My Finger is NOT a Carrot

AHHHHHHHHHHHH! He bites my finger and the nightmare begins.

A hot summer day in the middle of Texas. A steady wave of heat bears down on my little body. I have just finished playing with the dog and have been asked to help feed the horses. I am so excited! Ever since we got here a few days ago that is all I have wanted to do. My brother’s friend’s sister, Katherine-Carter, leads me to the horses.

I feed the young ones first, one carrot at a time, at first being worried about getting bit, but after awhile I don’t worry because now I am a professional horse feeder. I have an aptitude for feeding horses and my young cocky self knows it.

I make my way along stretching out my hand with a carrot in it and letting the horses snatch it up from my small hand. I love the way their tongues slides over my fingers as they pick up the carrot. Katherine-Carter watches as my little five year old self, goes along squealing and jumping through the stables. She laughs as one of the horses licks my face.

My sister comes into the stable and begins joining Katherine-Carter and I as we go from stable to stable feeding all the horses and forgetting about everything that has ever troubled us. My sister is jumpy and scared of the horses, she sometimes drops the carrot before the horse even gets. It is clear that she accepts mediocrity in the field of horse feeding.

There are only three horses left to feed; the first horse is a young purebred horse. He is jumpy and excited for feeding time; Katherine-Carter tells us to be careful because he is young and hasn’t learned the ropes of the ranch yet. We don’t care, we feed him as carelessly as any other horse and keep going along.

The second horse is an old quiet horse. Benjamin. He has a blindfold over his eyes to keep the bugs out. He is the most innocent horse anyone had ever seen; we could tell he was weak and that he had little time left. I reach my hand out to give him a carrot. Not paying attention I let my middle finger slide up. Not being able to see, he reaches his tongue out to find the carrot. The most immense pain I have ever felt shoots through my hand.

~ Malachy D.