Copper View Ranch

"Soph, honey it's time to wake up. We need your help feeding the horses," Emily's voice woke Sophia from her sleep as she gently shook her shoulder. Sophia groaned, rolling over on her bed before squinting up sleepily at her mother. Emily smiled before disappearing out the door and suddenly one of the ranch dogs jumped up against the side of her bed, attempting to lick her face.

"Ew, Bessie go away," Sophia groaned as she pushed the dog's face away. "Fine, I'm getting up." She stifled a yawn as she got out of bed, glancing at the clock. 6:30. She stumbled into her bathroom and flicked on the light, hardly noticing the border collie scampering back downstairs.

A few minutes later Sophia pulled on a pair of jeans and a tank top, wrapping a hoodie around her waist. Although it was summer, it could be quite cool in the morning before the sun was up. She then returned to the bathroom to brush her hair and put on her make up as she usually does every morning. Just as she was applying some eye shadow she heard the front door open.

"Soph, c'mon, we could really use a hand out here," Ethan called up the stairs. Sophia scowled as she put her eye shadow down.

"In a minute!" she yelled back, hardly meaning to sound quite so annoyed as she did. She couldn't help it, she simply wasn't a morning person and people were best to stay out of her way until she was fully awake. She heard the front door close again and she quickly finished her make up before heading downstairs.

Emily usually made a decent sized breakfast that morning, but Sophia knew she couldn't expect it to be ready until around nine or ten. She grabbed an apple out of the basket near the door. Chores always had to be done before having a real breakfast, and usually everyone just grabbed something quick to eat before starting the endless chores.

Sophia bit into the apple as she crossed the farm yard, heading for the main barn. She quickly finished off the apple, tossing the core into a nearby pen so the horse inside could eat it. She went over to the hay shed and grabbed a couple flakes of hay and threw it over the fence to the horses that haven't been fed yet. She wasn't sure if any of the horses were on some special food, but assumed they would all get some hay that morning.

"Soph, when you finish up there could you start mucking out the stalls?" Emily called as she passed by leading two horses over to a pasture. Sophia grunted in reply, attempting to brush off the many bits of hay now covering her hair and clothes. She felt rather out of place as she pushed a wheelbarrow into the barn, not recognizing any of the horses that occupied the stalls. Even though it was her home, she had no idea what went on at the ranch anymore with the different horses.

It took Sophia quite awhile to muck out the stalls. Emily and a few ranch hands were letting the horses in the stalls out into the pastures so she had to dodge horses and people every time she went into the aisle. She didn't recognize any of the ranch hands except Tom, an older man who has been working there for as long as she could remember.

By the time Sophia was mucking out her fifth stall, she was wishing she'd prepared for the barn work. Her long auburn hair was falling down into her face making it difficult to see. She had simply slipped on some flats on her way out and they were getting full of sawdust and covered in manure. Although it wasn't too warm out yet, she could feel the sweat forming on her forehead and she quickly wiped it away.

"Sophia, when you're done I'll talk to you outside," Ethan called to her as he passed by leading a horse in each hand. Sophia simply nodded in reply. She expected to get a lecture after yelling at him earlier. With a sigh, she finished cleaning out the stall and pushed the wheelbarrow into the aisle.

Sophia's face reddened when she realized she was being watched. The young ranch hand was standing leaned up in the barn aisle, eating a granola bar as she entered the aisle. She felt foolish; she knew she was taking a ridiculous time mucking out the stalls.

"I'll take over, go talk to Ethan," Lucas said as he took the pitchfork out of her hands and shoved the wrapper of the granola bar into his jean pockets.

"Thanks," Sophia replied, her face burning as she pushed the heavy wheelbarrow outside. As she headed for the manure pile, the wheelbarrow suddenly stopped several feet away as the wheel fell in a sudden dip in the ground. Sophia felt herself losing control as the wheelbarrow fell onto it's side, it's contents spilling out. She could hear the laughter of the young men in the arena nearby and tears of frustration came to her eyes.

"Don't worry about it," Ethan came up behind her and straightened out the wheelbarrow for her. "I'll get someone to clean it up."

"Thanks," Sophia muttered, feeling incredibly embarrassed as she blinked tears away. Once she regained control of herself, she glanced up to her dad sheepishly. "Er, you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah, come with me," Ethan began walking back towards the barn, stopping near the round pen. Sophia glanced inside to the bay horse that was eating some hay. "I realize now that you're back, you'll need a horse to ride. I have a couple horses from the auctions that you can work with if you want. They were going to be prepared to sell but if you want to work with a couple of them and one of them suits you, you can keep it."

"Really?" Sophia was surprised. "Which horses?"

"There's this colt I got a few weeks ago, he'll need some work. He's started under saddle, but he has a bit of an attitude," Ethan motioned to the bay colt in the round pen. He then continued past to the pens next to it. "There is the sorrel standing next to the gate over there, he's also started under saddle and a bit calmer. He has good lines. In the far pen next to the barn there's a young chestnut mare you can try. You can choose the one you bond with and get along with and work with the others until they're ready."

Sophia nodded with interest as she looked over the three horses. She knew Ethan was being quite generous with the offer; the horses he bought were bought with strict uses either for ranch work, breeding or reselling. She hasn't been involved with training the horses before. This was different than when he bought Sophia he first horse, in which they had gone to a ranch nearby and looked for a horse that would suit her when she was younger. She wasn't given the opportunity earlier to help with the training of the horses.

"Thanks," Sophia spoke up, suddenly feeling inspired. It had been years since the last time she's been on a horse, but she figured it would all come back. "Can I start with them today?"

"Yep, just be careful, they aren't nearly as well trained as Susie was," Ethan warned her. "Don't take them off the ranch by yourself until you know them better. Tom or someone else will give you a hand with them. Now let's head in for breakfast, I think Emily is making pancakes."

Sophia glanced at the three horses before following her father up to the ranch house for breakfast. Suddenly the morning didn't seem so bad and she was looking forward to getting to ride the new horses.