The Life Of A Horse

Chapter 11

I wake up thankful that I was able to sleep last night. My windows are open and the sun is shining in. The boss walks over to my stall and looks at me. I whinny at him and look out the back window and nudge the door with my hoof. He gets what I mean, "Let's take you to the mustang pasture." He smiles and grabs my halter and lead rope. He slowly unlocks the latch and comes in.

I back to the very back corner trying to act like a normal horse. He takes one step at a time slowly toward me. He holds the halter up, "It's ok Beauty. I'm not gonna hurt you." I decide to not act like a normal horse. I walk toward him and put my head down. He puts the halter on and pets my nose. He pulls lightly on the lead rope and I walk forward.

He keeps walking really slow-like so slow that I could fall asleep. (Not really but still) He walks a little faster and brings me to a high fenced pasture. It's not really a pasture. Just a small circle with a fence around. The fence must be five feet high.

He opens the gate and leads me in. He takes off my lead rope and leaves the halter. I gallop in and he quickly shuts the gate. I walk a lap, trot two laps, canter two laps, and then I gallop so many laps that I get dizzy and lose count. I see someone leading a beautiful palomino mare into a barn.

I hear a whinny and see Magic being lead to a mustang pasture a few pastures down. I whinny back to him. Some other mustangs that I don't know quickly fill up the rest of the pastures. I hear a bunch of cars driving down and when they come into view they have horse trailers. I look at them curiously and they park. In the first car a tall man walks toward me looking at all the horses for a minute before continuing walking.

I see the boss guy come and greet the new guy. I ignore what they say and then I hear the new guy say, "I was thinking I could buy this mustang here. She looks like a good jumper." He points his head in my direction. The boss thinks for a minute before saying, "This one isn't for sale." "But you said all the mustangs in this area were for sale." "I changed my mind," the boss says. I rear up in triumph. He likes me. He wants to keep me.

They face me and I back up with my back to the fence. The boss turns around and says, "Sorry this one isn't for sale but all the others are." The guy looks angry. He is probably used to getting what he wants. He walks over to Magic. No no he can't buy Magic. The boss walks over to him. "Is this the one you want?" "I want the mare but I will have to take this one." I crane my neck to see around them. The horse they are talking about is Magic!

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I gallop around looking in my pasture for a way out. I have to jump. I glance their way and see that I have gotten their attention by galloping. The boss walks over to me. He tries to calm me down but that's impossible unless Magic stays. The guy is leading Magic and follows the boss over by my stall. He brings Magic right next to the fence and we touch noses. The guy looks at Magic, then me, then back again. "I want their foal." "What?" The boss says.

"I will not buy King of Spades but if you breed them I will buy the foal for more than it's worth if I like it." King of Spades must be the name the people gave him like they gave me Dark Beauty. The boss nods and the guy walks off proudly and gets in his car and drives away. More people have been coming so the boss puts Magic back in his mustang pasture. He then leads me into my stall except he opens the back door so I can go into the pasture!

I canter into my stall and then into the mini pasture. I can see Magic from the pasture. I whinny to him and he turns around and neighs back. I see someone jog to my stall and give me food. He probably didn't want to feed me while I was in there. I have gotten used to eating it but it is still kind of gross. I go in reluctantly and eat a few bites and go back outside. I suddenly realize no one is watching. I kick the fence in a few areas but it is secure. I sigh which as a horse is a snort.

I will have to jump. Or... I go into the stall and the window his still open. I smile and put my head over and push the latch. It moves and I nudge the door open with my head. I walk out and don't bother shutting the door. I gallop out of the barn and go into the woods. I can't leave Magic behind. I walk over in the woods to the area where his pasture is. Maybe he can jump it. I see him walking in circles around his pasture. "Magic," I whisper. His head jerks up and he sees me. "Run!" He whispers back.

I ignore him and come a little closer. "Can you jump that fence?" He shakes his head. I look around and no one is close. I go to the front of his pasture and am just about to open the latch with my head when someone shouts, "Hey look! This horse is roaming around. Is it supposed to?" I hear several people running in my direction. I shove the latch to the side and Magic kicks the door open and gallops in the opposite direction. I run back into the woods.

I watch from behind a tree. He is fast but what he wasn't expecting was a dead end. He tries to gallop past them but they quickly catch him. "Thanks for telling us," one of the guys says to the visitor that must be here to buy a horse. The visitor looks puzzled. "The horse I was telling you about was a different color. She was black." The guys stare at him for a second and then take off running and the guy holding the horse walks Magic back to his barn.

Darn visitor! I could have gotten away. The guys have spread apart looking for the horse they know as Dark Beauty. They know it's me that the visitor was talking about. I suddenly see a palomino to the left. It's the one I saw earlier being lead into the barn. Oh my gosh! Now I know why he looks familiar! "Sunstruck," I whisper.

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"Hey Dakota." He says with a smile. He looks at the people trying to find me. "Are they chasing you?" I nod. He smiles and gallops away. I look at what he was smiling at because he wasn't smiling at me. I turn around and the people throw three ropes over my head. "Sunstruck!" I whinny. He just let me get caught. A blond guy walks out of the woods where Sunstruck was and says, "Hey Sasha." I stare at him. Sasha? How? I have to ask this guy how he knows my name.

I just stare at this guy and the people lead me away. I struggle trying to get to the blond guy. He smiles almost evilly and follows behind me. I try to ask him how he knows my name but of course neighing just comes out. I shut up and follow the people leading me and glance back a few times and the blond guy is still there. He follows behind the whole time. And when we get to the barn they put me in my stall.

Apparently the guys didn't see mr blond guy because he sneaks into the barn when they leave. "What's up Sasha?" He says. I glare at him. He laughs. "How fun is it being a horse?" He hears someone walking and unlatches and gets in my stall and then relatches my stall. He laughs when he sees no one. Then he says, "We have the same secret. See? He closes his eyes tight and then crackling sound comes and there is Sunstruck.

I gasp. Sunstruck is a person that can control the horse shifting. "How?" I ask now that he can understand me. He laughs which as a horse is a whinny. "My brother and I's parents were horse shifters and they taught us how to control it. Us as horse shifters could make one person that isn't a horse shifter make them into a horse shifter. My brother had already made someone that I wanted to be a horse shifter into one and he wanted you to be a horse shifter so he asked me and I did."

"How do you know me?" I ask slightly scared and confused. "School. Remember? My name is Max and my brother is Colton." "Have I met your brother in horse form?" "Yeah he took his horse name." "And what would that be?" I ask. "Mystical Magic."