by Dale Mayer
Iain had to admit he was feeling incredibly emboldened and hopeful after his Friday afternoon session with Shane. He’d gone looking for Robin to share the good news. She had been super-excited, even though she had already seen his progress that day by the pool. They’d had dinner together, and then he’d kind of crashed, his energy cycling downward, and she’d left him at his room soon afterward. Now, it was Saturday morning, and he heard sounds of large vehicles pulling in. It surprised him, and he got up and got dressed, then made his way out in his wheelchair onto the deck of the cafeteria and watched as several huge horse trailers came in.
Dennis came up to his side. “Dani is up to it again,” he said with a big smile. He handed Iain a cup of coffee. “You’ll need this.”
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“A large group of show horses are moving across the state,” he said. “Dani offered a couple pastures today and tonight, for the horses to get out of the trailers. They can only travel so many hours before they need to be let out again.”
“Wow,” Iain said. And in a nice and orderly fashion, all of the big trucks and trailers pulled up beside each other.
Dani was already there, talking to the drivers, and she was opening up pastures. And before long, at least forty horses were unloaded and moved into the fields. Two were pastures, several cross-fenced, and the horses immediately took to the grass, which was pretty high, some eating, and some kicking it up, dancing to be out of the trailers.
He stared in amazement. “Dani’s heart is really big, isn’t it?”
“The biggest,” he said. “Anytime she can help others, she does, particularly when it comes to animals.”
“I wish I could be down there,” he said.
“I don’t know if the actual trucks will stay around. I imagine some will head into town. This is for the horses and not so much for the people,” Dennis said with a laugh. “At least I haven’t been given any instructions that I’ll have an extra thirty-six-odd people today.”
A note of worry was present in his voice, and Iain looked up at him and laughed. “Would it matter to you if you did?”
Dennis thought about it, shrugged, and said, “Nah, we always have leftovers anyways.”
Iain nodded. “That’s what I expected,” he said. “It seems like there’s always lots of food at your table.”
The two men continued to watch the horses, and, sure enough, several of the vehicles filled up with people and disconnected from the trailers and headed back out of the parking lots again. Some were staying, and it looked like four people were hanging around to keep an eye on the animals. Which, considering the amount of horse flesh out there, made a lot of sense. And yet, for all Iain could see, a lot more than four were needed to mind some forty horses.
At one point in time, he saw Dani looking up in his direction. He waved to her, and she waved enthusiastically back. Within about ten minutes, she marched toward him, standing under the deck. “Do you want to come see them?” she asked, her face alight with joy and excitement.
He hesitated. “Do you think the wheelchair will spook them? I don’t have my crutches with me.”
“Nah,” she said. “These guys have been flown all over the world. They’re used to all kinds of travel, including scooters and wheelchairs.”
He nodded. “I’ll head down the elevator and come out the bottom.”
“I’ll walk with you,” she said and met him soon afterward. “Have you had any experience with horses?”
“Lots,” he said, “when I was younger. I haven’t ridden since my accident.”
“Well, you might go for a ride today, if you want,” she said. “I probably have to give Shane a call first though.”
“Well, how about you don’t call Shane,” he said, “and you let me go for the ride anyway?”
She stared at him for a long moment. “How’s your back?”
“The back is pretty good. The leg is much better,” he said, and he shared the results from Shane’s progress report.
“Now that,” she said in delight, “is awesome.”
“I know,” he said. “That’s what I was thinking. So, horseback riding would be lovely.”
As they walked outside, Robin walked toward them. She was laughing. “Dani, when you said horses were coming, I didn’t realize you meant horses were coming. I know you said how many but that didn’t compute until I actually saw them altogether.”
Iain looked at her and said, “Did Dani tell you?”
“Only that she’d offered up pasture for horses to have a spot to run around after being transported,” she said. They walked up to one of the gates and just stood and stared at the horses, beautiful chestnuts and palominos and every color under the sun as they moved through the pasture. Some were running; some were kicking up their heels, happy to be out; and some were immediately head down in the grass, and even two were lying down.
“Aren’t they beautiful?” Robin said.
“Do you know how to ride?” Dani asked.
Robin shook her head. “City girl all my life,” she said. “No opportunity. This was a rich kid’s sport.”
“Or a poor kid’s sport,” Dani said, laughing. “I used to ride because I mucked out the stalls, and that was my job.”
“I hear you,” she said. “We didn’t even have horse barns around.”
“Interesting.” They moved along the pasture with several horses coming over to talk to them, and two of the men came over, shaking hands with Dani.
“You’ve got a hell of a setup here, Dani,” Wesley said.
She nodded. “It’s been a long haul to get here, but I’m sure you can understand the joy to be in this position now.”
“Absolutely,” he said. He looked over at Iain and reached out to shake his hand. “I’m Wesley,” he said. “Six of these horses are mine.”
“I’m Iain,” he said. “One of Dani’s current residents upstairs.”
“I’m Robin, one of the vet techs who works at the vet clinic downstairs.”
The men turned to look at the main building and nodded. “We’ve heard Dani’s done incredible things here.”
“Well, I can attest to that,” Iain said quietly. “I just had a progress report yesterday, and I’m amazed.”
