The next morning, everything that had gone on between Ty and me felt like a dream; if it wasn't for the fact that at some point we had fallen asleep in the bed of his truck, and I woke up next to him, I would have thought we were still at odds with each other.
But it hadn't been a dream, Ty had opened up to me a bit about his past, and I had said what I had been denying these past five years. Even now, as I got Storm ready for the trip to Fox Farms, I didn't regret one single minute that we had spent together in the early morning hours.
Well besides the fact that I was still tired. Looking over at Ty I could see that he needed a few hours of sleep himself.
"Alright what is with you two?" asked Mallory as she groomed Sonya to get her ready for the video we were going to make that afternoon.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Yesterday you couldn't bear to even look at him and now you two are looking at each other as though you have some secret," she replied. "Oh my God you two haven't been spending the whole night together have you?"
"Mallory no, we just . . . talked last night, that's all," I said.
"Talked last night? When? Last I saw you were doing your schoolwork," she replied.
"It was around midnight," I said as the sound of Mr. Forest's truck came from outside. "All we did was talk and we're starting to work on our problems."
"Uh-huh, anything else?" she asked.
"Mallory it's a little early to say 'yes we're dating' or 'no we're just friends'," I said. "Now drop it please."
Mallory groaned but didn't say anything as Mr. Forest and Stephanie walked into the barn.
"Ah, so how's our boy doing?" asked Mr. Forest.
"He's all set and ready to go," I replied patting Storm's neck.
"Good, I'll take him into the trailer if it's alright," said Stephanie.
"Sure," I replied clipping the lead rope to his halter, and untied Storm from the cross-ties, before handing the rope to the other girl. "He's good loading into the trailer so you shouldn't have any problems."
She nodded and clucked her tongue to get Storm's attention before leading the gelding away.
"I'll go get his tack trunk and you'll be all set," I suggested.
Mr. Forest smiled and nodded. "Okay, if there are any problems or concerns we'll call you straightaway," he replied. "After all, even though he's on loan for now, I would like to get to know him better before buying him."
I nodded. "Of course, I'll give you one of our business cards with our phone number on it in case you or Stephanie have any questions," I said before walking toward the Tack Room to get the trunk.
A few minutes later, Storm was loaded into the trailer and the trunk was in the side compartment.
"We'll call you in two weeks with a final answer," said Mr. Forest as both he and Stephanie got into his truck.
"Okay, good luck Mr. Forest, Stephanie," I reply.
"Thanks Amy, see you in a couple of weeks," said Stephanie as Mr. Forest drove away.
I waited until they were out of sight before heading back into the barn to get a stall ready for Starlight. I'll get to Storm's stall after Starlight's all settled in I thought grabbing a wheelbarrow, a pitchfork, and rolled it to where the bedding was kept.
A half-hour later, Starlight's stall was ready, and the sound of an SUV pulling into the yard caught my attention. Walking toward the double doors, I didn't have to take a look at the trailer to know that it was Fiona and Starlight. Inside the trailer, the gelding was not only kicking at the sides of the trailer, but was whinnying shrilly as though he was fighting with another horse.
"What in the world?" asked Lisa as she, Grandpa, and Lou came out of the house.
"Hi, if we're late I'm sorry," said Fiona stepping out of the truck along with one of the grooms from Briar Ridge. She sounded hassled and stressed out.
"Are there two horses in there or is it just the one?" asked Ty coming from the pasture leading Mystery.
"He's been wired up, it took us three hours just to get him into the trailer," explained Fiona.
"Ty is one of the corrals free?" asked Grandpa.
"Yeah, the one at the far right is," replied Ty.
"Alright, Amy, Mallory go open the corral gate, whatever your name is get back in the truck and back the trailer so that the trailer ramp will open into the corral," said Grandpa taking charge.
I didn't hear what the groom said as Mallory and I ran toward the available corral and opened the gate.
A couple of minutes later, the groom had backed both the truck and trailer so that no matter what, Starlight had no chance of escaping from the corral. Grandpa and Ty unbolted the trailer ramp and, the next thing any of us knew, the gelding kicked the ramp down, and bolted out of the trailer, galloping as far away from it as possible.
As the driver drove forward, Ty and Grandpa ran out of the corral, while Mallory and I closed the gate, fastening the latch quickly.
"I'm giving everyone a warning right now, no one is to go into that corral until he's settled down is that understood?" asked Grandpa.
I nodded. I had already planned on giving Starlight some time to unwind and release all of his pent-up energy. The water tap is on outside of the corral so we won't have to go in there to fill up the water trough.
"Wait . . . you're not going to work with him now?" asked Fiona.
"Are you kidding me? If any of us go in there now we'll be trampled to death," said Mallory. "He's so wound up I don't even want to go in there."
"We have to let Starlight get settled here otherwise it will do more harm than good if we worked him right now," I explained. "Plus also both of us could be injured while he's like this."
"Okay, do you need me at all for anything?" she asked.
I shook my head. "Not until I'm sure that he's safe enough to handle," I replied. "Once he trusts me to ride him, then we can start working on your bond with him."
"Okay, his tack trunk is in the trailer do you need it?" she asked.
"Actually this will be the first step, let's see what kind of tack you use, and then we'll go from there," I said walking away from the corral.
She nodded and, after we pulled the trunk out of the trailer, we began setting up everything in the tack room.
