The Stables Have Turned

“Did you hear the news?”

Kat noticed her friend Gavin was out of breath. Whatever the news was, it must have been important.

“No, I just got here,” she said.

Gavin took a moment to catch a second wind.

“The stables were just sold!”

Kat thought for a second. Her horse Star had been at the stables for a year now and it was a pretty nice place. Horses are expensive and the stables had proven to be an affordable place to keep a horse. She hoped that wouldn’t change.

Kat was what you’d consider a good kid. She was polite, positive, and friendly. Not the most popular kid in the seventh grade, but not unpopular either. She tall for a seventh grader, athletic, and had loved sports from an early age. Especially horseback riding.

Owning and taking care of a horse is not cheap and Kat did not come from a wealthy family. But she did come from a family of horse riders, some of them even at rodeo level. This was something Kat was aspiring to.

Her family had fallen on hard times and while at one point they had several horses, they were now reduced to owning one horse, a white stallion she named Star. This horse was kept at the Sunrise County Stables, a modest place that was costing her family $200 a month. It was the best they could afford, and Kat knew it. The idea that someone had bought the stables could mean rising costs and this was worrisome.

Kat and Gavin, a classmate of hers, met up with several other kids who had horses there. They were all worried about what new ownership could mean.

“Maybe we’ll get some improvements around here,” one of them said.

“Improvements aren’t free,” Kat said with a worried frown.

Two weeks later a new rider showed up. Danny Locke was a high school senior who was the son of the new owners. He was one of those guys who walked around like he owned the place, except in this case he did.

Danny was quite good looking and not a bad rider himself (although he wasn’t as good as he thought he was). Then again, he was used to people treating him like God’s gift to riding just because of his Dad’s money and he felt sure Sunrise County Stables was not going to be any different.

He strode in wearing a fancy equestrian outfit and a serious look on his face. His brown hair was perfectly combed, his riding boots shone, and his jodhpurs were always a bit too tight. He saw Kat, Gavin, and the middle schoolers hanging around. Bigger than all of them he walked over and introduced himself.

“I’m Danny. My father just bought this place and he has no interest in horses at all. Basically, he bought it for me, as a late 18th birthday gift. So, I want you to know who’s in charge.,” he said.

Kat just rolled her eyes.

“There’s going to be some changes here. Some upgrades. Improvements. I hope you all are able to enjoy them,” Danny said.

“Why WOULDN’T we be able to enjoy them?” Gavin asked.

“With improvements come higher prices. And let’s face it. Not everyone can afford higher rates. But we do want to attract the right kind of client here, so changes are necessary,” he said.

Kat couldn’t believe it. Her worst fears were coming true! He was basically saying ‘Don’t expect to be able to afford this place’.

For the next few weeks Danny became a dominating presence at the stables. He was there every day checking on things and riding his brown stallion, Lord Byron. While other kids were still learning to ride in some cases Danny would race his horse dangerously close to them, make jumps and scare the other horses. Basically, Danny decided if his rate increases didn’t get rid of the riff raff, his bullying would.

But there was one horse he couldn’t intimidate, Star.

Star was unimpressed with all the racing and jumping Lord Byron could do. Not that Star couldn’t do these things, because he could, but Star’s attitude mirrored that of Kat. And Kat was a rider whose skills easily outmatched Danny’s.

Danny took notice of the white stallion. Walking over to Kat he decided to make an offer.

“Listen, we both know you can’t afford this place. But if you sell me Star, you can probably help your family out and I might let you ride him once in a while,” he said.

Who did this guy think he was?

“I would never sell you my horse. And you will never ride Star,” she said.

“Are you sure about that? Are you sure you want to say no to me?” he said.

“I’m positive! You can’t buy everything,” Kat said. This idea was news to Danny who was sure he could. But weeks later when all his offers were still met with a big NO Danny realized that there was at least one thing he couldn’t buy.

And he really wanted to ride that horse.