The Crimson Promise

Selection

So came the day the red gelding would be selected for the long journey.

His training was done and now it was time to move on.

He was loaded up into a trailer with a few other horses. He seemed to be the only calm one about them.

A brown filly pushed her way against him, finding a little comfort there he let her.

The journey was long and the trailer started to seem a bit crowded.

The brown filly nickered and the red gelding pushed his muzzle to her shoulder trying to comfort her.

Many days and nights past until finally the trailer stopped and the doors were open. Exploding like a cannon the horses bunched there way out. Eager to get away from the trailer that now consist of horse manure and urine.

The red gelding steps out lightly only to be shoved by the impatient brown filly. He pinned his ears back and quicken his pace.

They has been let out into a large field. A barn stood at the end of a lone paved drive way that ran along side the field until it joined with the main highway.

A sign baring the words
      Horse and Mule Sale,
      Every Tuesday nights
           Come all!
Was at the end of the drive. Horses was also crowded inside the barn, and trailers and trucks scattered the entire parking lot.

It was the Selection. Or as the humans call it an auction.

The red gelding wasn't afraid he'd never been afraid. Although the lingering thought of going some place horrible made his heart jump.

The brown filly nickered to him to join her in the lush of the green grass. He agreed with a half hearted whinny and found the most best tasting clovers ever.

About two weeks past without the herd of newly arrives being bothered with. But soon threes at a time was brought into the giant barn and into stalls or ties into an alley way to wait.

For what exactly most of the horses didn't know.

Soon it was the red gelding's and the brown filly, along with a spotted gelding made there way into the barn. They were placed into stalls next to one another. Fresh water and hay was brought to them to munch on while they waited.

Soon as the sky caught a little hazier, humans of all shapes, color, and sizes came herding. Some pulled empty trailers while others hauled a horse away.

The humans voices buzzed in the geldings ears and he wanted to shut them all up.

Suddenly a hand poked threw the creak in his stall way. A little hand with fingers. It was small and fleshy. He knew it was a human's foal's hand. He walked over sniffed the hand witch smelled of mint. He nipped it playful and the human foal giggled.

She strokes his nose and he leaned comfortable against the pressure. Loving and enjoying the feel of her soft fingers.

Suddenly loud snap spooked the gelding and he fled to the other end of the stall.

"Rosetta! I told you not to touch the horses! They could bite!" The woman mare screamed.

The gelding butted and shook his head almost like trying to tell the woman, "I'd do no such thing! "

But away they went and he never saw them again. Another two weeks he stayed in there and he was growing bored.

Soon he started picking up bad habits and most of the humans stayed away.

That made him angry. He started slowly to entrust the humans. One they stopped bringing him food and clean water and two all he was getting from them was yelling and screaming.

No more patted necks and no more gentle rubs. Just hard flicks with a whip and the wooded stall for lunch.

The might in his heart and the light in his eyes was slowly draining. He wasn't coming out of this without something broken.