Phase Three - A Tale of Dragons, Thieves, and Therapy Kittens: Ferret’s Calling

After finding Missy in the corner of The Grove a few weeks back, Ferret had come on a surprising amount. It was surprising

To recap;

When Bai Jieying and Kodio Lockewood first laid eyes on the ginger loshenka, it hadn’t been for long. The lean stallion had swiftly trotted off towards the fencing, and though it was electrocuted, he had slipped through regardless. It was originally thought that he did this due to not being bonded to his fieldmates, therefore causing him distress, but when he was taken home to The Grove, he kept on finding new seamless escape routes, even though he seemed to enjoy the company of Viper, a Teddy Cob owned by one of Ferret’s new adoptive parents.

It turned out he was actuslly uncomfortable when he was far away from the trees - his paddock had to be half in the forest for him to feel sheltered and safe from things that might come at him from in the open. Once this was sorted, there was surprisingly a lot of things that fell into place as well.

It wasn’t only paddocks that he could escape - Ferret was named rather aptly, as he could squeeze his way out of anything. He was irritated at having things on him, such as rugs, halters, bridles, the lot. It was starting to grate on just about everyone’s nerves, when suddenly it struck Bai Anli, the manager of the yard - maybe the tack was itching him? He could have sensitive skin, or be just as picky with his accessories as he is his companions. They started to purchase softer products, with wool details or gentler fabric, and slowly, he began to accept that it wasn’t there to upset him.

Then the final problem: theft.

This was a hard one to sort. It started when Ferret had first met Missy, a little kitten who had been left by his mother to fend for itself. On one of Ferret’s adventures, he took in the kitten, and began to steal blankets and rugs for it to sleep in comfortably. Then he stole food, and then he tried taking the whole hosepipe closer…

Missy didn’t seem bothered by any of this. He attempted to hunt mice, he lapped at puddles, and he slept on Ferret’s back peacefully. Once he was discovered, Jade and Koda went about making a space in Ferret’s stall for him; he was very glad for it, but that brought another problem.

Apparently, it wasn’t just that Ferret enjoys escaping things: he gets nervous in containment. He hadn’t particularly been stables whilst he was at The Grove, so the first attempt was less than fruitful.

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It was time for the farrier to begin his first session with Ferret, and everyone was hopeful: the stallion had been getting used to being tied up in the barn, and he had never seemed to have an issue with having his feet or legs touched.

Key word; seemed.

When the farrier got there, he made a passive comment about how chilled out Ferret was - dozing, eyes closed, kitten in a basket by his nose. But when he heard the clinking of the farrier’s tools, he stiffened up, ears back and eyes slightly glazed over. The farrier was gentle with him, and they got half way through one foot before they brought out the rasp, and within a minute Ferret had slipped out of his halter and began to kick off down the barn. Missy mewed quietly, and Ferret skidded to a halt, hesitantly beginning to walk back like a child who had just been caught trying to steal candy. Someone offered to put him in the stall, and sadly, this made him worse.

At the same point, Ferret leapt over the stable door and beelined straight to the feed room, burying his nose in the hay, one leg raised as if to warn people away.

‘Hey, Ferret, boy, what’s up wi’ ya? This isn’t like you. Just stand, he won’t hurt you, yeah? We won’t keep you tied up.’ Koda approached him quietly, slipping the headcollar over his ears and beginning to lead him to an outside tying spot. They didn’t use the rasp anymore - that could be a future training point.

‘Keep this, I’ve got spares. See if you can get him used to it, and if you need a hand at any point, give me a call and I’ll come over. From what you’ve told me, you’ve done really well with him so far. Don’t give up,’ the farrier nodded, handing over the rasp before beginning to walk back to his car. When he opened the door, a fluffy brown dog leapt out, trotting over to Jade with a gentle bark.

‘Jake! There you are!’ Jade grinned as the dog rolled over, covering his fur in dirt whilst his soft belly got scritches. ‘Koda, you reckon Ferret wants an emotional support dog?’

