by chaton, » Fri Jun 19, 2015 6:33 am
It was a typical tuesday morning for Songbird Acres; stable hands and horses alike finishing breakfast before readying for the day's events. Today was a lazy day, you could say. There were no shows, and most of the horses were just being taken out for a trail ride or children's lessons. Me? Well I was taking one of the younger mares, Etch, out to stretch her legs after she'd been cooped up with her new foal.
Etch and I stayed with the other riders most of the way, though Etch was reluctant to get too close to any of them but her mother, Tex. Around the mile mark, when the others began to turn back, we kept going. The trail led off on a cliff overlooking the ocean and a beach populated by tourists. We never were able to get there, though.
A few yards from the cliff's edge, Etch began to act strange, stopping every few steps with her ears perked and chewing on the bit as if nervous. I tapped her sides with my heels, asking her to walk on out loud as well, but she refused to budge. Instead, she let out a nicker, and from the forest on our side, there was an answering one.
Now, my first thought was one of the other horses had gotten loose this morning when the hands opened the gates but... they would've alerted me immediately if that had happened. I ruled out a wild horse; there was just no way. But as we stood there and waited for the clopping hooves to come closer, I realized the shaggy off-white horse was indeed, wild. Well... of-white was an exaggeration. The mare was more like brown, though I could tell it was mostly dirt or scabs.
Now, this mare, this wild horse, did something I've never seen before. As Etch and I stood there, she just walked right on up and started to sniff at Etch, the saddle, my clothes, then gave me the most expectant look I've ever seen.
I always kept an extra rope halter and small lead on my saddle in case one of the horses had gotten loose, and now as I slipped the halter on the mare she seemed to be trying to help me. That was, until the halter and lead was successfully on. Once the knots were tied, the mare took off, almost pulling me with her. If Etch hadn't run with her we would've had an enormous problem. But as it were, Etch was able to keep up with the mare easily, and even helped with steering her down the trail back to the pasture, which both horses jumped the fence of easily.
Once in the pasture, the mare calmed down immediately, or at least she seemed to. Taking no chances, I switched to a larger lead rope and tied her up to one of the posts of the rain shelter. All the other horses, now back from their rides and lessons, approached her and were immediately scared off. The only one that stayed? Etch.
I made plans for the following day; naming, bathing, and getting a real halter on her. My grooms were terrified of her, and I realized I'd have to do it all myself. But... strangely that didn't bother me as much as it should.
word count: 555 words / 2908 characters
Last edited by
chaton, on Fri Jun 19, 2015 8:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
// i used to be lyrebird! please dont steal the name - i might change back! <3 \\
depressed again - please be patient with me
