text: Imogen Walker The black stallion 
   
   
   Chapter 1 
   The noise of my parents fighting pierces my eardrums making me get anxious and frustrated, I look at them their facial expressions changing every second, the harsh words they say to each other when they say to me "Casey go to your room, dinner will be ready later" my mother says firmly. I slowly walk into my room I sit on my bed and look out the window the sound of anger lingering in my ears I look at the bush behind the house that has a large open area at the top where a few bitchy girls hang out sometimes hoping they aren't they I climb out of my window swiftly not making a sound. I creep up behind my house until I think that no one would hear me I start to run up the trail leading to the open plain on the top with lush green grass. I hear a twig snap in the bushes and look over from where I was sitting on a lonely log I squint and make out a large shape but can't quite see. The figure moves closer and I see that the figure makes out the shape of a large pure black horse with a prominent white blaze down the front of its face. I hear the hooves hit the ground at a lightning speed hearing the dirt flick up the black horse goes closer I say "hey boy, don't be scared" he nickers and flicks his head keeping distance. I decide to not pay attention to him he moves a step closer and I look up he flicks his head and running off through the grass leaving no sign of him I sigh and lay down on the log eventually falling asleep in the sunlight. I open my eyes the heat getting to me I look behind me and see the black horse in the distance he staring at me I look at my watch and see the time I run off copying him. 
   I wake up the next morning bright and early before everyone else I get a few carrots and sneak out my window again running up the trail I look over the open plain and don't see him anywhere I start to worry a little but remembering he is wild, I look around and say " here boy!, I got a carrot for you" I hear a annoying chuckle behind me and look around and see Rebecca who is the best horse rider I'm town laughing at me, I say " get lost Rebecca". She laughs again and says " who are you talking too? Your little ghost horse because your parents can't afford for you to have your own?" I glare at her and say " Rebecca beat it, I didn't want you here so go" she let's off a smirk and says smartly " too bad it's the councils property and if I see that horse you are calling to I will get it shot" I stare at her and walk off a tear running down my cheek. 
   I arrive home and sneak back into my bedroom and walk out into the kitchen no sound at all I sigh and make some breakfast for myself I hear some movement further down the house and see mum plodding her way towards me and says " Casey you are going to have to miss your lesson today, I know you only you only have one every fortnight but I don't have the money this week" she says dully. I look at her a sigh of relief covers my face, smiling at her and continuing making breakfast. I see dad walk out after i finish eating and look at me and give me a smile making a coffee and a tea for mum, i finish up and walk back into my room. I get out a pencil and paper and start to sketch the beautiful black stallion who was right in front of my eyes yesterday his white blaze reflecting off his black coat making him look handsome. 
     
   
   
   
   Chapter 2 
   Days past by and the black stallion has disappeared no sign of him, I start to loose hope but think I will try one more time, grabbing the freshly picked carrots and climbing through my window. I run up the trail sprinting hoping the black stallion would be there. I get to the top and look around and I squint and see him in the distance, I yell " here boy! Here boy! I have a carrot for you." Once again I hear the annoying chuckle of Rebecca's voice behind me, I glare at her and say " Rebecca why do you always have to torment me?, like I'm someone who kills people or something" she let's out a giggle and says " the only thing that is getting killed is that horse" I glare at her and step forward I turn around and see the black stallion galloping full speed towards us, Rebecca says well here he is trying to get around me, I move where she does knowing he is right behind me, she slaps me across the face and without knowing that the black stallion is right there. 
   He rears up going towards her making her back away like a little kid, I stare up in shock,she screams "get that thing away from me!" I chuckle at her fear. She gets up quickly and sprints off no sign or her. The horse puts his two front feet back on the earth and I pull out carrot, he sniffs it nuzzling it. He grabs it and eats it, I smile and put my hand out to him, he puts his nose to it and bows his head a little. I slowly move my hand up his face patting him. I say to him follow me I run he canters behind me I take him down the trail and lead him to my house, putting him in one of the back paddocks and run inside closing the gate to mum and say "mum look!, she walks out and sees the black stallion gracefully eating the grass in the paddock, she stares at him in shock and says quietly "he is beautiful, how did he get here?" I say to her smirking "he followed me, can we keep him!, please please mum" I beg her my eyes wide. She smirks and puts her hand to her lips " he is beautiful, but how do you know you are going to be able to brake him in?" I say to her pleading " mum if we don't keep him, Rebecca said she will get him killed by the council!" She looks at me shocked her eyes wide open, " we can't let a horse like him get killed!, I guess we are going to keep him" she says seeing my facial expression change in an instant. I look at her and scream "thank you!!!" I grab her hand and run out to the paddock her trailing behind. 
   She stands behind the fence, I walk in and say calming words walking up to him he puts his nose in my hand and nuzzles it, I smile and out my other hand on his fore head he moves his head up. I say to mum excitedly "watch this!" I start to run down the paddock he canters behind me I slow down and he trots behind me nickers and he flicks his head. I stop and he stops behind me placing his head just by my shoulder, I look over to mum and smile. She says " that's quite impressive" she says winking. I smile and face him staring into his dark eyes the sun making his fur shine, I slowly raise my hand and trace my finger down his blaze gracefully. 
     
