He nudged me as if to say he wanted the carrot now, but I waited until I was completely done with his stall—he waited outside in the barn right under the heater until I was done. Only when I’d gotten the wheelbarrow out of his stall did he go back inside and stare at me impatiently.
“Give me a minute, damn,” I said as I walked to the fridge and came back with the biggest carrot in the bag.
He took it in one swift move, crunching on it twice before he swallowed it down.
I smiled as I closed the stall door and moved to Bennie’s stall next.
Bennie was a Palomino, according to the vet. Or, more specifically, a quarter horse that was palomino in color.
I didn’t know what he was, only that he looked tan and had a white tail.
“You’re next, buddy,” I said to him.
He didn’t look for Brawny like Shadow did, but he did nudge me and ask for lots of pets.
I gave him those pets and got to work on his stall while he waited patiently.
When I was done, he got an apple because he preferred them over the carrots.
Sinta, the black horse, stared as if she wanted to murder me the moment I got close to her.
According to the vet, she was a Friesian.
In my opinion, she was a fuckin’ bitch.
She was by far the meanest horse here, and I wasn’t sure why I kept her around.
However, I’d kept her anyway, even though she only let me close enough to her to brush her down if I stood with my arm completely extended and not a single inch closer.
She trotted out of her stall as the princess she felt she was and walked to the fridge.
I didn’t make her wait.
I gave her the apple.
Then I locked myself in her stall so she wouldn’t come up and bite me on the ass like I’d had the bad luck learning was a quirk of hers.
She charged back inside like a bat out of hell the moment I opened the door, and I slipped outside and locked her in.
My baby, however, was Bobber.
She was a brown quarter horse with white between her eyes, one white sock on her left leg, and the best personality I’d ever experienced in a horse.
I liked her a lot, and that was why I saved her for last.
Because I liked to spend a lot of time with her.
She nuzzled my face when I opened her door, and I took the time to love on her the way that I should.
She chewed lazily on the feed while I finished cleaning out her stall.
Then stayed with me, trailing after me like a large dog, while I got them all hay and feed.
When everything was ready for them for the night, I put her up with a carrot and closed the barn down.
The wind hit me like a slap in the face as I headed out of the barn.
I shoved my hand in my pocket and pulled out my phone, placing the call to my sister instead of Apollo.
