Confessions of a teenage horse-aholic

1) I am a barn rat.

Jo and I were at the barn early on a Saturday morning. Being the barn rats that we are it was only about four a.m. . Jo had spent that night the day before and I don't think we ever went to sleep. Jo and I were giving Casper, her Ottb geilding a through grooming. We were debating on going for an early morning ride.

" Don't you think it's kind of early? I mean its bound to be pretty chilly and maybe even a little windy. Do you really want to deal with Dreamer's shenanigans this early?" Jo pointed out, always being the rational one.

" Yeah, but the more we work with her the better she will be." I countered. Jo let out a sigh of defeat. She threw a brush at me over Casper's back.

" What was that for?" I squealed, in mock pain.

" Your annoying." Jo calmy replied. I glared at her and threw the brush that currently occupied my hand at her. I ducked down to gather some more ammo and hopefully avoid being hit. We threw brushes at each other like children having their first snowball fight of the season. We ducked behind Casper for cover and hurled them at each other. Casper was rather annoyed with our antics. He swished his tail and stomped his feet, to get us to behave ourselves. Casper had always been our babysitter, he kept us out of trouble for the most part and he could be counted on for his level head and calm demeanor.

" Alright my little friendly ghost, we'll behave." Jo cooed at her horse. I laughed at her nickname for the big bay.

" Let's go get Dream." I suggested. Jo nodded and bolted down the aisle, headed towards Dreamers stall. Most of the horses tossed their heads as she passed, upset by the rude awakening. I shook my head and ran after her. When I finally caught up to her, she was standing in front of my huge gray mare's stall. Dreamer was snorting and had her eyes wide, exposing the whites of them.

" Oh, my silly little made, it's just our friend Jo. You'd think after knowing her for four years you'd warm up to her just a little bit." I talked to the jumpy made as I got her leather halter off of the hook outside her stall. I slipped in and managed to get her halter on with out too much of a fuss. I wrapped the stud chain around her nose. I rarely had to use it, but I remembered all to well the one time that I had left it off and Dreamer got away and terrorized the entire barn for a few hours before we could catch her. I opened the stall door and led her out.

" I'll never understand why you always pick the crazy ones." Jo mumbled eyeing Dreamer who was currently prancing down the aisle and eyeing everything.

" I like them because they make life interesting." I countered. I stuck my tongue out at her.

" You're crazy." Jo mumbled.

" That's why you love me. " I sang, batting my eyes at her. Jo rolled her eyes and laughed.

We turned the corner and Dreamer saw Casper and let out a sharp whinny and reared. Casper turned his head and let out a low affectionate nicker to his favorite mare. Dreamer pulled ahead, eager to reach Casper. I pulled her into a circle and made her walk next to me until we got to the tie rings. I tied Dreamer next to Casper. Dreamer started grooming Casper affectionately. Casper just hung his head low, obviously enjoying the attention. Jo and I groomed Dreamer, making quick work of the thin layer of dirt.

" She's come so far, I think she would've killed both of us if we tried to groom her at the same time when you first got her." Jo reminisced.

" She still has her bad days, but yeah she's come really far." I answered. We got Casper and Dreamer from an ottb rescue for our twelfth birthday, somehow we had managed to convince our parents that we were ready to handle such a big responsibility. Jo had asked around and looked at every horse thoroughly. She picked out Casper because he seemed to be the best tempered at the farm. He wasn't in the best condition because he had just recently been rescued. He was a track reject because he wasn't very fast, he could run but he wasn't the greatest and required a lot of work and his past owners weren't willing to work with him to reach his full potential. After looking all around, I couldn't quite find a horse that I was interested in. I heard a commotion and ran to see where it was coming from. I saw Dreamer, running around a round pen with high fences. She was slamming into the bars and lashing out at the men who were trying to feed her. As I watched her, I became more and more convinced that this fiery mare was the one, she was meant to be my first horse. I watched her in motion and she was simply glorious. The tour guide, my mother and Jo finally managed to catch up with me. I asked about the mare and the mans face paled. He tried to convince me that I did not want this horse, she was too crazy but I insisted being the stubborn person I am. He told me all about how she came to the barn. She was a great racing prospect with many legends in her blood, but she was hard to handle, so she got passed around like a snack platter at a boring party. She was sent from stable to stable, every one of them believing they could control her and help bring out the great racer she was meant to be. They all resorted to violence and cruel means to control her, and she got worse and worse. If they could manage to get her to the race and onto the track she outpreformed every horse, but it was a major hassle. Eventually everyone gave up and tossed her aside so they wouldn't have to deal with her, so she ended up here. I had tears in my eye as I heard this mare's story, it made up my mind. I was not leaving without her. My mother agreed that it was my choice and eventually the man consented. My mom owned a barn and was a professional horse trainer so he agreed only under one condition: They had to be able to visit and check her progress. I agreed and one of the barn hands fetched her and lead her to the trailer. They managed to get her in with much difficulty. She immediately warmed up to Casper and they stayed together in quarantine. Casper's calm demeanor managed to calm her down enough to work with her. It wasn't all rainbows and unicorns, we didn't connect instantly. We. constantly butted heads. We had giant leaps forward and many steps backward but eventually with a whole lot of patience she became manageable.

