A Tale of Two Horses

• Fiction
• Children

								
Hi, my name is Kid! I’m a quarter horse, I’m twenty three years old, but when my story begins, I was just born. It all started one late January night. My mother was eating her dinner, but before she knew it, she was giving birth to me. She dropped down on her side, and then I was on my way! My mother was giving birth late at night, so no one knew that she was giving birth. But our owner, Hugh, happened to walk out to the barn because he forgot something. He saw my mother giving birth, and he was quick to help. The next thing I knew, I was at my mothers side. Hugh stood back and looked at me. “You’re one beautiful foal,” he said to me. But soon he had to go inside and get some sleep. After he’d taken one last look at me, and made sure that we were ok, he left. “You are my baby. And I love you,” My mother said to me. Then we both fell asleep. After laying there for a while, my stomach felt funny. I figured it was because I was new and didn’t know WHAT to feel. But as it turned out, I had a bad stomach infection. Hugh called a vet the next morning, because he knew that something was up. And that’s when the vet announced that I had the stomach infection. I was taken from my mother, and they put me in a horse hospital. Two men,
One Hugh, and one his son, loaded me into the back of a pickup truck. As I was hauled away, I thought of the times ahead that me and my mother would spend when I got back. When we got to the horse hospital, a kind woman welcomed us. She led me to the place where she would try to fix my stomach. I had to stay there for a week, but I was patient, because I knew that my mother would be waiting for me and welcome me with open hoofs. I had to be fed by a feeding tube, which wasn’t very comfortable. But if that’s what it took to get back to my mother, I’d do it! The vet didn’t look happy though. She kept frowning and sighing. I wondered what was wrong. But then I heard the vet saying that I wasn’t going to make it. Suddenly, my head started hurting worse than my stomach. Did they mean DIE?! Indeed they did. But I made a miraculous recovery, and became quite healthy. It was boring to stay there, recovering, but I knew that it was for the best. The vet lady (who’s name was actually Karson), was very kind to me, and Hugh came to visit me often. But I missed my mother- but Karson would have to do for now. I was six months old when I was finally ready to go back home. Karson came up to me, and stroked me gently. “I’m going to miss you little guy. But not being here means that you’re okay,” she said sadly, but smiling. I didn’t exactly understand what she meant, but I shared her sadness, whatever she meant. Then the pickup truck that brought me there six months before came back, only this time with a trailer. So THAT'S what she meant! I thought. Hugh and his son (Vic), loaded me into the trailer. I sure would miss kind and gentle Karson, but I was looking forward to seeing my mother again! But my mother had sadly forgotten me. I was loaded out of the trailer, and led to my stall. Once Hugh and Vic left, I spotted my mother. I whinnied in delight, hopped on top of my bail of hay, then boosted myself out of my stall. I trotted up to her, happily. “Hi mommy! Remember me?” I cried gleefully, jumping about excitedly. She nipped at me. “Do I know you?” She snapped. “Bye!” I yelped, as I ran off. I saw a way out of the barn, so I ran out of it. I stood there for a minute, sad because my mother didn’t know me. She said she loved me before I was taken away. I guess she still does, she just doesn’t know that I’m the one she loves. I thought. That made me feel a bit better. When I walked out to the pasture, I saw a horse just as old as me. I walked up to her cautiously. I hoped she wasn’t like my mother! “Hi, I’m Kid! I almost died,” I said to her. “Wow. I’m glad you didn’t! I’m Juliet by the way,” she answered. Then, another foal walked up. “Juliet, who’s this?” He asked gruffly. “This is Kid, Blaze!” Juliet told Blaze. “Watch yourself, Sid,” Blaze said. “That’s KID..” I didn’t get to finish my sentence because Blaze stalked off. “Don’t worry about Blaze,” Juliet said. “He can get terribly jealous.” I told Juliet of my six long first months, and how my mother had forgotten me. And she told me of how her mother had died, and how Hugh was like a mother to her. We had both had a rocky time, but together, we