The rest of the afternoon was a blur of activity. Tory mucked out stalls and replenished the wood shavings on the floor of each stall so the horses would have a fresh bed and clean lodgings when they came back in for the night. She filled each stall with a couple of flakes of hay. Some of the horses got various combination of oats or sweet feed or alfalfa in their buckets and Tory helped prepare the mixtures under the watchful eye of Clara who helped her learn the ropes as she called it. Everything in the feed room was labeled and immaculately organized so anyone could help out easily without worrying about making mistakes.
Tory was amazed to discover herself actually enjoying picking up horse manure in the arena with a manure fork and dumping it into a wheelbarrow. It didn’t even smell bad somehow. Once the manure was all picked out of the dirt Clara brought the harrowing machine into the arena. Tory rode on the back of the ATV that pulled the harrowing machine. Clara drove it around the arena speeding up on the straight stretches and slowing down for the turns going around and around from the outside perimeter all the way to the inside as though she was mowing a lawn. The harrowing rake made tracks in the dirt and softened up the sand and dirt so the horses wouldn’t hurt their legs. Tory helped set up jumps in the arena so Clara’s students could practice their jumping courses. Tory thought they looked frighteningly high but Clara assured her they would be easy manoeuvres for both horse and rider.
Clara explained that the first step to jumping was trotting poles. Together Clara and Tory placed the long fence- post- like poles on the ground. Clara showed Tory how to measure out six long strides between poles so the rider could take the horse over them at a relaxed trot. Clara explained that most riders progressed from trotting poles to x-rail jumps. X-rails were made by using two poles connected on either side by standards. The poles crossed over in the middle and could be raised by placing them higher up on the standard or side pieces. The metal pieces that held the poles Clara explained were called cups and were designed so the pole would fall over easily if the horse knocked the rail, therefore preventing injury to horse and rider. The higher, more advanced, jumps had exotic names like “oxer” and “combination”, “parallel” and “vertical”. It seemed to Tory like the horse world had a language all its own. It was a world and a language that Clara and Grandma Nan seemed happy to share.
Tory learned how to use saddle soap and pumpkin seed oil to clean off the horse tack. She found she really enjoyed cleaning the saddles and bridles while Clara and Grandma Nan told her stories of horses and riders and the ins and outs of the “operation” as they called the farm. Tory admired their easy banter as they joked and teased each other. The hard work felt satisfying. The saddle soap lathered up easily with just a bit of water and made the leather feel smooth, soft and clean. The pumpkin seed oil smelled wonderful and was slippery to rub into the soft leather. Clara and Grandma Nan took good care of all the tack and encouraged all the school riders to do the same.
One large cupboard in the feed room was devoted to what Clara called “Nan’s potions”. There were bottles of liquids, vials of medicines Grandma Nan called homeopathic globules, and jars of dried plants and herbal remedies. Some of the jars contained sticky looking suave and there were several tubes of ointments that looked a bit like toothpaste. Nan explained that she bought some of the potions and made others from plants that grew naturally around the farm. There were clean rags to make bandages. Nan showed how she sometimes soaked the bandages in mixtures and applied them to horses’ feet or skin to make healing poultices. Clara noticed a bottle of Rescue Remedy and Nan explained that was the first remedy to try when things went wrong or in an emergency, and showed Tory a whole box of vials that she called the Bach Flower Remedies. Nan explained that different remedies helped the horses with different emotions like fear, impatience, and anger.
“Nothing in here we can’t all use at one time or another, right Clara,” Nan said. Both Tory and Nan had been so absorbed in the healing potions they didn’t realize Clara was no longer in the room. “Once I get started on explaining this stuff, I just can’t stop,” laughed Nan. “Clara’s heard it all before, believes in it, but doesn’t really understand it. Some people just know it right from the beginning, especially if they have the gift like you do Tory. You’ll be teaching me healing things before long I suspect.”
