My legs ached as I walked towards the barn; for I had just spent the last two hours sitting in the saddle of a trotting horse. When i reached the fence, I tied my speckled beast to the post and began untying the girth of his saddle. He let out a tired sigh as I slipped the sweaty piece of leather off of his back and headed for the tack room. After i put the saddle back where it belongs, I returned to Phantom and replaced his bridle with a halter and lead rope. I then stood back and took a good look at him. He was caked in mud and sweat. "Well Phanty, I guess it's time for a bath," I thought out loud. Phantom swung his head around and stared at me with his large brown eyes as if he knew what was coming next. I rubbed the spot between his eyes as I untied his lead rope and guided him towards the big metal wash rack. The wash rack was basically made up of two metal rails connected by another rail at the front where you can tie your horse up to the metal rings along the front post. I approached the opening of the two rails and began the struggle of getting my fat, stubborn horse between them. Not only is Phantom awfully stubborn, he is also a big baby and gets spooked by just about everything. But after several tries of backing him up and guiding him between the rails again, I finally got him to go all the way in up to the front post where I could tie him up so he'd stay put. I cautiously made my way around to the front where I could stand across from him and tie him to a metal ring. I took hold of the rope and pulled it through the ring and began to tie a few slipknots. Just as i finished tying the second slipknot, Phantom spooked and jerked his head back. In one swift motion, my fingers somehow got caught in the rope and and were pulled through the ring which wasn't much bigger then a quarter. I heard a sickening noise that sounded like the snapping of twigs and pulled my hand back as Phantom freed himself and backed away. I raised my right hand up to my face and I suddenly felt like i was in a horrible nightmare. My ring finger was twisted around, pointing in the opposite direction it should be. The bone poking out, jagged and broken. The top half of my finger was only still attached to my hand by a bit of skin. My middle and pointer finger were crumpled and broken as well as my hand turned wet and red from the blood constantly dripping from my ring finger. "Oh shit!! Uhhhhhmmmm, SOMEONE HELP!!!", I screeched as I grabbed the base of my mangled finger tightly to slow the bleeding. The first to answer my cry for help was my friends mom. She took one look at my bloody hand and then screams louder then I did. She then runs around the barn and gathers the rest of the people to help. One of the girls, victoria, comes running at me while ripping of her little tanktop. With her shirt in hand, she usshers me to the nearby bench and makes me sit as she helps me wrap her shirt around my bloody hand. "You okay?" she asks? I just reply with a blank stare. I spend the next five minutes going in and out of shock, just sitting quietly on my bench while watching all the people hustle around me looking for ice and trying to call my parents. After failing to contact my parents, Jim,the guy in charge, decides to take me to the hospital himself. As I shuffle towards his big white truck, I take one last look behind me and see Phantom standing in the middle of the barn. He was just standing there with his leadrope trailing the ground and looking right back at me.
