Jenny couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she did see Mr. Thompson gesture toward her. Soon after, they were gone. Jenny continued her session with Trey. When they were finished, she passed Kip in the barn aisle looking a bit miffed.
“Happy now? It’s all your fault!” He scowled at her as he hissed out the words.
She had no clue what he was talking about, but she was soon to find out.
Kip stomped after her ...
***
A Dark Horse – Part 4
Jenny led Trey into the stall and took his halter off. She patted him on the neck and spoke, “I’ll put you into your outside turn-out in a bit. First, it looks like I have to deal with something.”
She turned around, stepping out of the stall and into Kip’s aura of rage.
Exasperated, she sighed heavily and asked, “What is it, Kip?”
He spit out “it’s you, Girl!” Seems the Thompsons are smitten with that foo-foo mumbo-jumbo they’ve seen with you and that moron colt, and now they want to see the same with the new horse they got! Idiots. They want me to turn him into a sissy puppy-dog like you’ve done to that demon! He’s supposed to become a fantastic show horse, winning lots of money and stuff. I won’t do it!”
“Okay,” I said. “Let me know if I can help.”
“You Moron,” he scoffed at her and marched away.
Jenny gave Trey another flake of hay and his morning grin. He sniffed at his grain before taking a greedy bite. Jenny giggled. “Oh, you!” she chided good-naturedly. “I’ll be back to turn you out soon. I need to tend to Jewel while you eat your breakfast.”
The colt kept eating while Jenny walked off to see to her old mare.
***
Still steaming, Kip grabbed the new horse from the stall and took it to the arena.
“C’mon, Horse. Let’s get to work.” He snapped the longeline to the halter and sent the forward with a snap of the whip n his hand.
***
Jewel greeted the girl with a low nicker. Jenny gave her the treat in her pocket and a pat. She slipped the halter over the sweet mare’s head and led her from the stall to be groomed before turning her out to pasture for the day.
She walked back into the stable and through the arena after turning the mare out. She stopped for a moment, admiring the golden palomino working on the longeline. Even though he was tense and nervous regarding this whole new situation, his quality shone through.
Kip noticed her then. He glared at her again and cracked the whip to make the gelding move faster.
Jenny averted her eyes and continued on her way back to Trey’s stall.
After putting the colt out, too, Jenny passed again through the arena to see Kip was now riding the sweaty golden boy.
When he saw Jenny again, Kip angrily spurred the horse in the sides to make a quick dash to the far end.
The horse lurched forward, surprised by the sharp dig. Kip pulled hard back on the reins to regain control, and the confused horse bucked in a panic. Kip hit the ground.
He got up and glared at Jenny. “Now look what you did!”
He grabbed the startled horse and got back on, spurring the poor thing into a frenzy. They ran in circles. Kip justified this as practice, as well as punishment for the disobedience.
When the horse was running rivulets of sweat, Kip finally stopped. He led the wide-eyed gelding back to its stall and left him there, untacked, but ungroomed and hot.
Jenny had left the arena by then, as she could no longer watch the cruel behavior inflicted upon the stressed horse. She passed the sweaty gelding next standing in his stall, still breathing hard.
She stopped for a moment, quickly assessing the situation. As she watched, the horse stared to paw at the bedding, in preparation of rolling. This was terrible! Where was Kip now? The horse may be beginning to colic and likely needed a veterinarian! She ran to the phone in the lounge to call the house.
Kip answered. Jenny relayed the situation.
“That dumb horse!” Kip stated. “He deserved it. He’s probably just fakin’ – lookin’ for sympathy.”
“Kip, this looks for real!” Jenny insisted.
“Alright, alright. I’ll be down in a few minutes to check.” He hung up. Jenny stared at the silent phone in her hand. She didn’t know what to do. Should she halter the horse, make sure he stayed up? Should she call the vet? Should she call the Thompsons?
She decided to put the phone down and see how the horse looked. She would wait for Kip to help if needed.
***
Kip was unimpressed with Jenny’s panicky phone call and irritated. Convinced that dumb girl was just conspiring to get him in trouble, he finished his sandwich and glass of milk before slipping his cowboy boots back on to meander back to the ban.
When he finally made his appearance at the ban, Jenny had the halter on the horse and was just starting to lead him out. “Oh! You’re finally here!” she said with relief as Kip came down the aisle.
“Give me that horse! Let me look at him, and don’t you touch him!”
Jenny, flabbergasted and confused by his outburst, quickly handed him the leadrope, her eyes wide. “Should I call the vet?” she stammered.
“No!” Kip shouted. “He’ll be fine. He’s fine.” Kip scowled. “I’ll just walk him. Get me the Banamine! It’s I n the office!” She took off at a quick jog to get the medicine. “And a syringe!” he called after her.
“C’mon, you dumb horse. Let’s walk. You’re just trying to make me look stupid.”
The horse tried to sink to his knees again. “Get up, Dummy!” Kip hollered, while kicking at the pained gelding.
Jenny returned with the bottle and the syringe as Kip and the gelding made their slow way to the arena. She followed, while Kip continued to make crude remarks, prodding the horse along each time it tried to fall to the ground and roll.
***
(There’s still more! Watch for Part 5 … )