couldn’t be happier. Me and Juliet became best friends (and Blaze got so jealous that he never spoke to us), and we had fun running around and playing. Once, it was almost the end. Me and Juliet escaped the pasture, and went to the creek to play. “Let’s go on that log laying over the creek!” Juliet said. But when she walked out onto the log, it snapped in two. The log and Juliet went gushing down the strong flowing creek, and Juliet was neighing in fear. She thrashed around, trying her best to stay on top of the water. I ran alongside the creek neighing at Juliet, trying to find a way to get her out. Then it happened. I knew just how to save my friend. I spotted a vine, and I ran ahead of Juliet. One end of the vine, I held in the teeth, and the other end, I threw out into the creek (which wasn’t an easy task on account of me having hoofs not hands). When Juliet was about to be gushed past me, she grabbed onto the vine with her teeth. I yanked her out, and she landed on the sand bar, soaked and panting. “Y-you s-s-saved me,” Juliet shivered. “Of course I did! You’re my best friend!” I cried. We laid on the sand bar for a while, while Juliet dried. When she was almost completely dry, we headed back to Hugh’s farm. “I’m gonna need a serious brushing!” Juliet said. We scrambled back into the pasture, just as Hugh and Vic were about to lead the horses in for the night. Me and Juliet both slept well that night! We had many adventures, but I’m not sure that I can write all of them down. It’s very hard to write with hoofs! So I’ll just say that we had MANY fun (and almost tragic) adventures. We had been friends for a year, when something unexpected happened. “Let’s practice our rearing, Kid,” Juliet suggested in August. We both wanted to be majestic horses with majestic rears. We started rearing and holding them as long as we could. That’s when Hugh came up to our pasture with another cowboy called Waylon. “That one’s Kid, that one’s Juliet,” Hugh said, pointing as he said our names. Waylon nodded. “Do they have any bad habits?” He asked. “They love a- rearing but they ain’t never hurt no one.” Hugh answered. “Why’s that cowboy asking questions about us?” I asked Juliet. “Beats me,” she answered. It turned out that Waylon was buying us! Waylon dug into his pocket, and gave a little sigh.  Waylon gave Hugh some rectangular paper which I soon found was called money. Waylon was sighing because humans don’t like parting with rectangular paper for reasons that I don’t understand. Then Hugh sighed, not over rectangular paper, but because he didn’t like to see us go. But that was his job. To breed horses. I pressed my warm muzzle into Hugh’s hand before Waylon led us away. Juliet stood with Hugh for a minute before we were led away. I felt bad for her. She and Hugh had a special connection. Then Waylon led us to a trailer, and we saw Blaze looking sad as we  drove away. When we got to Waylon’s farm, I was buzzing with excitement and so was Juliet. Waylon’s farm was beautiful! There was a big farmhouse, and a huge pasture with two other horses. There were cows out there too, and chickens free ranged all over. The barn was big, and there was an old barn cat cleaning himself in the corner. His name was Tobias in case you were wondering. Then there were flowers all around-at least the ones the goats hadn’t eaten! I knew we would be happy at Waylon’s farm! When we were led to the pasture the two other horses came to meet us. One horse was a bit slower than the other. First, a black Arabian came up. He was about our age. “Hi! I’m Passo!” He said. The other horse was a Tennessee Walking horse, and she was in her twenties. “I’m Sistine. I’ve been here a while, so I know how this thing goes. Do NOT go near the Black Giant rooster. His name is Callabar, and he will kill you if he feels like it!” She whispered. “He won’t KILL you. Be prepared. Sistine has all kinds of warnings. She’s a cautious one.” Passo whispered. I nodded and me and Juliet introduced ourselves. “Do NOT touch the fence! It will shock you all over!” Sistine cried. Passo rolled his eyes. I later walked to the fence, to see if Sistine or Passo was right. The second I touched that fence, I was SHOCKED at how shocked I was! It was a tingly and zappy feeling. Sistine shook her head and limped off, as if to say, “I told you so.” After that, I took Sistine’s warnings more seriously! Me and Juliet steered clear of