Mal smiled at that. “I did things the same way.”
Wyanne emerged from a stall, pitchfork in hand. She had her red hair piled on top of her head and her overalls were a mess. She grinned and waved.
“Wy, meet Mal, the new guy. He’ll probably be on your crew to start. Mal, this is Wyanne. She’s the manager of this barn.”
“Nice to meet you,” she said as she propped the pitchfork against the stall. She crossed the floor and shook hands. “You getting the tour today?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She scrunched her nose. “Wyanne or Wy, if you please. None of that ma’am crap.”
Mal got that her words were teasing, judging by his chuckle. “Got it. Nice to meet you, Wy.”
“Who can we put Mal on today?”
Wy looked him up and down, pursing her lips. He wasn’t as tall and muscular as I was, but he wasn’t little either. Most of our stock horses were on the bigger side, at least fifteen hands, so they could carry most of us.
“Luke took Cutter out today, so he can take Niko.” Wy narrowed her eyes, but her lips were quirked at the corners. “Youcanride, can’t you?”
Mal, fortunately, understood that she was teasing. “I’m passable.”
I chuckled, glad they seemed to be getting along well. I was serious when I said Mal would be on Wy’s team. It was the easiest way to get the lay of the land and to get used to things around here.
“Well Niko is the most bomb proof horse we have, so it probably doesn’t matter.” She gave him a wink. “Like you could literally set off a bomb next to him and he’d just munch grass. Which, by the way, don’t let him graze too much. His picture is in the dictionary when you look up easy keeper.”
I led Mal over Niko’s stall, where the gelding was indeed, eating hay. Mal stepped up and let out a little gasp. “Is that a Finnhorse?”
I was pleased down to my bones that he recognized it. There weren’t many outside of Finland and before we found Niko, I’d never seen one in person.
“Most likely. We’re not sure of his breeding. But he’s got all the hallmarks. We found him at Charlie’s Chance.”
At the name of the equine rescue, Mal made that hurt noise again. What was going on? The rescue was pretty famous throughout Colorado and Nebraska, since it was located in the northeast corner of Colorado. Maybe he just had a soft spot for horses in need. But there was something niggling in my brain, like there was more to the story.
But it wasn’t the time and place, so I let it go. For now.
“Saddle up,” I said, pointing out the tack room. We both got to work. Neither horse needed to be in the crossties to stand still, so we worked in the middle of the aisle. I kept glancing over, not because I didn’t trust him, but because I wanted to see how Mal handled Niko.
He was patient and gentle with his movements. Mal waited for the horse to comply when he asked Niko to pick up his hooves, and I was glad to see Mal gave them a good inspection and pick out before he moved on. Saddle pad and saddle went on easily enough, and I almost mentioned that Niko liked to hold his breath when tightening the girth. But Mal clocked it easily enough, waited for Niko to exhale, and then cinched it up more. I froze completely when Mal held out the bridle, murmuring softly, and Niko lowered his head right into it. He was as steady as Hawk around a horse and I saw the respect he had for the animal.
I already liked this guy but my estimation of him went up several notches right then and there.
Because I was too busy watching him, Mal was done before I was. I quickly hurried up and then mounted. Shooter danced on his feet for a second, ready to get out there. Niko gave me a side eye like he knew I’d taken too long.
Horses, man.
I led the way outside and headed east. We had a lot of ground to cover today, literally and figuratively, and I wanted to show him everything of importance. Like I’d mentioned earlier, I didn’t expect him to remember it all, but I wanted him to have the foundation.
We walked through all the pastures, one after another, and I pointed out which ones were for the mares with foals, which ones were for the pregnant mares, and where we turned out everybody else. I pointed out the pastures that were getting a rest and showed the different dry lots. We caught up to the cattle in the back pasture, the largest of them at over two hundred acres, where the cows roamed free. There was plenty of shelter and part of the creek, so combined with the round bales we brought out, they had everything they needed.
We followed the creek to the pond, where we let the horses have a break and a drink. Mal just stared at the water, taking it all in. It was quiet and serene out here.
“It’s only five feet deep for about a hundred yards,” I mentioned, stepping up next to him. “Really good for swimming. The kids love it.”
The corner of Mal’s mouth lifted, though he didn’t take his gaze off the water. “Payton likes pools, not ponds. Too much ‘outside ick’ in a pond.”
I laughed. “A rancher’s kid who doesn’t like outdoors huh?”
“We all have our quirks.”
