As she'd done the day before, Amy stepped up onto the fence to lean into the pasture where Spartan had been grazing in the morning sun. His black coat looked dull even from there from lack of proper care. That wasn't Ty's fault, seeing as he couldn't get near the animal. At least the field was lush with grass and Amy could see where Ty kept a water tub full and available to the horse. He obviously drank from it, which would probably be the only time he ever ventured to this side of the pasture and Amy wouldn't be surprised if he waited until Ty was off the property or it was the middle of the night before quenching his thirst.
The black gelding was watching them warily. Amy watched his nostrils flare as he caught their scent. "I assume you had him vetted? Aside from the obvious anthrophobia and malnutrition, is there anything else wrong with him?"
"Yeah, the vet examined him. He was pretty weak when we found him, but as soon as he realized we were going to take him out of his prison, he suddenly became very lively…" Ty recalled as he leaned against the fence, letting his eyes study Spartan. Remi sat down next to the couple, eying the horse. The dog was curious about him too, but sensed that the gelding didn't want to be bothered.
Getting Spartan checked had been a nightmare. They had had to have five men there to make sure the animal wouldn't get hurt or he wouldn't hurt them.
"We had to use tranquilizers to get him into a trailer. The vet told me he had only done house calls with Mr. Hanley, so I think it's pretty safe to say the horse hasn't seen or been in a trailer before. And when we finally got him here…" Ty stretched himself up, shaking his head, "he pretty much bolted out of it and ran right there where he's been since. He has that shelter over there," Amy's gaze followed to where he pointed out the little shelter that was enough to give the horse some cover from rain and wind, "but I think he fears being locked up again and doesn't use it much. It's like he wants to be aware of his surroundings, like he's a little bit paranoid. Not that I can blame him. At the time his muscles were very loose, it was like they were hanging from his back like a bag of sand," Ty used his hands to paint the picture. "But he looks a bit better now even though I realize he still looks pretty horrible. The vet said that besides some mental problems and the malnutrition issue, he seemed, well, healthy as a horse. He just needs to get back in shape."
Ty looked at Amy, wondering if it was something she could work with.
As she listened to Ty speak, Amy's eyes continued to move over the horse. She couldn't see a whole lot from this distance, but it was easy enough to imagine from the things she saw at Heartland. Not every horse her mother treated had been loved and cared for. It seemed that Ty was having the opposite problem: he wanted to care for Spartan, but the horse just didn't trust him enough to let him - with good reason."Well, at least the grass is rich out here and it's not the middle of winter, but I think you should start feeding him some grain to give him a little boost in nutrients. Once we get in touch with that lady you mentioned, if she has anything that would be of help, it'll be the best way to get the herbs and stuff into his system, too." Ty nodded. More than likely Spartan wouldn't bother with it at first, especially if he saw one of them put it out for him, but Amy knew a few tricks to make the grain more enticing.
Removing her eyes from Spartan, they drifted over to land on Ty. "You know this is going to take more than the few days I'm here? Which means I'll get him started as much as I can, but he's your horse and you're the one he needs to trust, so you need to make sure you keep at it when I'm gone or you could be right back to square one." Amy did like Hudson. It was a cute little town, but it reminded her too much of home, which was a place she hadn't been in nearly a decade. She could stay to see Spartan's treatment through, but there was no telling how long that would take, or if it would even work, and she couldn't live in a motel forever. Eventually, she did need to go back home to Vancouver. The problem was she knew how easily she could get attached, which was something she was going to avoid at all cost. Amy left this part of herself behind for a reason and she wasn't looking to bring it back. Her time with one horse in exchange for a working vehicle was all this was going to be - a business deal.