‘Hah! You can have him, too, mate. My wife’s not best pleased I got another pup,’ The gruff man shrugged. ‘Keep him as a trial. If he gets on here, you can have ‘im.’

‘You’re messin’ with me,’ Jade narrowed his eyes at the man as he got in his van.

‘Nah, nah. He’s a good dog.’ That was all he had to say before he grinned at Bai Anli and drove off down the path in the white van.

‘Mama, did you-‘ Jade turned around, but the woman just shrugged briefly, smiled subtly and began to walk away. ‘—mamaaa!’

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‘So— you watched him escape his stall like a master and suddenly he absolutely, one hundred percent has to be a prospect in hunter jumping?’ Koda asked incredulously, gesturing at the handsome stallion tacked up in shining brown tack, a pro-lite pad and a white numnah.

‘… yeah, basically.’ Jade nodded, humming as he fastened his helmet and zipped up his back protector. ‘He’s been doing really well in his pole exercises, so why not give it a go?’

‘Okay, brave of you.’ Koda huffed quietly, shaking his head and taking Ferret’s reins to lead him towards the school. It was decently set up - square, with lots of space in the sand, and two little straight jumps, about forty centimetres high, at either end. Kodio lined the ginger horse up with the mounting block, and he could see Ferret get a little bit nervous in his bridle, so he patted him quietly whilst Jade got on. ‘You good up there? Girth done? Stirrups short?’

‘Don’t worry so much, we’ll be fine. I want to see if I’m right,’ Jade mumbled as he began to walk. Ferret carried himself very well - he put one foot in front of the other like a duchess’ steed, head held central and comfortably, listening to his rider’s cues. He was a sensitive horse - he wore a bitless bridle, and he only needed the gentlest of nudges to move forwards. Where they had originally expected him to be stubborn, he was an angel.

Jake came padding up behind Koda, sitting next to the brunette, tongue out and eyes glistening. He had successfully become part of the Ferret-Missy duo, but he was also very fond of Koda’s Parakeet, and when Ferret and Missy were too busy sleeping to be playing, the big dog would go sniffing the little palomino gelding out for fun. It was surprisingly unexpected, seeing as thought Parakeet was loud and proud, he was often a bit skittish in the face of frightening creatures such as strange humans and unknown animals - but Jake seemed to get on with him easily.

Kodio watched as Ferret quietly went into a trot, the movements on the tall horse steady and collected, for the most part; he seemed to be fairly young - around five or six, the vets had guessed -  and so he was still getting used to being in work. He seemed to have been backed before he had been given to The Grove, and it was clear to see that his ridden work well surpassed his groundwork. He was level-headed and sensible, perfect in the first three gaits, and the way he picked his feet up over poles was enough to make anyone realise how much potential he has.

But on the ground? It was as though he had been given to a twelve year old to do whatever they please with him, except he is much too large and opinionated for such a child.

And apparently, that’s what had happened. Koda could remember the conversation surprisingly well:

‘Hi! I’m calling from The Grove in Western Lyna, my name is Kodio Lockewood and me and a friend have recently adopted a Loshenka stallion; your number was in his passport, and I was wondering if this was who owned him first? He’s Ginger with Tobiano, birdcatcher spots and two green eyes.’ Koda had greeted the person down the phone line.

‘Oh? Yes, I know the one you mean. He was my daughter’s. Bit of a nasty creature; when we had him, anyway. How’s he like with you?’ A woman replied, a sharp voice but a soft tone that indicated she meant no ill will.

‘Well, it’s been a bit of a struggle to understand him, but he’s making some substantial work. I was wondering if you could give me a little bit of history on him?’

‘Why, of course, dear. I bought him for my daughter when she turned twelve - in the advert, I was told he was turning fourteen, worked in a trekking centre for most of his life after a stroke of bad luck in the jumping ring. He sounded rather perfect, and my daughter had just had to stop loaning her old gelding, so I purchased him - rather stupidly, on my behalf. When the vets came out, they told me he was only around three or four, but he had in fact been being jumped rather professionally regardless. I was disappointed I had been lied to, but until then, he’d shown no signs of being difficult, so I continued to let my daughter look after him. But she’d come in with scrapes and bruises every day - wild on the ground, constantly breaking through fences, kicking down stables, things going missing constantly… we just couldn’t afford to give him the home and training he needed and wanted. So we sent him to someone to train and eventually sell him. Where did you say you purchased him, might I ask?’

