Shy Guy stepped up to the gate and poked his nose through it, wanting her to pet him again. “No, silly boy. Go back.” His ears flicked up at the command.
“Shake the lead rope a little,” said Madison.
“Go back,” Hanna said again, giving the rope the tiniest of shakes, scared she might frighten him if she shook it too hard.
But Shy Guy, head lowering, took a step backward. A surge of pride rushed through her.
Madison made an impressed noise. “Wow. I guess he’s been trained by somebody along the way.”
“You didn’t know?”
“Nope. We had a hunch because of his breed—Hanoverians are usually dressage and jumping horses—but no one’s been able to tell until now. Okay, now unlatch the gate and go inside.”
Hanna’s heart sped up. Reaching for the latch, she lifted it, and the gate opened a little. “Make sure he stays back,” Madison said.
But Hanna didn’t have to tell Shy Guy. He stood patiently a short distance away as she went inside and closed the gate behind her. She could practically feel Madison’s anxiety on the other side of the fence.
Hanna was inside the corral with Shy Guy again. Last time they were here, he almost took her head off. But he didn’t move a muscle as she approached him with the halter.
“Now put the front strap of the halter up and over his nose,” said Madison, voice barely loud enough to avoid startling Shy Guy. “I wish I could be in there to show you, but I don’t think he’d allow it.”
“That’s okay,” said Hanna. “I did it the other day. I remember how.” And something told her he wasn’t ready to engage with other people yet. He still couldn’t be trusted.
Could she even trust him?
The thought flitted through her head so fast it was gone before she could think too hard about it. Hanna focused on bringing the halter strap up behind Shy Guy’s ears slowly, so he wouldn’t spook, and then buckling it. When she was done, she gently patted the side of his head and he snorted.
“Great job,” breathed Madison, unclenching her hands, which had been gripping the metal bars. Her knuckles were white. “Now take the lead rope and lead him around the corral.”
To both of their surprise, Shy Guy not only obeyed Hanna’s commands, but with Madison doling out instructions, he didn’t shy or balk. For all Hanna’s novice guiding, Shy Guy knew exactly what he was doing. He stopped when she stopped, maintaining a polite distance. When she turned, he followed, and never pushed or tried to get ahead of her. He backed up at the word back. She didn’t even have to shake the rope.
“Wow,” Hanna heard Madison mutter to herself. “I’m sorry I doubted you, boy.”
Eventually, after what felt like a long lesson, Madison stopped her. “Let’s call it good while we’re ahead. Looks like the tables got turned on me today. Shy Guy gave us a schooling in manners.” She shook her head in amazement.
“Do you think he’s ready to go in the barn yet?” asked Hanna. The successful lesson left her feeling rather bold. “I feel sorry for him, sitting in this corral alone all day.”
Madison’s eyebrows rose to her hairline. “I don’t know, Hanna. Last time we tried to take him in there, he almost took off Mr. Bridle’s arm trying to get away.”
Hanna glanced at Shy Guy’s gray coat, which was dusty and brown in splotches after all his sweating and running. The locks of hair around his ankles were matted together with mud.
“He’s also really dirty,” Hanna pointed out.
“Oh man.” Madison nervously retied her ponytail, the same way Hanna did. A resigned sigh escaped her lips. “I suppose we could try. But if he spooks or tries to run, let him go. I made sure the ranch gate was closed this morning.”
“Okay,” said Hanna. “I will.”
Madison shook her head, like she couldn’t believe she’d given in. “All right, first things first. Bring him to the gate. Then ask him to wait while you open it. Once you’re outside, ask him to walk through, and close it behind you.”
Hanna led Shy Guy to the gate, where she lifted the latch and pulled it open. She stepped through and then gestured for Shy Guy to follow. He dipped his head and walked through and turned to face her as she closed the gate behind them. She felt so victorious at the smooth, clean way they moved together that after the gate latched closed, she swung one arm up in the air and clenched her fist.
“Yeah!” she cheered.
Shy Guy threw his head back violently, yanking the lead rope out of Hanna’s hand. When Madison jumped over to try to grab the spinning lead rope, he let out a frightened squeal and danced out of her range.
