“Stop,” I say.“You can’t do that.”
“Because she’s the only horse my equally goofy friend will ride.”Sam rolls her eyes.“We need to get you past that.”
“Just because she’s the only horse Iwantto ride, doesn’t mean she’s the only one Iwillride.”I frown.
“Great,” Natalie says.“Then let’s go out right now.I think you’ll love Conor.”
I hold up my hand.“Listen.”
Natalie folds her arms.“I’m listening.Now, you tell me how you’d can’t ride Conor, or why you can’t ride right now, or make up some other excuse, but it can’t be the pumpkin patch, because I know that’s not until eleven.We could get a quick little arena ride in.”
I splutter.
“Still waiting for it,” Sam says.
“She’s trying to think of something.”Natalie arches one irritating eyebrow.
“Fine.”I huff.“Fine,” I say too loudly.“So I still get nervous about riding another horse, but not her.What’s wrong with that?”
Sam smiles.“At least you’re admitting it.”
“If we aren’t riding, we could help you move those grain bags you were saying had to go to the north end.”Natalie tosses her head at the big old pile.“Want a hand?”
An hour later, I’m regretting that I went for a jog this morning, but mostly I’m regretting that I already showered.
“When Foxy comes home, we’re all going for a trail ride.”Natalie wipes her forehead on her sleeve.“You have to ride a lot so you remember why these stupid beasts are worth all this hard work.”
“You know, I do like Foxy,” Sam says, “for the record.If you have to like just one horse, she’s a cute one, but she’s an absolute misery to manage.Did you know I had her tested after we got a positive to insulin resistance on Drew?”
I frown.“What does that mean?”
Sam walks out of the almost-finished barn and toward the new arena that’s also close to done.“It means she’salsoinsulin resistant.”Sam shakes her head.“Two horses that live in Ireland where it rains all year round, so there’s green, lush grass ten months a year, and they both need to very carefully consume almost no sugar.”
“What happens if she doesn’t get ‘managed’?”I blink.“I mean, presumably she’s been fine this whole time without us knowing, right?How old is she?Eight?”
“Ten, according to the vet,” Sam says.“We don’t have papers on her, so that’s a guess.But what happens if they have consistently high insulin, and hers was close to two hundred, is that at first, they get hoof sore.Not a big deal, but limiting.Then if it goes untreated, their feet start to fall apart.Laminitis, and eventually founder.”
Founder’s the worst f-word—by a mile—to horse people.Laminitis comes first, the loosening and inflammation of the connective tissue between the hoof wall and the inside of the hoof, but if it continues, the coffin bone, a bone that literally floats inside a horse’s hoof, can rotate.If it gets bad enough, the bone can even punch through the sole of the hoof.That cripples your horse, as you can imagine.You wouldn’t be able to walk around with a bone sticking through the bottom of your foot.
Basically, if your horse founders, you’re in big trouble.They usually have to be put down.
“So what do we do?”
“I ordered some special grain Becky recommended for both her and Drew.Buckeye something.And I already set the date for them to come back.Middle of next week.”She casually drops that in, like she’d mention that the trash pickup’s coming a day early, or we need to grab more horse feed the next time we go into town.
“Wait,” I ask.“The horses are coming back fromRichard’s...because the barn’s done?”I can’t help raising my eyebrows.“So does that mean...When’s your date?”
Sam just rolls her eyes.
“Oh, come on.You did tell him you’d go out with him then.”I peer at her pointedly.“Right?”
“I did.”Sam huffs.“But he hasn’t said anything else about it, so I haven’t either.And I don’t even know whether he knows they’re coming back.I’ve been talking to Aodhán about it.”
“You chicken,” I say.“Seriously.You two are both pathetic, but you’re even worse.Richard made this big grand gesture, and now you’re not even texting him to let him know the barn’s done?”
“With a little photo, maybe?”Natalie points.“I can take one right now.You stand there.”
“Hey,” Sam says.“Don’t you have a meeting to go to?”She glances at her watch.“I’d hate forNaomito use your being late against you.”
