Children of Toil ✔

Chapter Three

Lucan walked into the stables to find Jacko bending down with the horse's hoof in his hands. "There you are, Jacko," he called. The horse jerked at the sound of his voice.

"What the fuck, Lucan?" Jacko scowled. "You don't come in shouting the place down. Some of these horses aren't good with loud noises and such."

With a coy look, Lucan said, "Sorry, Jacko. I didn't realise."

Nudging his head, Jacko said, "I guess that'll be lesson one. Never go rushing or shouting and carrying on around horses you don't know."

"Yeah sure," Lucan grimaced. "Didn't think about that. The pit ponies never made a fuss. Poor bastards just put up with all the goings on."

"This horse ain't no pit pony. I call her Claire. She's a nice quiet mare about six years old and a good one for you to learn on." Jacko rubbed his hand down the horse's neck, and then walked to the wall and took hold of a leather strap. "Lesson two. This is a bridle." He held it for Lucan to see and strolled back to the horse. "You put the reins over the horse's neck to hold her steady then slip the bridle over her nose and press the bit against her mouth." Jacko looked at Lucan to make sure he understood, and then continued, "Give it a wiggle and if she won't open her mouth put your thumb between her teeth and push. Then pull the bridle higher over her ears and do up the throatlatch." Jacko stood back to show Lucan. "To take it off, just undo the throatlatch and pull it down her nose. She'll open her mouth to let go of the bit."

He handed the bridle to Lucan. "Your turn."

The horse moved its head up and down which made the job difficult. Jacko laugh. "She knows ya don't know what you're doing. They're not stupid so you'll have to be more confident. Here let me show you again." Jacko took the bridle from Lucan and slipped it over the mare's head, and then removed it. He patted Lucan on the back. "See, easy as that. Let's take a walk outside and come back in a minute to give her some time to settle cause she'll get sick of it if ya don't get it right."

They went to the water tank and had a drink. When Lucan approached the horse again, he held out his hand and let her sniff him then rubbed his palm down her neck. Once she seemed to accept him, he positioned the bridle and slid it over her head.

Jacko grinned. "Not so tricky, was it? We'll take her for a walk." He opened the stall's door.

Lucan led Claire outside.

"Walk her around, Lucan. No, no." Jacko flapped his hands. "Stand on the left side, just remember it's the left side that you get on and off, forget the right side." Again he waved his hands to indicate where he wanted Lucan to stand. "Now give her a pat to let her get to know you and don't pull on the reins when you walk on" Jacko watched Lucan do what he was told. "Yeah. That's good. How does that feel?"

Lucan nodded to let Jacko know he was comfortable. He walked the horse, stopped and moved forward again.

"It's best not to tie a horse solid unless there are a lot of people or it's busy." Jacko took the reins.  "If they get startled they can hurt themselves if they're tied too tight." He looked at Lucan and added, "I'm sure you can tie a rope so ya won't need ta have a go." With a grin, Jacko added, "You can tie a rope can't ya, Irish?"

Lucan sniggered, "How about I tie a noose for ya?"

"Just checkin'." Jacko laughed. He led the horse into the stable. "I always give them a brush before I put the saddle on. Any grit can make 'em pretty unhappy. Here you have a go. I'll be back in a minute." He tossed the brush to Lucan.

Jacko came back with a saddle and cloth. "Righto I'll do it first and you watch me." He threw the saddle cloth over the horses back, and then positioned the saddle. He explained each step to Lucan and when he was finished he stood back so Lucan could see the end result. "Your turn," he said as he removed it.