Through Another's Eyes

Adrian knew he should get out of the way, move aside, dive for the open stall, anything. But fear kept him paralyzed to the spot. To his surprise, instead of running him down, the horse slammed on the breaks and stopped.
For a moment the two just stared at each other. Some reflex told Adrian to grab the horse’s lead. He listened and tentatively grabbed the lead rope, careful not to put pressure on it so as not to tighten the chain.
“Easy,” Cassidy said, coming up slowly on the horse’s other side.
“He doesn’t like the chain,” Adrian said.
“What?”
“The chain on his nose, he doesn’t like it.”
Cassidy looked at the horse. “We don’t use the chain as a punishment; we use it to have better control over the horse. Most stallions use stud chains and he’s no exception.”
“Stallion?”
Cassidy smiled; glad the boy was asking questions. “A stallion is a male horse that can make baby horses; a gelding is a male horse that can’t. They’re normally a little more aggressive so we use the stud chain to have the upper hand with them. He weighs twelve hundred pounds and when you weigh a hundred, you need every advantage you can get.”
“But he doesn’t like it. Maybe he would act better if you didn’t use it on him.”
Cassidy reached out a hand towards the horse’s face. The stallion shied away and pinned his ears at her. Cassidy’s eyebrows rose. “I think he’s taken a liking to you,” she said. “Do you want to lead him out?”
“Where?” Adrian asked.
“Follow me.”

Cassidy led the way out to the paddock behind her house. This way she could keep a closer eye on her newest tenant. She showed Adrian how to release the halter and watched as the boy did it. He let the horse go and walked out the gate. As soon as the boy was clear, the stallion lowered himself to the ground for a good roll in the grass.
“What’s his story?” Adrian asked while they stood at the gate watching the horse enjoy himself.
Cassidy didn’t say anything about the boy’s sudden curiosity: she’d gotten him talking; she didn’t want him stopping now. “He’s a grand prix horse. There are several different levels of horse competitions and grand prix is the highest level. His job was jumping six and seven foot fences as fast as he could without bringing any of them down.”
“Was he good?”
“He was and is very good. Won a spot on the Olympic team last year. Of course now he can’t compete.”
“Why not?”
“He’s gone sour: doesn’t want to jump any more. As soon as he was selected his owners put him on a very grueling training routine. He’s the first horse they’ve had that made it so far so they made a mistake of jumping him every single day. When a horse does the same exercises every day, his muscles get sore and he gets bored and just doesn’t want to do it anymore. So he started acting like he did in his stall, blew trials with the Olympic coach and got kicked off the team. No one could really get near him so his owners were selling him for next to nothing.”
“Then why did you buy him if he can’t jump anymore?”
“Jumping isn’t the only horse sport and even if he can never be ridden; he can make some nice baby horses. He’s got nearly flawless conformation.” Before he could ask she explained. “Conformation: the way he’s put together.”
They were silent for a few moments. Then Adrian asked: “what’s his name?”
Cassidy grinned. “Society’s Rebel.” She turned her smile on Adrian. “Fits him pretty well doesn’t it?”

