Page 56 of The Devil in Blue Jeans
As the day drew to a close on the ranch, Jaxon gradually slowed his horse from a lope to a trot and eventually, to a walk. He was drenched from rain but decided to keep training regardless. Fortunately, the downpour had dissipated as he patted the young horse. The air was filled with an array of earthy aromas, the pleasant smell of damp soil, followed by the sweet aroma of flowers and grasses after the thunderstorm. Droplets of rain had left puddles across the land.
He steered the horse toward the gate of the sand ring and opened it before guiding her out and closing it again. The little mare was calmer now after a hard ride, and she stopped fighting against his aids.
Instead of returning to the barn, he took the little mare down the driveway along the grassy side to cool her off. She spooked at a boulder as she passed beneath an old pine tree, so he spent some time walking back and forth until she regained composure despite all the imaginable scary things that lurked around them.
As they headed back up the driveway, he took out his cell from his pocket—he’d texted Charly three times today but hadn’t received any response nor did she answer when he called twice.
He couldn’t shake off his worry. Though he knew if something happened to Charly, Willow or Aubrey would have been sure to contact him.
By the time he returned to barn, the little mare wasn’t breathing heavily anymore, having cooled off quite nicely. Though as they neared her paddock, she threw her head back and forth, tail swishing excitedly.
Jaxon chuckled. He loved a good spicy mare.
“Great ride?” Decker asked as he approached him near the barn.
“Yeah, she was fantastic.” He took a minute to pat the mare, dismounted, and pulled the reins over her head. “She’s got potential, just needs a little more work.” The slow gates of this mare made her perfect for the western hunter show ring. But some needed more time to train than others, and she was one of them. Mares weren’t always easily won over; trust was earned with most of them, not given. He just hadn’t gotten there yet, but he would. He always did.
“That’s it for me today,” he said to Wayne, as he strode out of the barn.
Wayne nodded. “Got it, boss. See you tomorrow.” He strode off with the mare to hose her off before putting her back out to pasture.
Decker asked, “Is there anything you want me to do before I leave?”
Turning back to him, Jaxon shook his head, unzipping his chaps. “We’re good. See you tomorrow.”
“Have a good night,” Decker called, walking toward his truck in the driveway.
Before calling it a day, Jaxon deposited his chaps in the barn and then headed toward Gunner and Eli who were leaning against the fence of the paddock holding the new two-year-old horses that they’d brought up from the roundup. He noticed that they were just as drenched as he was. “How did it go?” he asked, sliding next to them.
They’d spent all day continuing handling these young horses by doing some groundwork with them to get them used to human interaction. Not an easy task as most of these horses had minimal interaction with humans before.
“We had a good day overall except for one,” Gunner said.
Jaxon scanned the horses, found a dark bay horse with a white star on its forehead staring right at him challengingly as though daring him to move forward. He chuckled at how fierce that horse looked, reminded him of another set of fiery eyes—Charly’s eyes. He wanted to go to Charly immediately to find out what was going on, but he lived by his father’s rule:never leave a horse insecure.
His father believed in natural horsemanship and the idea of building a connection, not fear. Jaxon respected and lived by the same methods.
“No luck yet with her?” Jaxon asked, resting a boot on the bottom of the fence.
Eli shook his head. “Not even close.”
Jaxon pulled away from the fence and opened the gate, causing the young horses to scatter—all except for the mare who stood still, eyes focused on him. Every year, they had at least one horse that was different from the others: alert and observant, instead of running away in flight mode like the rest. Every horse was a gift, but some were simply smarter and more aware than others.
He respected that strength. He wouldn’t break it by beating the horse into submission like he had seen done before.
With confidence yet gentleness, he approached the horse, but stopped when a few feet remained between them. The horse snorted at him, standing tall with its ears perked forward, declaring him the enemy.
Time slowly passed as Jaxon gently advanced closer with an outstretched arm. Five minutes...ten minutes...twenty minutes...
Jaxon breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly, calming himself. He held eye contact with the horse and kept his hand held out, even though his arm ached from holding it still for so long.
The minutes ticked by, but Jaxon remained patient, waiting until the horse stretched its neck and gave his hand a sniff. He slowly pulled away but couldn’t help but smile at the horse’s reaction. “Not so bad am I, sweetie?” he asked as the horse looked at him with softer eyes this time. “You just wait, we’ll be friends before you know it.” After leaving the mare better than he found her, Jaxon headed toward the gate.
Eli scoffed as he locked it behind him. “It’s annoying how easy you make that look,” he commented.
Jaxon chuckled. “What can I say? Everyone loves my charm.”
Eli snorted.
