and a horse called Straton

Chapter 1

A/N
Straton is pronounced 'Strah-ton'
Thanks!

Caitlyn sat up in bed and looked at her clock, it read 5:30. Not your usual 15 year olds waking time, but Caitlyn had woken up at that time her whole life. She swung her work hardened and tanned legs over the edge of her bed. She stretched and yawned as she put on her clothes on to start the day.

She ate her breakfast of an apple as she jogged towards the horses stable to start working, as they had stable hands and farm hands, there wasn't too much to do, well, compared to before anyway. She looked at the roster pinned up at the Central barns door as to her chores today.

Feed cows- James, Benjamin, Ty, Darcy
Feed calves- Jonothan, Marc
Check fences- Dan, Greg, Catori
Feed horses/water/muck out- Daye, LJ
Check calving cows- Caitlyn, Luke
Fix:
Stall 19, central barn has a board down
Tractor trailers taillight - Jason
Bunker #3's door hinge
Bunker #2's bunk bed #1 broken

Everyone -
Feed, groom, muck stall of YOUR horse - no exceptions!

Caitlyn spelt out a whoop of joy. "Yes!" Checking the calving cows was her favourite, there was almost always at least one calf there and watching calves be born was just magical.

Caitlyn quickly ran to the second stables - the one reserved for boarders, live on workers horses' and her own - stopping at the door so as not to frighten the horses. She quietly slipped inside and turned on the lights. Then she shattered the silence with the earsplitting whistle she did every morning. "Morning Straton!" She called, loving the neigh she heard, a neigh that he reserved only for her.

When Caitlyn reached the stall door, the gelding pushed his huge head into her hands, looking for the treat that was usually there. "Hey big boy." A big boy he was, at 15.4 hands he certainly wasn't a small horse. Caitlyn and her father had trained him themselves and he was born of her mother and fathers horses. He blew snot in her face to express his disappointment at not finding anything.

Caitlyn laughed softly at him and pulled a horse cookie out of her back pocket. "Fooled ya!" She said, leaning into his face as he crunched the cookie.

She walked over to the tack room that adjoined the stable and got out a curry comb, hard brush, soft brush, hoof pick and comb for his hair. She somehow managed to juggle all five items in her two hands at once.

Once she got back to his stall she balanced each item - except the hoof pick - on the divider of the stall.

Grooming took her about an hour as she liked to take the time to rub him all over and massage him in between brushing.

After she was done, she went and got the Australian stock saddle she had fitted for Straton's body and the bit less bridle she always rode with, Straton was trained in neck reining and he had never disobeyed her so it was the better option for him.

Once she was finally done, she led Straton out by his reins and mounted just outside the stables from the fixated mounting block near the door.

***

Straton stood stock still as always when she mounted. She nudged him into a canter and turned him in the direction of the calving paddocks.

The ground flew beneath them as they galloped the fifteen kilometres to the calving paddocks. Caitlyn gave him his head as he charged forward, racing the wind as they ran the track they had run many times before.

The straight stretch to the calving paddocks had never lost its charm, the one rolled track that was constantly checked for potholes by the man who neighboured with us, was the perfect place for a gallop. There was no worry for an injury as there were no corners, no trees nearby and no holes - nothing to worry about.

Straton barged like a warhorse through the long grass of the calving pasture. He slowed as soon as he felt the ground soften beneath him. The grass came to his knees and Caitlyn loved this paddock. The grass was sparse enough so that snakes could be easily spotted by her trained eye yet it still felt mystical.

The sky was clear and blue, there was nothing that could ruin the day. She could feel Straton's power beneath her as they moved quietly through the calving cows. They lowed softly, not startling her steady steed.

Caitlyn noticed one cow laying down and dismounted, grabbing one rein, thankful for split reins, though she didn't really need to; Straton would follow her to the edge of the earth.

The cow groaned as she started to push the calf out. Caitlyn sat next to it and waited for the calf, a towel in hand from the first aid kit attached to her saddle.

The calf lay on the grass, not moving. Panic gripped her heart, she hoped with everything within her that it was not a still born. But her training soon calmed her as she thought about what she needed to do. The cow turned around to try and nudge her baby into a standing position.

Caitlyn quickly sanitised her hands and ran to the calf. She rubbed the calf's face clear of after birth and cleared out his nostrils, it appeared to not be breathing. She quickly started to rub his chest and do compressions.

Finally, just as she was about to give up, the calf took in a shaky breath. The mumma cow mooed her happiness as she continued to lick her calf clean. Caitlyn stepped back, soaking up the magic that was bestowed upon this newborn calf.

A/N
Hi guys!
Thanks for reading my book! I hoped you liked my introduction, no action yet; but there will be! Mwa ah aha ha ah! I mean...

Anyway, please vote, comment leave tips!
Thanks!
~ze ausor of zis book