"Reserve champion is Brad Kirkman with his mare Gabriel's Pride, and now it's time to present our Champion, taking out the amateur title as well as the overall Laura Anderson and her gelding Bailey" the announcer said making the award presentation, the last rider had only managed a score of 226, an impressive score but not enough to take the top two spots

"He looks so pretty with a blue ribbon" Tahlia commented as a huge blue ribbon got pinned around Bailey's neck

"Ladies and gentlemen, Laura has chosen to donate her entire winnings from the competition this evening to Happy Tails Equine Rescue so they can continue their work and save even more horses like Bailey from auction and give them a second chance at life, so we'd like to ask the founders of Happy Tails Equine Rescue, Tahlia and Lewis Cameron to come into the arena and accept the prize cheque" the announcer said, Tahlia and Lewis looked at each other stunned for the moment as Jay had to give them a little push to go and accept the prize cheque

"How much did they win" Trent asked looking at Luca

"Champion was 12 grand and amateur champion was 1 grand" Luca said to him

"Oh wow" Trent said, that was a lot of money to some people, but he guessed that Laura probably had another income on top of what she earned working at the rescue, so money wasn't a concern for her like other people

"Miss Tahlia looks like she's about to start the waterworks" Sonny said as the announcer handed the huge cheque over and shook their hands

"It's a lot of money Sonny" Alie promptly reminded him

"What's Brad doing" Brock asked as he noticed the other rider walk over with his horse and cheque in hand he'd been awarded

"Looks like he's donating his prize winnings as well" Jess said as he said something to the announcer and handed his cheque over to Tahlia and Lewis

"Ladies and Gentlemen, our reserve champion Brad Kirkman has chosen to donate his winnings from the competition as well to Happy Tails Equine Rescue, that brings the donation to $20,000, how do you plan on spending it" the announcer said handing the microphone to Tahlia, she handed the microphone over to Lewis to speak as she couldn't think what to say

"I think that this money will go straight into our auction rescue fund for our auction rescue next week, this will allow us to save at least 20 more horses than what we would have normally been able to save, get them back to our rescue and give them all the medical care, food and training so they can go to new homes" Lewis said handing the microphone back to the announcer

"So what type of horses do you buy" the announcer asked handing the microphone back to them

"We'll take any horse we can get along with mules, donkeys, cattle, big, little, young, old, lame, one eye or two we don't care, we'll take them all in and give them shelter and whatever medical care they need. We accept surrenders to, even when the animal is sick and the owners can't afford the medical treatment, to save it going to auction or being left to suffer, they can bring the animal to us. This lovely lady here is actually our shelter vetinarian and we are extremely lucky to have her on our team to help us examine the animals we take in and help us make the best decision with regards to the treatment they receive, even if it is saying goodbye through humane euthanasia because their is a quality of life issue" Tahlia said proudly as she placed an arm around Laura and pulled her in tightly to show everyone how much Laura was appreciated by them

"And where abouts are you located" the announcer asked

"Virginia Beach, you'll find all our details on social media" Lewis said accepting the microphone back for the moment, there was no doubt a few horse lovers in the crowd there, and no doubt Bailey's performance was enough to show that people didn't have to spend thousands of dollars on a horse to get a decent one, and for all they knew the right horse could be waiting for them at their shelter

"There you have it Ladies and gentlemen, Happy Tails Equine Rescue, let's give them a round of applause" the announcer said as both Brad and Laura moved in with their horses to take photos with Tahlia and Lewis

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Well that was one hell of a show" Brock commented as they walked out of the arena towards the marshalling area where the horses and their riders waited with their trailers

"Hmm" Jess mumbled

"Someone's tired" Trent said as Luca pulled Jess in a little closer to keep her warm

"I'll be okay, get to sleep on the way home" Jess said

"So what did Doctor Shah say today anyway cuddle bug" Luca asked

"I've regained 11 pounds since I was discharged, that's nearly 5kg" Jess said doing the conversion so Luca understood

"That's fantastic, bit more and you won't look like just a bag of bones" Jason said smiling

"That's all my home cooking, hospital food is no where near as tasty or nutritious" Alie said proudly

"Depends whose doing the cooking, but in your case Alie I think we'll all agree" Eric said laughing

"Like if it's a choice between dads cooking and hospital food" Jess said looking at her father with a cheeky grin

"You'll go with the hospital food, this guy can burn a MRE" Metal said finishing the joke earning both of them a look from Jay before he started laughing himself because it was true, he was a pretty bad cook, which was why he happily left the cooking to Alie and stuck to eating it instead

"How do you burn a MRE, don't you only have to reheat them" Clay asked confused

"Trust me, you don't want to know" Jay admitted still smiling

"Let's just say it involves an elevated blood alcohol content and a bonfire and leave the rest to your imagination Clay" Luca said remembering the night in question

"What's going on with Laura, looks like she needs help" Jess said looking ahead as she noticed an irate women arguing with Luca's little sister with another girl standing there

