Spirit Horses (2 page)

“You want me to saddle him, boss?” Terry asked as he
led the trembling, wide-eyed young horse out of the stall.

“No, I need to put him in the round pen and try to
get him to relax first. I’ll wait to saddle him in there when’s he settled.”

It was only his second day with the gelding and the
horse didn’t trust Shane yet, but that would soon change. Shane knew it was
going to take more than a kind word and a pat on his head to change how this
horse felt about people now. He carefully led the scared gelding out of the
barn, “Come on buddy, let’s see what we can get done with you today.”

Shane began his work in the round pen by allowing
the gelding to run free. The round pen, which Shane often referred to as his
office, was a circular enclosure that measured sixty feet across with a strong
seven-foot-high wall. This design allowed a horse freedom of movement without
the possibility of being able to jump out. It was designed and built for just
this kind of foundation work. By staying in the center of the pen and allowing
the horse to move around him on the perimeter, Shane was in a position of
control without the horse even realizing it. From here he could skillfully
apply and release pressure as he needed to, in order to get the desired
response.

Within thirty minutes, the colt was already making
some positive changes.
 
He could now see
that this was a nice responsive animal who was very willing once he understood
what you wanted from him. It would take more sessions before the horse would
retain this attitude, but Shane was confident that each day he would become a
little more trusting. He rubbed the colt affectionately on his neck as he
spoke. “You keep trying for me like you did this morning, and I’ll eventually
make a nice horse out of you.”

Shane looked toward Terry as he led the nervous
gelding back into the barn. “Luckily, the idiots that tried to break him before
didn’t totally blow his mind. With a little time and patience, I think he’ll be
okay. We ought to be able to saddle him up and swing a leg over him soon.”

“Who’s next?” Shane asked.

As they continued to work, the cool morning slowly
gave way to the warmth from the rising sun making the remainder of the day
quite pleasant. By late afternoon all fourteen horses in training had been
ridden and were now grazing lazily in their paddocks.

Tired and sore, but not complaining, Shane began the
short walk from the barns to the house, leaving the feeding to the hired hands.

As he headed away from the main barn, Shane noticed
out of the corner of his eye a shadowy figure following him from just inside
the four-board fence. He realized it was the same bay gelding that he had
worked with in the round pen earlier. The horse was keeping some distance, but
was showing a curious interest in him. Shane didn’t react to this at all, not
even turning his head to look. To do so might cause the inquisitive bay to shy
away, and he definitely wanted to leave the horse with this mind-set for
tonight. “Looks like I got in your head a little today after all,” he noted as
he walked on.

When he got closer to the house, he heard a sound
coming from behind the familiar old oak. It was a quiet giggle and then a
stern, “Shhh!” Shane smiled slightly but pretended not to notice. He knew his
two kids were trying to sneak up on him. Suddenly, they charged, screaming
playfully. Jacob grabbed his left leg while Tina wrapped her arms around his
right.

“Oh, my gosh!” Shane yelled, “You got me again.”

The kids held onto his legs with all their might,
knowing that the dreaded tickling would be their dad’s predictable defense to the
ongoing assault. Shane grabbed Jacob first. He knew right where to get him the
best. The boy burst out in an explosion of laughter, and then let go to
retreat. Shane then reached for Tina, who had already turned him loose and was
now racing toward the house as if her mere survival depended on it. They
scrambled noisily inside, slamming the door behind them, cutting off their
dad’s loud, jovial pursuit.

“Hey, easy guys!” their mom shouted from inside her
office. “I’ve told both of you a thousand times not to slam the door!”

“Sorry, Mom,” they yelled as they dashed by. “He’s
after us and we’ve got to hide fast.”

As the two dove into their best hiding spot, they
could hear the front door opening. “Oh, no, here he comes,” Tina blurted.

“Shut up,” Jacob whispered, “you always make too
much noise.”

“All right you guys,” Shane’s deep voice carried
through the house, “I’m coming to get you, and when I find you there’ll be hell
to pay!”

Jen grinned and shook her head as she watched this
familiar
fiasco from behind her desk. “You have to remember to watch your language
around those two,” she said as he walked by her office. “Tell them to come out
and get cleaned up. Dinner will be ready soon.”

Jennifer was a few years younger than Shane. The
couple had met at a training clinic he was putting on in Texas twelve years
before. They’d been introduced by a mutual friend, and there was an immediate
attraction between them. Although neither was looking for it, soon after
meeting they both realized that life would never be the same.

Now, a dozen years later, they still shared a
powerful love for each other, as well as for their family and farm. Jen was a
good organizer and business woman who handled most of the bookkeeping, bill
paying, and scheduling for the training and breeding business. Although
sometimes her cooking left something to be desired, she was a great mother and
anchored the family. She had kept her slim, well-built figure even after having
the two children, and could still turn many a man’s head.

The temperature was beginning to drop outside as the
family sat down to eat. By now the horses were all standing in their stalls,
finishing their evening hay. Shane looked up from the sawing motion of his
steak knife as he cut a piece of meat. “It’s dipping into the mid-thirties
tonight; the horses will need their winter blankets for the first time this
year. That’s a sure sign that the nice fall weather is over and done with.”

Jen took a sip of her iced tea and raised her
eyebrows, “You
always said you’d rather work in the cold of winter than through the heat of
summer.”