“That’s what we like to hear,” he said. “I got a nephew who’s in bum shape, just returned from Afghanistan. They thought he would come back in a pine box, but he’s still kicking.”
“When he’s ready,” Dani said quietly, “send me his name and file, and we’ll see if we can get him in.”
The man’s face worked up with emotion, and he nodded. “Thanks,” he said. “I don’t know what it costs, but it’s not a price any of us have a problem paying if it gets the boy back on his feet.”
“Exactly why I do what I do and why our donations are so important,” she said. “Because unfortunately a heavy cost is involved in doing this, but it’s fairly amazing when you think about just what we can do. And how far these kids and men,” she said, with a nod toward Iain, “come. That leg of his was pretty much useless, but he has done very well now.”
Just then Stan came out to join them, looking a little bit rough.
“Stan, you haven’t had your coffee yet,” Dani said with a smile.
“Sure haven’t,” he said. “But I wouldn’t miss a chance to see this many horses all at once.” He reached out and shook hands with the two men, then introduced himself as the vet for Hathaway House’s animal clinic.
The men nodded and one said, “You’ve got a great reputation here too.”
“Well, if I do,” he said, “it’s based on a lot of hard work and a lot of heart.”
“That it is,” one of the men said. “Anybody who works with animals has got to have a lot of heart.”
Stan looked at Iain and said, “You have experience with horses, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” he said, “but not since my accident.”
“I’m pretty sure Midnight would let you go for a rid
e, if you want to give it a try.”
“I’d love to,” he said, “but what I don’t want to do is set back my own healing.”
Dani nodded, pulled out her phone, stepped away a few steps, and made a call. Stan stepped forward and said, “I’ve got a western saddle around here,” he said. “I doubt you do English, do you?”
Iain chuckled. “No, my experience is cowboy style,” he said. “Give me a western saddle or even bareback.” But then, he thought about it and said, “Or maybe not bareback at this point. But, man, I’d love to get back to riding.”
“Bareback is hard on the butt,” Stan complained. “I can ride well enough,” he said, “but horses like this, well, they’re just so superb,” he murmured in delight as they all stared out at the massive pastures thriving with the visiting horses. Even Appie and Lovely, Midnight and the others, like Molly, had walked over to visit with the new arrivals.
One of the two men looked over and asked, “Is that a llama?”
“She is,” Stan said. “She was a rescue and came with Appie the Appaloosa. The two of them have been together since they were born.”
“Got to love that,” the man said. “I’ve got a goat at home that won’t be separated from my dog. I used to take the dog everywhere but that also meant I had to take the goat. So I leave them both at home now.” He shook his head. “The bonds that animals make is just amazing.”
“That it is,” Stan said. “That it is.”
Dani came back a few minutes later and said, “I just talked to Shane, and he says, if you’ll just walk the horse on the field—no trotting, no jogging, no galloping—he’s all for you getting on the back of a horse.”
Iain looked up at her, hope in his eyes, and said, “Seriously?” He looked over at Stan and back at Dani and said, “But do you have a western saddle that might fit?”
“Absolutely,” she said. She put her fingers in her mouth and turned toward Midnight and let out a sharp whistle. Midnight’s head and ears came up, and he came galloping across the pasture toward her. All the men watched as she walked to the gate and opened it up. Midnight immediately walked out, and she brought him to where Iain was.
“You don’t need to put lead on him?”
“No. He knows exactly where he belongs,” she said with a laugh. “Give me about ten minutes, and I’ll have him dressed up.” She walked with him back to the barn on the side of the pastures at the back. And, while they watched, she threw on a blanket, tossed up a saddle, and put a bridle on his head. With a bit in his mouth, she carefully draped the reins over his back and then walked with Midnight at her side, joining them once more. “The only thing that I don’t know,” she said, “is how to get you up there.”
“Depends on the stirrup length,” he said. “And I might manage to get up from a fence post.” He stood up on his one leg and said, “I wish I had my crutches right now.”
“I’ll go get them,” Robin said, and she disappeared.
“If I can help, let me know,” one of the two men said, stepping forward.
Iain looked at him. He was big enough. He was about his height. “If you can give me a hand to get over to that fence,” he said, “I think I can hop up a couple slats and just slide over onto Midnight’s back.” And, with a stranger’s arm around his back, Iain managed to make his way to the fence. There, he climbed up to the top by hopping. Dani led Midnight to him. And, grabbing the pommel, he slid over to the horse’s back and sat astride Midnight. The horse shifted ever-so-slightly under his weight, and he put his good leg into the stirrup and then chuckled. “This must be your saddle, Dani. Look at the stirrups.”
She laughed because his stump was almost the right size for her stirrups. She walked around and quickly lowered the other stirrup and said, “That’s about all I can do on this saddle. I guess I need to find a half dozen more for patients, don’t I?”
“This is your horse though,” he said. And with a gentle click and a nudge of his knee, Midnight shifted forward slightly, but waited for Dani to return. Dani walked to the pasture she’d come out of and opened the gate.
She had a second halter in her hand. “Am I riding your saddle?”