Callabar, even though Sistine was wrong about him. I didn’t like being shocked! That night we were led to our stalls, and Tobias the old barn cat slept on my hay! Soon, everyone was asleep, and not one creature on the farm made a noise. But in the morning, Callabar crowed the loudest crow I’d ever heard. Me and Juliet rather enjoyed our stay at Waylon’s, but no sooner had we been at his farm for a week, he discovered that he could not care for us. So he called his friend. The next day, a pretty teenager came to meet us. “Hi, I’m Sarah,” she said, holding out her palm. I searched it for treats. I found none. After a few moments, she said to Waylon, “I’ll take Kid.” I cocked my head. Just me? After handing over some rectangular paper, Sarah tried to lead me away. I panicked. I neighed and kicked. I tried to run to Juliet, but Sarah caught me. So Juliet ran to me. “You can’t leave! You’re my best friend!” Juliet whinnied. No matter how much I neighed or kicked, Sarah was determined to take me home. Me and Juliet pressed our muzzles together before I left. We bid a sad farewell. I was loaded into a horse trailer, and hauled away. When we arrived at Sarah’s farm, I knew that I might be able to survive. Without Juliet, life was horrid, but this farm looked nice.  There was a big barn (not quite as big as Waylon’s) and a big pasture. They had goats and cows and pigs. But no other horses. They did not have chickens, thankfully, so I didn’t have to worry about roosters like Callabar. I was led to my stall, where it was cozy. I was next to a cow called Mabel. Sarah spent lots of time with me, bonding, and talking to me about well, just about everything. My life was happy, although I missed Juliet. I grazed in the pasture, and reared to remind myself of Juliet. “Hi, Big Guy,” Sarah said to me one morning. “Oh, hi! You snuck up on me,” I said happily. She came and gave me a carrot, brushed out my coat so it was sleek and shiny, then had to be off to school. What do they learn at that school place that is so important to go EVERY day? I thought. I was the happiest horse (besides missing Juliet) in the world living with Sarah, but the time came when it was time to be broken, and ridden. It all started the year that I turned three. Sarah told me that I was ready to be broken. I thought she meant that she would actually break me, but that actually just means training! Being broken is NOT the most comfortable thing in the world. There had to be a heavy saddle on your back, and a bridle on your face. You also have to have a BIT in your mouth! A cold, hard, frustrating bit. But it had to be there for Sarah to control the reins. And after LOAAADS of training, and hours practicing, I was officially broken, and rideable! Sarah was training me to be a show horse, so she had to board me at a horse barn. The horse barn was HUGE! During all this time with her, I grew to love Sarah. She was a girl with stars in her eyes, and adventure in her heart. She started to train me to be a show horse. It was hard work, but she rewarded me with treats! I preferred carrots over apples but it was good either way. She boarded me at the horse barn, and I whinnied as loud as I could when she came! In between training, I talked and played with a Palomino called Chevy. The first time I was led to the barn, Chevy was in his stall. “Oh, hi! I’m Chevy. Oh, good! Your stall is right next to mine! Oh, hi to you too, owner girl,” Chevy said. “I’m Kid! This is Sarah,” I replied. “My owner's name is Fay,” Chevy said. I was happy that Sarah worked at the barn, because I saw her a lot. She had to work to pay for the boarding fee. After hours and hours and weeks and weeks and months and months, me and Sarah got very good! Soon, it was time for our first show. I was loaded into a horse trailer AGAIN and we drove to the competition place. Sarah put on my saddle and she spoke kind words to me and patted me while we waited for our turn. When it was our turn, I did great! I sailed over each jump with grace, and me and Sarah won first place! I was proud of myself and I loved Sarah more than ever. When we got back to the horse barn, I ran to meet Chevy. “Guess what Chevy! We won! We won first place!” I cried. “That’s great, Kid! I’m doing my first show tomorrow!” Chevy neighed back. Oh how I wished Juliet were there to see me. I’m sure that she’d have won too. I was glad that me and Chevy had stalls right next to each