"Alright, let's start off with the bit," I said.
"What's wrong with the bit?" she asked.
"A corkscrew wire bit is okay for headstrong horses and experienced riders, but Starlight needs a more softer bit like a snaffle bit or an egg-butt bit," I explained. "Also since you two are new to each other, it's better if you use a softer bit before switching to a stronger bit."
"My father suggested using the corkscrew wire bit after we kept losing shows," she replied. "I had ridden Starlight with a snaffle bit, but I can't keep him under control."
"Well that's one of the things we'll work on," I replied. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure," she replied.
"Since I'm also helping you, can you tell me about your riding experience?" I asked.
"Well I've mainly ridden geldings and mares," she replied. "My last horse was a mare who took me to the championships in Equitation."
"What happened to her?" I asked.
"I graduated from Equitation and I began riding in the adult division in Show Jumping; my dad sold her, and we began looking everywhere for a horse that would take me far," she said. "My parents found Starlight at a show for Arabians and bought him for me."
"You didn't try him out or at least took a look at him?" I asked knowing that most parents bought their children horses all the time because of their looks or pedigree papers.
She shook her head confirming my worst suspicions. "No, he was a stallion so we had him gelded," she replied. "I guess you can kind of say I'm a little afraid of him."
"Do you ever take the time to get to know him?" I asked.
"How?" she asked.
"You know, groom him, take care of him, take him on trail rides," I said.
"My father says that, now that I'm an adult, he's paying for me to ride, look glamorous, and win competitions, not do the stable hands job," she said.
"Well if you took care of your other horses, why not Starlight?" I asked.
"Cause my dad's sponsoring me, without his sponsorship I can't afford to compete and train," she explained. "It was alright when I was just competing in Equitation shows, he's my father he was going to pay for everything. But now that I'm eighteen he wants a return on his investment."
I nodded as we put the last of Starlight's gear away. "Well, I do have an idea if you want to hear it," I said.
"Sure," she said.
"We have a horse that we're selling for one of our ex-borders, and it's going to be awhile before someone buys her, in the meantime you can brush up on your skills when it comes to stable and field management, while at the same time regaining your confidence," I suggested. "Sounds like a good deal?"
She shrugged. "Sounds good to me, when do we start?" she asked.
"How about tomorrow?" I suggested. "You can meet her then okay?"
"Sure, thanks by the way, see you tomorrow," she said and left.
I pinched the bridge of my nose again wondering why some parents are even in this world of horses.
"That bad huh?" asked Ty's voice.
I turned to look at him. "Could be worse," I replied as he came and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
"Ah come on cheer up, it'll be okay," he said. "I've never known any horse or pony that didn't warm up to you eventually."
I nodded thinking about the proud gelding that was in our corral. Starlight didn't look naturally aggressive, but even with those few precious seconds of seeing him up close and personal, I could tell that it was going to be a long, hard road. "I'm gonna go work with Solly, Mallory's getting Sonya ready for a video we're doing this afternoon."
"Alright, Jack wants me to ride out today to go fix some fences with him, we probably won't be back until later this evening though," he replied.
"Ty!" called Grandpa's voice from the front porch.
"And that would be my cue to leave," said Ty, hesitating for a bit before quickly kissing me on the cheek. "See you later."
I smiled as I watched him leave.
Working with Solly could be hard work sometimes but today the young colt was starting to understand that when it was time to work he needed to settle down, otherwise he wouldn't get rewarded. The video went well, Mallory made the mare shine when it came to the flat-work portion of the video and, when we switched places so that I could do the jumping portion, we cleared each fence in perfect form and harmony.
"We should send a copy of the video to Sarah so that she could determine for herself whether that was good or not," I suggested after I had walked the mare around so that she could cool down.
"Alright, but I still say we did great no matter who's opinion it is," said Mallory turning off the video recorder.
I dismounted from the mare and brought the reins over her head before leading her back toward the barn.
After getting all of the afternoon and evening chores done, I checked on Starlight to see how he was adjusting.
What I saw surprised me. Per Grandpa's request I had stayed away from the corral to give Starlight some time to wind down; I had been expecting the gelding to still be moving restlessly around the corral. Instead, he was standing calmly and placidly off to one side, eating the hay that one of the stable hands had left him.
I climbed onto the top rail of the fence and called to him. "Come here boy!"
Lifting up his head, Starlight surveyed me for a bit before walking toward me, looking every bit like the Arabian he was.
"Looks like you've calmed down quite a bit," I said to him scratching his neck.
Starlight whickered and leaned into my touch.
Ashley was right, for once. All Starlight needed was some attention.
But there's still the matter of the fact that these two aren't a good match I thought remembering how Fiona had acted around him. She had told me herself that she was used to mares and geldings; remembering what Ashley had told me about Starlight recently having been gelded, it was quite possible that whoever had owned Starlight had no intention of gelding him. In fact, they might actually have been hoping to have put him up for stud if he hadn't been sold.
I stayed with Starlight for awhile before jumping down and heading into the house for supper. Remembering how different Sonya and Starlight were from each other, I knew it was the right thing to have Fiona ride Sonya to regain her confidence back. Graduating from horses that had been calm and placid to riding a high-strung gelding was a big step.
A step that, if not carefully instructed and taken slowly, could end in disaster.