Page 22 of Brim Over Boot
Aside from that, she also keeps chickens. A wholelotof them. Her eggs are the best you can get at Plum’s Grocers.
When I arrive on her property, I head inside the massive indoor arena, making my way up the stairs to her perch overlooking three separate training rings. As expected, Marie is there, giving instructions from on high to her students.
“Marie,” I say quietly, although I’m sure she heard me coming.
“Morning, Colton.”
“Anything I need to know before I set to work?”
“Watch your timing, Andrea!” Marie calls to one of the riders. “Nearly nicked the board on the way down. You’re jumping early and pulling your punches. Try again, and this time don’t slow as you near the board.” Turning, she says at a much softer volume, “Yes, in fact. I’ve got a horse in stall nineteen without a shoe.”
“How’d that happen?”
“Hit a block just right,” she answers. “Enough to pull the shoe away from his hoof on one side. I would’ve called you in, but it only happened an hour ago. We removed it the rest of the way and set him up in his stall.”
“Any damage from the nails that broke free?” I ask.
An almost-smile touches the corner of Marie’s lips. “Not that I could tell. They snapped cleanly. Almost like someone knew what they were doing when they set them.”
I hold back my scoff. “It’s certainly not my first rodeo.”
Truth is it’s not uncommon for a nail to cause a little damage on the way out if they’re pulled wrong. We crimp the ends to keep the nails—and thus the shoe—in place, like tiny hooks. Then we rasp the metal even with the outside of the hoof so the surface is nice and smooth. That also ensures the bent edge of the nail is thin enough to snap if enough pressure is applied to it.
They’re meant to break cleanly so the nail can pull straight out, but that doesn’t always happen under duress. Especially if a farrier doesn’t crimp right.
It’s a good thing I know what I’m doing.
“I’ll head to stall nineteen first,” I tell Marie, knowing she’ll want me to start with that horse.
“Appreciate it,” she says. I’m halfway to the exit when she adds, “Oh, Colton? I’ve got another fifteen horses arriving in less than two weeks. They’ll be staying here through the summer for some workshops I’ve got going on. Can you shoe them when they arrive?”
I chew on the inside of my cheek, mentally running over my schedule that Iknowis full. “You need ’em done right away?”
“Would prefer it. I want them ready to ride and on the same routine as the rest.”
“Let me see what I can do,” I tell her.
Marie gives me a nod and turns back to her work. Once on ground level, I check my phone only to confirm thatyep. My calendar for the next few weeks is booked solid. Slipping a single horse in wouldn’t be a big deal, but fifteen? I could rearrange things some, I’m sure. Work a handful of twelve-hour days in a row.Or…
I dismiss the thought before it can fully take shape and carry my things over to stall nineteen. The horse inside is a handsome brown Westphalian I recognize instantly.
“Well, hey there, Ludo. I hear you lost a shoe?”
The horse snuffles my palm when I open the door, letting me rub over his muzzle and along his neck. After a good minute of petting, I give his halter a gentle tug, and he dutifully follows me out of the stall.
It doesn’t take long to outfit Ludo with a new set of shoes. And Marie was right. There’s not a single bit of damage to his hoof wall from the nails pulling through.
With a small sigh, my mind returns to my busy schedule and the fact that I wouldn’t be taking care of Ludo here in the first place if it wasn’t for me running my damn mouth last year and losing Noah this job.
Fuck.
I could rearrange my entire schedule.Or… I could tell Marie to grab Noah for the influx of horses.
I wait until I’m done with Ludo to return up to Marie’s perch. She gives me a quick look before her focus returns to her students. “Yes?”
“I think you should hire Noah for the extra horses,” I tell her. “It’ll be difficult for me to fit them into my schedule on such short notice.”
Not a lie, even though I know I could manage it.
