The Wall Between

Even dressed in a tank top, Clarke was sweating like a beast. Her arms were hot with the sun beaming on her, and her nose perspired under her sunglasses, making them slide down. Absently, she shoved them back up the bridge of her nose as she bent over, tapping Charger’s leg to make him lift his foot. He lifted his front leg with a snort, making Clarke roll her eyes at the large horse. They were standing in the shade of the saddling stalls where they prepared the horses to be ridden. Currently, Clarke was making sure his hooves were free of hay and debris from his stall.

In the stall next to her, Mateo was working on another horse. He had worked at the ranch since Clarke was a little girl, and she loved hearing him sing in Spanish to calm the horses, like he currently was. She recognized the song as a lullaby he often sang around her when she was little. Mateo was a tall, broad man with laugh lines next to his blue eyes and grey threaded throughout his hair and beard.

Standing up straight, Clarke padded Charger on his thick neck. His coat was a obsidian color. His mane and tale were so black they were almost blue. Clarke had thought he was the most beautiful thing in the world when she first got him.

Throwing a black saddle blanket over Charger, Clarke ducked under his long neck. He bumped her with his nose and snorted loudly, getting horse fluid on her arm. She made a noise and wiped it off with the bottom of her shirt. She reached into a bag and pulled out a carrot, holding it firm and offering it to him. He leaned forward and bit into the carrot, breaking off a piece.

“How is the wild one today, Miss Clarke?”

Clarke looked over at Mateo and shook her head while rolling her eyes. “He’s stepped on my boot once and spit all over me. The usual.”

Mateo chuckled and nodded. “Sorry we had to borrow Tuff from you today. I know Charger es muy terco.”

“He’s stubborn but once he sees the spurs he behaves.” Clarke kissed him on the nose. “And if I make him fat, he’s usually nicer.”

Hauling the black saddle onto Charger, Clarke began running the straps and buckling them underneath him. Charge was eighteen-hands tall, which was much taller than she. He was one of the tallest in their stables, and he seemed to know it. She slipped under him easily, fastening the buckles and slipping back out. Checking the watch on her wrist, she nodded to herself. Clarke was right on time. Harper was in the corral in the middle of the field, testing Clarke’s group on their horses to make sure everyone knew how to ride.

Clarke had already completed her morning tour, which was three hours long. She had been able to use her easy horse, Tuff, on that ride. Unfortunately someone with a fear of horses needed the easiest to control in the ranch, which landed Clarke with her very stubborn, very spirited show horse. On her own, it would have been fine. No one would worry if Charger decided to stop and eat trees, or if he decided he wanted to canter instead of walk. But in a tour, she needed him to behave and do his best to listen.

With his bridle on and with Charger pawing at the ground, Clarke glanced around the other side of the stall to look at Mateo. He was bringing up the rear of her large riding tour, which made her happy. Her first tour was small and she was the only guide, but with a large group they needed two to ensure the safety of all riders.

“Ready?”

“Si.” He unhooked a large mare by the name of Athena, turning her around. She was solid white with unusual, grey eyes. “Vamanos.”

Leading Charge out with the reins loose in her hands, Clarke smiled and approached the group of riders. They were booked for an hour ride, which meant that Clarke could take them down the creek travel that traveled in the shade and in a long loop that took about an hour. If they had time left over, she could let some of them play around with barrels and poles if they wanted to.

“Afternoon,” Clarke said with a wave, internally cringing at the twang in her voice. Her southern accent had always been subtle, but sometimes it shone right through her words. “My name is Clarke and I’ll be your lead guide today.”

“Hola,” Mateo grinned. “I’m Mateo and I will be bringing up the back of the tour. I assure you Clarke and I will take great care of you all today.”

“Just don’t let the crazy Columbian get into stories about horse spirits.” Everyone chuckled, Mateo included. “He will seriously make you fear horses forever. Now, let’s all get up and ready to go!”

Using the fence as a step, Clarke stuck one foot into the stirrup and used the saddle horn to pulled herself up and swing her leg over Charger, who was bent down and eating grass. Clarke leaned and patted him on his neck to get his attention, but the stallion continued to eat. Rolling her eyes, Clarke tapped him lightly with the spurs on the back of her boot. He slowly lifted his head, continuing to chew on the grass.

“Me too, buddy,” Clarke joked. “Alright everyone, follow me.”



“Have a great evening,” Clarke said. She smiled at the last visitor before leaning over Charger and rubbing his neck up and down. Despite his tendency to be quite stubborn, he had been absolutely amazing on their slow ride. Now he was alert and dancing slightly, hopping up and down on his front legs. “I get it, dude. You’ve got energy.” She pulled on the reins to turn him around. “Let’s go then.”

