Rebecca looked through the rear window of the car as they pulled up at their yard. Chance was peacefully munching at his hay net in the horse box. Rebecca jumped out of the passenger seat, desperate to unload Chance and settle him into his new home.
"Woah there Rebecca," her father laughed, "I can see that you're excited but remember to take things slow, Chance hasn't been here before, he might be a bit spooky. I'll help you unload Chance safely without hurting his bruise while you go get mum, ok?"
"Sure!" Rebecca said running to their house. "Mum! Come and see Chance!" she exclaimed exploding through the front door, "He's so beautiful! You're going to love him!"
"Coming honey," Rebecca's mother replied walking outside. "Wow," Mrs Patten breathed as she saw the handsome stallion. She frowned when she realised he was favouring a leg, "Is he injured? Why's he limping?"
"Don't worry mum, it's a bone bruise," she said reassuringly.
"Oh, poor thing! He must be in so much pain!" she sighed, "Just imagine what Liza would have said!" Rebecca and her father cracked up. Liza was Mrs Patten's super strict former instructor before she gave up competing to give birth to Rebecca. Mrs Patten was one of the top dressage riders on the international circuit when she was in her peak time. Taking home a silver medal for Australia at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, topping the leader board at the FEI World Equestrian Games dressage, being a four-time winner of the Australian Dressage Championships and competing at Grand Prix level since she turned sixteen were just a fraction of her accomplishments.
"Rebecca, why don't you lead Chance to his loose box and settle him in for the night?" dad suggested, "We turn him out tomorrow. I have to go to the vet for the BOD meeting tonight."
"Of course!" Rebecca beamed, imagining Chance munching happily on his hay net in the warmth of the stables, "Mum can help me!"
As soon as Mr Patten's car left the driveway, Rebecca and her mother got to work cleaning stalls, making beds, filling water buckets while Chance gazed intently at them from his temporary pasture. Rebecca couldn't believe they were actually preparing the stables for a new horse! That afternoon, Rebecca and her father had drove their horsebox to the re-homing centre, quite sure that it was coming home empty. Turns out, that wasn't the case! Despite all the excitement about Chance, Rebecca sighed sadly.
"What's wrong?" her mother turned her head, "That was a big sigh. Aren't you happy you have Chance?"
"Yes! Of course! I guess I'm just tired," Rebecca lied looking at the empty stall next to Chance's which used to stable Angel.
"Come on, it's obviously more than that," Rebecca's mother said.
"Fine, I was thinking of Angel," Rebecca admitted, "I miss him so much! Don't you think I'm betraying him by loving another horse?"
"Oh honey, you know Angel! He's the kindest soul I've ever met! Of course he wouldn't mind you loving another horse!" Rebecca's mother smiled, "And didn't you say he would be at the knacker's yard if you didn't adopt him?"
"Yes," Rebecca sighed.
"Well I'm sure Angel wouldn't want that to happen to Chance! You definitely did the right thing. When my first horse Texas was put down, I vowed to never see a horse again. But two years after I had lost Texas, Liza came knocking on my door, pleading for me to take care of Apollo, one of her horses that she couldn't keep at her yard. I wanted to say no but at that time, your grandfather was seriously ill, and the surgery was more than we could afford so I figured that if I earned some money, we could afford the surgery. So after caring for Apollo for three months, I had earned enough money to pay for your grandfather's surgery. By that time, I had realised how much I missed horses and I was so depressed when Liza had to take Apollo back. But that Christmas, your grandparents bought Apollo for me and that was all I could ever wish for."
Rebecca had heard so much about her mother's prized horse Apollo and she couldn't imagine her mum not wanting to be with horses!
"Oh," was all that Rebecca could say.
"Well then," Mrs Patten smiled, "Let's get working, I think someone's telling us to hurry up!"
Chance snorted as if saying, "Hey! I think you forgot about somebody!"
Just as the sun was about to set, Rebecca and her mother had finished getting the stalls ready. It was finally time to take Chance to his stall for the night. Chance, who seemed very intrigued by the presence of other horses, touched noses with them while limping down the aisle. His stall was the one on the very end of the row, closest to the house so Rebecca could keep an eye on him for the night. Chance hopped into his stall and looked around at his new surroundings. Then, he gently lowered himself onto his knees and rolled in the sawdust.