“Wait!” Hanna held up a hand. Madison immediately stopped moving. When she did, Shy Guy settled back down on four legs, breathing hard. “Just wait,” Hanna told her. “It’s all right.” Giving him a moment to calm down, she calmly stepped toward Shy Guy and took the lead rope again.
“I’m sorry,” she said, offering the offending hand for him to smell, to remember it wouldn’t hurt him. When he didn’t move away, she gently ran her hand down his nose. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
But her swinging arm had reminded him—it had brought him back to a time when he was trained, when he had been perfect, and someone had hurt him anyway. Hanna’s heart ached.
Madison, taking careful, small steps, came up beside her. Shy Guy eyed her but didn’t retreat.
“It’s going to be a long, slow road,” Madison said, holding out her own hand for him to smell. He jerked his head back, but when Madison didn’t fight him or try to tug him closer, Shy Guy eventually stuck out his nose to smell her. After many long seconds, he ran his lips over her hand. Madison jerked back at first but Hanna shook her head.
“Don’t worry. He does that when he wants you to pet him.”
Even Madison was frightened of Shy Guy? The horse trainer steeled herself, reached out, and ran her palm over the velvety skin of Shy Guy’s nose. He nuzzled her back.
Madison’s face melted. “Oh, wow. He’s soft.”
“Isn’t he?”
The moments drifted past, the three of them standing in silence while Madison petted Shy Guy. As his eyes closed and he leaned in to her scratches, Madison’s eyes filled with unshed tears.
“Let’s wait to do the barn tomorrow,” she said after a while, her voice catching. “One victory at a time.”
Chapter Twelve
After another lesson on groundwork the next day, Madison suggested they take Shy Guy into the barn.
“You’re right,” she told Hanna. “He could use a good grooming.”
Shy Guy put up some resistance at first, but with a full bucket of grain luring him in and Hanna at his side, Shy Guy eventually gave in.
Once they had him in cross ties, Madison talked Hanna through brushing. Starting at his neck with a curry comb, Hanna worked her way down his side, sweeping it in a circular motion. Once she’d stirred up all the dirt, Hanna traded the curry comb for the softer bristle brush. One flick at a time, his muddy gray coat turned silver and glossy until, even under the dim barn lights, he simply glowed.
For a long while, the two girls stared at Shy Guy in awe.
“Dang,” said Madison. “That is one fine-looking horse.”
Next, it was time to pick his hooves. Hanna had seen the other kids pick their horses’ hooves before, and it required holding the horse’s hoof close enough to your body to dig out whatever was stuck inside it—which was right inside kicking range.
“You’ll be fine,” said Madison, with a confidence Hanna did not feel. “It’s one of the most essential parts of grooming, as well as trust building. Plus, he needs it. I bet his feet hurt.”
Well, then, Hanna decided—she’d do it. She followed Madison's coaching, running her hand down the back of Shy Guy’s leg, which, surprisingly, he didn’t mind at all. He nudged Hanna’s back with his nose, startling her. Was he playing with her?
Sure enough, his hooves were packed full of mud, sand, and even a few large rocks. “Poor
Shy Guy,” Hanna murmured. She went from hoof to hoof, and to both her and Madison’s amazement, he obeyed without question. Hanna hardly had to apply pressure to his ankle—Madison called it his fetlock—to get him to lift it.
When she was done cleaning the final hoof, she set it back down on the ground. Shy Guy put his weight on it, testing it. His body relaxed noticeably, and he nudged Hanna again, as if to say thank you.
“So well-mannered,” breathed Madison. “Where did you come from, Shy Guy?”
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Hanna floated on clouds the rest of the day. She hardly remembered the milking lesson that Paul gave them in the cattle barn. When they had free time, Josh invited Hanna to play the bean bag toss with him.
“How’s the troubled horse rehab going?” he asked her.
Hanna couldn’t help but laugh. “Troubled youth in rehab meets troubled horse in rehab. Never thought about it like that before. But Shy Guy’s coming along.”
