Lost and Found Family by Jennifer Ryan

Sarah went straight to work on Ace, brushing him and singing to him once again. Calm, he stood still and watched her move around him. As she passed one of the guys, she took the lead rope from him and nodded for him to back away, leaving only one man holding him, giving Ace some room to breathe and the space he needed to feel safe.

She kept singing and brushing and rubbing her hand over him. When she finally had him completely calm, she addressed the vet for the first time in ten minutes.

“Do you have all the shots ready?”

“Yeah, I’ll just begin—”

She held her hand up to stop him. “Just stay where you are. I’ll give him the shots.”

“Excuse me.” His authoritative voice boomed though the massive stables. “I’m the doctor here, and I don’t appreciate you usurping me, especially in front of Luke.”

“Obviously this horse doesn’t like you or want you near him. Now, step back. I’ll give him the shots.”

“You’ll do no such thing. I won’t allow you to harm this horse by improperly giving him injections.”

“Step back, Doc,” a man still holding a rope on Ace and supervising ordered. “Let her be. You heard Luke. He wants her to take care of Ace today.” The man turned to her. “I’m Jerry.”

“Sarah.” She gave him a smile, appreciating him backing her up.

The doc threw his hands up in the air and let them fall. “Luke’s crazy letting this woman near Ace like this.”

Jerry looked him in the eye. “We’re all here watching, so if something goes wrong, you can be the first to tell Luke, ‘Told you so.’”

Sarah picked up all four shots and, as quickly as possible, expertly gave each one to Ace. The horse didn’t even flinch, and she rewarded him with another cherry candy. He accepted it and nuzzled his nose at her neck again. She moved on and checked each of Ace’s legs, stroking her hands over his strong muscles and tendons, searching for any tender spots. Nothing came of it, so she moved on to cleaning out each of his hooves, still singing Ace into a calm trance.

When she reached his back left leg Jerry spoke up. “That’s the hoof we think is giving Ace trouble.”

She bent to pick up the hoof. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Doc move forward to have a look himself. Before she could tell him to back off or grab hold of the horse’s leg, Ace kicked out, hitting her right in the thigh, and moved his big body, blocking her from Doc’s approach. Sarah went down hard, clutching her thigh, tears streaming down her face.

Jerry moved forward and Ace shifted again, just missing stepping on her as she lay on the ground holding her throbbing leg. The intense pain radiated up her hip and back and down to her foot.

All the men moved then. To save herself, Sarah called out, “Stop.”

Thankfully everyone froze.

Ace stood very close, still and watchful.

Sarah took the opportunity to roll onto all fours. She pressed up to her feet. No small feat; the pain seared up and down her leg. “Doc, are you stupid or simply hard of hearing? I told you to stay back.”

His eyes went wide. “You’re blaming me.” He pointed to his chest, not one bit sorry for what he’d caused. “You have no business being around this animal.”

“You arrogant son of a bitch! Back off.” Sarah wiped away the tears and slowly limped to Ace’s front. He lowered his head and looked at her as if to say he was sorry for what happened. Sarah met his eyes as well and stepped close and hugged his neck, letting him know she understood he only wanted to protect her.

It took some serious strength and nerve to slowly walk to his back left leg again. Her hands shook, but she bent to pick up the hoof. Ace stood completely still and allowed Sarah her inspection. Sarah cleaned the hoof and took great pains to inspect it carefully, even though her crouched position hurt like hell. She filed down a rough spot and checked Ace’s shoe to make sure it was secure and properly placed. She slowly lowered Ace’s hoof and stood, taking the weight off her battered leg.

“Jerry, Ace has a small soft spot on the bottom of the hoof. Probably just a stone that had been stuck at one time but is now gone. It’s really nothing.”

“That’s what we thought. Thanks for checking, Sarah.”

“Sure, no problem. Now, let’s get a good look at the cut on his hindquarter.” Sarah inspected the cut and decided, while most of it was superficial and would heal by itself, there was a spot at the end that had gone deep enough to need a few stitches. She walked over to Doc’s bag and took out what she needed. Without a word, she wiped all the equipment down with alcohol swabs, found the medicine she needed to numb the area, and a fresh syringe. The vet stood by glaring with his arms folded across his chest. A stout man with a wide middle, white hair, and ruddy cheeks, he reminded her of one of those garden gnomes. All he needed was a white beard, little green suit, and a pointed hat.

She sang a new song for Ace, slow and soothing, and worked on the cut, cleaning it well to help prevent infection. Then, she numbed the area and expertly closed the wound with four stitches. She swiped some salve over the gash.

Sarah picked up the brush and, still singing, worked the brush over Ace again. By the time she finished, the horse was calm and Sarah was exhausted. Her leg screamed with pain, but she still had to play with the boys and sit through their picnic.

“Okay, Ace, you’re all set. Now, be a good boy and play nice with everyone. Jerry, where do you want him?”

“He’s due to have some exercise outside before we put him back in his stall. He could probably use it after the morning he’s had. I’ll take him out to the exercise ring.”

Jerry stepped forward to take the lead ropes for Ace, but Ace wasn’t about to give up on having Sarah take care of him. He stomped his hooves and moved toward her.

“Okay, big guy. I get it. You’re in the mood to be babied. Jerry, I’ll take him for a short ride.”

“Ride,” he said, aghast, and shook his head. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. He hasn’t been ridden in a while, let alone saddled.”

“Who said anything about saddling him?” Sarah took off the lead ropes, turned over an empty bucket, stood on top, grabbed Ace’s mane, and hauled herself up onto his back. She gave him a soft kick and walked him out of the barn.

As soon as Ace felt the sunshine on him, he took off like a rocket. The only thing Sarah could do was hold on. The pain in her thigh was punctuated by having to use her legs to hold on to Ace, but she hadn’t felt this free in a long time. Ace was a strong horse and he was using that strength to get some energy out. With the sun and wind on both of them, Sarah simply gave in and enjoyed the ride that Ace was determined to give her.