PHASE TWO

The stallion trotted around the paddock, pacing along the fence. For a food aggressive horse he sure hadn’t touched his morning feed. What was riling him up?

Light footsteps came from behind until two brown boots were next to mine. “How’s he doing?” It was Valerie; the estate vet.

I sighed and looked back up at him from the fence, “I’m not really sure what’s up with him. Hasn’t touched his food all morning and won’t stop pacing. I’m getting worried.”

“Understandable. We don’t know a thing about his true past and why he turned out how he did, so don’t blame yourself. I’ll take a closer look at him if you bring him out.” She exclaimed.

I nodded, grabbing the new green head collar I bought him. The rattle of the gate alerted him and he came prancing over eagerly. “Hey boy,” I said whilst slipping inside the paddock, “Oh don’t you look handsome today huh?”

I slid the head collar over his head whilst he rested on my shoulder; somehow he’s turned into a giant cuddle bug since meeting him.

He walked calmly next to me on a loose lead, his head staying close to my body. I brought him over to Valerie and slipped him a carrot - his favourite. She did a quick but thorough check of him, giving him a little scratch on the bum. “Physical health wise - he’s fine, but mental health wise.. I’d take a crazy guess and say he’s actually lonely.”

My jaw dropped, “Lonely? He hates other horses Val!” The creature in question turned to me and snorted.

She shrugged, “He might hate other horses, but have you considered other animals? For example, donkeys can be amazing companions.”

“So you want me to buy a donkey for a horse which might potentially also hate donkeys?”

She laughed, patting him on the neck, “I guess that’s exactly what I’m saying Clover.”

❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。

It had been three weeks since bringing a donkey to Clovervalley, and it had been the best three weeks so far.

Erastí (the name we had settled on for the little ‘mayhem’ stallion, meaning lover in Greek!’ took the little donkey straight under his wing like a proud father. It was an extremely scary and risky thing we attempted because as far as we knew Erastí hated other animals. But that was far from the case with Martin (the donkey - he has a funky personality; it’s fitting I promise).

The two were inseparable from the day we got Martin and I had never been happier. They would frolick around the field together and even share food together which was a huge step for Erastí. I truly believe he was misunderstood and had bad experiences with other horses which made him anxious around them. He wasn’t a nasty horse, just scared, and I’m so glad I was able to give him a second chance at life.