The Colt That Could

Vet Checks

Later that day, West headed back to the barn to check on the mare and the colt. "You guys need names. I could start work on your plaques to go on the stall door" she smiled, talking to her horses as though they could understand her. "How about. Athena and Mischief? Athena is a beautiful name. It's perfect. And Mischief is a perfect name for a cute little colt" she smiled, leaning over the stall door.

The mare, now named Athena, snorted, throwing her head slightly. The action earned a soft chuckled from West. "Okay, I won't call your son Mischief. It's such a cute name though" pouted West, smiling as the colt walked towards the door. Craning his head up to her. His eyes watched her. Shining orbs gazing up at West, thankful and loving.

With a smile, West entered the stall slowly. Closing the door behind her, before she reached out to the colt. He responded by sniffing her hand, before he pressed his nose against her palm. "Hey Mischief" said West softly, rubbing his nose gently. She knew she had to take things slow. But she'd move at the pace her horses wanted to. If Mischief was this inquistive already, she'd move at the pace he wanted, and she'd try and encourage this kind of behaviour to an extent.

Athena, the mare, sniffed West's shoulder, before she returned to eating. Not taking any negative action towards West and her colt. Quick progress, but it was necessary. West wasn't going to say "Bond" already. Bonds took a while to form, and this wasn't a bond. This was just the beginning of trust. Bonds formed through other interactions such as grooming, bathing, playing and just general contact on a daily basis.

Danny smiled as he walked up to the stall with the vet following behind him. "West, Craig is here to check the horses" he said, watching the colt and how he was interacting with West. It was unique really. Each horse acted differently with every person. Just hours earlier, the colt had been pulling to break away from the slaughter owner, now he was willingly staying close to West in a relaxed manner. It was enough proof that the colt and the mare were starting to trust West.

Craig smiled. "Do they have names West?" he asked, getting out his paperwork to start files for the horses. "The colt is Mischief, and the mare is Athena. They're great names. Perfect names" she smiled, looking to Craig as the colt nickered softly. Craig nodded, writing the names down on two separate sheets, before he motioned for West to lead the colt out of the stall. "Could you bring him out?"

West led Mischief out of the stall with ease, patting his neck gently as a comfort. Once they were out of the stall, Craig began his checks. Checking Mischief's hooves, eyes, nose, ears and teeth. All seemed fine, and the colt seemed lively enough. Though a bit on the skinny side. "Just feed him up a little, and he'll be fine. He's just a little skinny for his age, nothing too serious though. I'll have to take a blood sample to register his blood type, then we'll be done with Mischief" said Craig with a smile as he grabbed a needle from his kit. Within seconds, he had a blood sample, and Michief seemed none the wiser.

"Now for Athena. Mischief can stay out of the stall if he has to, but he can go back into the stall too" said Craig, motioning to Athena.

West led Mischief back into the stall, and returned to Craig with Athena. The mare seemed a little more cautious, and remained close to West. Showing slight fear of the vet. "I think it's your cap, Craig. Take it off" said West, patting Athena's neck reassuringly. Craig took his cap off, handing it to Danny. Before he carefully and slowly stepped towards Athena. Allowing the mare to sniff his hand first before he forced any contact. Once Athena had sniffed his hand, he gently placed it on her neck, smiling when she didn't give a negative response.

He ran through the same checks that he had done with Mischief. He had to clean her ears to remove dirt, but nothing seemed to be seriously wrong. Her eyes seemed fine, her nose was fine too. Her teeth looked okay, and her hooves didn't seem to have any issues. "You must have got to them before any harm could come to them. Both seem to be in good health more or less, despite being a bit on the skinny side. They musn't have been getting fed, and I'm guessing they were at the slaughter yard for around 2 maybe 2 and half weeks. You got them pretty quick, and it's good that you did. Any longer, and they'd have been starved to death. You've got two greatful horses here, West. I know you're gonna take good care of em'. And I'm gonna analyse these blood samples. Both the mare and the colt have some similarities with two very special horses, and I want to check something out for you"

West nodded with a smile, leading Athena back into her stall. "It's nothing bad, right?" she asked, slightly worried. "No no. Nothing bad. Infact. It's rather exciting, and has great prospects for the future. I'll call you with the results later on tonight, and I promise you won't be disappointed"

Danny smiled, "Great, we look forwards to it. Thank you for coming out on such short notice" He shook Craig's hand with a smile, glancing back at West who was now staying inside the stall with her horses. "Not a problem. So I'll call you later" said Craig with a smile, before he turned and jogged back to his truck. Eager to get back to analyse the blood samples.

"Excited?" asked Danny, looking to West. "Very" she said with a smile.

The results would change their lives.