“What else is there to say?” she says, coming to a stop near what I assume is Bally’s stall. “You need to do community service because you’re an idiot and a brawler.”
“I’m not an idiot and?—”
“That part is not up for debate,” she fires back. “As I was saying. You need community service, and we can give that to you here. So unless you want to go pick up trash on the side ofthe highway while dragging Ballantine behind you, pony up the cash.”
“If I was picking up trash with Ballantine, I’d obviously be mounted,” I can’t help but say.
“With a very long trash poker,” she says, her lips twitching like she’s trying not to smile. “Cowboy hat included.”
“And a rope for lassoing the especially big pieces.”
Candice grants me a half smile at that, and it almost reaches her eyes.
“When does Bally eat?” she asks, changing the subject, like she’s afraid to keep bantering with me. “We free feed a lot of the horses so there’s already hay in there. But I can take the net out if he’s on a schedule.”
“He ate on the journey. Helps him with his nerves. I’ve never tried free feeding because we move around so much, but I’ve always wanted to. Let’s see how he does with it.”
“Great,” she says. “The water in there is already full. Once he’s all settled, I can show you around.”
I nod, and quickly get Ballantine into the stall, which he starts to nose around in, immediately noticing the full net of hay.
“Don’t gorge yourself Bals,” I tell him.
I manage to wrestle his halter off of him while he’s muzzle deep in hay, and I sigh. Lucky for him, we probably aren’t competing again anytime soon so he can get as fat as he wants. I give him a few pats and then leave the stall. I find Candice whispering to a beautiful pinto horse.
“I know,” I catch her say. “He’s…well, Maggie we’re just going to have to get…it’ll be fine.”
I clear my throat. Candice whirls around and a flash of red blooms across her face.
“Really, Candice? Talking shit about me to the horses? Before they’ve even had a chance to get to know me for themselves.” I make a tsking noise and shake my head at her.
“As if Maggie would like you anyways,” she says, sounding so petulant I nearly laugh.
“I’m guessing this is Maggie?” I say, jerking my chin at the mare.
“Yes,” Candice says, and elaborates no further. Though, if I had to guess, I’d say that Maggie is to Candice what Ballantine is to me: her best friend. It’s in the easy way she rubs the spot between Maggie’s eyes, and the way the mare lips at the collar of her shirt and then rests her huge head on Candice’s shoulder.
Candice gives Maggie a final pat and then proceeds to show me the stables.
“Tack room is over there,” she says pointing at a small room. “And next to it is where we have food storage. Supplements, oats, and hay pellets. Grooming supplies are with the tack.”
“I brought my own, thanks,” I say.
“Sure, but you’ll be grooming the other horses. And mucking the stalls and paddocks. We have some horses who like to be out most of the time, and others who prefer being indoors a bit more.”
“What?” I ask, because that wasnothow Beau described the job I’d be doing.
“Mucking. Heard of it?”
“Of course I’ve heard of mucking. I’ve been around horses my entire?—”
“Well, when was the last time you did it yourself?” she asks, tapping her foot on the stable floor.
A bit of shame swells in me, and I’m reminded of the fact that I haven’t actually cleaned a stall in years. I mucked plenty when I was working on the ranch as a kid, and even when I started riding in competitions I still helped out with the grunt work.
But for the last four years, I’ve been hopping from stock show to rodeo, buckle bunny to buckle bunny, and putting Ballantine up with full board wherever I go. I don’t even remember thelast time I tacked him up myself. But there is no way in hell I’m telling Candice Wilson that. I’m sure she’s the type of horsewoman who never lets the basics slip—who knows that caring for our horses personally is an important part of bonding with them.
Once upon a time, I’d probably have hated the person I’ve become and sided with the hissing viper in this hypothetical debate I’m having.
