Owen Grady looked around as he stepped off the bus in the small town,of..no where..
his blue eyes looked over the rough and tough land of cowboys and cattle, Montana.
the Navy boy, had just been let go, as a new branch started up a testing field. this one was something of odd feeling, and off an odd new life to him. the Navy, had opened a branch of testing, to see, if it would help "dogs of war" to work with wild horses..
that's right. Mustangs.
and Owen, was the first "test" of this. He was picked, for his deep rooted love of animals.
to Owen, this was kind of fun to think about. he was going to work with wild horses. yes, the wild mustangs known for their brains, hearts, and fast foot work.
he thought this as he sat there. a ranch worker was going to pick him up. so Owen was told. but, as the hot sun moved in the sky, and the hours deranged on, he started to think maybe this was a joke. or he was being punked. like where was this worker?
it had been three hours now. three hours sitting on a bus bench waiting for this worker..
just as Owen was starting to think this was a really,really,really, dumb and bad idea, a red and white old Ford truck came creaming up the "road".
the road as it was, was made up of a mix of dirt and gravel.
well, as this truck came in, kicking up dust, Owen was able to see the driver. a black man, with no hair, and a worried look painted on his face.
the truck came squealing to a loud stop, still some what running, the man jumped out.
"Are you Owen Grady?"
he asked, his voice hinted at him not coming from the parts they where in. it showed a sign of another country.
Owen nodded." yup ,that would be me.." he said in a drawn out voice, picking up his duffle bag and walking closer.
the man smiled still worried. "its nice to meet you Owen Grady, I am Barry, one of the mustang workers at snake bite ranch."
Barry held out a hand, which Owen shook. "nice to meet you Barry.. so...what took you so long?"
Owen was just gonna go right for it. why beat a bush?
Barry sighed and shook his head. "we got in a new band today. I was helping move the mares and foals around. and we all lost track of time.."
Owen nodded, thinking it over. Sounded right. with out another word Barry had Owen jump in the truck,and put his bag in the back.
the ride over was quite. Owen looked out the window watching the land roll by and the grass wave as they drove.
once or twice he thought he saw a ..i could just be some farm horses out there.
by the time they got to the ranch,it was about 6:00.
the first thing Owen could say was "whoa.." as they drove up
the ranch,was well large. round pens,upon round pens lined the road. horses,of all sizes and colors filled the pens.
some reared and let out loud snorts as the truck rolled in. the truck rolled up to the house,where the boss lived,beside it about 200 feet to the right,closer to the pens, was what Owen could only say was the bunk house.
they stopped the truck out side it,and jumped out.
"i'll put your bag in your new place. feel free to look around."
Owen nodded and let Barry go.
the ranch was larger, and held so many things to see.
the first thing Owen did, was walk over to a round pen ,where a large group of horses where held.
Owen could kind of tell they where mares, but he didn't know to much on horses. He needed to work on that.
one mare, a large bay mare with the markings of a dun, but in black, snorted and inched closer. Owen held out a hand. Letting her lip in.
chuckling lightly, the man rubbed the mares ears.
"that's Echo..i see you two have gotten to know each other.." a voice said from behind. it was a darker skinned man, with a strong costa ricaen sounding voice.
Owen turn and took his hand out of the round pen. "yes sir..."
he said, in that strong, I'm lessoning voice all Navy, or any army, guy has.
"no need for such things with me. please, please, relax.." he told Owen walking closer to the mares.
"as I said before, Echo likes you.
you must be Owen Grady, the new worker. Well it looks as if we found you a horse to ride.." the boss said. Owen kind of just blinked. Wait...what?
"sir...a horse to ride? you don't mean-"
"oh I a worker here, its part of your job to go out a herd the mustangs and such. You need a horse. looks like, tell you train your own, you will be using Echo..do not worry, her being grumpy some times just happens."
no sooner had the boss stated this, did Echo pin her little brown ears and nip at Owen hands, as he put them back in the round pen to pet her.
Owen yelped and pulled them back. A grunt coming from him.
so echo was a moody mare. Nice to know.
as Owen was standing there, the boss told him, once he was set, they would be working with the new horses.
as they where talking a loud squeal rippled from a round pen, and the sound of hooves on bodies.
"what's that?" Owen asked, worry think in his voice. the boss just waved it off.
"horses fight, it sounds like its coming from the new herd. we have a lead mare in there, hats a little wilder then we would have liked. But err, what are we to do?"
with that he started to walk off. Owen, finding this a bit odd to him, walked closer to the sound of fighting.
he soon saw what it was.
in side the round pen, was a herd of horses. bays, blacks, a paint or two, and duns. but in the middle, letting out loud squeals nipping, kicking, and rearing was a 15 hands blue roan mare.
her black and blue main was wild like her tail as she reared and let out sharp whinnies. little hooves thudding into the bodies of some horses in her way.
she was a whirl wild of rage as she snapped around.
she was.. breath taking. a wild lost beauty of the hills and Montana lands . keen ears, long main and tail, and her sharp show stopping blue coat.
"blue?" Owen said, saying the mares color out loud. the mare snapped her self around. Letting out a loud snort and pawing the ground, flipping her main and pinning her ears.
she let out a sharp warning sound and kicked a back hoof, thumping it into the rails.
he could tell that this mare was a lead mare. just by looking at her. Owen was still shocked to see her.
a wild fire of a horse, locked away. What a free spirit.
it kind of was like him, when he was a teen.
that made Owen chuckle lightly and smile to the mare.
he clicked to her.
"come here girl..don't worry..i don-"
Owen was cut off by the mare darting at him. Her ears back she bared her teeth and was about to ram the rails . Owen fell back, on to his butt, and cursed under his breath.
"ok,ok, I'm going! I'm going!" he told her, getting up, dusting him self off and backing away. he walked away, looking back once to see the mare watching him a little.
she snorted and trotted off, ears still pined.
Owen chuckled, and moved off. Barry hand came out and was now about to show Owen around some more.
well maybe...working on a ranch wouldn't be too bad?