure now what to do. The boy seemed young though, probably just a scout. "I wanted to talk with you about him, actually." I said, sounding stronger than I felt. "I believe he's descended from your own horses, and I wanted to see if you would take him in."
"Take him in?" The tribesman replied, sounding confused. "Why would we take in an outsider's horse?"
I shook my head, "I don't know, but he won't be happy anywhere else. He can't be, he's too wild to be tamed by civilization.
The only place he can be is with you."
The tribesman seemed confused, and he eyed Sable. "He definitely looks like a Rajarshi, but I can't just take him in..." He looked at me uncertainly, "I don't think the chieftain would like it."
I expected as much, but it still hurt. I wanted Sable to find his place, and I feared he never would with me. "Please..." I said to the man, my hopelessness ringing in the night air.
The tribesman sighed slowly, "I suppose I can..." he muttered, and I quickly handed him the stallion's lead.
"Thank you, thank you..." I said, my eyes watering slightly.
He still looked uncertain, but he said, "My name's Havarait, and I hope you remember it for what I'm doing for you tonight."
I nodded, "Mine's unimportant, but his name is Sable, please keep it..." I trailed off as the tribesman began to walk away, but a raised hand told me he had heard.
Fantasy and I watched as he and Sable plodded off into the night, immense relief washing over me. Sable glanced back at one point, and I liked to think I saw gratitude shining in his eyes.