   
   
   
   Chapter 3 
   A few days have passed and I finally decide on the name Sampson for our newest black stallion. I walk into the old tack room, cob webs overtaking I look around and spot the lunge lead and I walk out and open the rusty gate and walk in, he looks up and nickers and keeps eating. I grab the end of the lunge lead and pick it up and stand behind his front shoulder and slowly swing it he moves a little I move with him making him go around in a circle. I swing it a little faster wanting to see his reaction he turns and jumps at me, I chuckle and push him more he throws out a buck but gets into a little trot. I swing the rope a little closer and he turns again, I say sternly "no" staring him down. He stares back challenging me I swing the rope he jumps a little towards me, " I say woo boy" pushing him back out with the lunge lead. He trots around he prances I smile leaving my arm spread out pushing him along. I let him go into a walk and I say to him calmly " woo up boy." I drop the lunge lead and walk up too him giving him a pat and a carrot I had in my back pocket. I say cheerfully " good boy today! You done well" patting him on the forehead.  
   I put the lunge lead back into the tack room and skip inside cheerfully and say to mum and dad " I got Sampson to lunge! And he trotted too!" I look at them cheerfully seeing smiles spread across their faces. Dad says excitedly "that's really good Casey, I think if you put time into him he will be a good horse" I smile and agree with him walking back out the door into the paddock. I sit on the grass and watch him gracefully eating, I look at my watch and see that it is around 5pm I get up and got to the tack shed getting his feed ready, mixing it up I water it down and walk into the paddock he gallops over and stops putting his head in the bucket. I close the gate and watch him eat for awhile admiring his stunning looks when I see in the distance a truck on the side saying " ranger" I squint and read it quickly calling mum and dad. I see mum and dad walking fast out to me I look at them and the to the truck following my eyes they see it and say " did that girl call them?!" I look at them worry covering my face, the truck works it's way closer to where we are standing and comes up right beside us and stops the man in the front looks down at us. My dad says to him politely " do we have a problem sir?" The man opens the door and steps down off the truck and says "I have had complaints about a wild horse that has been roaming the area, have you seen it?" I quickly look over at Sampson and back the the man standing in front of us. " No I haven't seen one around lately, but if I do I will surely give you a call?" My dad says confidently. The man looks around and spots our horse and says " is he yours?" I quickly reply and say yes he is ours staring at him worried. He let's out a sigh and says " I really hate when young er the community's ring up comparing and nothing is here, thank you for your time" he says smiling and gets back into the trick and drove off. 
   
   
   
