Phase 1 | 6505's Arrival At CV Estate

I looked down at my watch. 11:37 AM. The trailer dropping off my Loshenka project horse is going to be here in less than half an hour. I need to prepare. What to prepare though? I’ve already set up a stall and have a halter in hand. I think this is the most stressed I've ever been to meet a horse. Should I call someone? Maybe Madison would be up? But then again, she doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to answering calls. Once I fell off of Hallows during a trail ride, so I called her to get some help. Yeah she didn’t answer. I was out in the middle of the woods, with no sight of Hallows for hours. I did finally manage to find Hallows and walk back to the stable on foot by 9 PM though. Let’s just say I was a little angry with her once I got back.

“Hey there are you alright?” A groom walking by asked. I’m sure I looked pretty rough, I hadn’t slept at all last night. “Yeah I’m fine. Just getting my first makeover horse from Sagebrush Sanctuary today.” I responded. “Oh, haha if you need my help just let me know. I was at a different stable before I moved here to Clovervalley Estate and have seen a few of the horses from Sagebrush pass through.” He said, while entering one of the stalls. “Are they difficult?” I asked hesitantly. What if 6505, who was the stallion that was going to be dropped off, was difficult? “Sometimes. Other times you’d never guess they were ever in a difficult predicament.” He said, his voice had that familiar echo that indicated someone was in a stall. “Best of luck to you. It may not be the easiest thing, but from what I’ve seen most trainers come out of the other side a better person.” He said, coming out of the stall. “I’m Elijah.” He said softly while shaking my hand. “I’m Allison, but everyone calls me Ali.” I responded. Just then, my phone rang. I picked it up, and it was the one and only Sagebrush Sanctuary. I carefully hit the answer button and held the phone up to my ear. “This is Allison Traric speaking correct?” The person on the other side of the line said. “Yes, that is correct.” I responded trying to keep down my nerves. I wasn’t told much about my project, just that he’d pretty much been through hell. He was in a trailer accident when he was younger, so now he is petrified of trailers. Leave it to me to get the hardest horse in the makeover. Well maybe not the hardest. But- “Allison are you still there?” The person asked. Oh shit I completely forgot I was on the phone. “Yes! Sorry.” I replied. “Like I was saying, 6505 is a complicated horse. The moment we open the trailer doors he will bolt. Do you have somewhere we can pull the trailer into, so once we open the doors he can’t just bolt anywhere? A stable is recommended, because trust me, I’ve seen 6505 in action and he will get out of any pen you throw him in, in about 30 seconds.” The person warned. “Hmm, yes I think if you guys would pull the trailer to the stallion stable we can make it work. I’ll need, what, like 15 minutes to prepare the stables so he can’t get out? Does that work for you guys?” I asked, my heart beating out of my chest. “Yeah that works fine for us, just so you are aware though, he is the only horse in the trailer. We couldn’t put anyone with him. God knows we tried that once to calm him down, and let's just say it didn’t go as planned.” The person warned again. My heart dropped. I hoped that using another horse to relax him in the trailer would work. “Okay. I can work with that.” I lied. “Good.” The person on the line said. “If you don’t have any more questions I suggest you get that stable ready.” They said. “Of, of course.” I said and hung up.

“Sounds like that one isn’t going to be one of the easy ones.” Elijah sighed. “You want some help getting the stable ready?” He asked. “Yes. That would be amazing. I’m thinking we close all the stalls and doors except for the door they need to back the trailer in, and his stall.” I said. “He doesn’t have a name?” Elijah asked. “I honestly don’t know. They never told me a name. Just that he’s a stallion.” I responded. Elijah sighed. “Let’s get the stable ready before you start thinking about how hard he’s going to be alright?” Elijah suggested and started shutting stall doors. I got up from the hay I was sitting on, and joined him. “Should we put a notice somewhere so no one opens any doors?” I asked. “That’s a good idea. I’ll text the groom's group chat.” Elijah agreed and pulled out his phone.

By the time all the doors were shut, and everything was prepared I could hear the faint sounds of a trailer pulling into the driveway… And a horse freaking out. I guess this is real. 6505, my project horse did indeed have issues with the trailer. “We should go out to meet the trailer and guide them to this barn.” Elijah suggested. I nodded and grabbed the halter I was planning on using before being informed that a halter would not do the trick. 

We walked out to the parking lot, where a small trailer and 3 guys were. One was still inside the truck pulling the trailer, and the other two came to greet me and Elijah. “You must be Allison Traric.” One of the guys said while shaking my hand. “I’m Mark.” Mark said, and introduced me and Elijah to Gabe, and Josh who was still inside the truck. 

“We’ll need you to sign these papers, and these here are for you to keep and reference as you work with 6505.” Mark said, handing me a clipboard with a lot of papers, and a pen. He handed the other papers to Elijah. I quickly scanned over the papers, and signed. They were mostly saying if you don’t finish the makeover we have every right and will take back the horse. After I signed, I handed the clipboard back to Mark. “I just have a few questions before we get started.” I said. Mark nodded. “Go ahead and ask ‘em and we’ll do our best to answer them.” “So, does 6505 have a name?” I asked. Mark sighed. “No, at Sagebrush we don’t really use their names, just their ID since it's easier to manage.” He said. “Okay. Do you know if 6505 has any groundwork work?” I questioned. “Hmm, I’m not too sure. But Cal will know. Cal was the one who mainly worked with 6505, I can call him if you want?” Mark responded. “That would be great if you could do that.” I said. Mark nodded and pulled out his phone.

