A Perfect Christmas & Other Horse Stories by Hilary Walker

Author:Hilary Walker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Christmas stories, Horse fiction, Horse humor, Uplifting Fiction, Humorous Fiction, Horse fiction books, Short Story Anthology, Short Stories About Horses
Publisher: Hilary Walker
Published: 2019-11-12T00:00:00+00:00

Shoestring Rider

© 2014 Hilary Walker

Chapter 1: The Presenter

“That’s just what you’d do, Reggie!” Emma chuckled, pointing at the TV.

Her English bulldog was sleeping next to her on the sofa. The animal’s deep snores sent ripples through his voluminous jowls, and they undulated like fins on a manta ray.

Emma stroked his rotund stomach. But her attention was on the popular program No Problem Riding.

Its presenter was the main reason she and her horsey friends sat glued to the screen every Friday night. Jason Etaloni was a lean man in his mid-thirties, with rugged, Crocodile Dundee good looks. Tales of his having run away in his teens from a strict Sicilian family added to his mystique.

He was highly respected in the horse world. As a young stable lad at an English racing barn he’d shown exceptional skill with highly-strung Thoroughbreds. And when he grew too tall to remain healthy at a jockey’s required weight, he was quickly poached by another racing establishment as a trainer.

Despite his new boss’s attempts to keep Etaloni’s talents hidden, the public soon learned of his magic with difficult horses. He helped produce many a winner out of other barns’ rejects.

Those equines that were not fast enough soon found second homes. Etaloni trained ex-racers were in great demand, and succeeded in their new lives as eventers, show jumpers or dressage horses.

Etaloni eventually bought his own barn. No Problem Farm was a fifty-acre facility where he retrained horses of all types, sizes, ages and disciplines. He was continually being bombarded with requests to take on problem animals.

His increasing fame caused the BBC to approach him about making the TV series No Problem Riding. Etaloni’s gentle approach to horses, coupled with those handsome features and toned physique ensured the show became an instant success with female riders of all ages.

Since women made up the majority of equestrians, this resulted in a record number of viewers for a documentary. Every lady rider dreamed of having Jason Etaloni take in her horse for retraining—whether the animal needed it or not.

In that night’s episode, a woman had driven her black Range Rover and smart trailer through the wrought-iron gates of Shoestring Farm. She stepped out of her vehicle, leaving the driver’s door open.

Dressed in immaculate riding clothes, she held out a gold-bangled arm. “Hello, I’m Valerie Mason,” she purred.

Mr Etaloni responded by taking the proffered hand and raising it to his lips.

This was his trademark. He would kiss the back of the owner’s hand—except, of course, on the rare occasions when a man brought in a horse—run a hand through his tousled blond hair and ask in a quiet voice: “What would you like me to do for your horse?”

At this, an English bulldog fell out of the Range Rover.

He landed face first on the gravel, with both hind legs strung out on the seat his owner had just vacated. The dog looked up sadly, tongue protruding to one side of his mouth.

Ms Mason hastily retrieved her hand from r. Etaloni’s and rushed—as gracefully as possible under the circumstances—to the aid of her hapless hound.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.