I tacked her up and Jo tacked Casper up. I signalled for Dreamer to stretch, one of the many tricks I had taught her to keep her occupied, so I could tighten the girth without having to worry about her sensitive skin getting folded or pinched underneath it. I put my helmet on and mounted her. I began walking down the open barn isle with Casper right behind me. As we stepped out of the barn and into the great wide outdoors, Dreamer snorted and tossed her head at the change in light. I smiled at her antics. Jo and I walked around, warming our horses up and enjoying the early morning scenery. We headed towards the upper trail, a wide open trail that was slightly elevated. It was one of our favorites and we enjoyed racing our horses flat out. I stopped at the beginning of the trail and gave her a wide grin. She urged her horse forward into a full gallop and I gave her the customary head start. Dreamer was anxious to go and was trotting in place in anticipation. I held her back until Jo and Casper got to the tree that was our marker. I let her go and felt her full power surge up underneath me. I was standing up in my stirrups and I held onto her dark mane. My mare loved to run and she was great at it. Her gigantic stride quickly closed the distance between her and Casper. I loved the feeling of a good run in the morning, feeling her powerful muscles working underneath me and the cool air blowing past. We quickly approached Casper, and Jo looked back hearing the powerful impact of Dreamer's hooves against the ground. She urged Casper to go faster but it was no use, we were already past her. Dreamer kept going, and I let her have the reins and I stuck both my arms out to the sides, relishing the feeling of being so close to flying. As we approached the end of the trail, I coaxed Dreamer to slow down. She want exactly pleased with me, she wanted to keep going but there wasn't much left to the trail. I eventually got her back down to a walk and then a halt. I turned her around to wait for Jo.

As we were waiting for Jo I spotted that the the apples on the tree were fully ripe. I maneuvered Dreamer under the tree and stood up on her back, straining for the apples, they were just out of my reach. I stretched a little more and I eventually managed to pull down two apples. I sat down in my saddle and began eating the apple. I quickly finished it and gave Dreamer the core. She had to reach around for the treat because I was on her back but she accepted the challenge and happily munched away at her hard earned treat. I finally saw Jo and Casper galloping toward us. Casper was drenched in sweat and looked exhausted, but Dreamer looked ready for more.

" It took you long enough." I called out to Jo.

" Well not every horse is a speed demon like Dreamer, and Casper is getting older." She complained.

" He's not too old, he's only 15." I replied.

"So?" She asked. I handed her the apple and she ate it quickly and shared the core with Casper.

"Do you want to give Casp a break and ride back on Dream?" I asked.

" Yeah. That'd be great." She answered. She took off Casper's bridle so he could stretch his mouth and she loosened his girth. I sat in front of my saddle and reached my hand done so I could help Jo up onto Dreamer. She dwarfed Casper standing at a full 17 hands. Jo managed to get up into the saddle and I sat back in the saddle practically on her lap. I let Dreamer start walking home and gave her a loose rein so she could stretch. Casper followed along bridleless and happy. We chatted all the way back to the barn. Jo dismounted at the last of the trees and put Casper's bridle back on. She led him back into the barn. I saw my mom making her early morning rounds and checking on all of the horses. I dismounted and ran my stirrups up the leathers

.

" How was your ride girls? " She asked me and Jo.

" It was great mom. Dreamer is as fast as ever, Casper and I don't stand a chance." Jo answered before me. My mom laughed and I stuck my tongue out at my best friend.

" Alright, I'm glad you girls had fun. Cool your horses off and put them away, lessons start in an hour." My mom said while walking back up to the house, probably to go get the lesson plans. Jo and I washed off the horses and put them away once they were dry.

" I call Mariposa!" I shouted, staking my claim on the medium sized pony that was a favorite among the kids.

"Boo, I don't want Arrow." Jo replied referring to the spunky pony that were we using for lessons. He was a pain to tack up.

"Too bad. I called dibs, but ill help you with him once I'm done." I said happily.

" Okay, deal." Sh agreed happily.

** What do you think? Was this a long chapter? I think it was. If there is any spelling or grammar errors, please point them out, it'll be a big help. Thanks for reading and the story does get more interesting, I promise.