‘Oh, that’s devastating to hear. Me and my friend Jade got him from somewhere called Sagebrush in their annual makeover event - they take in horses that need help or re-habilitation and give them out to supposedly responsible homes.’

‘Oh, my! He must’ve been passed around just about everywhere from north to south, poor darling. He never seemed to do anything out of violence, just fright. I’m ever so glad he’s gone to a good home now,’ Koda could almost hear the woman beaming as she spoke. ‘I hope it’s not too much to ask, if I could maybe bring my daughter to visit him at some point? Just to make her feel better about how he’s doing now.’

‘Of course you can. I’m sure Ferret would be delighted to see her again,’ He smiled softly.

‘Ferret? What a fitting name.’ The woman mused.

So here they were - an off-roading car pulling up in the car park by the barn, a family of three being led over by Bai Anli. The mother, Lilly, her daughter, May, and her husband, Sam, walked over with a skip in their step as Koda watched Ferret cantering around the school in his warm-up. Every time he passed the jumps, his ears flicked forwards, as if anticipating it - if he had had jumping history, maybe he would enjoy it still. But if he had gotten an injury from it, maybe he’s nervous? He just hoped it was the former.

‘He looks so pretty! How’s he been doing? Still crashing into everything?’ May asked, leaning over the fence to get a better view.

‘Surprisingly not - when we got him, he’d evolved from that, and he’s taken to finding ways to get through that we had never even thought of. One time, in the forest paddock, he used a fallen down tree like a tight-rope to walk up and jump over the fence. I couldn’t find him for an hour,’ Koda sighed as he remembered. Lilly had gotten distracted by Missy, who had now woken up from his afternoon nap and had taken to sitting by her feet, purring at the scratches he was getting. ‘Oh, right; that’s Ferret’s therapy cat, Missy. Missile Launcher, technically, but he’s just Missy at home.’

‘… therapy cat? Why does he have one of them?’ May queried, eyes wide with curiosity. She was a nice girl.

‘Ferret actually chose him himself. Whenever he got out of his field, he’d go running down to a bit in the yard I didn’t even know you could get to. He’d steal blankets and rugs and pile them up for Missy to sleep in; if I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t have believed it.’

‘Woah..!’

After another five minutes or so of conversation, Bai Anli went into the school and began to help coach her son around the exercise for Ferret. Trot up to the jump on the left, go round, change the rein, go round again, go over the jump on the right. At first Ferret refused, taking a moment to look at the fence, but the second time, he cantered towards it stubbornly and leapt with a surprising amount of scope - well, it shouldn’t be surprising, given his skills at escaping just about anything, but with such a small jump, no-one expected him to go that high in the air. Jade certainly didn’t, and as Ferret landed, he let out a ‘jeez-‘ and patted the horse as they cantered away.

‘Woah! No wonder he can get out of stuff so easily, he’s a natural!’ May exclaimed, grinning as she watched Ferret go Robin again. After a couple more jumps, Jade slowed him back to a walk and they halted by the fence line.

‘Well, isn’t he a good boy?’ Koda grinned, petting the ginger Loshenka with a grin.

‘Very clever. Would you beli- oh, goodness me.’ Jade paused his comment as Missy leapt onto the fence and onto his lap, little black paws kneading into Ferret’s neck with a purr.

Well, at least that’s settled. Over the past few months, Bai Jieying and Kodio Lockewood had seen it all: they had watched a stubborn stallion in his most sensitive ways, helped him to be comfortable in his home, and find new friends he could feel safe with. He may still be learning to get past his struggles, like accepting that the rasp won't hurt him, but he'll certainly get there.