For each day of November, I am going to post an excerpt of the novel I'm working on for the next 30 days through National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The goal is to reach 50,000 words in 30 days. And, go!
Both Lottie and Penny bred horses. During the year that I
was riding for them, two of their mares were due
shortly. I was excited to see the new babies.
The Arabian mare had her foal first –
a pretty black colt. He was very sweet. Penny’s pony delivered three weeks later
and the size differential between the two foals was crazy; Penny’s newest addition was
a precious little filly that was so tiny, she could run under the lowest
rail of the ring. She would run full speed around the ring with her little tail
high in the air, whinnying and darting back and forth under the fence. She was a hard act to follow, and soon Lottie’s colt was
forgotten.
One day, I was mucking his corral while he quietly watched me. He
had been weaned a few weeks before and seemed lonely. I felt bad for him. On an
impulse, I kind of pranced toward forward, angling my shoulder toward him as I
approached.
He responded to my play
posture immediately, rearing up and jumping towards me. I was surprised, and also afraid that he’d actually hurt me, so I put up my hands and gestured to him to calm down. He quieted right away, but it made me realize how
play is a universal language. This was one of those moments in my life that I always wished I
could watch an instant-replay of.
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