“Hey Cal. I’m here with the new handler of 6505, and she wanted to know if you’ve done any groundwork, and how he is with that.” Mark said. He paused, listening to Cal I assumed. “Alright.” “Yeah.” “I can let her know.” “That works for me.” Mark said and hung up the phone. “Alright, so Cal has done a bit of groundwork with 6505. He says that 6505 isn’t bad, and is actually pretty good at it. He suspects 6505 might have done some jumping work before the trailer incident.” Mark stated. “Any more questions?” He asked. “Nope. That’s all, thank you.” I said. Mark nodded.

“Let’s get started shall we? Where is the barn that you want us to drop 6505 off into?” Mark asked. It seemed like Mark was calling the shots. “We’ll be heading to the stallion barn, which once you get on the dirt road will be the first right, and down the road past the paddock.” Elijah responded. “Alright. Let’s do this.” Mark said and hopped back into the truck. Gabe followed. I could hear my horse. He was definitely frightened. I looked to Elijah for encouragement and he nodded.

Once the trailer was finally backed into the barn just enough for my new horse not to escape, Mark ensured that there was no way for him to get out. We had to shut the run in the stall for 6505, because Mark said he’d hop right out with the trailer this close. The trailer was quite literally shaking because of my horse. I could hear his strong hooves hitting the walls and floor of the trailer. “Mark, was he like this the whole way here?” I asked, nodding to the trailer. “Mhm, all 3 hours of the trip.” He replied and walked over to Josh and Gabe who were now standing beside the trailer.

“Alright, here’s the plan. I’ll open the door to the trailer, and everyone will stay calm and try to guide 6505 into the stall. Worst case he won’t go in, best case he’ll run straight in. Once he’s in, you’ll need to shut and secure the stall door. He is an escape artist, so try not to let him escape.” Mark said pointing at me. I nodded. My heart started racing as Mark opened the door to the trailer. Very quickly, a dark chestnut Loshenka raced out of the trailer. He glanced at me, and ran right into the stall. I quickly shut the door. “Whew.” I said as I locked the stall door. 6505 was panicking in the stall, but at least he was contained. Some treats would do him good.

“We’ll be on our way. Good luck with that one.” Mark said, Elijah gave them a farewell as I stayed with 6505. “You’ll need a name if you are to be taken seriously. 6505 won’t do well.” I said, still standing outside the stall. The hum of the trailer turning on startled 6505 even more, and he began to pace the stall. I guess he could do worse. Gabe, Josh, and Mark quickly left, and with them the sound of the trailer. 6505 seemed to calm down a little bit once the sound of the trailer was gone, but he still paced the stall. He looked rather rough. His hooves were chipped, his eyes showed fear, he had a few cuts most likely from the trailer he fought for over three hours. I’d need to get the vet out asap, not only to check his injuries but also to clear him so he’ll be able to go out into the paddocks with the other horses. 

I went and grabbed a few treats, and by the time I got back 6505 calmed down even more. Now he was just standing in his stall. At least he was calming down. I opened the stall, and still saw fear in his eyes. I opened my hand to reveal a treat. 6505 sniffed and cautiously took the treat. “There you go. Not so bad huh? Nothing like a few yummy treats to soften you up.” I said, speaking softly. I grabbed a few more treats I stuffed into my pocket and offered them to 6505. “I hate calling you 6505, you need a name. A real name. One that represents you.” I spoke. 6505 grabbed the treats from my hand. I giggled as he licked my hand. He seemed to enjoy me giggling. He nudged me, which I couldn’t say was exactly a good behavior but in the moment it seemed lighthearted and gentle. 

“You two are getting off to a good start.” Elijah said. “Haha, yeah he’s not so bad.” I said giggling as 6505 tried getting into my pocket to reach the treats. “You would have thought that this was one of the scardest horses on earth, but he warmed right up to you. I read the papers they had on him, and so far he is looking to be the exact opposite.” Elijah spoke and reached a hand into the stall to try and pet the stallion, but 6505 paid no attention and kept trying to get the treats in my pocket. “Alright then.” Elijah laughed. I nodded, I’d need to read the papers soon. “I’ll leave you two to get accustomed, but here’s my number, call me if you need anything.” Elijah said while handing me a piece of paper. I reached out and grabbed it, and tucked it into my other pocket. “Elijah, one thing. Where did you put the papers Sagebrush had on him?” I asked. “Ah, I put them in the tack room, inside the locker for this stall.” Elijah responded, nodding towards the tack room. “Alright. Thank you Elijah for everything.” I said. Elijah nodded and headed off.

I stayed in the stall with 6505 for a while, doing nothing really. Just standing there, petting him and even sitting down a little in the corner of the stall. He was going to do well here, I was sure of it. 

I nodded off, probably from lack of sleep. When I awoke, 6505 was laying beside me with his head on my leg.