“This is Rosie,” Tomás confirms. “She’s very sweet but also a total nutcase.”
Candice frowns but doesn’t contradict him. “She’s an off the track thoroughbred.”
“Like a racehorse?” I ask, staring at Rosie in awe.
“Yes, exactly that. She’s four years old, so she only raced for two years,” Candice explains.
“How’d she end up here?”
Tomás gives Rosie a scratch under the jaw and she leans forward, pushing her head into his hand even more.
“Frankly, most thoroughbreds don’t have long careers. She peaked when she was three and her record isn’t good enough to be a broodmare.”
“So that’s it? Her owners didn’t want her anymore?”
“Her owners had fifty other thoroughbreds, so she didn’t mean much to them,” Tomás fills in. “Which is bullshit because she’s beautiful.”
“She is,” Candice confirms. “And you’re going to be looking after her, Win.”
“Me?” I squeak.
“Yes.”
“But why? I don’t have any experience.” I stare at Rosie and she stares back, as if to say, really? This girl?
“I’ll be taking care of her training, along with Nathan,” Candice explains. “But you’re going to learn how to care for her. And help Tomás with stable hand duties.”
I take a hesitant step towards Rosie. I’ve always liked horses, and I enjoyed the trail ride I took when I visited Star Mountain a few years ago. So I stick my hand out and let her stiff it. She just looks at me with big, wary eyes, and doesn’t reach out to me like she did to Tomás.
“I’m not sure,” I say, suddenly anxious. “I’m a pageant queen, not a horse girl. I might just make her worse.”
“You’re whoever you want to be, Win. And I think you’re who Rosie needs. She’s used to performing. She’s used to being what everyone else wants her to be.”
“Just like me,” I whisper, still staring at Rosie.
“You’re gonna make me cry, cowgirl Barbie,” Tomás mutters.
“Rosie needs someone who will help her stay calm. She can’t be around the other horses for the moment, but she still needs company.” Candice gives me an encouraging smile.
Rosie reaches her muzzle out and sniffs my hand, and then quickly pulls it away, like she can’t quite trust me yet. My heart contracts in my chest, and I suddenly feel like I might cry.
“Okay,” I choke out. “I’ll do it.”
“Excellent,” Candice says.
Tomás passes me a rake. “Your first job is mucking her stall. Welcome to the team.”
6
JONAH
I stare downat the hoof in my hand and struggle to understand the depth of damage in front of me. Because in all my years as a farrier, I’ve never seen hooves like this. I’ve never seen a horse so badly in need of hoof care, or so neglected.
“How the fuck did it even get this bad?” I mutter, gently placing the hoof down. I give the shaggy, forlorn beast a pat and a scratch as I stand up, done with my examination.
“This horse rarely left his stall,” Nathan tells me, a frown on his face. “And it was disgusting in there.”
“Still, to see this bad of laminitis, with the infection as well…” I sigh and rub my face.
