Chapter 5 #2
“I moved away for a while, but I’ll be moving back into the area soon enough.”
Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. “If your friend’s horse isn’t available and you need some love from some horses, come pay me a visit.
I live near Lake Hancock. Just go to the house at the end of Fox Hunt Drive and see if I’m home.
” As I’d already made enough of a fool of myself, I shot him a salute.
“Good luck with your friend’s horse. There’s nothing quite like riding a racer. ”
I fled, heading to the cashier so I could toss the first of my acquisitions into the bed of my truck and continue my rampage at the feed store.
* * *
The livestock pen at the feed store should have been safe enough to visit, but life had a way of screwing with me.
In addition to the goats, a few young heifers, an older cow, and several donkeys, a gangly thoroughbred colt with a pale coat waited for salvation.
According to the young man taking care of the animals, the colt’s mother had broken a leg in a freak accident and had been put down, and the owner had opted for a dump sale to the feed store in exchange for credits.
The colt wasn’t a racing prospect, hadn’t been bred to race, and the owner had wanted a filly, dooming the foal.
In good news, the colt was old enough to survive without his mother for a little while, although he would be forced into weaning early, which might impair his development. In better news, I could supplement the colt’s diet with goat’s milk if I wanted, and while not the same, it would suffice.
The feed store was bottle feeding with goat’s milk every hour or two to buy the little one some time.
It would be quite a few more months before I would have to worry about gelding him or separating him from my mares, assuming the grain guzzlers accepted their new friend with grace.
The problem would be transporting the colt.
I had the truck, but I lacked a trailer.
Shit.
Well, the Devil had wanted me to be selfish, so I put my phone to good use, dialing his number.
“How can I help you, Crystal?”
I waved at the kid running the pen before asking, “Do you know anybody with a trailer I can borrow for a few hours? There’s a colt at the feed store, and I’m going to be taking him home.”
He waved back and headed inside to get the paperwork needed for me to take the baby off his hands.
“You don’t also need a truck? I thought I was buying you a truck and trailer.”
“I bought that already today. I had a need, so I filled that need. That was a purely selfish acquisition, as I will be hauling Alligator Bait halfway across the country to race her. The colt is pure selfishness, too. I just don’t think I have time to buy a trailer and get this poor baby out of the pen today. ”
“Sure, you didn’t want to buy the colt to make sure he has a full belly and the company of other horses tonight, as the only thing sadder than a lonely horse in a pen is no horses in your pasture.”
I reminded myself the Devil paid me well to like him. “Do I at least get credit for the truck?”
“Actually, yes. Good job. You haven’t demonstrated sufficient selfishness to worm your way out of the bonus, but you’re making progress.” The bastard then laughed at me. “I’ll handle your trailer needs. You’ll need to waste about an hour. How has the rest of your day gone?”
“Haven’t peeked?”
“I really haven’t.”
“Well, I’ve strongly hinted to Ashley that she should start sleeping with Isaac, which solves several of my problems nicely.
They’re looking at the chickens, which I’m sure is going to cause mayhem should they decide to get any.
” I considered the older cow, who had been separated from the heifers.
“Make sure whomever you loan the trailer from doesn’t mind me hauling an old cow along with the colt.
She’s a nice red, and the heifers look good enough they’ll probably find tolerable homes in a hurry. ”
A pop announced the arrival of the Devil, and I yelped, dropping my phone. Lucifer caught the device, hung up, and offered it to me. “Efficiency is a good thing, and since I haven’t peeked, I’ll admit I’m curious.” He eyed the colt and the cow with interest. “Why is that colt here?”
“His momma died.”
“I’ll bring a nurse mare over to your place after I get the trailer situated.
I know someone with a mare weaning off a foal, and she won’t mind the extra work.
He’s at least two months shy of proper weaning, probably longer.
He’s had sufficient goat’s milk, but you’re not wrong to want him in your pasture so he has a full belly and other horses around. ”
Well, I wouldn’t have any need to indulge in guilt at bedtime at least. “What’s the going rate for hiring a nurse mare?”
Lucifer sighed. “That is not being selfish, Crystal.”
I stared at him. “Paying for services is just good business.”