“You make a good pair.” He threw his bean bag and completely missed. “Dang,” he said. “Didn’t realize I was so bad at this when I invited you to play.”
“No, it’s great,” said Hanna with a chuckle. “Keep making throws like that. I like winning.”
Josh gave a sheepish smile.
“Usually, I’m a pretty good shot,” he said, collecting the bean bags. “You’d never guess, but I play baseball.”
“You’re right! I wouldn’t guess.”
Hanna was glad Josh’s big laugh showed he hadn’t taken her seriously. In the waning afternoon sun, they played until Hanna thought her arm would fall off.
That night in the girls’ cabin, they read on their bunk beds in silence until it was time for lights-out.
“Tomorrow we’ll do something more exciting with Shy Guy,” Madison promised Hanna.
“More exciting?” She wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that. “I liked what we did today.”
“Good. But there’s so much more to horsemanship. From what I saw out there, someone has trained Shy Guy very well.” Madison balled one hand into a fist and looked up at the ceiling, like a coach in a football movie who’s just found inspiration. “I wish it could be me, Hanna, but you’re the one he’s chosen to open up to. I have a feeling that if we go slowly, you’ll discover some amazing things about that horse.”
The lights clicked off, but Hanna lay awake for some time thinking about what Madison had said.
Shy Guy had done so well today—he was obviously a great horse underneath his fear, and eager to please. But what would taking the next step require Hanna to do?
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They did more groundwork the next day. And the next. Then one morning, after the other kids had already saddled up and gone outside, Madison stopped Hanna before she could lead Shy Guy out of the barn.
“I want to try something new today,” she said cautiously. “What do you say we get a saddle on him?”
Hanna’s gut did a leapfrog over her heart.
“You want me to ride?” she asked, her voice more of a squeak.
Madison shook her head. “No, no. Don’t worry—this is just a small step to get Shy Guy accustomed to the saddle again. We can’t catapult straight into riding. Neither of you are ready for that, anyway.”
Hanna could feel she was still making a worried face.
“Seriously,” said Madison, half laughing. She patted Hanna’s shoulder. “Let’s start with a saddle blanket.”
Madison vanished into the tack room and returned with a thick, green blanket that matched Shy Guy’s green halter.
“It happens this one’s the right size,” she said, winking. Hanna liked him in that deep, emerald green. Standing a safe distance from the horse, Madison set the blanket on a saddle rack. “Now, this may be a bit tricky, Hanna, if he has bad associations with the saddle—which he likely does after the saddle sores we found on him.”
Hanna understood. Lifting the blanket off the rack, she carried it over to Shy Guy.
His ears pricked toward her, and she held out the blanket for him to smell. His head jerked away, nostrils flaring, and the lead rope snapped tight.
Suddenly the space in the barn became very small. What if he tried to bolt?
“It’s okay, boy,” said Hanna, taking the blanket away again.
“Here,” said Madison, dumping a handful of horse treats in Hanna’s hand. “Try giving him one of these while you let him smell it. Positive reinforcement!”
It was worth a try. With a treat in one hand, Hanna held out the blanket again for Shy Guy’s inspection. He sniffed the blanket for only a second before smelling the offered treat and lipping it up.
“Now, slowly, touch his side with it,” said Madison. “Get him used to how it feels. Stay by his shoulder.”
Holding the blanket in clear sight, Hanna took a step down Shy Guy’s side and held it out so the edge barely touched him. She moved the blanket back and forth a little, so he could get a good sense of the texture and fabric. His ears flattened against his head.
“Give him another treat,” encouraged Madison. Shy Guy lipped Hanna’s hand before eating the treat out of her palm. His ears relaxed, and Hanna lifted the blanket higher on his back.
“Can you give him the treat so I can use both hands?” Hanna asked. “The blanket’s too bulky.”
Again, the nervousness on Madison’s face surprised Hanna. But she held out the treat to Shy Guy and he slurped it up as Hanna slid the blanket over his back. His ears flicked in her direction, but that was all.
Hanna let out a heavy breath. “Wow,” she said. “All that to get the blanket on?”