“You’re a natural,” Cassidy said to Delany as Chris led her around on Lucky in one of the outdoor riding arenas. Cassidy and Adrian stood at the fence watching the horse and rider go in a large circle at one end of the arena. Delany held Lucky the bear in front of her and gripped her reins tightly.
“Yep, pretty soon I’ll bet you’ll be better than your aunt,” Chris said, winking up at the little girl. Delany rewarded him with a small smile. Cassidy could see that she really like Chris which, in her eyes was a huge step forward. If she’d been victimized by her father, she would very likely have a fear of men in the future. Chris was just what she needed: a man to trust that was nice to her to build up her confidence both in herself and in the male gender.
That was one reason Cassidy had hired Chris years ago. He was great with scared horses and people. Cassidy made a point of rescuing them both. She hadn’t lied when she’d told Doris Walker she’d taken psychology classes in college. She hadn’t mentioned that she’d been enrolled in a program called Equine Assisted Psychotherapy in which she worked with troubled children and teens through the horses. Having a barn full of rescue horses worked to her advantage in this as she was able to show the kids how the horses had made it through their ordeals. Chris was a favorite instructor in this program.
“He’s right. Riding runs in you guys’ blood. Your mom rode horses for a long time.” She tried not to sober. She’d nearly forgotten about the funeral she was going to have to plan for her sister. She saw the same realization on the kid’s faces and made a point of changing the subject. “You guys still haven’t told me what you want me to make for dinner. Or we can order out, whatever you want on your first night.”
Still, neither child answered. “Now I hope that was an invitation for me too,” Chris said. He looked up at Delany, walking backwards as they continued walking in a circle. “You aunt makes the best spaghetti. It’s a secret ingredient she puts in the sauce. I actually caught her doing it once: you want to know what it was?” he asked in an exaggerated whisper.
Delany nodded.
“Sugar. She puts a little in the sauce and it’s the sweetest sauce you’ll ever taste. What do you say; you want to have that for dinner?”
Again Delany nodded, adding a smile. “Is that your favorite food? Or is it like liver and onions. Oh those are great,” Chris exaggerated, licking his lips.
Delany wrinkled her nose with disgust and shook her head.
“Well you’d better tell Cass what your favorite foods are then or she’ll make what she likes. She like liver and onions and anchovies on her pizza and octopus eyes…”
Cassidy laughed. Those were probably at the bottom of her list of things to eat, but Chris was getting through to the little girl. Already she’d smiled more in the last hour than she had in the three on the car ride home.
Chris halted Lucky in front of the gate and Delany leaned down to whisper in his ear. His eyes got wide and he nodded his head. “No way,” he said in exaggerated tones. “Really? That’s my favorite food and your aunt makes the best of that too.” He winked at Cassidy.
“All right well if I’m making spaghetti I’ve got to go start cooking. Delany you want to help Chris take care of Lucky and put him away?”
Delany nodded enthusiastically and Chris helped her out of the saddle.
“Do you want to help me with dinner Adrian?” Cassidy asked.
Adrian watched Chris help his sister lead Lucky out of the ring. “I guess.”
“Oh I almost forgot about Rebel. We have to get him in and since he seems to have taken a liking to you, you want to help me with that too?”
“Sure.”
“Come on be a little more enthusiastic than that. Give me a yes or a yeah or something.”
Adrian didn’t say anything.
“I thought we were making progress here Adrian,” Cassidy said as they walked back towards the house and the paddock Rebel was in. “You don’t have to be afraid to be happy around me or ask me questions or talk to me.”
“Why bother? It’s not like I’m going to be here long.”
Cassidy stopped. “What do you mean by that?”
“You’ll figure out after a while that Delany and I aren’t worth your time. I’m sure Ms. Walker told you how messed up in the head we both are and we’re not normal and we’re going to have problems when we’re older.”
Cassidy pursed her lips, trying to keep a lid on her anger. “I don’t ever want to hear you say that again,” she settled for saying.
“What?”
“That you two aren’t worth my time. Of course you are. No, most people wouldn’t take in kids that they barely know exist but I think you would have realized by now that I’m not a normal person. You asked me earlier why I took Hope in if she wasn’t able to jump. I took her in because she needed me just like the two of you do. I took in Rebel and Lucky and Major for the same reason. They needed somebody and I felt like I could be that someone. And just like the horses, you and Delany can stay for as long as you need me or want to stay with me even if that means until you graduate college or need a place to stay until you get a job after college. If you don’t want to stay with me, fine, but I think Delany’s already starting to come out of her shell and that this will be a good place for her to grow up.”
Adrian didn’t speak.
Cassidy scoffed. “So we’re back to the suffer in silence thing again. If you think I’m wrong about something Adrian, call me on the carpet. I told you before I don’t mind criticism. I may try to argue back at you, but that’s the worse I’ll ever do.” She looked pointedly at his blackened eye. “Some people need to express their superiority; either strength of body or mind and some people only feel they can do that by hurting people. I’m not one of those people.”
Cassidy started walking towards the paddock where Rebel was grazing. After a moment she heard Adrian follow her. At the gate, she stopped and picked up the stallion’s halter. “You remember how to do this?” she asked, handing the leather to Adrian.
Adrian nodded slowly and walked into the paddock. Rebel lifted his elegant head when he saw the boy approaching and snorted. Adrian paused.
“Don’t let him know you’re afraid,” Cassidy instructed. “He can feel it and he’ll be afraid too.”
Adrian stared at the horse. Rebel stared back. He flicked his black-tipped ears back and forth and finally, took a step towards the boy.
Cassidy blinked once to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. The horse that just this morning been labeled a hellion was walking up to Adrian who had no experience with horses, like an obedient puppy. She was so shocked that it took Adrian’s words to pull her out of her stupor.
“Do I just take him back to his stall?”
“Uhh...yeah just right back where he was this morning.”
The boy and the horse walked past her and she followed at a safe distance. Maybe Rebel sensed a kinship with Adrian: one battered soul to another. She’d seen some of the horses bond with her troubled kids and suspected that before, but there was no mistaking that Rebel had taken an instant liking to Adrian. Now she just had to get Adrian to return those feelings for the horse. It could be the key to both of their recoveries.