Random Story
Ally sat up in her bed, looking around blearily. She couldn’t remember where she was, nor could she remember why she was there. The room that she was in looked like something from an old country house in the middle of northern Maine. The walls were made of wood, as was, it seemed, all of the furniture. On the wall hung a picture of a big, white Arabian stallion with grey markings around his eyes.
As Ally was admiring all of this, there was an odd pawing, scratching sound at the door. She blinked her green blue eyes, somewhat startled. After a moment, however, she stood and opened the door. A big white Akita rubbed his head against her hand, licking it gently. A small smile passed across Ally’s face as she kneeled and scratched behind the dog’s ears. She picked up the tags that dangled from the dog’s collar, and said the name aloud. “Apollo. What a pretty name.” She sighed.
A voice from down the hall called out her name. “Ally! Breakfast!” Her mother’s head poked up from by the stairs, looking at her daughter.
“A’right, mom. I’ll be down in a minute.” She replied, standing up. The dog, Apollo, trotted out of the room and down the hall to meet Ally’s mom. Ally closed the door and changed her clothes quickly, pulling on a pair of jeans and a plain white t-shirt. Then, she left her room and jogged downstairs.
“G’morning, Mom.” She said, seating herself at the table. Ally looked around curiously, wondering again what this place was and why she was there.
“Good morning, Ally.” Her mother said, setting down a plate of eggs and bacon in front of her. She set another plate in front of herself and sat down at the table.
As Ally ate, she continued to wonder where they were, and why they were there. Finally, she asked. “Mom… Where are we?” Her voice sounded tentative, having the strange feeling that she should know this. Ally couldn’t remember much from when she was younger, nor much of anything. Her mom had told her that it was from an accident that affected the temporal lobe. The weirdest thing was, though, that she could easily remember her schoolwork and anything else that she might’ve learned. Anything, however, to do with herself or her past, she would draw a blank on. Ally didn’t quite understand why, and she didn’t particularly care. The past was the past, and it wouldn’t affect her actions if she couldn’t recall it.
Her mom looked up from her breakfast. “We’re at your Uncle Joe’s ranch. The doctor said that some fresh, out-of-city air would be good for you.”
“When did we get here?”
“Last night. Don’t worry, you’re not losing it.” Her mom smiled.
Just then, the door opened and a tall, burly man walked in. “Howdy, ladies.” He said, touching the brim of his hat with a smile.
Ally’s mom responded by smiling. “Good morning, Joe.”
“How’d you girls sleep last night? Okay?”
This time, Ally replied. “Yeah. It was fine. You’re my Uncle Joe, I take it?” She inquired, looking up at him and tilting her head to the side.
He nodded. “Right, you are, little lady. And if you’re finished with your breakfast, I can take you out to see the horses.”
Ally grinned. “Okay! That would be awesome!” She exclaimed. Her eyes were alight with glee. She loved all animals, but horses were among her favorites. Ally pushed her half finished breakfast away and stood up, grinning. “Can I, Mom?” She asked, glancing over to her mother for permission.
Her mom nodded, knowing that even if she declined, Ally would find a way to go.
“All right!” Ally cried out, walking towards the door. Her uncle followed after her, Apollo at their heels.
Then, once outside, Joe took the lead. He walked quickly to a large barn, opening the enormous wooden doors. There were two aisles, each lined on both sides with horses’ stalls. Several of the horses’ heads poked out of the little window that each was entitled to, and Ally’s face seemed to be glowing with happiness.
On the sliding door leading to each of their stalls was a name and some different posters and such. Ally figured it was from different kids who’d come to the barn to see the horses. Then, a glimmer of white caught her eye. She ran down the aisle to that stall, looking at the nameplate. Behind Rebel Lines. Ally looked into the stall, and there was that stunning white Arabian horse again. He was identical in every way to the painting she’d seen in her room.
Her uncle walked up behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Heh… Rebel caught your eye, did he?” He said with a grin.
“Yeah. He’s beautiful.” She said softly, as if speaking too loud would tarnish his beauty.
Rebel was pressed against the wall, looking out at them as though terrified. His eyes were wide with fear, and he kept as far away from them as possible. Even when Ally put her hand out.
“He’s like that with everybody. Don’t you worry about it. It don’t mean he doesn’t like you. Before I got him, though, he was abused. Now he don’t trust humans.” Joe said softly.
Ally nodded, sighing softly. “Does anybody ride him?” She inquired, turning to look at her uncle.
“Nah. We’re still trying to train him so that he doesn’t throw off every rider that gets on his back. Why?” He asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.
“No… No reason.” She said, turning to look away. Ally hesitantly walked over to one of the other stalls, looking at the light chestnut horse whose eyes were of two different colors. This horse’s name was Beau. Then she continued down the aisle, looking at all of the horses. “Uncle Joe?” Ally said tentatively.
Joe turned. “Yeah?”
“Would you teach me how to ride?”
He walked over to her, smiling. “Sure can. Why don’t we start’cha off on Will?” He gestured to a handsome brown horse with a black mane and tail and black socks around his hooves.
She nodded. “Okay.” Immediately, she slid the door to his stall open and walked in, putting out her hand for the horse to smell. William leaned forward and stared at her, then licked her hand gently. Ally giggled. “Could you help me put his saddle on and stuff?” She asked, turning to look around at her uncle.
