Note to readers: The events that occur in this story are, in their entirety, relatively true. I am changing names of people, not animals, to save identities, and there is a chance that I will edit small details to make this into a better story for younger audiences. I will be writing slowly and in parts, maybe once every few days or a couple of weeks, as I capture the events as they occur through my own eyes.
Chapter One - The Mystery Mare
Audrianna frowned.
She looked truly pitiful, standing there in the Luverne Stockyards. Her face was long, her eyes and nose sunken in and making her lips look fat. The skin under her muzzle was loose and sagging. Her neck was thin and fragile looking. Her chest protruded forward from between flat shoulders, her legs thin twigs beneath her. Her young back was sunken in around the bones, and her ribs made a chisled look down her sides. Hher hips were at sharp angles. Her coat was dusty and her mane and tail were matted. She had no muscle tone whatsoever. Her eyes were full of sadness.
Audrianna shook her head, walking up to the rusty stall panel. "You poor thing..." she whispered, leaning on the railing and staring at the animal. She was beautiful underneath all the mars. She was pure white, except for a brown patch in the shape of a "C" on her left hip, a diamond on her right side, and a medicine hat with a full face. A symmetrical blaze divided her face perfectly, and her chocolate eyes seemed to catch every bit of light around. Her mane and tail were two-toned, with white overlaying a soft brown undercoat, and her hooves were like flesh. She was, in every sense of color, a marvelous horse.
A man walked up beside her. He was the classic southern cowboy, with the faded, tattered jeans, mud boots, a stained plaid shirt, and a crooked cowboy hat. He looked to be in his mid forties. He glanced down at her. "Pretty thing, she prol'ly was, and could be," he mused. "Someone left her in my front yard a coupl'a weeks ago, but I can't keep her. I got too many of my own."
Audrianna looked up at him, shocked.
He continued. "Yeah, I know. She didn't even have a halter or nuthin'! She let me walk right up to her, throw a rope over her neck, and walk her around, as if I owned her myself! She's sweet, too, that's the bad part. She didn't deserve any of it. She'll let you touch her, pull on her, check her feet and her teeth, all of it."
"Really?" She asked, intrigued now. "Mind if I check her out, then?"
He shrugged, getting up off the gate and pulling the panel open. "Suit your fancy. I may be selling her, but she ain't mine."
Audrianna entered the narrow space, coming up beside the mare. Compared to the young woman's five-foot-eight, the mare's shoulder reached just at her chest. She was a good size, height wise, maybe fifty and a few inches. She was certainly much smaller than the gelding Audrianna had at home; he was seventeen hands, two inches taller than her head. Compared to him, she was about fourteen.
The young woman went to the mare's head, holding the back of her hand to her nose. She turned gently and sniffed once; unperturbed, she turned back forward. Audrianna put her hand under the mare's chin, scratching her gently and easing her head up. She carefully parted her lips, showing the massive teeth beneath the skin. Her gums were a little pale, but her teeth were full and a good length, neither too long nor too dull. She was mature.
"I figured she's twelve or thirteen, maybe a little older," the man chided.
She nodded, "That's what it looks like."
The girl ran her fingers over the animal's sides, down her legs to each hoof. The mare complied with ease, letting her lift her hooves, look at the frog, and clean mud out of the grooves with her fingers. She traced under her belly up to her flank; the mare didn't flinch. Her girly bits were withdrawn and a little wrinkled, so that was a good sign that she wasn't pregnant. Audrianna looked down her back legs, and frowned. Her left hock was swollen. She carefully touched it, feeling of it. It was hard, and the horse didn't try to kick. It was probably an older injury, and with no history, there was no way of telling what had happened. Whoever bought her would have to get her checked out completely, which would cost a few hundred dollars.
"What are you trying to do with her?" Audrianna asked, coming back up to the fence with the cowboy.
"Just sell her. I can't keep her, and I couldn't find the owner. I held onto her for two and half weeks, put out fliers and posters and advertisements, you name it. No one called, no one showed up."
"Probably afraid of cruelty charges," she huffed bitterly.
The man shrugged. "Either way..."
"Where you from?"
"Auburn, over in that area."
Audrianna frowned. One of the most renowned Schools of Veterinary Medicine was over there. He could have easily taken her to them, but that would have cost a fortune. Still, he was here, in the middle of nowhere, half way across the state... "What'd you bring her over here for, then? That's a long way to sell a horse."
He shrugged again. "It was the soonest sale I could find. I told you, I got my own horses to feed. She needs to go."
Audrianna sighed. She could understand that. She looked up and around the holding pen, watching people walk around and study the various livestock in other stalls. She hissed under her breath when she saw a familiar face in a familiar black cap. He had a clipboard tucked under his arm. He was best known as the Dog Food Man.
She huffed, looking at the mare. As pathetic as she looked, there were only a few options for her, if any at all. If no one bid on her and bought her, he would, and that would be the end of it. She certainly would not suffer any more, which was a nice but harsh reality. Yet, she was so beautiful, and could be so much more... Audrianna looked back at the man, a serious look on her face. "I'll make you a deal, right here. She looks terrible, we know that. So: if no one bids on her, I will. Just to keep her alive and turn her into what she can be. How does that sound?"
He chewed his lip, a smile creeping across his lips. He held his hand out to her, shaking on it. "I don't even care about the amount. Let's just find her somewhere to go. And you, miss, seem like the kind that I, and she, can trust."
Audrianna smiled, bidding him a good day. She glanced at the sticker on the mare's buttocks and memorized the number before heading inside to the sales arena. Here goes.
That opening was kind of intentional, so as to be a clencher, but I guess it's not working... I've gotten three different things about that opening. Ugh.
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