Tory meant to ask what Nan meant by “the gift”, but she saw a vision of herself and Nan sitting at the table pouring over old books with an array of wildflowers and potions laid out on the table. It was as though Tory could see herself through some purplish haze of light. For the first time ever, it was a vision that didn’t seem scary or weird.
“You coming girl,” asked Nan? Tory realized Nan had been talking to her and closing up the cupboard, signaling the end of the healing lesson for the day.
“Shouldn’t we lock the cupboard,” asked Tory? Her parents had always kept medicines far away from Tory’s reach and she understood how dangerous pills could be if taken by the wrong person at the wrong time. Tory’s father told her lots of stories about responding to overdose calls or situations where little children had taken adult medicines by mistake and got really sick.
“No worries there,” said Nan. “All my potions are safe for anyone; man or beast. Either they work or they don’t do anything. That’s the best part about it all. Makes me feel free to experiment without thinking I’m going to kill someone! The girls that know what they are doing are allowed to come in here and use the stuff anytime they know it’s needed. Now let’s go help Clara make the rounds.”
Tory learned the difference between the paddocks, the gelding field and the mare field. Although she knew she’d never remember them, she was told all the horses names.
When it was time to bring the horses in for the night, Grandma Nan seemed to understand Tory’s reluctance to lead any of the big horses. They were all anxious for their food and seemed scary as they crowded around the fence waiting and jockeying for position as they all wanted to be led in first. Instead of taking any horses, Tory manned the gates, closing one and then opening the other so only a few horses at a time were clustered together. Grandma Nan was firm with some and gentle with others and seemed totally in control. Tory couldn’t imagine how she managed to lead four and five horses all at once, but they all settled down and seemed to respect Grandma Nan as being the one that called the shots.
Tory did summon her courage and lead one yellow colored pony, which Grandma Nan explained was called a palomino, into her stall. The little pony named Firefly seemed to understand Tory was just learning and didn’t push or rush into her stall but with very ladylike steps followed patiently behind Tory. Firefly waited for Tory to unbuckle the lead rope and halter before bending her head to eat the hay and oats that were waiting. Tory gave her a special pat and a hug. Tory thanked Firefly for her gentleness by sneaking an extra horse treat for her. Tory held her palm flat with the treat in the middle to offer it to Firefly the way she saw Grandma Nan do it. Firefly’s lips gently tickled Tory’s hand when she took the treat and Tory felt a contentment she hadn’t experienced in a long time. Tory felt like she had made a friend for life.
Several times during the busy day, Tory found herself checking to see how the big paint was doing and each time the mare looked up anxiously when she saw Tory watching. It seemed she had as much to learn about the farm as Tory did. The horse jumped and spooked every time she heard a new noise or saw her shadow. Even the birds in the trees seemed to make her anxious. She seemed to want to eat but kept blowing on her food in loud snorts and pawing the ground beside it as though she just didn’t know if anything was safe or could be trusted.
On the way back to the house at the end of the day Grandma Nan put her arm around Tory’s shoulders and gave her a little squeeze. “You were a big help around here today Tory,” she said. “You’re a quick learner, that’s for the sure.”
As they walked past the Paint’s paddock, Grandma Nan surpri
sed Tory. “So what do you think her name should be,” she asked as she gestured towards the still frightened horse? You get the honors this time.”
“I think she should be Gentle Giant.” Tory was rather surprised to hear those words coming out of her mouth. She hadn’t realized she had even thought of the name until it just came out. “We could call her G.G. for short.”
Grandma Nan looked thoughtful. “Gentle Giant,” she mused. “I think that’s just about perfect for her. What do you say G.G?”
GG raised her head and for a second she didn’t look quite so scared.
Tory left a treat on the fence post for her, knowing she’d wait till they was long gone before she’d dare retrieve it.
“That’s the way, Tory,” Grandma Nan said. “Some things just can’t be rushed. GG will come around, she just needs some time.”