Heart Of Phantom

"Trust Me"

The moment my alarm went off, I jumped out of bed, and threw on an old t-shirt, and ripped jeans. I practically ran out of my small house. I needed to see if Phantom was ok. I was going to begin training with him. I jumped in my car. I drove as fast as the law allow me to, and I arrived at the barn. The sun was hardly up. The moment I got there I saw a small crowd around Phantom's gate. They were watching the magnificent stallion gallop around his pasture. My aunt, Beatrice was in the crowd. There were many confused whispers, oh's and ah's, and an occasional "wow". "Oh yeah," I mumbled, "this is going to be great." I got out of my car, and drug my feet to my aunt, who I thought was going to tell me things like, "why is this stallion here," or "you can't just bring a random horse here." But instead, she said, "This horse is gorgeous did you find him? You were the last one here last night." I was surprised. "Uh, yeah I got him, someone just dumped him here," I began, "He was neglected pretty bad. I wanted to start training today." We were silent for awhile. Finally my aunt broke the pause saying, "I'm guessing that you want to get started, I'll take care of lessons today." I had forgotten all about the lessons. That day I was supposed to have four lessons. "Do you mind if I use Buster for the walk-trot lessons?" Said my aunt. "Sure," I answered "But watch his legs, yesterday I gave him a treat and his back legs sounded like they were going to fall off." My aunt chuckled and said, "I will, I promise!" I remembered the day my mom gave me Buster, back then he was much more energetic. Mom gave me him only a month before she died. I was in the hospital room with her. I quickly put that thought aside. Then, she escorted all of the others away from Phantom's gate. Once they were gone, I walked into the barn and grabbed an apple, a few carrots, and a lead rope. I wanted to lead him around without him exploding. I then made my way back to his gate, and I heard him whinnying. I walked into his gate and I shut it behind me. I could already hear his galloping, but it was getting much louder. Then, I saw the massive stallion  charging toward me. I held up my arms, to make myself look bigger. He made a sharp left turn and galloped away. "Alright," I said, "off to a spectacular start." I walked around frantically trying to find him. Then, (after what seemed like forever of walking) I found him. He was standing proudly in the corner of the pasture. I slowly walked up to him, and put down a carrot. I backed away. He then, walked forwards, and looked at me. I took a step forward, a slow one. He stayed put. He lowered his head down and hungrily ate it. I then put another down, only this time it was closer to my feet. He then took a step forward, a slow one, and took the carrot. We were only a few feet apart. I reached my hand out, slowly. I walked few steps forward, and my hand met his muzzle. He didn't move a single muscle. I felt him relax. I started to rub his face, and he stood calm. I then slowly began to fix his tight-fitting halter. First releasing the nose strap. Then the main buckle. He sighed from the relief. I noticed wounds from where the tight halter was. "Who would do that to you?" I said sickened, "this wouldn't even fit a pony!" Post finding the wounds, I took his halter off. I didn't want them to get worse. He nickers. I tied the lead rope around his neck. He jerked his head up, ripping the rope from my hands. He trotted a few yards away, then stopped. I just walked toward him. I then grabbed the rope. "Ok," I said quietly, "will you let me lead you?" I took a stride, he threw his head up. I lightly tugged the rope. He then took a step. I took two steps, he followed. Three, four, five. We continued this pattern for three hours. Until finally, I was able to lead him. At that point I was exhausted. I gave him the last of the carrots, and the one big,  juicy, red apple. He devoured the carrots, and happily munched the apple. "Alright," I began, "I'll come back in a minute, I want to get rid of this halter, and get some veteresin to put on your cuts." I took the rope off of his neck, and let him go. He immediately raced away. I walked out of his pasture, and walked to the barn, and climbed the loft. Then I grabbed a bale of hay, and threw it down. I lugged the heavy bale down to his pasture, put it down next to his water trough, and cut the lines that held it in place. He already had water. I went inside again and put away my rope, and threw his old halter in the trash. I went into the bright red emergency tack box, and grabbed the bottle of veteresin, and a soft cloth. I then walked to his pasture, and watched him dash around. He then ran towards the gate. And stopped before me. I gingerly dipped the clean cloth into his water trough. I then carefully cleaned his deep wounds. I then sprayed the veteresian on the newly cleaned wounds. "There, those should heal nicely." I said smiling. I held up my hand. He took a step forward. Then, his muzzle met my hand. He didn't even flinch. He looked at me with tranquil eyes. I felt tears build in my eyes, blurring my vision. "Will you trust me?" I said as a tear rushed down my face. He perked his ears up, and made a small noise. I rubbed his colossal head. Then just as everything was alright, I realized how difficult it will be to train him. Especially with collage to start worrying about. But I knew that one way or another, it was going to work out. We would become a team. A great team.