Chisel Creek: The Adventures of Stripe and Brady, Book 1

Brady's Plan

Brady, dismayed, stood in front of Stripe's sale ad plastered on a market window. Pocahontas stood nearby, tied to a post while Stripe was inside getting some groceries.
"There HAS to be something we can do!" Brady said to Pocahontas, "I don't think Stripe realizes how perfect this horse would be for you. I read a whole bunch of his horse books, and I studied your build and Loretto's build to a tee, remember that night Stripe got me in trouble for drawing lines on you with a marker? Anyway, I think you two would make the prettiest painted foals, and they'd hopefully grow to be big and powerful like Loretto too!"
Pocahontas snorted and turned away, as though she dreaded the idea of being his mate. In her opinion, Loretto was an over-the-top trouble maker, and she silently wished Brady hadn't picked him out. Every night since Loretto arrived at the farm, she had poked her head out of her stall upon hearing him make a commotion. She would be greeted by him strutting around, head and tail held high. Sometimes he'd paw the ground to show his strength. Sometimes he'd rear high to show his size. Never, though, did any of his flashiness impress her. She'd reject him, drawing her head back in to eat, while a frustrated Loretto snorted and pouted in his paddock.
"Oh don't be that way, girl," Brady reached over to pat Pocahontas' nose, "He'll shape up nicely! I just wish you and Stripe would give him a chance. Well, more than one chance. He'll probably need several, haha!"
Brady looked around as Pocahontas continued to ignore him. The dirt road wasn't too busy, but everyone going by was either on foot or on horseback. It was a rather hot day, and the sky was a bright blue above. There was a slight breeze, picking up dust and blowing through leaves on trees and bushes.
"I have an idea," Brady whispered to himself. Quickly, before Stripe could see, Brady took down the sale ad and found a pen. He changed the phone number on the ad from 555-0123 to 555-0728 using just a few small lines. If no one was able to contact Stripe about his stallion, then Brady would have plenty of time to carry out his big plan.
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Daily riding lessons continued on Pocahontas. Stripe made sure to keep things nice and slow, having only taught Brady to canter just recently and only ever getting in a few strides at a time until he was more confident. Meanwhile, Stripe was building a jump rail for himself and Pocahontas to practice on, but not for Brady to use for a long time.
Brady would pester daily, "C'mon Stripe, let me ride Pocca over the jump rail! I'll do ANYTHING if you teach me! I'll do all of the chores! I'll cool her off for you after a ride every day, so you don't have to!"
"No, Brady," he'd reply every time, "you don't know how to ride well enough to start jumping yet! You still need to learn the two-point position, and how to hold it consistently at both a trot and a canter. You still have some learning to do!"
Then every time Stripe repeated that, Brady would pout. His big plan required him to know how to ride a horse over a jump. Oh well, he'd think to himself, I guess I'm going into this as green as Loretto!
Stripe knew Brady would sometimes sneak out to try to ride Loretto, and for that to stop, he would set an alarm clock to go off several times a night so he could wake up, look out the window, and make sure Brady wasn't out in the paddock. To that, Brady had a counter; he memorized when Stripe had set his alarm to go off, and would be careful to not be seen during those times.
Every night for weeks, Brady would progress slightly with Loretto. He already knew how to take a bridle and allow a rider to sit on him, but Brady slowly began to teach him that he could walk while carrying a rider, and then trot. Eventually, he got brave enough to allow the stallion to canter. What beautiful gaits he had! Pocahontas was smooth and easy to sit on, with a short stride that was good for a new rider. Loretto, however, had very big movements. He wasn't too difficult to stay seated on, but his gait had a significant amount of bounce to it. Loretto could also cover more ground more quickly, being a larger horse. Pocahontas was amazing to ride, but to Brady, Loretto was a whole different world of awesomeness!
After learning how to carry a rider at different speeds seemed less and less novel to Loretto, Brady decided it was finally time for his big plan! One night, he began to set up the jump at its lowest height. He tried cantering Loretto up to it, but the nervous stallion would skid to a stop and fling himself around it, sometimes unseating Brady in the process. Perhaps a steady trot towards it would work? Nope, Loretto still shied away. Finally, Brady decided to go from square one to square zero: walking Loretto up to the jump while the rail was set down on the ground. When a horse is struggling with a step in its training, don't be afraid to take a step back; if an exercise isn't being performed well at a trot, start at a walk. If an obstacle is frightening, allow the horse to investigate before commencing an exercise, Brady remembered one of Stripe's training books advice. Finally, once the stallion was able to approach it slowly and calmly, he gave the ground near the pole a sniff and stepped over.