“Fine. You can pay me through dealing with my advice regarding the colt’s training. You will also authorize me to get him registered with the jockey club. I’ll deal with the owner.”
As I had no idea how to go about training a colt, receiving advice seemed like a good deal to me. Registering the horse, which hadn’t been bred for racing, made zero sense to me, but I had no problems with the Devil wasting his time. “Is he going to be a stallion prospect?”
“That depends entirely on you, honestly. What is your methodology for your studs? Are you keeping them as studs to further the breed? Are you keeping them as studs due to temperament and personality? There are many reasons someone might want to keep a colt intact. Some do it to preserve rare genetics or to pass on good health traits.”
“Good health and temperament are important. While I’d love to contribute to thoroughbreds as a breed, I don’t think I have the caliber of horse required for that.”
“Alligator Bait is the caliber of horse required to better the lines.” Lucifer approached the colt, who remained listless in the pen. “You should have color testing and DNA testing done on this little one.”
The feed store employee returned with a pack of papers, which he offered to me. I pointed at the red cow. “I’ll be taking her off your hands, too. Just take her papers to the front with the bill of sale to save yourself another trip,” I requested. “I’ll buy a halter for each one and a lead line.”
“Go pick them out, and I’ll take the tags to the register with the bill of sale,” he replied, offered me a grin, and headed to the cow pen.
I tucked the papers under my arm and went to do as told, and Lucifer followed. Inside, the Devil caught sight of Isaac and waved.
The incubus bounced over, and Ashley, who had a wicker basket that moved on its own, joined us.
The basket had a lid, which kept its occupants inside.
“I see your shopping is going well,” I told Ashley, giggling over having corrupted the woman.
“I didn’t know the feed store sold pets! Isaac helped me pick a pair of guinea pigs.”
The Devil offered the woman a smile. “This store is testing a new model and is one part pet store, one part feed store, and one part livestock reseller. Their livestock reselling is complicating things for them, but the owner likes animal rescue, so thought he’d use the extra space to give livestock a second lease on life.
I’m helping Crystal acquire a trailer for her acquisitions, so don’t worry about space.
You’ll be able to transport anything you want in about an hour.
Isaac, contact my vet about color and genetic testing on Crystal’s new animals, please. ”
The incubus vanished with a pop and a flash of silvery light.
Huh. I hadn’t known Isaac could teleport.
I wanted to learn how to teleport.
Oh, well.
Lucifer introduced himself as Lucy to Crystal, who fell for the Devil’s charms and showed him her new guinea pigs, a brown one and a black one.
While he kept my neighbor company, I headed back to the tack section, snagged a blue halter suitable for a little baby and a halter suitable for a cow, hoping I guessed the size right. I snagged two red lead lines as well.
The tall, dark, and handsome had moved on to the grooming equipment, and on my way by, I pointed at my favorite premade kit, which included everything a horse needed to be healthy, happy, and clean.
“That one is excellent bang for your buck and works as a great starter kit for a new horse. You can replace pieces you don’t like down the road. ”
As my colt would need his own grooming kit, I grabbed one for myself and hauled it to the counter, adding it to my pile and having the lady working the register add the halters and leads to my order, leaving the purchase tags with her before strolling back to the livestock pen.
As I’d need to test the temperaments of both animals, I went to work getting them situated, pleased the halters fit.
The cow handled her haltering with grace while the colt put up a fuss, requiring me to give the poor baby his first lesson in understanding pressure and accepting when a human held the line he wasn’t going to be getting his way.
I had a long way to go transforming him into a stallion prospect.
While it took me twenty minutes, I got the colt standing for me and was able to wrap the lead around his rump to secure better control over him when walking with him.
The next time I saw my parents, I’d thank them for having sent me to a working farm to learn how to ride horses, as they’d allowed me to lead their sinfully cute foals around and learn the trick to moving them without risk to myself or them.
With the employee’s blessing, I led the colt through the store to the register, careful to keep him away from anything he might break.
The tall, dark, and handsome spotted me with my new acquisition, and burdened with more than he likely needed, he joined me at the register.
“And here I thought I was being bad. You went and bought an entire new horse.”