The Choice
She stood at the gate which opened the entrance to Heartland and looked out upon the open road. Feeling anxious she wrapped her hair around her finger over and over, suddenly she heard footsteps and saw Ty, the stable hand, come over and sit beside her on the haystacks. "Hey Amy" he greeted her and adding a small wave.
She looked up and sighed "Oh hey Ty" she said, her voice slightly deflated as she looked back towards the gate.
Ty tilted his head slightly and said "Something wrong Amy?" he asked her, setting his hand on her arm and looking at her with genuine concern.
Amy perked up slightly as a small red truck pulling a horse trailer pulled in; she smiled and said "Not anymore. I was just waiting for a very special customer to arrive at Heartland safely" She walked towards the truck with a small piece of paper in her hands. "Tony!" she greeted with a smile as she saw a tall burly man step out of the truck and walk towards the horse trailer as it parked near the stables.
Tony turned around and smiled "Amy, so nice to see you. How have you been lately?" he said as he opened up the horse trailer. "I'm so happy you agreed to take Traveler on such short notice, I know he will thrive here. He needs…" he was interrupted by Amy a moment later.
"Oh I have all his needs, likes, and dislikes. Don't worry he will be taken good care of. Now let's get Traveler to his stall, just grab his lead rope and follow me" she said to him as she walked off. Tony grabbed the lead rope and followed Amy, leading a large dark bay horse with dark brown eyes and a white star on his forehead. Amy looked up at Traveler and saw the fear in his eyes, he was going to bolt! Amy grabbed the lead rope and before Tony could protest Traveler was tossing his head and twisting away. Amy pulled his head down sharply and walked him along, Traveler didn't bend to her will right away but he understood what was expected of him and followed Amy.
Tony was amazed "How could you tell he was going to try to get away?" he asked her, running up to her side. He looked at Traveler and smiled, wishing he could tell what his horse was thinking just like Amy could.
"Well i saw his eyes widen and his neck and shoulders tighten. It's more or less a thing you just have to watch for when a horse is in a new and unfamiliar place" she told him as she led Traveler into a large stall with fresh bedding, water filled bucket, and food filled bucket. This was hopefully the beginning of a good start with Traveler.