A Small Success (Open)

[Miranda Florin]

Miranda laughed at the way that Dr. Carr referred to the newest inhabitants of the clinic, but headed off to the tack room without any comment. She wasn't sure how many horses Dr. Carr had brought, so she grabbed eight lead ropes and held four of them out to Cara. Dr. Carr had never brought more than eight horses in at a time, so that should be more than enough. She also picked up a few alfalfa cubes from the container in the feed room, sticking them into her jeans pocket before she made her way back out to where Dr. Carr had moved the trailer.

As Dr. Carr lowered the ramp of the trailer, Miranda squinted, trying to catch a glimpse of the unhappy occupant that they had heard before. She could see a chestnut horse loose in the trailer, seemingly the problem, and moved closer, so that she could help if Dr. Carr needed it. When the woman asked for alfalfa cubes, Miranda pulled out a couple from her pocket and stepped up the ramp to hold them out to her mentor, "I'm guessing the loose horse would be Em." It wasn't really a question, the mare was the only one that seemed to be problematic at the moment.

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara was interested in the way Dr Carr had called the horses brats, not the normal term she would use to describe new horses. It Cara the opinion that these horses weren't the same as the last two that the woman had brought in for students to work with.

She followed Miranda into the barn and took the leads that had been proffered to her, she also grabbed her trusty bottle of rescue remedy and a good handful of alfalfa cubes that she tucked into her jacket pocket before she followed the other out, in time to watch the veterinarian lower the ramp, giving them a view of a couple of ponies, one of who reared up.

She stood back as Miranda was called forward to sort out the loose pony. She took the to study the ponies that she could see. Other than the upset chestnut, with half of the tethering strap still attached to her halter, she could also see a grey pony that looked as though she had some Highland blood in her and a dun Connemara. The ponies she could see all looked like they had been fed well and well looked after, but it was obvious that the loose pony needed to be taught how to tie up nicely.

She lifted her head, trying to look over the three ponies she could see, when the sound of hooves on the truck wall drew her attention once more.

[Demeter Carr]

Demeter smiled when Miranda showed that she did indeed have the treats. "Yes, that little Miss Priss would be Em." She confirmed. "I'll just get you to bring her own, she's alright to lead, it's just tying up that she doesn't like, as you'll be able to see from the scars on her nose someone has tried to break the problem out of her. She also doesn't like ropes, but she's smart enough to know that you'll get her off the truck." She stood on her tip-toes as a horse in the back of the truck kicked out again.

"Cara. Once Em is out, can I please get to you bring out Fish, the dun, and Fly, the grey." She looked around. "Um... put them into yards for now. I don't have half a dozen stalls ready and I didn't think to text you two to have them preped." She fell silent as she waited for the three ponies to get led off and put away.

When the two girls were standing in front of her again, she looked them up and down. "Cara I want you to bring out the next too; a chestnut gelding and a skewbald mare." She looked at Miranda as the smaller girl walked up the ramp to comply, and jumped as the last horse kicked out again. "Miranda,that leaves us with Dynamite. He's a bit of a handful. He's young and has never really been handled, but it's slightly worse than that."

[Miranda Florin]

Miranda listened to Dr. Carr's words on the mare, nodding slightly as she heard that the mare was okay at being led. It would make her easier once she was caught, at least. She approached the trailer, and the mare inside, holding out one of the alfalfa cubes on her flat hand, "Come on, Em, be a good girl, and I'll get you out of here." When she had reached the mouth of the trailer, she stopped, holding the alfalfa cube out to the chestnut mare. She could see the mare working it out, as intelligent as Dr. Carr had said, until the mare finally stepped forward, her ears still pricked. As she lowered her head to take the cube, Miranda clipped the lead rope onto the mare's halter, next to the remnants of the horse's tether. As the clasp closed, Em threw her head up, but Miranda held fast to the rope, and once the mare had calmed down again, she led the chestnut down the ramp and stopped her at the side of the trailer, waiting for Dr. Carr's instructions on where to put the mare. As she was told to put her into a yard for the time being, she nodded, and led her into one of the middle yards. After closing the gate behind herself, Miranda unclipped first the remnants of the tether, and then the lead rope, before walking out of the yard and hanging the lead over the fence, then walking to the trailer.

When Dr. Carr asked Cara to bring out two more horses, Miranda wondered what her job would be this time. As the trailer was kicked again, Miranda guessed that Dynamite was the one who had been causing the racket the whole time. She watched him as she listened to Dr. Carr's words, although she looked over at her mentor when she heard 'slightly worse'. Frowning with trepidation, she asked, "What's 'slightly worse'?" She glanced back at the gelding, who seemed to be panicking, her mouth pressed into a thin line as she thought about how to approach him to keep the horse safe.

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara watched as the younger girl went up and convinced the chestnut mare that she wasn't a threat. Although she didn't crowd the other girl, she hardly waited for the mare's rear hooves to leave the ramp before she scampered up the ramp and greeted the two ponies that she would be leading off. "Hello, handsome." She greeted the dun gelding as she rubbed his nose, clipping one of the leads onto his halter ring, beside the tether from the truck. She reached in front of the gelding and clipped a rope onto the grey mare and unclipped her tether before she ducked in front of the gelding, under his neck and tether, and then unclipped the rope that was still holding him fixed to the truck. She then turned both ponies toward the ramp and clicking her tongue, she asked them both to walk forward.

