Hotel Stay

I managed to unhook the electric fence gate just in time for Ransom to slide through, legs splayed like a gangly colt to keep his balance. The hill of his pasture was a muddy slip-n-slide after the rain. The flat paddock he normally stayed in while the pasture dried out was now occupied by new horses. While I preferred pasturing him over stabling him, it was time for a temporary stay in the main barn.

My barn is not an all-services-included facility, so Ransom’s hotel stay landed me with daily housekeeping duties. It’d been nearly four years since I cleaned a stall (though not since I scooped manure, mind you). I had plenty of practice, from working off my lessons to cleaning stalls on the weekends in college to make some pocket change. I didn’t mind the chore; bedding a horse in a clean stall was satisfying.

Ransom had no trouble adjusting to his luxurious lodging. He seemed to enjoy having the automatic waterer at hand instead of trekking up the hill to a water trough. He flirted with the beautiful black mare next door. He napped on his bed of shavings.

That night, as I lay in bed listening to the rain pelt against my window, my mind was at rest knowing that Ransom was tucked away in the shelter of his stall.