other, so we could chat at night too. I was sad when Sarah left that night, because I wanted her to stay with me all the time. But I knew I’d see her in the morning. Me and Chevy were both excited for his show the next day. We scarcely slept that night. The next day as Chevy’s owner, Fay, was about to lead him to the trailer, I wished him luck and told Fay good luck too, only she didn’t speak horse so she didn’t know it. She gave me a pat though. I could barely get on with my day because I was so excited about Chevy doing his show. Late that afternoon, Chevy was returned to the horse barn. He looked grim. I ran to him. “How did it go, Chevy?” I cried. “I won third place! Isn’t that awful?!” He cried in frustration. “No. If you’re on the leaderboard, you did great! And you’re on the leaderboard.” I replied. “If you’re not first, you’re last in my opinion,” Chevy chuffed angrily. “At least you tried your best. You have a ribbon at least!” I cried. Chevy ignored my remark, and as he was led to his stall, he had his ears pinned back. I almost wished that me and Sarah hadn’t won first place, so Chevy wouldn’t feel so bad. But I knew he would win some day and be happy. Me and Sarah did tons and tons of shows! With each one, I did great! I didn’t care which place I came in though, as long as I was doing it with Sarah. One day Sarah was putting on my saddle before a show, and another horse was beside us, and she was a TALL horse. “Prepare to lose, Shorty,” she said. “Prepare to be proven wrong, Tough Guy,” I replied (even though she was a girl). “You’re just a sore loser!” “It takes one to know one,” I said wisely. As me and Sarah waited for our turn, I thought of what the tall horse had said, and vowed to win first place. That day, Sarah and I DID win first prize! “Haha,” I said, walking proudly past the rude horse, after receiving me and Sarah’s prize. She chuffed loudly, and pinned her ears back. I later found out that her name was Sassie. No wonder! Every show we did, me and Sassie rivaled each other. Sometimes she’d win, sometimes I’d win. Later, we actually became sort-of friends. Me and Sarah did a lot of shows, but soon my legs started to hurt. I had to limp - a lot. It all started with that one show. My legs were hurting very badly that day, but I couldn’t let Sassie beat me. But as I tried to clear the jumps, I only knocked them down. I was terribly embarrassed, and I was afraid that Sarah was disappointed in me. But the look in her eyes wasn’t disappointment. It was a look of concern. We came in second to last place. Last place was a Palomino who freaked out because of all the noise. Sassie won that day and she looked so smug that I almost couldn’t stand it. Sarah dismissed that day as an off day, and before long it was time for another show. But my legs continued to hurt. I did awful at our next show too. My legs were hurting terribly, but how could I stop doing shows? Sarah had been discussing my falling back with her parents, and they decided to call a vet. The vet was a tall man with a bushy beard, and I didn’t exactly think I liked him, or him looking at me. But I was trained to be calm around people, and I wasn’t about to disappoint Sarah. After some time, the vet guy said that I had turned up lame, and I had to be pulled out of shows. So Sarah pulled me out of shows for my own good. But I was still a good trail buddy! But soon my legs got worse. I couldn’t even do trail rides! I was still happy, as long as I had Sarah. Although, I DID miss Chevy. Sarah loved me with all her heart, but she also loved riding. So she adopted two more horses, Lily and Carisma. Lily and Carisma came at two different times. Lily came first. A horse trailer pulled up, and I feared that it was there to take me because Sarah didn’t like me now that I was lame. But as it opened, I saw that there was a horse inside. She was unloaded and led to the pasture. I walked to her, wondering who she was. “Hi. I’m Kid. Who are you?” I asked. “I’m Lily. That Sarah person bought me for some reason,” she answered. “Probably because she loves horses and wants one to ride. I turned up lame a little while ago,” I said. “I’m sorry. I hope it doesn’t hurt very bad.” Me and Lily’s conversation was cut short because another horse trailer pulled up, and they unloaded him. “I’m Kid,” I said. “And I’m Lily,” The new horse looked at us strangely. “I’m Carisma, and I want to go home,” Carisma