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ONE
Cole
“So where is this night fury?”Ham asked as he looked into the empty corral. “I thought for sure you’d want to have that animal on open display.”
“He’s in the stable right now,” I told my friend. “I’m going to pull him out and work with him a bit after more of the crowd thins out of here. From what I understand, he’s mean as fuck and has the strength to back that up, so he’s a bit of a project to say the least.”
“Eh, what’s it to us?” Ham shrugged. “Let them watch. The more you can show them what you can do, the more business you bring in, right?”
“Except for the fact this one’s going to take some time. You know how I feel about animals that have been deemed a lost cause, and this one is as close as they come without actually being one, if that makes sense,” I replied.
My best friend, Hampton Carter, nodded. Ham and I had been in this business a long time, and he knew how I felt about horses that were deemed to be a lost cause. I had dealt with my fair share of them in this career, and I had yet to find one who I really felt was a true lost cause.
Any animal could be trained, just as any could be tamed with the right amount of care. Horses were brilliant animals, and I refused to name any that were more difficult than others to be worthless. They might need a little more training in life, a little more of a reminder over who is boss and who is the horse, but that was all it was.
“One of those?” Ham seemed surprised. “It’s been a while since you’ve had a headache like that.”
“You want to take a look yourself?” I asked. “I’m sure you’ll see what I mean.”
Ham followed me into the stable, and I led him to the back rooms. I had my barn set up for the horses in two ways. The main area was for horses who were friendly and accustomed to people. I kept some horses that could stand to get used to people in those stalls, even if they weren’t the friendliest animals yet – simply because they were able to see the other horses interacting with people and how they responded to that.
But, that was only the front half of the stable. There was another door in the back which led to another entire room full of paddocks and space for horses that weren’t doing as well out in the open. It had been quite some time since I had to make use of the space back there. But, when Maveric was brought to my ranch for some help, I knew almost right away I was going to have to use that back room for him.
“And here we go.” I pushed open the door and let Ham inside, following him to the corral with the young horse inside. As expected, the horse kicked at the sides of the stall and pinned its ears back, baring its teeth and making it clear to both of us it didn’t want either of us to come near.
“I see what you mean by lost cause on that one,” Ham said. “What’re you going to do with him?”
“Same as I do with the rest of the animals in my care,” I told him. “Only I’m glad you showed up, because I want to get him out into the corral tonight and show him who’s boss.”
“You’re going to do that now? Look at him, Cole. You don’t want to press your luck on that one, do you?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I’ve seen the way you show an animal who’s boss, and I’m telling you right now if you go and get on the back of this one, you’re just asking for a broken bone,” he said. “If I were you, I would keep him back here for a week or two at least before I took him into the corral or tried to get on him. The second day with this one? You’re nuts if you think you’re going to get on the back of that horse and have it end well.”
I grinned. He wasn’t wrong, that was for sure. I was known for being bold when it came to getting on the backs of these animals, and though it would be smarter, as he suggested, to let the horse get used to the surroundings before I took him out for a ride, I wasn’t convinced that was the right direction to take with this animal.
Maveric was a horse with an attitude, and I was pretty certain the best thing to do with him was to go out and hit the lessons hard. He had energy, and I could sense a mind that was just begging to learn. He would be fine, he just had to have the right person show him it was okay to trust people again, whatever it was that happened to him.
“You want to stick around and see if you can give me a hand with him later?” I asked.
“If you’re crazy enough to take him out of there now and get on his back, you better believe I’m going to stick around and make sure you don’t break your neck in the process. You need someone to drive your dumb ass to the hospital when you find yourself in the middle of the corral and no one around to help you.”
“Don’t be so negative,” I told him. “Where would you be today if no one had any faith in you?”
“If you remember, I basically go through life defying the odds. And so do you, for that matter,” Ham told me.
“Fair enough, but that doesn’t mean that this horse is going to be that bad,” I retorted.
“Suit yourself. Anyway. I’m going to take off and grab a cup of coffee. Shoot me a message when you want to get at this, and I’ll be back. Don’t make it too late though. You know I’ve got more things I’d rather do with my night than hang around your little horse barn,” he teased.
I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t going to argue with him, and it was fine with me if he found something else to do with himself while the rest of the afternoon ran its course. I liked having my ranch open to the public. I loved introducing people to horses that were once thought to be ruined but were now so gentle, they made the perfect starter horses.
But, that took a lot of time and patience, two things Ham lacked. Well, he had the time, but he lacked the patience he would need to turn any animal around entirely, and though I tried to tell him that it really did work, he didn’t believe me much of the time, and I was left to do the harder animals myself.
Of course, I didn’t mind. I liked the help, but I knew I was the one who had the touch. I was the one who looked at these animals and really saw the potential in each and every one of them. Including Maveric. I didn’t care if I was going to take a few kicks and bites to get through to him. I would.
I always did.
