A story (maybe more sometime?) :)
Butterfly
“Free!” Butterfly called as she raced down the pasture. She galloped across to her best friend, Hope.
“How was your ride? Did you buck Jason off again?” Hope teased. Jason was Butterfly’s owner and rider.
“I would never buck Jason off and you know it!” Butterfly defended, smiling.
Hope laughed. “How was your jumping? How was his?”
“Oh, I did mine the way I usually do. Jason needed to improve position, mostly. The reins were too tight, making it hard to balance. And he felt tense. I think he’s nervous about the show next week. Nervous already! Humans can be weird sometimes. I’m glad I’m a horse!”
“Yeah, me, too,” Hope agreed. “Hey, let’s race over to the food bucket. Winner eats first. On your mark, get set, go!” Hope laughed as she raced to the food, Butterfly cantering by her heels.
That night Hope’s owner Emily came first to take her to her stall for the night. Butterfly waited for Jason. “I wish Hope and my stall were right next to each others,” she thought. “Oh, here comes Jason.” Butterfly trotted over to Jason, whinnying and hoping for a treat.
Jason laughed. “Yes, I just ‘happen’ to have a carrot for my pretty Butterfly.” He gave Butterfly her treat, clipped the lead on her, and led her to her stall. At least, that was where Butterfly thought he was taking her. She pulled in the expected direction but Jason led her the other way. She followed obediently and curiously. She found herself heading toward a stall. As she neared, she saw the nameplate said Butterfly. And she found Hope in the stall next to her new one!
Jason took off Butterfly’s halter and gave her a goodnight rub between the eyes – Butterfly’s favorite place to be rubbed. Emily was still saying goodnight to Hope. “Come on, Emily!” Jason said. “It’s bedtime for you, too, ya know!”
Emily laughed. “Okay. Goodnight, Hope. I’ll be looking forward to riding you tomorrow.”
As Emily and Jason walked away, Butterfly asked Hope if that was the way Emily always said goodnight.
“Yeah,” Hope said. “And sometimes she says she’ll miss me!” They both shared a laugh.
The next morning when Jason came to get Butterfly, Emily was with him. She gave Butterfly a rub between the eyes and then went to see Hope. Jason said hello to Butterfly then slid the halter over her head and clipped the lead rope on. Jason and Emily walked Butterfly and Hope side by side, laughing and talking.
They went over to the cross ties where Hope and Butterfly where tied and groomed. It felt so good to be groomed in the morning! Their next step was “tacking up”. That was when Jason would put the saddle and the other riding equipment on Butterfly. Emily just led Hope out to the pasture; they were not going to ride yet. Once Butterfly had her things on, Jason put on his own equipment: a riding helmet and a pair of riding gloves. Then, Jason mounted Butterfly and they rode out.
The ride, to Butterfly, was really fun. Butterfly’s jumping was getting better than Jason’s, and he was getting better at it.
After riding, Jason hosed and groomed Butterfly. Then she was turned out in the pasture with Hope, where Emily was waiting for Jason.
“What do you think about Jason and Emily?” Hope asked as she reached Butterfly.
“What do you mean?” Butterfly asked.
“’What do you think about Jason and Emily?’ I think they’re sweet on each other. You know, boyfriend girlfriend. What do you think? I mean, look at them over there talking!”
Butterfly looked and saw Jason and Emily laughing and talking. Then they walked over to Jason’s pickup truck and they drove away. “I dunno,” she replied.
“I think we should watch them until we’re sure. But that would explain you changing stalls and how they hanging out all the time wouldn’t it?”
“I guess it would. I’m kinda tired after that long and hard ride though. I think I’ll take a nap and think about it in my sleep.” Butterfly fell asleep right away.
Butterfly woke up to Hope nickering to another horse, and Jason and Emily talking and opening the gate. Butterfly trotted over to Jason and nudged him on the shoulder. Jason laughed and Emily giggled and called to Hope. Then they were groomed, tacked up, and went on a trail ride together. This was one of Butterfly’s favorite things to do when riding. Hope and Butterfly listened while Jason and Emily talked.
“Thank you for inviting me on this ride. It’s really fun,” Emily said.
“Uh, you’re welcome,” Jason replied. “There’s a reason for me to invite you on this ride. Other than to have fun, that is.”
“Well then, what is it?” Emily asked.
“Well, it’s to propose. You will marry me, right?”
“Oh, Jason, of course I will! I was getting ready to ask you myself, once I got the guts.” Emily laughed.
“Well then, why don’t you get Hope up closer to me so you can wear the engagement ring?”
“Oh, Jason, it’s just perfect for us to get engaged on horseback!” Emily said, looking at her beautiful ring. Hope and Butterfly smiled at each other. “You see?” Hope asked softly. “I told you so!”
A year and a half later, Hope and Butterfly were turned out in the pasture again. It was three months after the wedding.
“Aren’t you so glad Jason and Emily are married now?” Hope asked excitedly. “It’s so, so, oh, I don’t know the word for it. Better than happy. Better than awesome. It’s so something!”
Butterfly tried to look half asleep. “Yeah,” she said. “Yeah, I suppose so. Good night.” Then she pretended to sleep. She was really deep in thought, studying the different coats of all the horses. The all brown of Hope. The black and white spotted of herself. The brown body and black hair (that color is called bay) of another male horse. There were so many different horse colors! She looked at another white horse and thought of how white horses were called gray because they were never completely white. Even people had different colors. Jason had fair skin with black, wavy hair. Emily also had fair skin, but she had red hair. Butterfly had also seen a man with dark skin. There were also different kinds of dogs. And cats. And rabbits! “I could go on and on and on for hours and still not be finished with all the colors of all the animals,” she thought. Why am I even thinking of this? It’s three months after the wedding and Hope is still thinking about so I guess that’s what I’m supposed to be thinking. But I want something new. I want…
“Hey, look who’s NOT sleeping!” Hope interrupted, giggling.
