I groaned and got up, riding to the fence. Westley was unloading a white horse with a swollen tendon. My mouth dropped at the horses scrawny frame. His mane and tail where tangled and his coat was muddy and had a few cuts and scraps.
"His name is Phoenix Rising. Phoenix for short. We found him at an abandoned barn when Corban and I went riding." Westley explains.
"Oh my god." I whisper.
The top half of his tail was white but faided into a dark gray toward the middle of it. His mane was the same way. I crouched down and ran a hand over his left front.
"His joints are swollen here. I think we have some of the meds from when Cobalt had a swollen joint." I say, looking up just as Kyle walks up.
I stand up and walk to my dads old office in the barn. Looking around, I find the box containing the tiny vial with the vaccine. When I get back outside I get the correct dose and inject the needle into the correct spot. Westley made a face as I slowly pulled the needle out of Phoenix's skin.
"Wes you allrigh? you look a little pail." Concern lines my voice.
"Yeah. I just feel so bad for him." he says.
I nod and lead Phoenix to the wash room with Westley trailing behind. Turning on the water, I unclip the lead from the halter and notice that it was embedding itself Into the skin. Phoenix looks at me desperately, his sad silver eyes reflecting pain. A little piece of my heart breaks off and shatters, turning to dust.
"Wes go get my grooming kit." I instruct.
"Okay." he sprints off and I pull out my pocket knife.
I find the loosest part of the halter and slide the blade between it and Phoenix. I slowly cut through the thick rope and gently begin peeling it out of his face. Once it is off I gently run some of the water over it. Westley comes back in and looks at the halter, covered in blood from it being too small.
"Is he going to be okay?" he squeaks.
"I think so. Why don't you send Kyle in and go to the house. You need to rest." I say softly.
He nods and walked out the door. I hose off Phoenix's body and start washing him. He stands still and though I know it causes him pain, he doesn't move when I clean out his wounds. He was such a sweet horse! Why on earth would anyone hurt him? I just want to find whoever it is and whack them over the head with a bat!
I groan as I notice that his hooves are over grown. Looking at his hooves I decided to check his teeth. Opening his mouth, I see that he's roughly around 15 or 16 and his teeth are jagged.
Two arms wrap around me and I turn around. Kyle was standing with a sad expression on his face as he took in Phoenix's appearance.
"That's so unfair what that person did to him." he whispers.
"I know. I can't believe that they would be so cruel." Swallowing the lump in my throat, I walk back over to him and finish untangling his mane while Kyle trims and untangls his tail.
When he's all clean, I step back and admire the job. I can see his ribs and his hips. Dialing the vet, I walk toward the house to boil some rice. The vet soon picks up.
"Hello?" she says.
"Hey Dr. Rhoades."
"Hey Marie! What can I do for you?"
"Well my nephew brought by a horse, Phoenix Rising. He's in pretty bad shape. His teeth need floating, his hooves need clipping and he's got alot of open wounds that need veterinary care. He also has a swollen joint on his left front but I gave him some of the meds from when Cobalt had one." I explain.
"I'll be right over." she rushes before hanging up.
Now to get the rice going.
Hey guys. So I just need to get this off my chest. So in one of my other books I have some comments on how 13.5hh isn't a height for a horse and I just wanted to say that The books I write are FICTION. its all FAKE. Therefore It doesn't matter what I say in them. They are my books and I can write them the way I want to. I could write about a unicorn who poo's rainbows and burps butterflies. Here's my point: If you don't like my books, stoo reading them and find a different book to read because I'm tired of the hate. Thanks.
I'm sorry for ranting. Thanks for reading.
~Kassie. <3
