Boyo

The dark bay Teddy Cob exhaled, blowing soft warm breath through the field of flowers. A young girl, named Amy Lee, watched from the sidelines and held her breath as he carefully snuffled the carrot laying in front of him. Then, with his velvety muzzle, he picked up the carrot off the ground and ate it in one big crunch. Amy Lee grinned. Step one of her plan had worked: show the pony how yummy carrots were. Now on to step two: show the pony how many carrots she would give him if he let her pet him. She stood and moved closer to him, talking quietly to him as she did so.

“Hey boy!” She whispered, giggling as his ears perked up at her voice. He whinnied and trotted over to her, stopping just a foot away. Maybe this would be easier than she thought? She took another piece of carrot out of her backpack, and offered it to the small stallion. His lip curled as he smelled the sweet carrot, and he took a few steps closer, until he could gently take the carrot from her palm. His warm breath tickled her palm, and she pulled another carrot from her bag, which he took with great enthusiasm. Throwing a few more carrots into the grass, she pulled her bell and ribbon out of her pocket. 

“Hey buddy, can I give you a pretty braid?” She asked, gently stroking his neck. He turned his head to give her a quick glance, then went back to rummaging through the grass for the carrots. She took this as a yes, as began to comb through his thick dark mane, carefully detangling knots with her fingers. Semi feral ponies sure had lots of bad hair days. But when he was hers, he would always have smooth glossy mane, a tangle free tail, and a nice full belly. She added more strands of mane to his braid, making the bell nice and secure. Tying it off with a bow, she stood back to observe her work. It looked sturdy enough… Hopefully. If this bell fell out, she wouldn’t be able to bid on the pony when he came through the Teddy Cob auction. She had always wanted a Teddy Cob, and she’d been saving up money to fly to Hungary since she could remember. Flying to a different country then flying herself and a horse back? Not cheap. She had just begun to pack all of her supplies back into her bag, when she heard a tinkle and a thump. Looking up, she saw the bell, on the floor, while the pony nuzzled at it inquisitively. 

“Hey! That needs to stay on you!” She exclaimed, rushing over. She picked the bell up and brushed the grass off of it. Sighing, she dug around in her bag for a thicker ribbon, and began to rebraid. The pony craned his neck, turning to watch her work. He nibbled at the end of the ribbon as she braided, and she gently swatted him away. Pausing, she dug yet another carrot out of her bag, and offered it to him. The pony took one sniff of the carrot, and went back to trying to pull the ribbon out of her braid. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Are carrots too boring for you now?” She shook her head, and stuffed the carrot back in her backpack, and rummaged around for something better. She came up with a peppermint, and offered that to the pony. He gave it a lick, and spit it out with a shake of his fluffy mane. 

“Dude. Really? You don’t like peppermints?” She dug back into her bag, this time coming forth with alfalfa pellets. She offered a small cube to him, and he took it with gusto. 

“I’ve never met a horse who prefers alfalfa pellets to peppermints.” She laughed. “Must be the wild in you.” 

She scattered a few pellets on the ground, and resumed her braid. The stallion happily snuffled around in the grass, finding every last pellet. Amy Lee laughed as he nuzzled her for more.

“I don’t want to get you sick Mister!” She said, tying off her braid in a sturdy knot and big bow. The pony turned around, nuzzling the bell, but this time, he didn’t try to pull it off. 

“There we go! Good boy!” Amy Lee offered him one more alfalfa cube, which he greedily took. She ran her fingers through his thick forelock, marveling at how soft he was. She crouched down to get on his eye level.

“Now boy. You need to keep this bell in your mane,” She paused to jingle the bell, just to make sure he knew what she was talking about. “You gotta keep it in so that you can come home with me! You’ll love Oregon, and my other horses. You’ll be the smallest, but don’t worry. We’ll find you a friend your size. You just need to keep. The. Bell.” She emphasized the last three words, hoping he would get her meaning. Yes, horses didn’t understand English, but something about his eyes made her feel like he did.