must be me, then! Don’t pay any attention to my creative meanderings. As a professional photographer I see things differently than most people. When I noticed you walking yesterday, you had such an easy grace that you reminded me of a wolf. That was a compliment, by the way.” She laughed nervously.
Wes found himself charmed by Kam’s innocence and the way she saw her world. Just as abruptly, he yanked himself from her spell. “Well, I’ve been called many things in my life, but never a wolf. Thank you.”
Halting at a box stall on the right, Wes opened it and took the halter of a small pinto and led him out to the cross ties. After he quickly hooked the horse’s halter into the metal panic snaps, the gelding stood quietly between them. “This is Freckles. He’s a mustang, very small but tough.” Wes ran his hand over the paint’s brown-and-white body near the withers. “Chappy thought Freckles would be ideal for you. He’s fifteen years old, savvy about things and will keep you out of trouble on the trail if you’ll let him.” Ruffling his hand through Freckles’s chestnut-and-white silky mane, Wes added, “Freckles is used for the kids who come here to the dude ranch over the summer. He’s one of our safest horses because he was a wild mustang as a youngster. Mustangs are a lot smarter because their wild nature is close to the surface. For instance, if you’re riding down a trail and he spots a rattlesnake, he’ll stop in his tracks and won’t move. He’ll let you have the time to look ahead of him to spot the snake. Some horses will bolt. Others won’t even see the snake and will step on it or get too close and get bitten. But Freckles won’t.”
Kam nodded and moved to where Wes was resting his hand on the horse’s withers. Freckles had big brown eyes set in his small, short head. She liked the alert look in them. Running her hand down his smooth, silky neck, she said, “He sounds perfect. I’m glad he’s not a real tall horse. I have this fear of falling and killing myself. At least if I fall off Freckles, it’s a short trip to the ground.” She grinned.
Wes nodded. “I’m sure Chappy can set up some riding lessons for you when Iris gives you time off.”
Patting Freckles, Kam marveled over the patterns of chestnut and white across his body. “He’s beautifully marked, Wes.”
Standing opposite her, the mustang between them, Wes was glad Freckles was where he was. It would be too easy to reach out and graze Kam’s hand as it rested on the horse’s neck. No, he had to keep his hands off Kam. “Yeah, he’s what they call a Medicine Hat mustang. They have a very special set of markings.” He showed her the brown color across the top of Freckles’s head. “You see this brown that looks like a hat over the top of his head and ears?”
“Yes.”
“That’s called a Medicine Hat pattern. The Native Americans valued a horse with this bonnet because it had powerful medicine. Many of these marked mustangs were kept as breeding stallions to the Native American herds. Iris has a medicine hat stallion named Lightning Bolt. She started a mustang-breeding program on this ranch about forty years ago. We have a paint mustang herd that’s internationally known. Iris sells medicine hat babies all over the world.”
“She’s an amazing woman,” Kam said. “What foresight to save a valuable animal and its genetic line.”
Wes nodded. “Believe me, you’ll find Iris the heart and soul of Elkhorn Ranch.” He walked to the tack room and found a blanket and saddle. Coming back, he set them on the floor and quickly brushed Freckles. “This is what you’ll do before riding him. A horse needs to be well-brushed.” He took a hoof pick from his back pocket. “You need to clean his hooves and pick out any stones or stuff that might be trapped inside the clefts of his hoof. Let me show you how.”
Kam came over and watched Wes pick up one of Freckles’s front legs. He held the horse’s pastern in his large, rough hand. Their heads almost touched as Kam observed him expertly pulling out debris from the two clefts on the hoof. His masculine scent dizzied her, acting like an aphrodisiac.
“See?” Wes said, allowing Freckles to set that leg down once more. He could feel Kam’s warmth, she was that close to him. Gulping, he handed her the hoof pick. “Your turn. I’ll guide you in cleaning his other three hooves.”
Wes’s fingers were rough and Kam’s hand tingled as he dropped the hoof pick into her palm. “Right. Okay, here we go.” She walked to the other side of Freckles, patted him and said, “Be kind to me, Freckles. I’m a rank beginner.”
Once again, Wes stood within inches of her as she lifted the mustang’s front leg. He took her hand and repositioned it so that Freckles’s hoof was cradled comfortably in her palm. Just the act of touching her sent a thrill through him. “Okay, now you can clean his hoof,” Wes told her, his voice slightly off-key. Would she notice how she affected him?
“Good work,” he praised. “Now, watch how I move beside Freckles to lift his back leg. You always stay close to the horse. Should one kick, they won’t have the arcing power to really hurt you if you’re close to them. The farther you stand away from them, the more they can injure you. Now, Freckles is not a kicker, but any horse under certain circumstances might become one. If threatened they will automatically kick to defend themselves. Stay close, put your left hand on his rump to let him know where you’re at. Keep the left side of your body in contact. Then, gently run your right hand down his hock here to his pastern just above his hoof.”
Kam watched Wes with avid interest. In no time, he had Freckles’s rear leg up and the hoof resting on his left thigh just above his knee. “You make this look easy,” she said with a smile.
Wes allowed Freckles to stand on all four feet. He backed off and let Kam replace him. “It’s easy once you get the motion and contact with the horse. Go ahead, give it a try.”
To his surprise, Kam managed it perfectly. She was a fast learner, there was no doubt. Soon, she had both rear hooves cleaned and started to hand the hoof pick to him. He held up his hand in protest.
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