“Sure… Let’s go get his English tack, shall we?” He spoke while already turning to cross the aisle and go into the English tack room. After a few moments, he came back carrying William’s saddle and he put it on the floor next to the horse's stall. “You know how to tack a horse?” He asked, stepping into the stall with her.
Ally shook her head. “I’ve never really even seen a horse in person before.” She replied.
He smiled. “Alright, then I’ll help you. First, you need to brush him.” Joe said, grabbing two of the soft brushes from a shelf between William’s stall and the next. He handed her one, and she took it.
“Is it like brushing a dog?” Ally inquired, holding the brush out to William’s side and running it gently down his back. Loose hair and dirt came off pretty easily.
“Yup. Just like that is how you want to go about it.” Joe replied, doing the same thing on the horse’s other side. After they brushed him, Joe showed Ally how to properly put on a horse’s tack. Then he helped her bridle Will, opening the door the rest of the way so that she could lead the horse out into the ring. He took a helmet for her from the wall separating the main barn and the stalls from the arena.
“Alright, now bring him over to the mounting block and I’ll help you get on.” He said, bringing Ally the helmet.
She did as she was told, walking over to the step stool that she assumed was the mounting block. She positioned the horse so that she would be able to get into the saddle from the stool, then put on her helmet. “Okay… Now what?” She asked, stepping up onto the top step.
“Take your reins, put them over his head, and hold them with your left hand. Then use your right hand on the center part of the saddle and swing your right leg over his back.”
Ally did so, and Joe looked at her stirrups, and then shortened them to the right length.
Ally, holding the reins in each hand, looked down and put her feet into the stirrups. “They feel comfortable.” She said, putting weight into them cautiously. She nodded, more consoling herself than her uncle, and then looked up. “Can I go?”
“Yup. Go right ahead and nudge him. He’ll go right off.” Joe said, backing up.
Ally walked him around the ring two or three times, getting more comfortable on his back when her Uncle Joe spoke again.
"Okay, you got that down now. Do you know what posting is?" He asked, walking over to be beside the old horse.
Ally shook her head, confused.
"Stand up in your stirrups… Yeah, like that." He said as she followed his instructions. "And sit back down. Now you go up, then down. It'll help a bit when you start to trot." Joe watched her for a few moments as she got the motion down.
"Like this, right?" She asked, glancing down at him.
"Yup. But you should never take your eyes away from where you're going. Remember that, since if you do look away, he's liable to take off." He stepped back a moment, watching her closely. "Just like that, now. Do you want to try to trot?"
Ally seemed hesitant, then she took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay. Should I just… kick his sides?"
"Yeah, that's 'bout right, I reckon."
She nudged his sides, then when he didn't start trotting, she kicked at them. He immediately started trotting. It was very bouncy, and a bit of a surprise to Ally. She held on, though, balancing on the stirrups and trying to post.
"Is this right?" She asked, avoiding looking away from what was in front of her.
"Keep your heels down… It'll help you balance and move a little bit better."
She tried it, tilting her heels backwards in the stirrups. Ally found it much easier to ride like this. She tugged back on the reins gently, sitting down now and murmuring, "Sshhhh… Shh. Easy, Will."
It worked, and he slowed to a walk.
"That was good, Ally. How'd you know how to stop?"
"I dunno… I guess it just came naturally."
"Well it was real good. You wanna try another trot? We can keep working for a little while longer."
And basically that was all they did, over the next two hours, working on posting and trotting.
That was when a small group of people walked into the barn and Joe recalled that he had a trail ride to do just then.
"Be right with you." He called, glancing at Ally. "Slow him down like I showed you… Good. Now just walk him around for a little while to cool him off. I'll help you off and untack in a few minutes." Joe walked over to the people waiting at the door, talking to them for a moment.
Ally wanted to know what they were saying, but she knew better than to listen in. She slowed the horse's trot and sighed softly, catching her breath. Ally walked William around, she herself resting. She never really realized how much work riding involved.
Joe sent the people off to get the tack for their horses, then to get them tacked up. He said, however, not to bridle yet. Then he came back over to Ally, checked Will's temperature, and nodded. "Yeah, we ought to bring him in for now. Steer him towards the middle then make him stop."
Ally nodded, tugging on her inside rein while putting a little pressure on the opposite side and turning Will into the center of the ring. She slid off of the horse's side and winced, her legs feeling stretched out. "We've gotta untack, right?"
He nodded, helping her lead him out to his stall. Joe quickly helped her untack William before calling out that it was okay for the others to bridle their horses.
"Sorry, Ally. I have to get going. You can hang around in the barn for a little while longer, but I think that you should go back up to the house to cool off. Maybe even get yourself some lunch. Okay?"
She nodded, looking rather tired. "I think I'm gonna go take a nap."
And with that, she turned and moved out of the barn and back towards the house. Apollo, who'd been romping around outside, ran right up to her and jumped around her. He wanted to play.
Ally laughed, petted him gently. "Not right now, huh bud? I'm tired. Let's go relax." He seemed to understand well enough, since he trotted at her heels towards the house and even curled up with her on the couch when she sat down to rest.
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