New Day Ranch Essay -- Creative Writing Essay

Boots crunch in the leaves signaling the start of a new day’s work. Maria is the owner of the New Day Ranch, a sanctuary for horses of all kinds. She wakes up every morning at the crack of dawn to tend to the dozen horses that reside at the Ranch. It is almost winter and she wanted the horses to enjoy the time they had outside before it would snow. Maria opened up the stables to let the horses out into the pasture accompanied by her two dogs Max and Twilly. She pulled them by the bridle, two at a time until the six that slept inside were freed into the fenced in fields. Max and Twilly ran out with them barking as they chased each other through the leaves. Maria idly walked along the wooden fence until something odd caught her eye. At first she though a whole section of fence was missing towards the far end but she knew that that couldn’t be the case. Mildly concerned she walked up to the gap and saw that one of the boards had been kicked over. She picked it up, the wood soaking wet. Maria put the board back into place when she realized there was blood on it; her hands were covered in it. Afraid she looked around for her horses. In the fields there were two stallions, six mares, a colt, and two foals. After making a head count she realized one of her mares is missing, a Cleveland Bay named Aida. She climbed over the fixed fence and ran by the tree line, hoping Aida didn’t stray too far. Not having any luck she whistled for her dogs to come along and the two collies came running. With her dogs she traveled into the woods, Twilly walking farther ahead her paws making perfect impressions in the mud. It was easy for them to run through the mud and leap over roots and branches but for Maria it was a struggle. After several min... ...move forward. The mare’s ears lay back against her head and she roared with aggression and fear as she tried to kick her way out. Chris stroked her neck to try and calm her down. Trying again Maria pulled on the rope and Chris tried to motivate her to climb out. He managed to dig out both her back legs seeing a large scrape that she received from hopping the fence. â€Å"Come on girl.† Chris coached and the mare, with a burst of energy, kicked her way free. The dogs barked and Maria did her best to hoist the two up from the muck. They were both relieved to finally free Aida. Chris gave the mare a carrot and helped Maria wipe the mud off of her. After wards Maria tossed a blanket on the horse’s back and walked her home. The two walked her to the stables, cleaned her up, and mended the cut on her leg, the frightened mare now warm and safe from her horrifying ordeal.