“Yep,” she said. She called out to a different horse, and the mare came walking over.
He said, “That one looks like I should be on her, just in case.”
“Nope,” she said. She tossed the halter up and around, put the bit into the horse’s mouth, and, with a smooth movement, hopped onto the back of the mare’s withers. At the nudge of her knee, she said, “Let’s go for a walk.” With Stan and everyone else standing behind at the closed gate, she led Midnight up and around the pasture at a gentle walk.
Iain walked carefully, waiting to see if his hips jarred his back. When he realized the pain was not hitting him every time the horse walked, he settled in. As he settled in, the horse’s gait also smoothed out.
“Good,” she said. “Midnight is doing just fine. How are you?”
“Well, he’s doing fine because I’ve now calmed down,” he said with a pleased smile. “This is truly a gift. I never thought in my best days that I’d ever get on the back of a horse again.”
“Well, I sure don’t want you out here working and roping calves,” she said. “But, as a horse lover, I can certainly relate to it being something you strive to get back to.”
“And how,” he said. He turned his face up to the sun. “Just even knowing that I’m out here …”
“I know,” she said. “I completely understand.”
And he could hear the catch in her voice and knew that she really did. They were out for an hour, and he could feel his back muscles twitching. He looked at her and said, “As much as I don’t want to stop …”
“I was about to suggest we go back. Shane said no more than an hour anyway.”
“And that was probably a tad too long anyway,” he said. “But I don’t care. This was truly a momentous day, and I thank you so much for the honor.” He leaned forward and gently rubbed Midnight on his big neck, threading his fingers through the silky black mane. “This is your personal horse, isn’t he?”
“Yes,” she said. “He and I have been together since he was a colt.”
“And he’s blessed,” Iain said. “We don’t always have friendships like this.”
“No, but you have a friend who drove you from the VA hospital to here. And he did it against his better judgment, and he did it because it’s what you wanted to do,” she said quietly. “So I wonder if you realize just how hard that was for him.”
And then he remembered how he hadn’t texted Bruce back. He groaned. “I seem to have forgotten so many things that are really important in life lately,” he said.
She chuckled. “You know what? You’re not alone in that. It’s something that happens on a regular basis to a lot of men here. I don’t know why, but it’s like, as they move forward in one aspect of their life—and in this case it’s the focus on your healing or strengthening your body and getting your movement back—so much else falls by the wayside. I have found that, no matter who the people, they tend to be very forgiving because they know that what you’re doing here is super important and takes extreme focus.”
“But who said that kind of focus,” he said, “meant dropping everything else? Bruce was my best friend for so long, and I haven’t yet told him about my progress.”
“Well, I have my cell phone,” she said. “Do you want me to take a couple pictures?”
He grinned. “I so do.” And, with that, as they walked, she took several photographs of him on Midnight. By the time they made it back to the gathered crowd, Midnight backed up to the side of the fence. It was all Iain could do to swing his partial leg over the fence and step onto the railing as he swung his right leg over. He managed to hop down and stand against the fence, but his good leg was trembling. He had a four-foot climb to get back to where the wheelchair was parked. He knew he really needed to make it, but, boy, it looked a hell of a long way away.
We
sley stepped up and said, “I’m here to help.”
Iain looked up at him, smiled, and said, “And I’ll accept that help. Thank you.”
And, with that, the other man gently assisted Iain up the short distance, until he could sit back down in the wheelchair. When he collapsed, he groaned and said, “I so wanted to do that with crutches, but …”
“One of the things I’ve learned in life,” Wesley said, “is you got to take everything one bite at a time. You can’t eat a massive smorgasbord at once, but you can take one bite, enjoy it, and then have another bite and enjoy it. This is a journey, and, for you, it’s likely to be the only journey you ever need to have in this direction. So, I get that you want to reach the end as fast as possible, but don’t forget to take the journey in small bites and to enjoy each and every one.”
Chapter 14
Tears were in Robin’s eyes, and she kept wiping them back. But she reached down and gripped Iain’s shoulder from behind him. Almost without thinking, he reached up and laced his fingers with hers, and the two just hung on to each other. She was overwhelmed with emotions. The joy on his face when she’d seen him out there on the horse, seeing his body hold him and giving him that moment of joy, she knew that this was just a starting point to even more emotional and joy-filled moments. The fact that he’d gotten on a horse and had made it an hour out there was absolutely phenomenal.
And she knew that, no matter what else he tried to do now, he’d do just fine. He was a special man. He’d gone through so much, and here she was, the one who was not doing as well. And she didn’t have any valid reason not to. And she was desperate for him to do well, and, at the same time, she also knew that it could mean he’d move on and move past her. She gripped his fingers even harder, and, when she tried to release his hand, he wouldn’t let her go. She smiled and said, “I don’t know about you, but I haven’t had breakfast.”
He looked up at her, then smiled and said, “No, I haven’t either.”
And, with that, the crowd started to disperse. He’d been so happy and so proud, as if he’d finally succeeded at something. She walked beside him, her hand still on his shoulder, even as he needed both his hands to push his wheelchair toward the elevator. She could feel the stress in his back with each shove forward. “You know that I could push you,” she said hesitantly.