Cupcake’s Comeuppance

I fitted the serreta under Cupcakes halter. I tightened it down until he tossed his head, waited a few beats and tightened it down again.

“Jeez, don’t you think that’s enough?” My boss asked me.

“Shelley warned me this thing can do some damage if it’s too loose,” I said as I eased in and squeaked out another hole, “ I don’t want the metal banging around on his face.”

Cupcake stood still as I fussed. He knew he wouldn’t get out of the stall unless he was quiet. I was happy with his progress, but time was ticking away. I had just over 30 days to get him under saddle.

I snapped an extra lead-rope to his halter and one to the top ring of the serreta.

“Let’s balance him between us with the halter, “ I told Rainy. “I’m not planning on getting into it with him in the barn.”

The boss’ husband had a habit of storing all of his farm equipment in the barn. He had a lot of it. I would weave my horses through tractors and spreaders and buckets and sometimes his semi to reach my arena.

Cupcake was still impossible to lead once I led him out of the stall. He would lunge at horses, dogs, other people and eventually me.

He had never had a friend in his short little life and I never could figure if it was the kind of horse he was or the way he’d been treated that had turned him into this mess.

He didn’t seem afraid of anything, but I kept thinking an angry horse could still think things through. Cupcake had no thought processes I recognized.

In the early mornings when the horses were eating and I was cleaning stalls he had gotten to where I could scratch under his Rastafarian mane. He would raise his head from the feed tub and close his eyes, happier with the scratching than the plentiful feed in front of him.

I would stop, he would sigh and I would continue to clean his stall. For the few minutes while I picked the stall around him I felt totally at ease. I couldn’t quit him yet.

Cupcake walked a few steps before he squealed and struck at the horse stalled next to him. Rainy yanked her end and I held strong on mine.

We maneuvered him into the arena without hitting the Serreta once. I snapped the end of my longe line to the top ring in the serreta and another line on the rope halter. I undid the lead ropes and took a deep breath. I planned to give him every opportunity to be civilized.

Rainy sat up on the fence with an expectant grin on her face.

“You want me to wait so you can go get some popcorn?” I asked her.

“Gee, coudja?”I snorted and worked my way to the middle of the arena.

Cupcake stood frozen as I backed away. He worked his lips and ears,confused by the room I was giving him.

He looked at me, tossed his head and quickly paused at the weight of the serreta. I was almost to the middle of the pen when he bolted. I held both longe lines in my left hand, the one attached to the halter slightly shorter than the one attached to the serreta. I held the rest of the line away from my body and clear of my spurs with the other.

I scrambled to get to a good angle and yanked the longe line on the halter, pulling his head slightly to the center.

Cupcake sped up with every tug and was getting harder to keep up with. He was going to get ahead of me and b able to get his shoulder into the line.

“Here goes!” I finally hollered and snapped the serreta hard.

Cupcake slammed to a stop, his head high in the air. I hit the line again and he reared. I hit it again before he came down.

He stood spraddle-legged, head to the ground. He snorted hard a few times.

We stood watching each other carefully. The red hide was dark with sweat and foam already speckled his neck.

Cupcake squealed and launched himself at me, ears pinned. I snapped the longe line like an out-of-control fly rod and he fell to his knees.

He was up and running before I could think and I snapped him again. He launched into the air and I hit him again.He froze and stared at me, his eyes white and rolling.

He was terrified. I felt sick.

“I can’t do this anymore today,” I said.

“Do you think you’ve got him?” Rainy’s voice was a little shaky.

“I don’t know, I’ll find out tomorrow. But I’m done for now.”

I turned so my shoulder faced him and let him blow. His head was slung in the air, but he carefully maintained some slack in the line.

Cupcake finally lowered his head. His jaw was tight and his chin was clenched so hard it looked like a walnut. I walked up to him and rubbed his neck. His head dropped a little more and I was able to loosen the serreta. He held his breath as I eased it over his ears and off his head.

He led quietly to his stall and I piled an armload of grass hay into his feeder. He needed something to keep him busy until he cooled.

I grabbed a beer out of the fridge and watched him over the stall door.

Rainy called from the arena, “Do you want to ride a couple?”

“I’m done for the day,” I hollered back.Rainy didn’t answer so I knew she was mad.

I leaned my elbows over the stall door and took a swig of my beer.The sweet smell of hay twined with sharp sweat and shavings. Cupcake snorted and flicked an ear at me, but he kept his head buried in the hay.