"Keep the kids here while I check it out" Luca said to Jess and Naima before walking over to where the commotion was happening followed by Jay and Brock

"You're a liar and horse thief, give us back our horse now" the woman yelled at Laura as she was grooming Bailey

"I am not a liar of a horse thief and I don't appreciate you calling me one, Bailey is mine and I legally adopted him from the rescue" Laura said squarely looking at the woman

"No, he's mine and if you don't give him to me I'll call the cops and have him taken from you by force, he's my precious angels poor horse and you stole him from us" the lady yelled at her again

"Laura, is everything okay, what's going on" Luca asked his sister the moment she was in range

"This woman is accusing me of being a liar and saying I stole Bailey from her and that if I don't give him back she'll call the police and have him taken from me by force" Laura said calmly to her brother, Luca was used to handling legal matters with the police so Laura was confident her big brother could sort the problem no worries

"This is ridiculous, give us our horse now" the women said lunging at Laura pushing her out of the way to get to Bailey's lead rope, Laura fell on her wrist, Brock quickly positioned himself in between the woman so she couldn't get to Bailey's lead rope, this caused Sonny and Trent to make their way over

"Mummy, just leave it" the kid cried

"I'm getting your horse sweetie, but these mean people won't give her to us, see, hope your happy you made my kid cry" the woman spat

"Laura are you okay, let me check that wrist" Trent said, Luca now had his arm wrapped around his sisters shoulders to comfort her as Laura held her wrist, he was getting annoyed at this woman but knew getting emotional wouldn't help the situation

"Take her inside the trailers living quarters Trent, there's plenty of ice and medical supplies, Jay call the cops so we can get this sorted now" Luca said firmly

"Already on the way" Jay responded

"I'll take over from here Brock, go help Trent" Sonny said placing himself in the position so Brock could go and be with Laura, there was no way he would let that woman anywhere near that horse

"Nice digs, where's the ice" Trent asked as he helped Laura inside the trailer, it was fully decked out with beds, tables and chairs, kitchen and bathroom facilities

"Thanks, in the fridge, it's an early birthday present from my brother, Jess, Jay and Alie" Laura said taking a seat on the couch

"Is it broken" Brock asked walking inside

"Won't know till she gets it x rayed" Trent said walking over to the fridge and grabbed some ice, wrapping it in a towel he walked back over and handed it to Laura

"Want me to grab the machine" Brock asked

"It's in the tack room" Laura said pointing to a closed door

"Wait what machine" Trent asked confused

"Portable xray machine that I use to take xrays out at Tahlia's of the horses coming in, think it's safe to say I know how to read a picture to see if a bone is broken or not, save wasting time at a hospital unless it's an absolute emergency. I set this trailer up to double as a critical animal transport for auction rescues, and it allows me to sleep on site if needed so I can monitor critical cases throughout the evening instead of going to a motel to sleep, thanks Brock" Laura said as Brock emerged from the tack room carrying the heavy box and gently setting it down on the floor and helped Laura set the machine up

"Someone called the cops" a police officer asked walking over to where they were standing

"Yes finally, officer this horse was stolen from us and these people won't give her back to us, my precious baby just wants her horse, that woman is a thief" the woman screamed at Laura as she emerged from the trailer, her injured wrist in a brace and in a sling before starting to cry in hopes to gain sympathy

"Ah mam, sorry to rain on your parade and all that, but that's twice you've called this horse a she, you do realise a gelding is a male horse that's had his bits removed so he can't make babies" Sonny said laughing at the woman

"Don't you laugh at me, I know my horse when I see it and that's her right there" the woman screamed at Sonny and began stamping her feet

"That's enough Sonny, now do you have photos of this horse with your daughter riding him, file a police report when he was stolen or have him microchipped" Luca asked the woman

"Why would I tell you any of that information, and stop calling her a he, her name is Sunflower and she's ours" the lady squealed at Luca stamping her feet again

"Mam it's a valid question, you're claiming this horse as being yours and he was stolen from you and you want him returned, then you must provide us with a proof of ownership" the officer said to her

"Urgh fine, there you go, there's a picture of my daughter riding the horse" the woman said handing her phone over to the cop

"Mam that rider doesn't look like your daughter she's considerably younger" the officer asked her as he showed the picture to the other officer

"Well duh, the photo was taken 5 years ago" the woman said as Laura glanced at the photo and started laughing

"Um how do you explain the fact that this horse in the photo has a blaze with two socks and two coronet markings, when this horse that's standing here has a white face with three socks and a stocking, and that the horse in this photo which you said is clearly a full grown adult which would place the horse at at least 6 if not closer to 7, where as if you look at this horses teeth, he still has half his baby teeth, they don't get their full complement of adult teeth till their around 5, wrong age and wrong markings lady" Laura said still laughing

"That's a lie, a horses markings change as they get older, that's our horse and I demand you hand her over to us now and arrest this thief or we'll sue" the lady continued to squeal and stamp her feet