Shane shrugged his shoulders, “Sure wouldn’t mind if
it could just stay fall or spring all year long.”

“Hey, Dad, can we ride tomorrow?” Jacob rarely let a
day go by without asking.

“If you guys get your homework done, you and your
sister come out to the barn about five o’clock, and I’ll let you take ole Tory
for a little spin.”

Tory was a great old horse for the kids. He was what
you would call a babysitter, and was as safe and dependable as you could get.
At fourteen, he was still sound and would give you plenty of motor when you
asked for it. Tory was one of the horses Shane had hauled all over the Midwest
and eastern states when he was putting on horsemanship clinics.

Before he had a family, these clinics were his bread
and butter. After twelve years of this kind of life on the road, he was ready
to
settle down. That’s when he met Jen, got married, and purchased the farm.

During his traveling years, he built a reputation
for being an extraordinary horseman and clinician. His methods and theories
were featured in many national equestrian magazines. He also had several very
popular videotapes on the market covering everything from starting a young
horse to fixing specific problems that the general public would commonly have
with their horses. All this had earned him a certain amount of notoriety and
fame in the industry�—�which Shane would downplay if you asked
him about it today. Shane looked back on those years with fond memories of the
places he’d been and the people he had met. His time as a clinician had paid
him well; therefore, with the money he made he’d been able to buy this
beautiful ninety-acre farm in Tennessee, starting the life that he now knew.

The next afternoon Jacob showed up at the barn. “Hey, Mister Terry,
where’s my dad?”

“He’s on his way back from the quarantine paddock.
He’ll be here in a minute.”

“What’s he doing over there?”

“Some lady brought in a young mustang mare. The
woman said she couldn’t keep it and asked your dad if he wanted her. The poor
thing looks like she’s been through the war. Your dad thought maybe he could
save the mare and find her a home. But he didn’t want her around the other
horses until we had Dr. Tolbert check her out to make sure she’s healthy.”

A few minutes later Shane drove up in his truck. As
he walked into the barn, Terry looked up from a horse’s shoe he was tightening.
“Do you think she’ll be okay?”

“She’s pretty scared. I couldn’t get real close to
her. She needs a good deworming, a lot of feed and hay, and her feet are in bad
need of a trim. She should be fine, but we’ll have Doc check her out tomorrow
to be sure. Did you notice that strange brand on her hip?”

“No, I couldn’t see through all that dried mud on
her,” Terry answered.

“She’s a mess for sure,” Shane muttered. “We’ll give
her a chance to settle in tonight. Hopefully we’ll be able to catch her and
clean her up in the morning before Doc gets here.”
 

“Dad, can I go see her?” Jacob asked, “I’ve never
seen a wild mustang before.”

“You can walk out there nice and slow, but don’t get
too close to the fence; she might kick out. Go get your sister and take her
with you. I know she’ll want to see her, too.”

Jacob sped off to get Tina.

Back at the barn Terry asked, “So what do you think
about that brand you saw on her hip?”

“I’ve never seen one like it. It looks like a broken
arrow to me. The lady who dropped her off said all she knew was that the mare
was a wild horse, and came from somewhere out west. Maybe I can get Jen to
research the brand on the Internet.”

By now it was late afternoon. Shane took a deep
breath, “Let’s get these last two horses ridden. I’m ready to call it a day.”
He wanted to finish by five o’clock, which would allow him time to let the kids
ride Tory as he had promised.

The next morning went smoothly, and by noon about half the horses were
done and out grazing in their paddocks. Terry and Shane headed back to try to
clean up the little mustang. Terry wondered, “Do you think we’ll need to set up
some stock panels to make a catch pen for her? There are some panels out there
if we need ’em.”

Shane shook his head. “Let’s try to get our hands on
her without them first.”

It was about a five-minute ride on the golf cart to
the back paddock. On the way the two men talked about Terry and his wife
expecting their first baby.

“Are you ready for your life to get turned upside
down?” Shane asked as he gave his coworker a grin.

“I’ve never been so scared, and excited all at the
same time.”

“You’ll never forget the day your kids are born. I
hope you don’t have a weak stomach. You are going to be in the delivery room
aren’t you?”

“I’ve got no choice about that.”

“I’ll tell you one thing,” Shane said, “you’ve
probably never known another human being who you would, without hesitation,
step in front of a runaway locomotive for, if that’s what it took to save ’em,
until you hold that baby in your arms for the first time. I really wasn’t
prepared for how much it affected me.”

Terry peered at Shane from under his cap. “Boss, are
you just trying to scare the hell out of me, or what?”

Shane shook his head and laughed.
 

As the two arrived at the back pasture, they found
the little mare standing in the middle of the paddock with her nose to the
ground. Shane walked over to her feed trough and saw that she’d eaten her
morning grain.

“I put some salt in her feed so she would drink
plenty of water,” Terry said.

“Yeah, she doesn’t look quite as drawn up in her
flank as she did last night. I was worried about her getting colicky if she didn’t
get some water soon.”

Terry nodded and replied, “As stressed out as she
looks, we should still keep a close eye on her.”

Shane had Terry wait outside the gate as he walked
into the field. The little mare immediately snorted and ran to the opposite corner.
On the positive side, this was not an aggressive move, but the mustang was
sending a clear message that she wasn’t interested in making friends.