The Stars in the Sky

Chapter 3: Animal Lover

This trail ride was not going to be my first time on a horse. When I was younger, I used to ride horses, and I even took lessons, but it had been a while. Back then, I never did much of the actual caring for a horse, since my parents would just drive me to the stables and back again. 

 I didn't note this deficiency on my resume to Headlands. 

 But still, I really did know how to ride a horse, and exposure to animals like horses, as well as our family dogs and cats, at an early age, made me become a life-long animal lover.

The ranch had a ton of horses, I don't know how many, but it also had cattle and other animals, like pigs, chickens, rabbits, and goats. While the wranglers took care of the horses for ranch work and the Headlands Program, they also assisted the farm hands with feeding and caring for the other animals.

Janine took me on a tour of more of the buildings on the property and I met some of my fellow staff. As we walked through the barns, the corrals, and the tack room, Janine introduced me to the other wranglers: Hector Torres, Jimmy Johnson, and Stephanie Wright.

After meeting Will in such a strange fashion, I was worried that I would also rub the other staff the wrong way, but thankfully, all went well.

Hector was a teenager, about nineteen years old, and this was his first summer working at Headlands. He told me that he had grown up around horses, as his parents had raised horses in Mexico. He was slim and shorter than me, with a gentle smile and an immediately-apparent sweet disposition.

Jimmy had to be older than my dad and he had been at Headlands since before I was born. He had weather-beaten, wrinkled skin, eyes that seemed like they were permanently squinting, and wore jeans and boots like he never took them off. I immediately pegged him to know everything there was to know about the ranch, and I really wanted to drink a beer with him and pick his brain. Since he didn't say much, that could be a challenge, but I was up for it.

Stephanie was the therapeutic animal specialist, and my other roommate. She was brown haired, plain, and a little plump but moved with a grace and confidence that belied her ordinary exterior. She seemed like she could become a real friend, and her whole demeanor was caring and therapeutic. She looked like she was a little bit older than my 32 years of age.

I was assigned a horse named "Happy," who was a big, draft horse, kind of slow, but that was fine by me. He was beautiful. While the wranglers normally took care of feeding the horses, grooming them, saddling them up, and mucking the stalls, he was to be "my" horse for the summer and I really wanted to learn how to properly saddle him and take care of him. I gave him one of my organic carrots, in a blatant attempt to bribe him into being my friend.

Following the staff and equine introductions, Janine led me into the corral with Happy and her horse, Sneakers, so that we could go for a ride on one of the trails that they commonly used with the program kids.

Getting back in the saddle felt, well, like getting back in the saddle, and my excitement for this job increased. I loved animals and I had forgotten how much I loved horseback riding. As we started off riding past the corral and barn to an established trail, I said to Janine a little loudly, because I was a little loud, "I'm going to be sore tomorrow. It's been a long time since I've been on a long, hard ride. This is going to exercise some muscles that haven't been used in a while."

I heard a low, male chuckle, and saw Will, standing by the tack room, cover his mouth with his hand, having overheard me.

Dirty motherfucker.

Still, perhaps he had a sense of humor?

Our horses walked up to the trail and followed it as it wound past native California plants, up a hill, and down, then up another hill, stopping at the top when the trail opened up to a glorious view of the ocean. As we walked, Janine chatted about the Headlands program, its history, her history, and the ranch. She had worked at Headlands for ten years, but had spent her entire life around horses. She said that the program started because Will's mother needed rehabilitation after a car accident. Will's father had brought in a specialist to teach her how to ride horses, as a way of exercising. With facilities in place, they decided to expand and form a nonprofit to take care of disabled kids. Then, they expanded to take care of kids who lived in urban environments. Janine was now in charge of the day-to-day operations of the nonprofit, while Will oversaw the ranch. I wondered how huge this operation was?