"I rarely leave anything unfinished, so I will look after him and do what needs to be done. I don't wanna give up," Ty assured Amy. Scott, the town vet, had told him his intentions were good, but Ty also had to realize the realistic side of things: horses weren't just machines that had reset buttons for a new start. They were always attached to their past and sometimes that was hard to overcome if the past was covered in mist. Scott only knew some of the Spartan's medical history, but that was very little to go on with. Horses, like people, were all individuals, not just numbers and figures. The thing with animals was very few people could speak their language. Ty knew he wasn't one of them, but he was hoping Amy would have better luck getting him somehow started. "If you need me, in any way… just let me know. I honestly have no idea what I'm doing here."
A small smile played at the corners of Amy's mouth as she nodded. "Okay. Let's do this then," she said, climbing the rest of the way over the fence and dropping down into the field. "Just hang out here. I'm just going to get a feel for him right now. He's probably just going to run from me, but keep your phone handy… just in case." She'd seen horses go after her mother in the past, out of fear more than aggression, which was probably even more dangerous.
Ty nodded and fished the phone from his pocket. He could feel his heart beating faster. It was probably only now that he realized what they were about to do. There was part of him that wanted to ask Amy to leave the horse be, but only because Ty was scared that Spartan would do something to her. Eventually he decided to have a little faith in her and see what she had in mind.
Amy turned to face Spartan, remaining still for a few moments before she began to walk toward the horse. Her gaze dropped to the ground, keeping sight of the gelding in her peripheral vision, but communicated that she was of no threat to him. She moved toward him, but her body too was at a non-aggressive angle as she took one careful step after another. He began snorting loudly when she breached some invisible barrier, Amy seeing his head rise and his nostrils expand to reveal the pink inside of them. Taking another few steps, Spartan took the same away before he stopped and began to paw at the ground, his hooves digging up grass and clumps of dirt, warning her to keep away. She understood and stopped, fighting to keep from looking directly at the animal, lifting her head a little to get a better glimpse of him. He was watching her, every sense and nerve was honed in right to her.
Ty raised his hand a little and moved his thumb up on the phone, even though his eyes were glued to the scene. His throat was dry, his palms sweaty and his body was full of nervous energy. He could tell Spartan didn't like to be challenged like this and Ty could only hope that the gelding was just trying to scare Amy off in this passive way.
For a very long time Amy stood her ground and did not move. A muscle twitched in Spartan's shoulder before his head lowered a fraction and his ears flicked toward other sounds. That's when Amy began to move again, her steps just as deliberate as before. Realizing she was on the move, Spartan was once again on full alert. Amy stopped again to wait for him to be comfortable with this new distance that was getting ever shorter. Another step more and he most likely would have taken off across the field, but he seemed to be more curious about what she was doing than afraid. She was a human speaking his language. It was a strange concept for a horse who'd only ever been neglected, drugged, and man-handled, even if most of it was just to try and help him. He didn't see it that way. Now, someone was actually listening to him, backing off when he said.
Amy had no idea how long she was playing a game of stop-and-go with Spartan before she began to push that line he'd drawn for himself. His ears pinned back and his stance became even more aggressive despite Amy's relaxed and non-threatening position. Still, she was steadily advancing and he didn't appreciate it. It was a very fine line Amy was treading on and she knew it. Yet, she continued to test it. He began digging at the ground again, his neck arching. He looked like a wild stallion preparing for battle. Amy's heart began to race and her stomach twisted as she again stopped. She'd gotten so close she could hear the snap of his tail as he flicked it in agitation. She knew it wasn't going to happen today. As soon as Amy lifted her gaze, Spartan threw his head up and retreated. Just to see what he would do, Amy followed after him, herding him across the field until he was blocked in between her and the fence. That was when he took off flying across the pasture, kicking out at her as he shot passed, leaving Amy to turn and watch him go. She wasn't about to chase him back and forth across this field and turned to head back to the fence and Ty, throwing a few glances over her shoulder to check where Spartan got to, seeing him slow to a trot and finally stop to look at her again.