replied. “This is your home. Don’t worry. It’s great. You’ll love it,” I said. “I want my OLD home! I want my home home!” Carisma cried. That night, in his stall, he muttered things and banged his head against the wall in frustration every now and then. Lily slept soundly though, for she liked it there. The next day, Carisma moped about, sometimes stopping to angrily yank some grass out of the ground. Lily on the other hoof, merrily grazed and talked to me about her old home, and how she was glad she was there with me. Carisma continued his moping and yanking and muttering for about a week, and only ate half of his food when Sarah fed us. But about a week later, he started to warm up. He talked a bit more, pulled up grass a bit less angrily, and ate his food. Me and Lily talked to him a lot, and soon we were best pals.  They reared for me, because I couldn’t, and it reminded me of Juliet. One day, me and Lily were grazing, and I said, “Lily, you remind me of a horse called Juliet.” “Who is that, Kiddo?” Lily asked. “She was my friend when I was little,” I said sadly. “I bet you would like to see her,” Lily said, sympathetically. “I’m thankful for you and Carisma,” I replied. Lily nickered softly, and we went on about our grazing, unaware of what was about to happen. Me, Lily and Carisma were best friends, but I couldn’t help being a bit jealous when Sarah went off on a ride with one of them, and I was left behind. But I knew that Sarah showed no favoritism, and spent just as much time with me. Me, Lily, and Carisma played in the pasture all the time, and life was happy. Not long after me and Lily’s conversation about Juliet though, Sarah found out that she could not care for all of us. So with lots of pain, Sarah decided to sell Lily. Soon, a truck with a horse trailer pulled up. “My ride,” Lily said so sadly, that I almost decided to go with her. But I couldn’t leave Carisma. “Goodbye, Lily,” I said as we pressed our muzzles together just as me and Juliet had done. Carisma whispered to Lily, just as she was about to be led away. I still do not know what he said, but it makes me sad to think about. Lily was led into the trailer, and drove away. Me and Carisma were quite sad that day. But we got along somehow. Me and Carisma were closer now than ever. “I hope Lily will be happy at her new home,” I said. “Me too. I miss her,” Carisma agreed. We were there for each other, and were, like I said, closer now than ever.  But then not long after that, me and Carisma had to say goodbye too. Carisma was having trouble with his brain. The vet guy came back, and that’s how we found out. “Trouble with my brain? What’s that supposed to mean?!” Carisma cried. Me and him soon found out what it meant though. Carisma was not doing well at all. He laid on his side in his stall, and I laid with him. “Kid?” Carisma asked. “Yes, Carisma?” “If I leave, what about you?” “Carisma! Don’t talk about leaving!” I cried. “But if I do, you will be all alone.” “Don’t worry about me,” I said. “I love you Kiddo,” Carisma said. “I love you too Carisma,” In the next few moments, Carisma passed away. For the next few weeks, I was upset and depressed. I missed my friends more than anything. Soon, I knew that I had to stop being so depressed. I was miserable without Carisma and Lily, but not trying to be happy was making it worse. So I tried to cheer up, and was comforted by some goats. Most of the animals weren’t near my pasture. But as the years wore on, those animals died. Soon, I was almost the only one left. Nobody got any more animals, because by then Sarah was an adult and everyone couldn’t find that much time. So all that was left was me, a dog, and a cat. But my life was still pretty good. Later, Sarah’s sister had a baby. She was called Kate, and I watched her grow. She was always attracted to me, always wanted to stroke my muzzle, and when she was a toddler she sat on my back. Sometimes she fed me grass out of her hand, but was never really allowed to interact with me. I knew that I liked her. She was like Sarah in many ways. Finally, one day, Kate came into my pasture, and brushed me, gave me treats, and kept me company. Now, I wasn’t  so lonely. Sarah had grown into an adult, so she didn’t have as much time to spend with me. But with Kate around, my life was happy as could be! And something else happened that made it even better.

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