This story is based on a confession (not my own) from the heartland confessions blog on tumblr: "I need the season 9 premier to open the day before (or a few days before) Amy and Ty actually get back, where the whole family needs to band together to help a problem horse and then the episode ends with Amy and Ty walking into the house, happy and rested while everyone else is exhausted and Lou just goes "Take your damn horses back" (or something like that) and Amy just has this confused look on. End episode."
How Hard Could It Be?
A Heartland Oneshot
The Bartlett-Fleming-Morris-Stillman clan (now the Bartlett-Fleming-Morris-Stillman-Borden clan) did not plan on taking on any clients while Ty and Amy were on their honeymoon. But when Scott brought word of a horse who would not break, and was scheduled for the slaughterhouse if he wasn't tamed within two weeks, the Bartlett-Fleming-Morris-Stillman-Borden clan decided it give it a shot (and also to try and come up with a better way to refer to themselves, because frankly they were way into ridiculousness now).
After two days of debate, it was decided that Georgie would be the first one to give it a try. Amy had been working closely with Georgie over the years, and the family was wildly impressed by the way she had tamed Trouble.
Unfortunately, Georgie had gotten it into her head that she didn't need to use any of Amy's tried and true methods of joining up. Rather, Georgie thought that since things went so well with Trouble, all it would take was standing in front of a charging horse and commanding them to stop.
One trip to the emergency room later, Georgie had three broken bones, seven stitches, and one month's grounding. In all fairness, none of the adults could agree on exactly who was negligent enough to let Georgie pull the stunt in the first place.
To top things off, three days after the accident, Clint ran into the family at Maggie's. He gave them an odd look, but knew better than to press for answers. Lou and Peter still feared that they would get a call from Social Services, but thankfully the phone never rang.
After the accident, Lisa declared that the horse was far too difficult for anyone else to deal with. Tim, of course, did not let that go without argument. However, as result of Tim acting like… well… Tim, it caused the family (minus Lou who was simply trying to play peacekeeper) to band together and oppose Tim, even if it meant bringing in another trainer to Heartland.
In the end, Lisa didn't bring in another trainer. Rather, she brought in five.
The first – a trainer at Fairfield, Lisa was more than happy to vouch for – lasted a day and a half before storming off and declaring the horse unbreakable.
The second – the head trainer at Fairfield – made it three days before giving up.
The third was fired after fifteen minutes when the family declared their methods inhumane. Some people just got a little too whip happy sometimes.
The fourth was an elite trainer, and the top in Alberta. Lisa was more than happy to pay for his medical bills when the horse kicked him in the back three hours in. Thankfully there was only minor damage, and he was quite fond of the apology fruit basket Lou sent him.
The fifth was a world renowned trainer that ended up being a complete snob. She got out of the car, took one look around at Heartland, literally turned her nose up with a 'humph!' and drove away.
Offended by the last trainer, Jack was determined to prove his ranch was as good as any, and took on the horse himself. He remembered all of Marion's techniques, and it certainly wasn't the first time he had broken a horse. Jack just forgot to factor in while he was chasing after the horse that he wasn't a young man anymore. In the end, Caleb was forced to physically drag the winded Jack out of the round pen.
When asked if he could give it a shot, Caleb took one look at the horse, said "Hell, no" and disappeared for three days.
Out of options, it was finally Tim's turn. Of course, Tim was all show, and tried to be the aggressive tough guy.
"Watch how it's done, Old Man," were Tim's last words before the horse rammed him halfway across the round pen. As Lou and Georgie helped the protesting Tim into the truck to take him to the emergency room (where Lou desperately tried to pretend that they were not the same people that had been in last week) Casey assured Jack that she had gotten the whole thing on video.
Lou – not really much of a horse whisper – asked Peter if he wanted to give it a shot.
"You're not serious, right?"
It was all down to Lou. They had two days left before the poor creature would lose its life. Ty and Amy were scheduled to return home an hour before the pickup. The family had sworn to each other to keep their embarrassing failures a secret from the newlyweds so they could enjoy their honeymoon (and the family could enjoy their dignity).
Lou wasn't going to go in unprepared. The night before, she read no less than seven horse training books (thank goodness she was a speed reader). She also spent five hours on the internet reading articles and watching videos.
The next day she woke up early, threw back a cup of coffee, and went off to face the horse.
No one was quite sure exactly what happened, but when Ty and Amy's car pulled up, Lou was dishevelled, covered in mud, and her jacket was torn.
"Take your damn horse!" Lou greeted her sister by throwing the horse's reins in Amy's hands.
Amy wasn't able to get a confused word out when Lou dragged the protesting Ty into the house. The rest of the family just pointed to the horse, shoved Ty into the house, and slammed the door.
Amy looked up at the horse, "What just happened?"
An hour later, the horse's owner, Mister Samson, pulled up to Heartland. The family came out of the house (Ty still infinitely confused) and they were all prepared to beg Mister Samson to give the horse a little bit longer.
But it wasn't needed, because Amy had broken the horse twenty minutes ago.
The family didn't speak to her for a week.
"Hey guys?" Ty asked at dinner that night. "Where's Caleb?"