Kaycee is the winner of our writing contest! Here is her entry.
“Imagery Composition: As I walk down to the barn, the grassy smell of hay fills my nose. The noise of sharp pitched neighs of horses and the clang of feed buckets fills the air. Excitement pulses through my body as I walk onto the hard concrete floor of the barn. I walk into the big green paddock with a halter and lead rope over my right shoulder. The metal hinges on the halter clang together as I picked up my pace when I saw Smokey ahead of me eating the lush green grass. Smokey neighed at me and gracefully trotted up to me. He stopped when he reached me and I extended my hand, giving him the coarse white sugar cube I had in my jacket pocket. His eyes lit up and he greedily took the sugar cube from my palm. The whiskers on his muzzle tickled my hand as his cold, slimy wet tongue licked my palm clean. I slipped the dark brown leather over his ears and fastened it and with his rainbow colored lead rope in hand, we walked down to the barn. The cross ties clinked as I fastened them to the halter. I walked down the barn aisle way to get his brushes. As I brushed him, I ran my fingers through his soft, shiny black coat. Smokey stretched his head around to look at me and nickered softly. I stroked his nose softly and went back to brushing him. I picked up the fluffy white saddle pad and gently laid it on his back. I went over to the wooden stall door and picked up the chestnut brown saddle. It felt a little heavy in my hands. I laid it on top of the white saddle pad and then fastened the metal fasteners on the girth onto the soft gullets of the saddle. I put his bridle on his head and slipped the cool metal Kimberwick bit into his mouth. I slipped on my hot pink Troxel helmet, took the reins, and Smokey and I walked out to the gravel mounting area. I walked onto the black mounting block and swung my right leg over the saddle and gently sat down in the saddle. I slipped my feet into the metal stirrups and gathered up the semi-coarse reins in my hands and started to ride up to the ring. Smokey’s hooves walked through the fine yellow/white sand. We walked around the big oval sized arena to warm up. After about five minutes of walking around, with Smokey very relaxed, I shortened my reins and ever so softly squeezed my calves to Smokey’s sides and asked him to go forward to a trot. His trot was so graceful, it felt like we were floating on clouds. We worked on lateral movements and I could feel his shoulder and leg muscles moving underneath me. I sat down in my saddle, pushed my heels down into the stirrups and asked for a right lead canter. His canter felt similar to a rocking horse. After a few trips around the arena, I sat back slightly and slowed him down to a slow, calm walk. He shook his head and his name tag on his bridle jingled like a charm on a charm bracelet. We pulled up near the gate of the arena and took a water break. The water was ice-cold as it ran down my throat. We turned around and faced the colorful jumps. I thought up of a course, and slowly cantered towards the first jump. Smokey’s ears perked up as we neared the jump. He sprung up over the 2’6” oxer. I felt weightless as we soared the jump. We continued the course. After we finished, as we trotted away from the last fence, I dropped my reins and hugged him. Our course was flawless. Every stride was perfect, he was amazing and so was I. We were the best team. I lengthened my reins and let Smokey drop and stretched out his neck while we walked around, cooling down. A light breeze blew around us. It felt very refreshing and calming. The gate was opened with a clang, and we walked down to the barn. I dismounted and my feet hit the gravel with a thud. I walked Smokey over to the shower and untacked him. I turned on the hose and started to hose him odd. I turned off the water and he shook the excess water off and got me all wet. I just laughed and he looked at me like “What’s so funny?”. I led him out into his paddock. As soon as I took off his halter, he laid down and rolled. He stood up and shook dirt everywhere. Instead of being black, he was brown! I kissed him on the bridge of his nose, hugged him, and then went home. *Rest In Peace my little pony. I miss you so much & I love you so much! I’ll see you some day Smokey. February 24, 2002- January 6, 2010*”
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