"He's certainly got some attitude," she commented when she was within earshot of Ty again. Ty was still keeping eye on Spartan, but seemed like the horse wasn't going to come near them. "But he was curious about me for a while there, so that's a good sign." Turning back to look out at the field Amy considered the space for a moment. "It would be easier if this field wasn't so big. It's a lot of ground for me to cover and a lot of space for him to run away. But, that just means that hopefully some bribery will work on him, too." Draping her arms over the fence, Amy fixed Ty with a sly little grin. "So, what are you up to for the rest of the day?"
"I- I…" Ty was trying to get a hold on of his thoughts, "I'm sorry, but that was… intense," he pointed toward Spartan without actually answering Amy's question. Her smiled slipped away when she finally realized how affected Ty was by what happened, which, to Amy, hadn't much much of anything at all. "I mean, I'm out of breath and I didn't even do anything," he laughed and even blushed a little. His eyes were watering as he let his gaze follow the horse who was still running around nervously. "Wow… Sorry, I just… I've never seen anyone doing anything like that. I mean," he kept stuttering, "I know people don't consider horses too dangerous, but… I've seen what he can do and while I was watching you standing there, I kept having those flashbacks of him in the barn and it was like I feared for the worst to happen."
"You just have to think about it all from his perspective," Amy started, stepping up to climb back over the fence to join Ty on the other side. "He was locked away in the dark for how long… then all of the sudden these strange people come and jab him with needles and force him into an even smaller confined space on wheels. You and I both know what you tried to do was for his own good, but all that horse understands was people hurt him. He's just afraid and he's trying to hide his fear with aggression. If you watched him, you could see he wasn't sure about what was happening until I had him against the fence. Then he felt trapped. If I would have closed in on him any more, I'd have gotten more than that warning shot he threw at me." The kick he aimed at her was no where near hitting any part of her as she'd still been several yards away from the horse, but the message was clear.
"You still okay with me doing this?" Amy asked, her gaze studying Ty as carefully as she just had Spartan.
"Yeah, of course," he nodded. "Just as long as you are. I'm just standing here after all." He looked back to Amy. It seemed like she wasn't even shaken up, like she did this every day and it was no big deal. "How come you were able to keep your cool?"
"It wasn't easy. My stomach was in knots, but it was just one of those things where I just had to focus on him instead of my nerves. Horses can sense fear and unease. I want him to want to trust me and to know that I won't let any harm come to him if he does, but if I showed him fear, then he'd be afraid too and why would he bother to trust me then?" Amy looked up at Ty, recalling the incident the day before when she asked him to trust her and it all just blew out of proportion. "Horses are a lot like people that way."
Ty looked at Spartan, thinking maybe he had not been so wrong about the connection with him and the horse after all. He needed to start trusting people again and give them a chance.
"You asked me about my plans," he finally got back to her, Amy looking at him with interest. "I actually have this thing, but what do you say we meet tomorrow morning, try to track down that old lady with the herbs?" Ty offered. "Maybe make sure you have enough alarms on before you go to bed…" he added, teasing.
"I'm never going to be able to live that down, am I?" Just to show him, Amy was going to be sure to be up and waiting for him before he even pulled into town tomorrow.
"Nope," Ty laughed a little. He felt more relaxed now.
"You can give me a ride back to town though first, right?" Amy wouldn't say she was a little disappointed, and didn't show it either, but it was there in the way her bubble burst at the thought of spending the rest of the day finding other ways to entertain herself. If she had her truck it wouldn't be so bad and she could run the errands she wanted for Spartan on her own, but then since she'd have her truck she'd be able to be on her way. The walk would probably be a good way to kill time, but she would prefer not to have to make that trek down the long deserted roads on foot and as much as she would like to spend time with Spartan, wasn't so sure how she (or Ty for that matter) felt about being left on his property alone.
"Of course. Come on," he waved his hand toward his truck.
With a last lingering look toward the gelding who had settled down and resumed his grazing, Amy stepped away from the fence and walked with Ty and Remi back to his truck.