Heart of the Stone Cowgirl

Chapter 6 - Neptune

School the next day was a nightmare. Stares from everyone, even Angel, who'd been too busy studying – even though she'd promised to watch me. She was at least apologetic. Isaac and Ian, as usual, leered at me and made snide remarks about my unfortunate loss. I tried my best not to pick a fight, even with the confidence boost that Micah's proposal had given me.

It was only through some miracle that I was actually able to get home in one piece, the way the entire town stared at me in distaste. I would have thought I would have gained some respect through trying to outdo the best barrel racer in the county, but apparently all it did was make it worse.

I sighed dramatically as I noticed Ranger wasn't in his usual standing spot. I shrugged, my brothers were probably busy. They'd been at a sale, looking for more work horses, so they were probably preoccupied with them, and I didn't mind walking, honestly.

When the stables came into sight, I saw the trailer with the tail gate open, with two relatively large quarter horses standing to the side, ready for the quarantine paddocks. I also noticed how tense Elijah was, as Lucas stumbled around the truck for a third horse. I left my bag near the tack shed and wandered over to see what was happening.

what greeted me was an incredibly startled, frightened and terrified quarter horse. I stared into his dark eyes, the whites showing as Lucas attempted to lead him off the float. The horse was adamant he wanted to stay there, away from people. I stared at him, watching the snorts, the rapid breathing, the way he recoiled from Lucas's touch.

I turned to Elijah, Wyatt nowhere to be found, "Why'd you get this one?"

"Seemed like the right thing to do, the only other bidder was the meat sales," Elijah replied, giving the new horse a saddened look. I sighed, walking into the trailer.

Lucas gave me a curious look, watching as i held my hand out for the lead rope. Lucas shrugged softly and gave me the line, moving cautiously away to the other side of the ramp. I was left inside the darkened trailer with the terrified grey horse.

I relaxed my entire body, shoulders dropping, giving the horse a small smile. "Hi there," I said gently, voice quiet and calm. The last thing this horse needed was loud noises and a mean voice. It had clearly come through quite the ordeal, and earning his trust would take time, but that was something we could arrange for him.

The horse snorted, tensing his body as I moved away from him, a gentle tug onto the lead rope connected to his halter. "Come on, buddy." I coaxed gently, watching as he took a single step forwards. I smiled, turning my back to him and taking another step down the ramp. The horse took a few more ginger steps towards the ramp, where he stopped dead, snorting, gaze flickering to Elijah and Lucas on either side, starting to back up into the trailer once more.

"You're ok, they're good people. They'll move," I said, walking back to the door. He followed cautiously, ears flickering, eyes watching for where my brothers had gone. When he saw that they were talking to the other two new horses, his entire body seemed to relax, and he was happy to walk down the ramp and stand still.

As soon as we were on the ground, he looked around, trying to figure out where he was, catching sight of the new horses, the new smells, his nostrils flaring as he caught sight of the other working horses. I gave him a smile, then reached out gently to stroke his neck.

He immediately tensed, but when he felt the lightness of the hand, began to relax. I murmured softly towards him, stepping closer, watching as he tensed once more, then relaxed into me. I smiled. "We should put you in the round yard, hey? Come on." I said softly, beckoning him to follow towards our round yard. It was the perfect place for skittish horses, easy to catch and begin retraining them, gaining their trust. They could see and touch the other horses of the paddocks, it was connected, so the new horse could begin to feel at home.