- Day 0 - Mustang Makeover
Desert Tempest
This is it! Today's the day! I chanted away in my head as I got ready to pick up the mustang I would be working with for the next several months. What would he look like? Would it be a mare or gelding? These thoughts and a million others raced through my head.
I finished buttoning my flower print blouse when a roll of thunder sounded. I looked out my bedroom window and noticed the sky turning dark in the north. Darn it. It would have to storm today. Maybe it'll bypass us... It was nice thought, but unlikely. I quickened my pace and hurried down the stairs. Hopefully we could make the pickup before the weather got too bad.
"Dad, I'm ready to go!" I called in the general direction of the kitchen.
"Alright, you go on ahead. I'll be there in a minute."
I dashed out the door just as it started sprinkling. So much for my nice thoughts of the storm by-passing us.
Moments later, we were on the road. By now the small droplets of rain I'd felt sprinkling my face earlier, had gotten bigger and were falling harder. My Dad's old-but-trustworthy black Ford F150 bounced along the dirt road that led to the pens at the yard where the mustangs were being held; until people like me showed up to claim the horse they had been paired with.
I was excited. More excited than I'd ever been. But also uneasy and worried. I looked up at the sky for the hundredth time, thinking just how my mustang was doing.
We finally pulled up to a small building that served as an office for whenever we had fairs and such. I could just barely make out several holding pens, but what with the rain, I couldn't see any horses. I hurried inside with my Dad following close behind.
"Quite a storm, ain't it?" A friendly voice with a drawl commented. I brushed my dark wet hair behind my ear and smiled up at the owner of the voice. I'm a short person at only 5' tall, but standing next to this man made me feel more like an ant. He was tall - I mean, like 6' 2". I must have been staring for a few seconds because my Dad nudged me from behind and I suddenly remembered my reason for being there.
"Oh! Yeah it is." I stuck out my hand and introduced myself. "I'm Casey Edwards."
The man pushed back his hat and returned my handshake. "Got your mustang right around back. Everyone else's already come and gone, so she's out there alone." He turned and motioned for us to follow.
You know, ever since I'd turned in my application, I've been imagining the moment I picked up my mustang. The feeling, what the horse would look like, both of our reactions. And let me tell you it was nowhere how it was really happening.
"There she is. Silver dapple. 7 years. Mare. And real spooky."
I stared. The mare was downright terrified. Lightning flashed across the sky and another clap of thunder sounded. She jumped and bucked, and let out a scream like no other sound I'd ever heard come from a horse.
Oh, Lord...what have I gotten into? I knew what to expect - I mean she was fresh off the range, after all. But the new environment, being separated from the other horses, and the storm combined had really, really spooked her. She was standing as far away from us as she could get on the other side of the pen. Her breathing was heavy, her blue eyes rolled, and her whole being trembled.
We got her trailered though. I don't know how, but we did it. And this was only the beginning...
