Home For a Cowboy Christmas(40)

“Good morning,” Dwight called to the horses as he opened the doors wide.

Emmy laughed when the animals all poked their heads over their stall doors, waiting for him. A few even nickered.

Dwight glanced at her as he opened the door to the tack room. “Have you been around horses much?”

“Not really. I’m not afraid of them, though.”

He emerged with a rope in hand. “That’s good.” Then he held up the rope, showing a latch on the end. “This is a lead. It clicks beneath the horse’s head on their halter, allowing you to walk them out to the field. Once you get there, remove it and let them go.”

“That sounds easy.”

“It is. Come on, I’ll show you.”

Emmy was freezing but also happy to be learning more about the ranch other than the finances. She followed Dwight as he went to the first stall and rubbed his gloved hand up and down a white horse’s forehead.

“This is Cloud,” he said. “She’s our oldest mare. She was my mom’s.”

Emmy held out her hand and let Cloud sniff her. “She’s beautiful.”

“She’s very gentle. Though she does rule the herd here.”

Emmy laughed. “Does she now? Good for you, Cloud.”

The mare bobbed her head up and down as if in agreement. Dwight held up the lead in his hand and showed the latch end to Emmy again. She nodded and took note of how he attached it to the bottom of the halter. He then unbolted the stall and slid the door back on its rollers. Cloud walked out beside him. Emmy followed, smiling as she heard Dwight talking to the horse all the while. When he reached the pasture gate, he opened it and walked in with Cloud. The mare stilled as she waited for him to remove the lead. He gave her a gentle pat on her shoulder, and she trotted off as he closed the gate behind him.

“That seems easy,” she said when Dwight returned.

“Want to try one?” he asked.

She licked her lips and nodded. “If you’ll be with me.”

“I’ll be right beside you. This is routine for the horses, so they know exactly what’s going on.”

That helped to bolster her confidence. Emmy approached the next stall. The horse had a white blaze from its forehead down to its nose.

“This is Fireball,” Dwight said.

Emmy let the horse sniff her before she stroked his forehead as Dwight had done with Cloud. “Hello, Fireball.”

“He’s a three-year-old gelding I bought last year.”

“Did he get his name from his orangey color?”

Dwight chuckled. “No. Because he’s faster than the wind and spirited.”

Emmy kept petting him. “Spirited, huh?”

“Don’t worry. He’s a sweetheart.”

“If you say so.”

Emmy took the lead from Dwight and latched it to Fireball’s halter. Before she opened the stall door, Dwight put his hand atop hers.

“Loop the lead a couple of times in your left hand to give it some slack. You don’t want the rope dangling on the ground for you or the horse to step on. Also, if the horse tried to jerk away or rear, you’ve got slack still in hand to hold on and get things back under control.”

She glanced nervously at Dwight. “There’s a lot that goes into horses.”

“This is only the beginning,” he told her with a wink.

Emmy looped the lead rope as Dwight had instructed. Then she looked his way. He nodded in approval. She took a deep breath and looked into Fireball’s big, dark eyes. “This is my first time doing this, so be gentle with me.”

“I’ll be with you,” Dwight told her.

She slid the bolt free and pushed the stall door aside. Unlike Cloud, Fireball didn’t move.

“Click your tongue,” Dwight urged her.

Emmy did, but the horse still didn’t move.

“Do it again but also tug a little on the lead to let him know what you want,” Dwight instructed.

She did as Dwight told her, and to her shock, Fireball walked out of his stall. “It worked,” she said.

Dwight laughed from beside her. “You’re doing great. Just go at a steady pace to the pasture.”

“I heard you talking to Cloud.”

“Horses respond to calm, even tones. Raised voices and shouting will scare and startle them.”

Emmy glanced at Fireball, her smile growing with every step. “Makes sense to me.”

At the pasture, Dwight opened the gate for her as she led Fireball in and then unhooked the lead.

“Have a good day,” she told him.

He slowly walked away, completely disinterested in her. But Emmy was so happy, she felt as if she were floating.

It didn’t take long for her and Dwight to get the rest of the horses out to pasture. Then she learned all about cleaning the stalls. While it didn’t exactly smell nice, she had to admit she enjoyed working alongside Dwight. Even if it was mucking stalls.

Next, they moved on to check the horse feed and see what needed to be reordered. She was shocked to learn that the horses didn’t eat the same things. Each required a certain diet, and it was imperative that they got exactly what they needed.

“Dwight!”

The sound of the male voice caused Emmy to freeze. Dwight handed her the clipboard and put his finger to his lips as he met her gaze.