Whisperer by Jeanne Harrell

surly and
bit at anyone getting close. The camp administrator was on the
verge of shipping the horse out, when Colt returned from Nevada and
said he wanted to look at her first.
    He watched the
horse run wildly around the corral – all other horses had been
transferred to other corrals. Walking in, the horse saw him and
came over to bite him. Colt raised his arms up with one hand
holding on to a coiled rope, which kept the horse away. She fled
and ran around the corral again. He crouched down into a submissive
position to get a good look at the horse. When he did, the horse
stopped running, but stayed away. In fact, when she slowed down,
the horse seemed lame – she had a reluctant gait, like walking on
eggshells. While she was standing still, he observed the hooves
with a widened white line, called ‘seedy toe’. She could have
laminitis.
    Colt left the
corral and called the vet to come have a look. He guessed that the
horse had been overfed on grain, a common cause and the vet would
need to look for abscesses. The farrier would need to be called in
as well, to do some corrective trimming and possibly make a
therapeutic shoe. He knew that it could be a chronic condition, and
if extreme, the horse might have to be put down. He sincerely hoped
it wouldn’t come to that and went to look for the camp
administrator in his office.
    Finding him,
Colt proceeded to explain the horse’s problems and what needed to
be done. The man was sympathetic.
    “Thanks, Colt.
You saved us a ton of trouble. I’d like the vet to see him first
and then we’ll go from there. Can you stick around another week to
talk to the vet about possible training? I don’t know what your
schedule is, but if you can tackle this one last horse, I’d be
grateful.”
    Colt knew his
schedule was clear for a few weeks, so he said he’d stick around
and see what he could do. He also didn’t want to leave Mandy. He
wanted to get things straight with her, before he made any other
work plans.
    Glancing at the
time, he knew she’d be getting through soon and it was his turn to
cook. Oops… better buy groceries first…
     
    In Mandy’s
office, her client Jimmy had been having a rough time. His parents
had come to visit, and afterwards, as Mandy had predicted, his
behavior changed for the worse. His language became obscene and he
refused to bathe. One night when she was gone to Naples, he had
tried to run away from the camp. Since the camp’s location was far
from main roads, Jimmy was easily spotted and picked up in Soda
Springs. They had to keep him in isolation for a few days because
he was picking fights on anybody and everybody. In other words, he
was out of control.
    Out of
isolation now, Mandy was probing gently into the root causes of his
affliction. He had been diagnosed with a mental disorder and was
receiving medication for that. Today, in her office, was one of his
better days.
    “How are you
today, Jimmy? Feeling better than yesterday?”
    “A little bit.
Could we go for a walk?” Mandy hesitated.
    “Let’s wait on
that, until you’re cleared by your doctor. He will be here
tomorrow, so maybe we can take one then. Will that be all
right?”
    Jimmy shifted
nervously in his chair and nodded.
    “What would you
like to talk about today?”
    “I don’t like
being here.”
    “We’ve talked
about this before, Jimmy. Why do you think you’re here?”
    “My
behavior.”
    “What’s wrong
with your behavior?”
    “It isn’t
acceptable.”
    “Wow. It’s good
that you recognize that yourself. What can you do to make it
acceptable?”
    “I guess I
could shower and brush my teeth.”
    “Good. Did you
do that today?”
    “Yes.”
    Mandy started
to say something else, when Jimmy suddenly turned to her.
    “You want to
know what I feel like?” When she nodded, he continued. “Sometimes I
feel like one of those wild mustangs that the trainer is always
working with. I want to run and run, until I fall down. I want to
run far away where no one