If asked to find two ponies with completely different personalities, she could have found two more opposite than the ones on either side of her. While the mare pushed into her personal bubble and often attempted to step on her toes. The gelding almost leaned on her, trying to use the girl as a support device, something to find courage from.

It took a while, but she finally got them into the yards. She was happy to let the grey mare fly into one of the yards while she spent some time convincing the gelding that the gate wasn't going to eat him.

Returning to the truck, she listened to the veterinarian's instructions and nodded her head as she scampered up the ramp again, slowing her pace as she entered the darkness of the truck, jumping back as the horse at the very back of the truck kicked the wall once again. Shaking herself, she walked up to the two large ponies. She repeated the process that she'd done with the first two and then led the gelding and mare toward the ramp. Although the mare was shy and slightly standoffish, they were much easier to lead than the previous two.

After releasing them into yards, she walked back to the truck to wait for the final horse to exit the truck. She was slightly curious since this animal was taking both the veterinarian and Miranda to be led out.

[Demeter Carr]

Demeter watched silently as Miranda collected the loose mare, seeming to take the mare's antics in her stride as she thought the girl would. She then watched as Cara brought out the first two ponies. It was while watching the small girl that she wondered why she hadn't asked Miranda to collect Em and Fly - as she knew that it would be easier to led too forward moving horses. However, Cara didn't seem to be having any problems, and didn't strike out at the mare once.

She gave Miranda a small chuckle when she was asked more about the small horse at the back of the truck. "He is very young, he's only a four year old. But, he's had no proper handling." She fell silent as Cara brought out the next two ponies. She nodded at the look of both of them. All of the animals she had brought with her today - with the exception of the one left of the truck - were all good looking animals, just with bad starts or bad training.

When the chestnut and skewbald were being led to the yards, Demeter looked at Miranda again. "Ok, here goes. This boy is a PMU foal. The farm owners found more money out of selling older horses to the meat-works, and they put the foals into a sealed up barn, those that survived past infancy, were fed and watered. This guy has been deprived of everything, Miranda." She said carefully. "Light, touch, love. He hadn't known any of those until he was saved. And the only smell he has known is that of a dirty box." She pulled a scarf out from her back pocket. "You will probably need to tie this over his eyes before you bring him out. Are you ready?"

After waiting for the girl's reply, she led the way up the ramp and down the back of the truck. "I'm only here if you need me." She said in a whisper-soft voice. "He was sedated before we started the journey, but from his sudden anxiety, I think it's wearing off."

[Miranda Florin]

Miranda raised an eyebrow at the chuckle that came from Dr. Carr, wondering what was causing the woman to laugh. She watched Cara lead out the other horses, thinking over what her mentor had said. His being young and not being handled wasn't anything big and noteworthy, it meant a bit more patience, but otherwise seemed unremarkable. Only when Cara had moved away did Dr. Carr actually launch into the reason for her caution, and Miranda listened carefully, nodding slightly as she bit her cheek, wondering how someone could do such horrible things to horses. As she took the scarf, she ran it through her hands, thinking over what Dr. Carr had said, and trying to figure out a plan to get the horse out of the truck safely. After taking a deep breath, she grinned slightly and nodded firmly, "I guess so."

She followed Dr. Carr into the truck and got her first close-up look at the bay gelding, dirty and unhealthy as he was. She heard Dr. Carr's hushed voice and nodded as she added the information on the gelding into her plan. As she approached, the gelding backed away, eyes wild, his ears pinned, although he couldn't get much further, as his tether restrained him. Doing her best to stay quiet, as to not worry the gelding even more, Miranda carefully stepped to his side and reached out with the scarf. The gelding tried shifting away from her, but once again the rope stopped him. Biting her cheek, Miranda stepped forward and fastened the scarf, tucking each end under the cheekstraps, then knotting them once so that it wouldn't fall off. As the gelding was enveloped in darkness, he seemed to calm down, and Miranda breathed a small sigh of relief. She clipped her lead rope onto the gelding's halter before she released his tether, then tugged gently on the rope. The gelding tried backing away from the sensation, and Miranda frowned. He had never learned to be led, she reminded herself, and applied gentle pressure to the lead rope. Had he been a foal, or any normal horse, she might have tried coaxing him to walk on, but with the gelding reacting to sound as well, she didn't think it would be too effective.

After taking a moment to think about what else she could try, Miranda stepped towards the gelding's hindquarters, leaving his lead rope slack as she reached out a hand and snapped her fingers behind the bay's back. She could see his reaction, ears flicking back, but as he started forward, she moved with him, doing her best to keep the lead rope slack as the gelding made his rather hurried way out of the trailer, the echo of his hooves keeping him moving forward. As they managed to emerge in the sunlight, Miranda glanced around, picking the closest yard and leading her charge into it. After she had managed to get him into the yard and had closed the gate, Miranda glanced at Dr. Carr, "Should I take the scarf off of him or no?" If she did, the gelding might explode, but at least if he did, he would be able to see the fence, which he wouldn't be able to see if she kept the blindfold on.