“What do you want? Just to say I’m not sleeping?” Butterfly asked.
“No, if you were sleeping, I would have woken you up anyway. Look, we’ve got some newcomers to the farm!”
“Look, I really don’t want to meet people right now. I don’t really want an apple or carrot anyway,” Butterfly said.
“No, silly, horses! A mare and a cute little filly. Aw, c’mon, you’ve gotta see them!”
“Oh, alright.” Butterfly trotted over to a totally black mare, or mother horse, and her cute bay filly. “Hello. My name is Butterfly. Yours?” She said to them.
“Hi. My name is Moonlight but I prefer to be called Moon. And this is my filly, Sierra. She doesn’t talk yet,” the mare told Butterfly.
“Well, your little Sierra is very cute and very pretty and I hope she knows it,” Butterfly said happily. “How old is she?”
“Oh, she’s about, I dunno. Less than a year. She’ll be a year next month. I don’t know how old I am. How about you? How old are you?”
“Um, I dunno how old I am. I’ve been riding for years now but I’ve never had a foal. A wish I have, though!” Butterfly replied. “Oh, here comes my friend Hope to meet you. She’s the same age as me. Hope, this is Moonlight and Sierra.”
“Oh, well, hi, Moonlight and Sierra. Moonlight, you’ve got yourself a pretty and cute little filly and I hope you both know it. I’m Hope.”
“Oh, please, call me Moon. It’s so much easier to say than Moonlight,” Moon said.
“Okay. I’ll call you Moon,” Hope laughed.
“How did you two get here? Who’s your owner?” Butterfly asked.
“Well, my old owner’s name was Henry,” Moon said. “He wasn’t too bad, either. I just would have rather had someone else. He was kind enough, he gave me enough food and water, cleaned my stall regularly, was gentle with his hands, and things like that. But there was something missing. I knew that to him, I was just a project. He was raising me and trying to make me healthy so he could breed and then sell me. That was what I was – a money maker. Finally, he got his wish. He bred me and I had this filly. He named her Sierra and then sold me. Now, I have two very kind owners. I have two owners, which I think is very strange. They are married, and their names are Emily and Jason. Are there other Jasons and Emilys here at this farm?”
“Actually, no,” Butterfly said. “And, (this is so cool), Jason is my owner and Emily is Hope’s.”
“Oh, isn’t that so! Well that’s cool. That’s almost weird! We have the same owners! Would you two like to be friends? You, know, pasture buddies?”
“Of course!” Hope said. “Here, let us show you some of the other horses.”
“Oh, look, here’s Fred,” Butterfly said as a very black horse with a completely white, or “bald” face approached. “Hi, Fred.”
“Hi. Who are these horses? Never seen them before,” Fred said.
“Fred, this is Moonlight and her filly Sierra,” Hope said. “Moon, this is Fred.”
“Hi, ‘Moon’.”
“Hi, Fred.”
“Hey, Fred, where’s Garrett? I want Moon to meet him.” Hope said.
“Uh, yeah,” Fred replied. “Hey, Garrett! There’s someone over here I want you to meet.”
A golden colored horse with an almost-bald face cantered up to see who he was supposed to meet.
“Garrett, this is Moon and cute little Sierra. They’re new here. Moon, this is Garrett,” Fred said.
“Oh, hi,” said Garrett. “Uh, yeah. I’m gonna go eat.”
Hope giggled as Fred and Garrett trotted over to the food bucket and explained to Moon that Garrett was shy.
By the time Jason and Emily came to turn them in for the night, Moon and Sierra had met Pete, Harley, Bella, Penny, Blaze, and many other horses. Moon and Sierra slept together in the big stall next to Butterfly. This is just perfect, Butterfly thought. My owner is married to Hope’s and they bought a mare and foal to share. I hope it stays like this forever. Butterfly fell asleep thinking.
The next morning, Emily and Jason came to get Butterfly and Hope as every day. The only thing different was that there were Moon and Sierra, too, which made it seem difficult. But Jason and Emily seemed to have it worked out – they had bought a tiny halter to put on Sierra. They clipped a lead rope on all four of the horses’ halters and Emily led Hope and Sierra and Jason led Butterfly and Moon. It worked out nicely.
That day, instead of riding Hope and Butterfly, Emily and Jason worked with Moon a little (to get to know her) and worked on training little Sierra. They were very happy with Moon, Sierra, Butterfly, and Hope.
A few years later when Sierra was just four (the age a horse becomes adult), Butterfly, Hope, Sierra, and Moonlight were celebrating Sierra’s new adulthood. They had a party and invited Fred, Garrett, Pete, Rudi, Abby, Barbie, Blaze, and many other horses. All but one came. That was Lois – she had just a had a colt (baby boy horse) named Stormy and they were kept apart from the other horses.
“Mom,” Sierra said. “I am an adult! I’m a full-grown horse! I’m a grown up!”
“Yes, Sierra.” Moon said. “You are just as adult as the other horses here. Just as adult as me, Butterfly, Fred, Hope and Garrett. You are an adult. Now go help Hope and Butterfly please your guests.”
Sierra laughed. “Yes, mother.”
This was just a short document of Butterfly’s life. She lived many more years and died peacefully in her sleep. Same as all her friends.
Most of the horses in this story are horses from where I ride. Garret, Fred, Hope, Pete, Harley, Bella, Penny, and Blaze, are all horses I have either ridden or know.
That's not a very good story I wrote it a long time ago 