Stress Relief

Horse featured: Victorian Rose owned by Smileyfacestar 
Staff featured: Dylan Reese owned by IlloriaDressage 

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Bags showed clearly under Dylan's eyes. The beginning of a new semester meant a never ending flow of new horses, followed closely by their riders and equipment. The horses he could deal with, a flake of hay here, a hack there, and they were happy. The riders, however, were nothing short of a disaster. 

"Have you seen an orange saddle pad? I swear to god if that stupid freshman took it, I'm gonna -"

"It's on top of the tack trunk in the aisle, you left it there when you went to get your coffee from the car." 

One after the other, the riders were slowly driving him mad. The end of the day was a blessing. He filled the last water bucket, swept the aisle one last time, and headed up to the loft apartment to crash. Almost as soon as his boots were off, a frenzied whinny reached his ears and he was on his feat again. Forgoing his boots, Dylan dashed down the stairs in his socks to find the source of the noise. Victorian Roses, a new arrival, was on the floor of her stall, trying to roll. Straw stuck to her sweat drenched coat. Dylan only knew the symptoms in theory, but all signs pointed to colic. 

Grabbing a lead rope, he got the mare to her feet before making two calls, one to the vet, and the other to the headmaster, and stable owner, Eva Pajari. 

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At some point a frightened owner, a vet, and the headmaster had joined Dylan on the path outside of the barn. He'd spent nearly half an hour walking the mare up and down the dirt path until the vet got there. His socks were brown from dirt, his eyes heavy with exhaustion, but at long last the vet was able to put her skills to the test and get the mare back into stable condition. 

"She'll need to wait to eat until she's made a full bowel movement, but she can have water. I've put her on a mild pain killer to help her settle down, but other than that, the rest is up to her. Make sure she takes it easy for a week or so. I'll be out in a few days to make sure everything is going smoothly." The vet gave the horse a pat, turning her lead rope over to Danielle. "She's going to be just fine.

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Early the next morning, nearly before the sun was up, Dylan made his way to the barn to make his rounds. After everyone had been fed and watered, he pulled Rose from her stall. He may not be a vet, but he knew that the stress of traveling across an ocean in the belly of a plane could easily have contributed to the mare's colic. Stifling a yawn, the groom clipped a cross tie to her halter and adjusted his hat. 

"Let's get you calm again," he murmured. When the stable was sleepily coming to life half an hour later, the first arrivals found him still in the aisle, slowly, but surely, massaging every bit of tension from the mare's body.