Makeover 2024: Phase 3 | To Be Themselves

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A cool breeze fluttered through the trees, sending a chill through Chey’s spine. Just like that, summer was on its way out, and autumn was quickly turning the corner. She tucked her hands further into her sweatshirt pockets. She had only just gotten outside, she’d warm up soon enough.

Chey made her way to Toffee’s paddock and leaned against the fence. Toffee’s pasture mates had been moved around a bit, but that was no problem. He found it very easy to make friends these days. Pastured with him were Macy’s horse, King, and Sandra’s horse, Sunny. They made for a good, energetic, playful group of young geldings.

She enjoyed the peace that came with quietly watching the horses graze. As always, her mind started to wander, reminiscing over the past couple of months with Toffee. He had come such a long way, and she truly felt a part of her had healed in this journey as well.

Her thoughts were interrupted as unexpected company arrived: Macy and Octavia. Chey wasn’t as close to Macy as she was with Codie or Cadence, but still held a deep respect for her as the current manager and future owner of RVEC. She truly admired Octavia as well, for being the matriarch of the Webb family and creating the beautiful stables they have today.

“Good afternoon, Cheyenne,” Octavia greeted with a smile. She wore her long, silver hair in a loose ponytail, and was more bundled up than the rest. That was a given; she was in her early 70s after all.

“Good afternoon.” Chey stood up and offered a warm smile to the pair. “What brings you two out here?”

Macy stepped up to the fence, resting her arms on the post. “We just wanted to check in! I’ve heard a lot of good things from Cadence about your progress with Toffee, including that he’s good at handling the troublemakers here.” She turned her gaze directly to King, who was either oblivious to or blatantly ignoring that Macy was there.

“Oh! Yes, Toffee has been doing amazing. He’s come so far since he got here. Truly, I don’t think there could’ve been a better outcome anywhere else.” She shifted her weight to one leg, looking back out at the paddock.

Octavia stepped closer to the fence. “He sure looks more content now.” Chey couldn’t hide the confused expression on her face; she hadn’t seen Octavia out in the barn in ages. Octavia smirked. “I know you’re surprised. I come out to the barn when there’s less commotion. I also keep my eyes on the cameras. Not because I don’t trust anyone, just because I like watching the horses. I recall when he arrived, he looked so empty. So lost, even. Is that true?”

Chey looked to the ground, nodding her head. “Yeah… He was a shell of himself. He didn’t know what to do. It was like he forgot how to be around his own kind, too.”

Macy leaned back from the fence, her arms returning to her sides. She turned to face Chey. “Oh, speaking of that, I did have something to say. I wanted to apologize to you directly. I wanted to be involved more and give you the same support now that I did with Rosa, but there was just… too much going on. I’m sorry.”

“Oh my gosh! No, you don’t need to apologize at all!” Chey replied. “Trust me, you’ve done more than enough for me. And Toffee too, even if it’s been indirectly. You’ve given me the confidence to take on this challenge, and it’s your resources that have made this all possible.”

Macy and Chey start chatting amongst themselves, going back and forth with explaining themselves. Octavia watched silently and shook her head. While Macy had plenty of capability, she still had some insecurities deep down. She turned her attention from her granddaughter back to the horses, just in time to watch the troublemaking begin. One horse left their pile of hay to go to another, causing a shift in eating rotation, which then caused one to start cantering around. One thing led to another, and before long the three geldings were all running around, bucking and playing.

Octavia put her hands behind her back, enjoying watching the group play. Toffee was trotting around, his head and tail held high. “Toffee does look like a different horse now. He barely moved before, now look at him go! What a beautiful stride he has.”

“It really is beautiful, isn’t it?” Chey gushed. “It took a little bit to get used to riding it, though. It’s very different from Rosa’s.”

“I bet,” Macy mumbled, smiling as she watched. “You know, I did mean to ask. What were your methods for helping him? Did anything specific stand out? I haven’t gotten to know Toffee too well yet.”

Chey sighed and let out a little chuckle. “It’s funny you ask. You know, a lot of it was the basics. I spent time socializing with him and introducing him to our herd. Wisp and Leif were absolute angels to him at the start. He made his first breakthrough with Wisp, that was the first time any of us caught him grooming another horse. But there was another thing, and now Cadence is always asking me how my big dog is.”

Macy appeared skeptical. “Big dog? I mean, aren’t all horses like big dogs?”

“Yes, but this one is… a little extra in that department. I don’t think you’d believe me if you didn’t see it for yourself, though.” Chey was about to take out her phone to find a video, but Octavia stopped her.

“We’ve got all the time in the world. It looks like he’s calmed down a bit now, why don’t we take him out? You can show us yourself.”

“Really? Only if you’re sure!” Once everyone agreed, Chey grabbed the lead rope off of the fence and went to retrieve Toffee.

The group made their way to one of the outdoor arenas. While Macy and Octavia spent some close time with Toffee, Chey ran into the barn. She returned with a drawstring bag around her back, and one of the giant pasture balls for horses.

“Starting big, are we?” Macy chimed.

“Trust me, this is the one he gets the least excited about,” Chey grunted, pushing it through the gate. “I’m starting with the least entertaining to end it off on a high note.”

As the gate closed behind her, Toffee walked up to her. His ears were up and his nose was already flaring up playfully. His orangey-brown tail whipped around with curiosity and excitement. Chey gave the ball a hefty kick to send it across the arena, to which Toffee threw his head and started trotting after it. He ran his mouth over it, sniffed it, kicked it around. At one point he looked like he was about to go over it, but luckily he wasn’t too clumsy. However, after a couple of minutes, he lost interest. Toffee let out a big snort and started to walk back towards Chey.