Clicking her teeth, Clarke got Charger to move into a flat-walk. She moved smoothly with him, steering him to the long corral with barrels and poles set up in lanes with room to turn. Seeing the open gate, Charger sped up slightly, making Clarke smile. He was always a horse who wanted to move fast, to open up and run with thundering hooves.

Calming him down at the gate, Clarke made him do a quick circle as she adjusted herself for him to full on gallop around barrels. When he finished his turn, Clarke whistled loudly and nudged him with her feet. Charger shot forward like a smoking bullet out of the chamber of a gun, dirt flying behind him as his hooves hit the ground just as hard as Clarke’s heartbeat.

A wild grin crossed Clarke’s face as Charger shot to the first barrel. He rounded it almost without guidance from Clarke, creating a circle so tight and quick that he was almost to his knees in the dirt surrounding the barrel. He moved to the next one without skipping a beat, Clarke low on his back and giving him words of encouragement and clicking her teeth.

Every movement Charger made, Clarke felt. She knew when he was going to speed up, she knew when he was going to slow. She knew his movements better than she knew most of the horses that she rode. She had to establish that kind of connection with him to show him, to know what he needed and when he was feeling like he couldn’t perform.

Clarke was famous for backing out of a show because she knew that Charger wasn’t up for it. Clarke refused to force him into behaving when he was uncomfortable or having a bad day.

Heart pounding with adrenaline, Clarke held on tight as Charger rounded the last barrel and surged forward in a black streak for the opening gate. Wind ripped at Clarke’s braid and her glasses threatened to fall off but she didn’t care. Breaking through the opening in the corral, Clarke threw her hands back, Charger continuing to gallop into the open field.

After a few moments of letting the horse open up on his own, Clarke slowed him and reined him in. She felt out of breath and smiled. The thought crossed her mind that this had to be what Tyler felt liked playing hockey. Out of breath but exilerated, feeling the tremor of happiness down to the bone. She felt good.

Clarke and Charger made their way to the wash station, where she slid off the top of him. She wobbled when she landed, unpracticed and stiff in the leg from the long ride. Taking the ropes, she secured the horse to a post on either side before attaching a bucket of oats to the pole. He quickly stuck his nose in them, beginning to eat. Clarke removed his saddle and hung it on the railing next to her. His coat was darkened by sweat. Turning on the hose, she began to wash him town, making him twitch from the cool water.

Whistling lightly, Clarke washed down Charger. Ten minutes into the process, Clarke’s mom was walking up to her. Her blonde hair was tied up on her head with her sunglasses sitting in her hair. She had on a button down shirt and jeans tucked into boots, putting her hands on her hip as she smiled at Clarke.

“I saw you doing barrels with him,” Elizbaeth said, leaning against the post. Clarke squinted up at her mom and nodded in response. “You’re still fast. Maybe a little rusty. You should ride more often.”

“I want to.” Clarke was being extremely honest. She always forgot how much better riding made her feel until she was on a horse and ripping through the field. “I’m going to try and come down a little bit more to work him. He has a lot of energy.”

“Charger would love that.” Elizabeth was quiet for a moment as Clarke brushed out Charger’s mane. “You should bring your neighbor down, the nice boy. Does he ride?”

It took a second to realized Elizabeth was asking Clarke to bring Tyler. She stopped her movements and glanced at her mom, who was smiling. “No, he doesn’t. He plays hockey professionally, you know how busy that keeps players.”

“I’m sure he has days off.”

“To practice and relax, yes. To ride horses, no.”

Elizabeth held up her hands in a white-flag gesture. “He’s such a nice boy, even if grandma wasn’t too thrilled with him. His china was fine by the way.”

“I don’t think Tyler cares about his china.” Straightening, Clarke looked at her mom, who was watching her affectionately. Her mom wasn’t asking about Tyler because she wanted Clarke to date him, Clarke knew. She was asking because Clarke never spent time with anyone outside of her brother, Piper and Jonah. “If he ever wants to ride, I’ll make sure he comes here.”

“Charger’s stall is finished. It’s all ready for him when you’re done here. Are you staying for dinner?”

Clarke was thoughtful. “Yeah, I would like that.”

Putting away all of her tools, Clarke sighed. She forgot how much she missed home. But she would be done with school soon and she could spend more time with the horses. She mentally made a promise to herself to escape down to the ranch when school was making her stressed. School or a loud neighbor, anyways.