>> welcome to my CRAZY life [ open ]

[Carson Lane Palmer]

The cotton wood fallin' like snow in July,
Sunset, riverside, four wheel drive and a tail light circle..

Carson had just finished putting out the cigarette against the side of the barn and tossing the dead butt in the trash when he heard the approach of a truck and trailer.

It's about damn time.


He impatiently crossed his arms in front of a broad chest, clad in a white tee shirt that had residue from his chores that morning laden on it, and then uncrossed them and shoved his gloved hands in his pockets. The truck pulled around slowly - too damn slowly - and those hazel eyes of his were locked on the trailer that it pulled with it. The two-horse trailer rolled around and finally came to a stop about two yards away. Carson rocked back on the heels of his Ariats and waited until the driver got out of the cab of the truck. Was he nervous? Not exactly, but the anticipation was eating him alive. He'd yet to get a horse of his own out here in Rosedale, and the little filly that he had picked up from auction just a few days ago was cargoed in the trailer, waiting for him. She had been a little spitfire in the auction ring, prancing to the end of her lead and throwing a fit when she could not extend farther from her leader. He had seen countless faces in the crowd, their piqued interest at the buckskin filly fading quickly with her apparent temper tantrum. Everyone was looking for a free handout - an easy to train companion for their kid or whatever. No one wanted her.

So he snatched her up. For a damn good price too. He might be a little green in the training department but hell, they'd learn together, right? Buying a six month old weanling wasn't exactly what he had in mind when he approached the auction in the first place but chance and fate came together, he decided, and he threw caution to the wind. Hell, she might not even have a temperament problem at all anyway. She was young and it was a new place, she might have just been freaked out. For all he knew, she could be as docile as a kitt---..

WHAM!


The loud explosion of hooves slamming against metal as the filly inside kicked the door was followed by a piercing cry, one that wasn't exactly laden with as much fear as it was with confident embrazenment. Well, maybe as docile as a cougar kitten. Carson winced and he exchanged a glance with the driver, who caught his wince and gave a toothy grin, unlatching the trailer door and setting the ramp down.


The filly inside whirled her head to the side as much as she could, eyeing Carson with pricked ears and wide nostrils. She paused her antics for about as long as it took Carson to step towards the trailer, surveying her hind legs and how much space he had to get around them without them causing a physical threat to his health. You know ... just in case. And then she tucked her rump in and reared up as much as her tied lead would let her, shrilling another battle cry that resounded deafeningly within the tight confines of the metal enclosure. She hopped left, and then right, and Carson simply stood, watching and waiting until she calmed down. He'd let her tire herself out first.


It took about thirty minutes and a cigarette for those cream colored sides of hers to start heaving and her head drop a few notches below the height it had been held at. The driver was bullshitting with him about some other experiences he'd had with horses he'd delivered. Carson was only half listening, mostly intent to watch the little filly and take in all the hours he was about to devote to the little Loca. He flicked the cigarette butt ( something he didn't normally do, but he was distracted at the moment ) towards the gravel parking lot and cut the driver short with a move towards the trailer.


"You know, you really need to calm down, lil' youngin'," He used the same calm, monotone voice he had been using for the entire thirty minute waiting period as he approached her side, veering as far around her hindquarters as the trailer allowed, "All that carryin' on ain't gonna do you any good."


He was able to reach the lead rope and undo the knot, sliding control into his own hands. Oddly enough, the filly took to sniffing his shoulder and Carson braced for a nip, or even a bite, but instead she just whuffed out a breath and turned to peek out the window. He was uninteresting to her now, but he was pretty determined to show her that he had what it took to control her, in the saddle and off.


"Time to take in your new home." He clicked to her and she stiff-leggedly followed, baulking every so often to force Carson to wait while she peered around and investigated from her holding point. Once he was out of the trailer, he made her wait while he fished a $20 out of his wallet, handing it as a tip to the driver.


"Thanks man, I'll take it from here."


"Ehehe, gracias ese. Good luck with la nina loca!" Was the chortled reply, and Carson gave him a grin and a wave.

Once they stepped into the barn aisle, Loca, or Lo, as Casron was decidedly going to call her, found her second wind, and she jerked her head from his grip on the lead/halter, throwing her head in the air and letting loose another long shrill. It echoed throughout the barn and was chorused by other various cries of the horses in their stalls. He slung a hand around to regrip the lead, and he allowed a sheeish chuckle to escape in an exhale.


"Ahh Darlin', you're going to be fun I can tell."

Roll down the windows, turn it on up,
Poor a little Crown in a Dixie cup
Get the party, started..