A big victory for Brady! As long as he kept things gradual and safe, Loretto would tolerate it and learn quickly. Just the same way the horse and rider had learned to move at faster and faster speeds, they learned to jump higher and higher rails, at many different speeds and distances too. Brady wasn't able to handle a jump at too high without slipping off of Loretto's bare back, but the feisty stallion seemed to really enjoy the challenge of taking higher and higher jumps! Eventually Brady found himself having to keep a strong hold on the bit so that the overzealous stallion didn't fly in towards the jump at a breakneck speed! He decided that jumping a foot was enough to carry out his big plan while making sure his new horsey friend didn't feel too overwhelmed or excitable.
Brady soon found however, he may not get to carry out his plan at all.
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Brady awoke late one dark, cloudy morning as the skies were showing signs of a storm on the way. He had slept in after a long night of training with his stallion buddy. The thing that woke him up? The sound of Stripe's frustrated grunts out in Loretto's paddock. Brady peeked out of his bedroom window to see Stripe attempting to put a halter on the stallion, who looked like he had forgotten all of his training. Or maybe it was the fact that Stripe was making him anxious? Brady would always approach Loretto with an abundance of calmness and caution. Stripe's style was a much more "let's get down to business" type that unsettled Loretto.
Just as Brady had gotten downstairs and to the front door, Stripe had given up on the halter and grabbed a lasso, trying to catch the horse whether he wanted to be caught or not. Loretto galloped in circles around the paddock, wishing for a way out to appear.
"Stripe, please don't!" Brady shouted.
Ignoring his words, Stripe yelled, "Don't come in here Brady! I want you to go clean Pocca's stall and don't worry about what I'm doing!"
Brady froze, hoping his suspicions weren't true. Had someone successfully contacted Stripe and claimed the stallion?
"Why are you roping him?" Brady shouted over the sound of Loretto's aggressive, frantic snorts and hoofbeats.
"Don't worry about it!"
"No, I want to know why!" Brady stomped his foot.
Stripe sighed, coming out of the paddock after a few failed attempts to lasso the galloping horse, "Brady, he's costing me a lot of money. Hay prices just keep going up, and as long as Loretto is here, he has to eat some. He's not doing anything except costing me money, and with you constantly trying to interact with him, I worry that you'll get hurt. I can't do it. A trailer is coming to take him to an auction today. He'll probably get bought by someone who knows how to handle him, or has the money to pay for professional training."
"And what if he doesn't?"
"What?" Stripe asked, confused.
Again, Brady asked, "What if he doesn't? What if nobody buys him? What if nobody wants to train him?"
Stripe sighed, knowing he had to tell the truth, "Somebody will buy him. But, you're right. Many people don't want a stallion as wild and reckless as this one. When that happens, they usually get purchased real cheap by some men who will take him out of the country, where..." He hesitated to continue.
"What would they do with him there?" Brady whimpered sadly.
After a long pause, Stripe answered, "He'll be turned into meat. Just like they'd do to a cow to make beef, and just like they'd do to a pig to make pork. We don't eat horses here where their slaughter is illegal, but there are countries where they pay a lot of money to eat horse meat. That's what often happens to the horses nobody wants, because at least it's profitable in some other way. That, and there's these places called rendering plants, which also involves turning deceased horses into a product that consumers will find more useful than a kick to the ribs... I'm sorry Brady, but sometimes that's life. Unsafe horses can't simply be allowed to cause damage and harm."
Brady gasped and backed away slowly. He looked at Loretto, then back at Stripe, angry, "I can't believe you'd let that happen. No, it's not. IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!"
Brady dashed into the barn crying tears of rage and disbelief. Stripe didn't chase after him, figuring all Brady would do was sit in there and pout. However, Stripe watched Brady dash back out holding the bridle and he felt his heart stop.
"Brady, no!!" Stripe sprinted towards Brady, who had flung open the paddock gate and was approaching Loretto. He could feel a slight drizzle of rain begin to fall, but what concerned him most was making sure Brady did not get on Loretto.
Boom, thwap! Stripe's body fell to the ground as he caught the toe of his foot against a rock.
Looking up, he saw Brady put the bridle on Loretto and mount up. As Stripe began to help himself up, he grimaced at the sear of pain in his knee. He must've landed on it wrong.
"Darn it," Stripe muttered through pained grunts, "Too many injuries this month!!"
Brady called out to Stripe, "I promise I will return, and I'll pay you back for what you spent on Loretto, but I can't let him die! Not if he can be saved!"
Stripe couldn't believe his eyes as he watched Brady flawlessly gallop Loretto off, behind the barn, up a hill, into the woods, and then he was gone. He tried to get up to go after him, but his knee seared with pain throughout each movement, so he fell to the ground and sat.
Brady had left, flawlessly at that, on the horse that Stripe had thought to be untrainable. He was wrong, stubborn, and now he may never see Brady again. Not for a long time.