[PHASE 1] A New Arrival

Kayleigh gripped the clipboard with both hands, her knuckles going a little white, staring out toward the road that led to Sunrise Hill Equestrian Center. Behind her, in the pens that spread across the property beyond the one she stood in, trainers and students worked horses of many breeds and colors, and usually the sound of hooves on sand would make her smile in satisfaction. Today, though, she was focused on her project for the next year, one all her own -- no other hands besides her vet's allowed. Today her transport driver, Mac, was bringing her newest Loshenka, a stallion. His paperwork was clipped to the board in her hands, though there wasn't much substance to the information as the rescue facility had not had too much to supply. She read through the sum of it again, tearing her eyes from the horizon to do so.

'This stallion was worked excessively hard as a young prospect. We suspect he was backed too early among other things. When he came up lame, he was stuck in a stall in a corner by himself and largely abandoned. He was fed and watered, but not worked at all. He's arthritic and tends to crib now.'  The stable owner wondered, not for the first time since she had agreed to work with one of the Makeover Loshenkas, just what she would be receiving. Not much longer now, she mused, watching the red clay-dust cloud as it rose off the road leading to her driveway. It settled, signifying the vehicle's turn onto the blacktop of her ranch, and then she could see the truck and small horse trailer as it pulled up and around, into position to back through the gate. This she opened, then stood aside and directed him back through the gate. When Mac emerged from the truck, she reached to shake his hand and asked how the trip had gone.

The man removed his ball cap and ran a hand back through his dirty blond hair. "He did pretty well, although he's got a friend back there too. The rescue had a surrendered raspberry overo splash Loshie that he seemed to take a shine to. Nothing wrong with her; she's not a makeover horse. I just thought you'd like her and she gets along with him, too, so I spent a little bit on her for you." Kayleigh cracked a grin, then, and transferred the clipboard under her arm so she could clap a hand to Mac's shoulder. "You always know just how to spoil me, Mac, thanks. Shall we see what we've got?" As he nodded she stepped away, just inside the quarantine barn attached to the small sand-footed pen to pick up a couple of leads from the pegs inside, while Mac worked at opening the trailer. He lowered the ramp, and she stepped up into the trailer to the horses within. The mare was loaded on the outside of the slant-load trailer, so Kay clipped the lead to her halter and backed her down the ramp. The mare twitched her skin a little as she stepped down into the sand, and once all four hooves were on level ground she shook as though to dislodge dust from her, though none marred the gleaming purple-hued hair of her back. The woman led her to the fence and tied her there, then went back for the stallion.

She was surprised to see that he was affected by the Wulf oddity. Shaggy all over with a true mane and a few feathers on his ankles, the male was quite unlike the soft, bald necked mare she had just led out, though all of his hair was just as fine-textured as her tail was. His coloring was a uniform peachy-brown color to his knees and hocks, where his hair turned dark to belie his bay roots, then lightened abruptly into neat, nearly identical, white stockings on all four legs. He turned his head as she rested her hand on his flank, and she noted the wide blaze down his face between hazel eyes. Champagne then, probably, or maybe pearl. Kay snapped the lead on, patted his side gently, then clucked at him and slowly backed him from the trailer. The stallion let out a groan as he backed, and Kay let her brows furrow a moment while encouraging him down the ramp. Once down, she walked him in a circle, watching the set of his ears and listening to the timing of his steps.

He seemed mostly willing, if sore, though slightly down like he was sad. His ears were splayed to the side, swinging back a little, and his eyes were dull with furrowed brows. She supposed for a horse who had been stabled most of his life, with a barn in sight of him, even the prospect of a new living space would only mean more stables. She did want to keep him separate from the rest of her herd till she was certain he was healthy, but with his history she had never really intended to lock him in a stall any more than absolutely necessary. The round pen next to the barn would do fine for a little while, till the vet had had a look at him, and then he could be turned out into a pasture if the vet thought he would be safe there.

While she had been walking him, Mac had closed the trailer and pulled it forward out of the pen, closed the gate, and was sitting on the fence watching her lead the stallion along. She cocked her head at him, motioning him over, and when he got close, asked, "Could you walk him in a circle around me, Mac?" He took the lead and began walking, while Kay watched the horse -- Caesar, she decided she would call him, with a practiced eye. Arthritis was a rough condition to treat, but not the end of the world, but she needed to see which legs he was lamest on first.

After a couple revolutions she spotted it: Caesar's head was dropping each time he stepped with his left foreleg, and his right hind did not seem to be swinging through all the way. He might also have been pulling his left hind forward before it was fully retracted, but that was less noticeable between the two. She stepped forward to retrieve Caesar's lead from Mac, thanking him again for his help, and led him from the sandy pen, around and to the round pen. She tossed a couple flakes of hay in and filled a bucket, planning to groom him shortly, and then returned to the raspberry mare and led her to the same pen as the stallion. The next step on their journey would be a vet call. Maybe she would have more ideas on how best to manage his pain, and would make sure there was nothing that the stable owner was missing. She could also run blood tests on the raspberry to assess her health. Leaving the horses to graze and become acclimated to the new digs, Kay retreated to her office to make notes and put in that call to the vet. It would be a day or so, but that was alright, it would give Caesar time to settle in.