"Yeah good luck with that, our lawyer travels on his private jet, how does yours travel, be reasonable if that's at all possible, you are expecting the cops to believe that this horse who is approximately 3 to 4 years old is the same horse that was stolen from you 5 years ago as an adult and your proof is a picture of your daughter riding a horse where the markings don't even match the horse your claiming is yours and is the wrong gender, who do you really think the judge would believe, they'd laugh you out of court and you'd be paying our lawyers fees, that's a minimum of 50 grand you realise" Jay said to the woman smugly

"But she's ours, this lady doesn't know what she's talking about, she can't even tell the correct gender" the woman whined like a toddler

"Yeah sure I don't, I'm just a fully qualified vetinarian whose competed in rodeo and reigning for 11 years on a local, national and international level, but if you want to continue to say I don't know a thing about horses then that's your problem, look here's all Bailey's information and adoption certificate, here's the footage we recorded of him straight after the auction and doing his intake, you can clearly see his auction tag number which corresponds to the coggins we were provided by the auction, and note that the markings listed match the ones on Bailey and list him as a stallion, the video clearly shows us changing his number over during the intake to match his shelter record, where we scanned him for a microchip but couldn't find one, and here is his medical record, you see how the numbers have all matched up, it even showed that the day after he was purchased from auction I gelded him myself" Laura said showing the officers all the information she had on Bailey

"Sorry for the inconvenience caused by this mam, did you wish to press charges for harassment" the officer said apologetically to Laura

"Yes she does and you can add assault and attempted theft to that as well, that there is a security camera on our trailer here's the footage of the incident" Luca said as well answering for his sister and handing the officers his phone with the footage and clearly displaying the time stamp

"That's why you told me to make sure if I do anything with the horses to do it on this side of the trailer" Laura said surprised

"You really think I was going to leave you without any form of protection if I'm not around" Luca said with a smile to her

"Mam, I need to hear it from you, do you wish to press charges on this woman" the officer asked Laura, who hesitated briefly before answering

"Yes, I wish to press charges" Laura said firmly, she'd heard about entitled people before, and knew that this was the only way to make them realise their behaviour was wrong, and with her wrist in a splint it was going to impact working at the rescue till it healed. That was all the officers needed to hear as they proceeded to arrest the woman and escort her out with her kid following behind her. Jay and Luca followed close behind to get any further details they might need before Jay sent the details off to Rupert

"It's okay aunty Laura, I'll help you get Bailey ready to go on the trailer" Zalie said bounding over to help her aunty seeing her arm in a sling as she picked up a brush and started grooming the horse

"Is it broken"

"Buckled, not to bad though" Laura said as Tahlia, Lewis and Brad Kirkman came over to find out what had happened

"Oh my god Laura, are you okay, Luca told us what happened" Tahlia said concerned

"Can't believe she called you a horse thief, there's no way this handsome boy is 6 years old, he's still a baby, just look at his teeth, he's still got his ity bity baby teeth" Brad said giving Bailey a good scratch

"Why would she do something like that"

"She hangs around these events trying to get a horse for cheap for her daughter, she probably thought because Bailey was adopted she could get him for free by claiming he was stolen from them. She claims that her daughter deserves a talented horse because of how advanced she is but because she's a single mum she can't afford the thousands of dollars people are charging and doesn't see why she should waste the time buying her daughter a horse that's green under saddle and spending the money on lessons to help train it up" Brad said switching his attention to Donovan after getting a nudge from the little guy, he wanted scratches as well

"Sounds like you've had trouble with her in the past" Eric asked

"A few times, last competition she tried to get me to sell my mare from tonight for $100, unfortunately I know the kids father and he's willing to get a green horse and put the money in for lessons and training with me, but the mother currently has sole custody and won't allow it" Brad said

"Doubt she'll keep custody after her antics tonight, especially if she does jail time" said Jess

"Look if the father gets custody and wants a horse for his daughter we've got plenty to choose from and looking for good homes, all he needs to do is send in an adoption application, our fee is $500 for a horse that's got its basic training and fully healthy if he gets approved, just tell him to contact us" Lewis said sensing a chance to potentially find one of their horses a new home

"I'll do that, and you two, I'd love to have you board at my facility if you're mum hasn't gotten you a proper one yet, maybe even have you join the display team later on, with your mums permission of course" Brad said to Bailey and Donovan giving them both a good scratch and talking to them like they were little kids before looking at Laura for an answer

"Sure, why not, at least you'll be closer to where I work, I'll be able to see you on my lunch break" Laura said agreeing to the move

"Excellent, I'll get Rylan to get a double stall ready so you two can share a room, what do you think, bring them out when you're ready we'll have their stall waiting for them" Brad said

"Thanks Brad, will do" Laura said before the rider turned to leave

"Double stall to share" Brock asked confused

"It's not a bad idea, sometimes horses can become uncertain adapting to new surroundings, if they're allowed to sleep in the same stall at night and be in the field together during the day, it will go a long way with helping get them settled in" Laura said as Zalie finished grooming Bailey and helped Laura load both horses in the trailer to get ready to leave