Macy had her arms crossed, not out of distaste or anything negative, but more out of comfort. “I mean, he seemed pretty playful there to me! That’s a win in my book.”

“It absolutely is!” Chey took off the drawstring bag from her back and put it on the ground under the fence, out of the way of anywhere Toffee could walk. Macy and Octavia’s expressions turned to those of perplexity when they watched as Chey took out a big rubber dog frisbee.

“Don’t tell me he’s going to play fetch!” Octavia said, a smile already tugging at the corner of her lips.

“Oh yes he is.” Chey grinned.

She stood back up and turned to face the chestnut horse. Toffee stretched his neck out, sniffing the frisbee and trying to take it from her hand. “Ah, ah. You know the game!” The gelding backed up a couple of steps, giving Chey enough room to give the frisbee a gentle toss. She didn’t want it traveling too far or accidentally leaving the ring. As the frisbee glided by Toffee, he spun around and trotted over to face it.

Once it landed, Toffee was sniffing and snorting all over it, trying to move it with his mouth. He managed to grab the edge of it, putting it in his teeth. He proudly threw up his head and trotted back towards Chey.

Octavia let out a lighthearted laugh. “My goodness… I know this isn’t the first time I’ve seen it in all my years, but it’s rare to see a horse that understands bringing the toy back to its handler.” Macy was silent, shocked at what she was seeing.

Chey played fetch with Toffee for a couple of minutes, throwing the frisbee at varying distances or from different angles to get him to move and play more. When the game was done, she took the frisbee from Toffee’s mouth and returned to the drawstring bag. “Alright, onto his favorite.”

“There’s another one?” Macy had no idea what was coming next. “He has an awful lot of energy.”

“He does, which is why I’m glad I found out what makes him burn the most of it.” Chey returned the frisbee to her bag, and this time pulled out a tough dog chew toy. “More reason for him to be turned out with King, too. I think it helps calm down his spunk a little bit.”

Normally Macy would reply with something snarky about her horse, but she was too focused on what Chey was holding. “Is that a…”

“An alligator dog toy?” Octavia questioned.

“Yep!” Chey had an ear-to-ear grin. “Squeaker and all! He only plays with this when there aren’t any skittish horses around.”

Chey turned to show Toffee the toy. He tilted his head in curiosity. She squeezed the toy to make it squeak, which sent Toffee into excitement. He bobbed his head, letting out a little nicker. She held the toy out, to which Toffee took it. He spun around and started walking and trotting around the arena. Whenever he adjusted his grip on the toy or threw his head a certain way, the toy would let out various squeaks.

Chey leaned her back against the fence. “What do you think, Macy?”

Macy shook her head, blinking. “I think Cadence is right. Are you sure that’s not a Great Dane in a horse suit?” Octavia and Chey laughed.

“Sometimes it is the simple and most unexpected things,” Octavia sighed. “This truly warms my heart. To see a horse so happy, especially after going through something as sad as he did. I know I’ve been around horses most of my life, but this sight… it just never gets old.”

The three women stood in relative silence for a while as they watched Toffee play. Occasionally they’d strike up a conversation with a passing worker or student, but otherwise, they just let him burn his energy. After some time, Chey went to Toffee to retrieve the alligator toy. She let out a noise of disgust at the feeling of the slimy plush texture, dropping it into her bag as quickly as possible.

Chey swung the bag over her back and attached the lead rope back to Toffee’s halter. “Well, I hope you enjoyed his little show. I’m sure he’s worked up quite an appetite now, and it’s about to be dinner time for these guys.”

“That was a show alright,” Macy stated sarcastically. Chey knew she was only joking.

“Please,” Octavia rolled her eyes at her granddaughter, still wearing a smile. “This was an absolutely delightful way to spend the afternoon, Cheyenne. I appreciate you taking time out of your day to show us this display of a truly happy, playful horse.” Toffee walked up to the fence and reached his head out. Octavia’s hand met him in the middle, petting and scratching his nose.

Chey’s chest filled with warmth. Making Octavia happy made her day. She patted Toffee on the neck. “Of course! If you ever want to watch it again, just let me know. I’d be happy to have more play time with this guy.”

The group exchanged goodbyes and Macy and Octavia headed back towards the houses of the property. As Chey led Toffee back towards the paddocks, she felt tears of joy form in her eyes once more. Her heart felt so full. As a pair, she and Toffee had all of the support and love in the world, more than they’d ever experienced before.

Grief is a painful, inexplicable thing. It could change everything about your life. There’s no strict timeline or way to go about it. Sometimes it’s impossible to get the closure you feel you need so deeply. It took Chey years to process her own grief, and even then, it still lingered. Codie was right: Chey and Toffee were perfect for each other. It took patience, time, and hard work. In some cases, it was the most unexpected thing that would be the most healing. In the end, together, Chey and Toffee became themselves once again.

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Makeover 2024: Phase 3 | To Be Themselves
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In 2024 Loshenka Makeover ・ By northamber

I've always had fun with the makeover event, but this particular one was very cathartic for me. To write about a horse healing from something I personally have experienced was healing.

Event: 2024 Loshenka Makeover
Phase Number: Pase 3
Horse ID#: 6541
- Issues: Lonely, Grieving
- Description: This horse shared a paddock with their best bud until they passed away suddenly a few months ago. This horse is clearly still depressed, and though they will go through the motions of being groomed, ridden, etc., it is without any motivation or ‘spark’.

XP Breakdown:
+22xp - 2196 words
+4xp - Handler (4x 500 words)
= 26xp total

Links to other horses mentioned:
King
Sunny
Wisp
Leif


Submitted By northamber
Submitted: 1 year agoLast Updated: 1 year ago

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