The Homeless Horse

Chapter 22

As we were being led towards a large gate, Ranger moved closer to me. "Ma, where are we going?" He asked, slightly frightened. "It's okay, Dear. We're going somewhere safe, I promise." We walked through the large, golden gates. There was a large house about half a kilometre away and it was surrounded by paddocks of green grass and flowing streams. There were many horses grazing, and I knew some. Some of them I had saved from the war. Trotting into a small, circular paddock, a girl came out. She had glorious red hair, and deathly pale skin. She was wearing a blue dress shirt and black riding pants. "I can ride the mother?" She asks, walking into the arena. "Yes, Ma'am. But the colt is two young, and has not been broken in." The girl comes over, patting me. "Such a beautiful mare... And you have such a stunning little colt." She turned to Ranger. He pricked his ears in curiosity. "Is she friendly?" He asks. "Yes, Ranger." He reaches his nose out to her, and she smiles. She pats him. She turns back to me. "Do they have names?" She asks the man, who has been very quiet. "The mares name is Beauty, and the colt is Jack... Could I suggest a better name for him?" The man asks. She nods. "What about Shadow?" He asks. She looks at Ranger for a moment. "Yes, I think that'll fit quite nicely. Beauty I shall keep, it is a good name for her." She pats me and I nicker. "Now, I would like to go for a ride. Would you care to join me?" She asks him. "Yes, ma'am, it would be an honour."

It was a great ride. She was easy on my mouth, light in the saddle and knew what she wanted when she wanted. It was great! It was the best galloping I had done in months! Ranger stood by at all times, he liked it.

As the weeks passed, I learnt her name. Her name is Ginger, and she is the best rider in the region. She, although a woman, helps train soldiers who are trained in battle riding. The man, who is her servant, is called James. He is a kind man as well, but is mistreated by the Lady of the manner. The Lady is a nasty woman, and believes horses are for nothing but pulling her round-head around. She's heavy and lazy and selfish. She uses the prettiest horses for her carriage and basically tortures them. I know because I've gotten picked a few times. I love this place, but her not so much. Ginger and James always ride me, and it's always good fun. Ginger does no expect me to breed, especially since I have a colt by my foot, although he is getting to the age where he will want to play with other foals. There are plenty of fillies and colts on the property, which is good considering Ginger finds him distracting when she rides me. She
loves giving me a break from the noisy kid. She has also found that I am a good racer, and loves racing with her three brothers, who think they're better than her. She always wins. Today we are going to race, and her brothers all have freshly broken in stallions.

Her oldest brother, Jacob, is on a flea-bitten grey called Cloud. Her second-oldest brother, Ethan, is on a black appaloosa stallion called Fade. Her youngest brother, Anthony, is on a blue roan stallion by the name of Shako.

Ethan has to pull back on the bit as Fade tries to impress me by rearing. Anthony and Shako fight through the bit as Shako tries to buck and bolt. Cloud, however, is calmly standing by the two. After her two brothers get their horses in control and lined up, Ginger laughs at them. "Your stallions can't handle the pressure." She says. "Shaddup, Orange. They're faster than your stupid mare." Anthony grunts. She shakes her head. "Whatever..." James, who is standing by, yells, "Ready, set, go!" We all bolt as our riders release the pressure on the reins. Ginger lets me have as much head as I want, and I can stretch out my neck. Her brothers have their stallions pulled in a bit, so they don't bite each other. Fade is coming in last, Shako in third and Cloud is just behind me. We pass the first marker, a large oak tree, and Shako speeds up to Cloud; Fade had lost his breath and tumbled over sideways. Shako looks at Cloud. "I'm winning the mare, SunShine..." He teases, biting Cloud. Cloud releases his front hooves and hops backwards in shock, tripping over his own tail. Shako reaches me. "Hey, Amazon..." He says. "Talk to the tail." I reply quickly, pushing my back legs forward and speeding up. Ginger laughs and pats my neck, "Good girl, Beauty!" Shako huffs. "'Talk to the tail!' Who does she think she is? I'll talk to the tail..." He reaches his neck forward and bites my tail. I squeal and jolt back, Shako whining in delight. Anthony laughs, but Shako turns back around to me. Ginger keeps my head pulled back, and makes sure I'm spinning in circles so I cannot kick him. He nips me again. I move forward, putting my ears back, but she keeps me in a no-kick position. "C'mon, Amazon... I'm talking to the tail!" He says. He rears up, pushing Anthony off, and coming up behind me. He grabs my tail again, but doesn't let go. He tries to mount me, but I keep moving. Considering he has my tail and a great grip, he comes along too. I squeal again, and so does Ginger. He loses his grip, and I give him a weak kick in the chest. He grunts and gets back onto me. I squeal again, but no one is here to help. Suddenly, I hear a pounding of hooves. Light hooves. I turn my head and in the corner of my eye I see a shadow jumping over the fence. Ranger?! I spin around. And now I can see him, challenging Shako, who is much bigger and older than him. He has his head pushed into his chest, and holds his figure strongly. Shako lifts his tail and does the same, prancing over to him. "Ranger, no!" I yell. But it's too late. They both rear, Shako towering over him. Although taller, and stronger, Shako doesn't get a solid hit. Ranger darts to the side, nipping his wither. Shako screams and spins, trying to bite him. Ranger bolts away, and as he does kicks him. Shako rears up again, and hits Ranger in the neck. Ranger squeals, but keeps strong, biting him again. He holds onto Shako's wither, but loses his grip. Shako pushes him over and into the turned up dirt. Ranger jumps to his feet, lunging himself at Shako, who has turned his back. He grabs his wither, this time not letting go. Kicking with his front hooves, Ranger is able to push Shako onto the ground. "My mother is stronger than every horse in this place, and she's prettier too! You will not harm her or I will murder you! Now go!" He yells. Shako slowly stumbles up. "GO!" Ranger screams, as Shako bolts forward in fright. Ginger walks me over to Ranger, who is puffing. "Jack! Good boy!" She says, petting him. I nuzzle him. "Thank you, Ranger. You're a very brave colt." I say.

It's now dinner time. Ranger and I are now in our private paddock, and Ginger is bringing over oats and hay. "You know what?" She says, feeding Ranger a carrot. "I don't think you two belong here..." She says. "I think you belong.." She turns. "There." She points to the wilderness, not far from Inoka's gates.

Today is the day. I'm being released back into the wild, with my colt. Let's see how this works out for me...