Gone

ONE

"Hey Barnaby," I coo to him as he walks over to the paddock fence which I am standing at. Barnaby whinnies loudly when he sees me. He hasn't looked like he was feeling good for a while so I climb over the fence to check him over. Barnaby scrapes the earth with the bottom of his hoof while I run my hands across his back. "Your such a good boy honey," I say to him. He nods his head in agreement and sniffs my pockets looking for treats. When I pull out a large carrot from my pocket, I hand it to him and he crunches loudly on it.

Barnaby finishes the carrot in no time and signals me over to the barn for his morning grain. "Okay then," I say following quickly behind him. When we approach the barn, I climb over the run-in gate and grab his light red grain bucket from the nearby tack room. I grab his grain bucket from the shelf and put some senior horse grain in the bucket. I carry it out to him and give him the bucket. He chomps on the soft grain and licks it. After the grain diminishes, Barnaby walks out of the barn and trots over to a nice patch of soft grass.

"Mom, can I ride down on the horse beach with Barnaby?" I ask her as she walks into the barn carrying two heavy buckets of water past me. "Sure, just be careful. Okay honey," She responds back to me. I nod my head in response and get hay for Barnaby. When I have gathered enough hay, I bring it over to Barnaby. "We are going to go on a beach ride today sweetie," I tell him. "But first I am going to go and eat." Before leaving, I wave to him and blow him a kiss.

I walk up to the red brick farm house and swing open the door walking inside. I get some almond milk and cheerio's from the fridge and cupboard. I eat it all up really quickly and get into the shower and quickly wash my hair. I shower quickly and race over to my drawer and reach for a pair of breeches and a long sweat shirt. When I am all dressed, I run out the door and race over to the long red barn.

When I am over the tall gate, I run into the large run-in especially for Barnaby and get all his tack off of the shelves in the tack room and set them on the gate. Barnaby trots calmly into the run-in and drops his head low for me to put his halter on. I slip the blue halter over his small ears and tie him in a quick release knot and start to tack him up. I put on a western saddle and a blue bridle to match his halter.

When I have his tack all on, I lead him out the gait and mount him. We continue along the dirt road that leads us to the nearby horseback riding beach. We approach a sign it reads, Mane N Tails horse beach 1 km away. We canter and trot all the way to the beach. When we arrive, Barnaby and I walk along the beach to a tack stop. I untack him and set his saddle on the ledge leaving his bridle on.

He is all untacked for the exception of his bridle now so I go and slip on my long white beach dress for the ride. We canter along the specially made horse beach and eventually go into a gallop. This is a one in a lifetime ride with Barnaby. We transfer into a smooth, steady canter and run. The breeze awakens me. Just the feeling of him underneath my body feels great. This is what I was born to do. My eyes shimmer off of the light blue body of water to the right of me.

This is my dream. My parents aren't at the beach with me. Just me and Barnaby together. "Great job!" I coo to Barnaby. We trot along the side of the beach together, me flowing my body with the simple movements of his hooves beneath me. We emerge into the water of the beach and slowly walk. He is my dream horse and I could never separate with him.

The water level is a little bit beneath his hocks. We walk around and then head out of the water. We go back down the beach and I dismount. "You were amazing out there sweetie," I tell him. I grab my breeches and slip them on. I take off my dress and put a blue and white polo shirt on. I tack him up and we ride back home in peace. Barnaby put his best out there for me. We walk up to the newly painted red barn and I tie him up to a hitching post.

When he is all untacked I put the tack away and lead him into the wash stall to be washed. I bring him into the stall and get out the washing kit. I scrub all of the sand off of him so he does not ingest it and scrub him until he is very clean. I take him out of the stall and lead him to a spare pair of cross ties. I towel him off and he nuzzles his head up beside mine.

I pick the sand from his hooves and give him a little bit of grain as a treat. I wonder what is wrong with my baby boy. I unclip the cross ties and lead him to the paddock with his favourite mare Quincy. He snorts to get her attention and trots over to her. They nuzzle up their heads close together so I go into the barn and sweep up all the dirt from his hooves.

I head inside and shower, lathering my body in soap. I jump out of the shower when it I am nice and clean. I put my clean breeches and blue and white polo shirt in my dresser. My pony pjs lay across my bed and I pick them up slipping them on my body. I walk down the stairs and get out the blender. My favourite night time snack is a smoothie so I reach into the fridge and grab almond milk, tofu, strawberries, frozen fruit and ice and stick it in the blender. The blender smoothes out the ice and things so I get a large cup when it is done and drink. It quenches my thirst very quickly and I go into the bathroom to brush my teeth.

I wash my face and brush my teeth using some mouth wash. When I am finished, I head up the stairs and climb into bed revealing warmth. The covers smell magnificent after their wash earlier. My mother Alison walks up the stairs and quietly walks over to me. She kisses my forehead and walks out of my room stopping by the door. "Goodnight Skyler," she says. "Night Mom," I tell her as she walks away. My brown tabby cat Einstein walks into my room purring with delight.

He cuddles up beside me and I fall asleep thinking about Barnaby. Oh how I hope he is going to be alright.