“I know it doesn’t look like much, but this is a big step for Shy Guy. We couldn’t even get a brush near him before.”
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After taking the blanket off, they worked with Shy Guy in the corral.
“Trust building,” Madison told her. “One step at a time.”
Every day, they put the saddle blanket on and took it off again, until Shy Guy stopped putting up a fuss. Then Madison dragged a saddle out of the tack room.
First, she demonstrated putting a saddle on her smaller Appaloosa horse, Snow White, so Hanna could see how it was done.
Adjusting Shy Guy to the saddle was easier than adjusting him to the blanket. Even when the saddle settled on Shy Guy’s back, he appeared only mildly irritated. It wasn’t until she tightened the cinch that he went over the edge.
Shy Guy broke free of her grasp, and arching his back, he jumped a foot straight up in the air. Hanna yelped. Madison pulled her out of the way as he crow-hopped again, almost running into the barn wall.
“Shy Guy!” Hanna squeaked. She wanted to pet him, to calm him down, but Madison kept her back.
“Let him work it out.”
Shy Guy hopped side to side, desperate to get the saddle off—but it wouldn’t budge. Soon he gave up and settled for standing uncomfortably with his ears pressed back, his tail flicking in obvious irritation, like a cat.
“Well, that’s good progress considering where we started,” said Madison.
“Why did he do that?”
She shook her head sadly. “Someone worked him hard with a saddle that didn’t fit—probably didn’t brush him down properly either. Every time he wore that saddle, it rubbed until his skin was raw.”
Hanna wanted to take the saddle off him right then. “Is it hurting him now?”
“Oh, no. But now he associates the cinch tightening with pain to come, even if there isn’t any. We just have to show him we know what we’re doing.” Madison pointed off to the other arena. “Let’s go walk him around a bit and see how those other goofballs are doing.”
Leading Shy Guy in a halter, the saddle still on his back, they walked along the outside of the practice ring where Fletch was working with the other four kids. “Izzy!” he shouted as Izzy galloped past him. “Stop running around. We’re trying to do an exercise
here.”
“Poor Fletch.” Madison shook her head. “Izzy’s enough to handle all on her own.” When the other kids spotted Hanna and Shy Guy, they stopped what they were doing.
“Hey, Hanna!” Josh waved. “Looking great.”
Hanna had no idea if he meant her or her horse, so she just smiled and waved back.
Izzy and Fettucini jogged over, making Shy Guy dance away from the fence.
“Izzy, don’t scare him,” called Fletch.
“Sorry!” Izzy reined in Fettucini, and the gelding patiently stepped back from the fence. “That’s cool that you got a saddle on him.”
“Yep,” said Hanna, running a hand down Shy Guy’s neck to calm him down. Once he was settled, she continued walking him along the fence line.
“Izzy, can you leave them alone?” asked Fletch, not trying to hide the impatience in his voice. “They’re doing important training.”
Disappointment settled on Izzy’s small features. “Okay, fine,” she said, turning Fettucini back toward the others and trotting over to where they had lined up to practice the keyhole event.
Taking her turn, Rae Ann slowly walked her horse over to the four poles arranged in a square, passed into the middle, turned around, and walked out again.
“Come on, Rae Ann,” said Fletch, sounding exasperated. “You can trot through it, at least. You’re allowed to trot.”
“I don’t like trotting.” Her stocky bay horse didn’t much look like it liked trotting either.
“Sorry, Fletch!” Madison called to him, though her grin didn’t make her appear sorry. “I think Hanna and Shy Guy could be ready to join the group sometime soon.”
Hanna’s head shot up. “Really?” she asked as they headed back to the barn. Shy Guy snorted. “You think we’ll be ready?” She half wanted to hear Madison say yes and half wanted to hear no.
“I sure do,” said Madison.
Chapter Thirteen
Hanna got garden duty again that afternoon, but when she showed up with her water bottle and trowel at the garden, it wasn’t Josh who was waiting for her.
It was Izzy.
When Hanna stepped into the dirt, Izzy shot up to her feet and shoved both her hands behind her back.
Shy Girl & Shy Guy (Quartz Creek Ranch) Page 7