   Chapter 4 
   The sound of my alarm buzzes my ears, waking me up too darkness. I look at the time and it reads 5:00am I roll over and rub my eyes getting up out of bed and putting my dressing gown on, slowly walking out to the paddock. Sampson looks over and nickers greeting me I open the gate up and I walk up to him and give him a good pat and a fresh carrot. I whisper in his ear " yesterday was a close one, lucky you weren't still wild boy you would have been taken" I walk back to the tack room and mix up a feed for him carrying the bucket out and putting it in the paddock the smell of copra lingering the air. He trots over and shoves his mouth into the bucket eating away at the grains. I go and grab my grooming kit and I walk over to him slowly putting my hand on his back and rub it slowly I place the brush on him his back tenses and I talk to him calmly. I slowly glide the brush over his back and rump getting all the excess hair and dirt off him. I run it down his legs and under his stomach. I grab a mane brush and brush down is mane pull the knots out. I grab his tail slowly and pull it around the the side his thick black hair running down my leg I brush it knots everywhere I say to him " we better have a grooming session aye?" He keeps eating moving the bucket with his mouth. I look at my watch and it reads 6:00am I take the brush away and give him a kiss on the neck and tell him i will see him soon and put the grooming set back in the tack room and walk inside. I make myself some breakfast and then go and get ready for school the time going fast. I grab my school bag and put it I over my shoulder and yell " bye mum, bye dad" and walk out. I look over at Sampson and say " I will see you this afternoon, mum will give you some hay later, have a good day boy" and I walk to the end of the driveway and wait for my school bus. I arrive at school and the first person I see is my best friend Alice I walk up too her a smile spreading across my face I say "have a guess what?!" She looks at me and says " what?" I giggle and say " I got my own horse!!" She looks at me shocked and says " you are so lucky!, you didn't come to lessons last week?" I smile my cheeks going red I say quietly " yeah I couldn't mum and dad were fighting and yeah but I will be coming next week for sure." She says excitedly " what type, gender, colour, tell me everything!" I look at her and smirk and say " well this horse isn't your normal school horse, how can I put it he is from the wild." She looks at me stunned and confusion fills her eyes, " what?, why would you get a wild horse that you are going to have to brake in?" I look at her and tell her what happened with the Sampson and she listened intently and understood me. She says enthusiastically " I am coming over to see him!, can I catch the bus home with you?" I reply " that should be fine, mum will be home anyway." I sit down to eat lunch with my usual group, we start chatting and I soon feel a tap on my shoulder, I turn around and look up and see Rebecca standing there. I say to her "what do you want?" Giving her no expression. She looks at me and says "you do realise that your good for nothing horse will never be worth anything or good at pony club, all it is good for is dog meat." I look at her in shock and stand up and say to her sternly "don't you ever say that about him again! How would you know if he is good or not? And I don't really care if he isn't, I'm not a competitive brat like you are with your little 10,000 dollar pony and your snobby arse." She looks at me and gives me a death stare she says smartly "we will see who wins the show? I bet it won't be your stupid horse!" She walks off and I yell "we will see." I sit back down and look at my friends they reassure me and I say "I don't really care about her because all she can do is make other people feel bad, and she always has too be centre of attention so she is dead to me."  
   
   
   
   Chapter 5 
   I arrive home with Alice walking up my street she spots Sampson and says "he is beautiful!" Running up my driveway over to the fence, I run behind her and he spots me and nickers loudly running over he throws out a buck excitedly. I stand by the fence and he comes up to it I pat his forehead and say "how was your day boy?, meet Alice she is my friend from school she isn't nasty like Rebecca" I watch as Alice puts her hand out to him he nuzzles it and licks her hand she smiles and moves her hand up patting his white blaze. She looks at me and says "he is so friendly, I can't  wait until you can ride him!" I look at her and say " yeah today I am going to try and put a halter on him and lead him around." We walk into the house and I put my bag in my bedroom and greet mum Alice following me. I walk back outside and quickly grab a halter and a carrot and walk into the paddock. Alice waits outside the gate waiting for me to see his reaction. I walk up to him and give him a good pat and say "good boy, I'm just going to put a halter on you,it's  not going to hurt you trust me" I get the halter into position and slid it over his nose he walks back a little, I whisper to him calming words. I clip the top bit up and let him free he shakes his head and runs up to the fence, shaking his head around trying to get it off. I walk back up to Alice and say " you can come see him if you want?" She opens the gate and walks inside the paddock I quickly go to the tack room and grab a lead rope and lunge rope walking back into the paddock. I look at Alice and Sampson she patting him, a smile spread across her face. I leave them for a moment knowing that she has always wanted a horse of her own and never being able to get one. I grab the lunge rope and walk up too them I say "sorry to ruin the moment" Alice replies smiling " it's alright go ahead" she walks back a little and I attach the lunge rope too his halter. He feels the sudden weight of it and walks back throwing his head I say "here boy it's alright" calming him down. I swing the end of the lunge rope trying to get him to walk on, he walks around in a circle. I push him more and he goes to run at me, I stand holding my ground and push him out again getting him into a trot. I make him go faster, I spin in circles as he fast trots around me I push a little more and he goes into a canter. I say happily "good boy!" Smiling at him he canters around in a circle smoothly.  
   I stop him and softly tug on the rope he slowly walks towards me and I praise him. I say to Alice "would you like a turn?" She looks at me and says quickly "sure" taking hold of the lead rope. I say to her before she begins, "he might try to run at you but don't be scared, just hold your ground and push him back out" she nods and starts to swing the rope. I look at him and seeing that he is testing her, she pushes him more and glides into a trot, prancing around on the grass. I see the sweat rising on his coat making him a darker black, she pushes him a little and he stops and try's to run at her. She hesitates buts stands her ground,I watch and see that she pushes him out again. She gets him into a canter and canters him around, sweat dripping from him, she stops and walks up to him praising him. She hands me the lunge rope and says "he is so good,considering he was completely wild a couple of weeks ago, I think he is going to be so good to ride" I smile at her and look at Sampson his breathe on my shoulder. I see my dad pull into the drive away and say out the window, "he's sweaty, go give him a drink" 
   
   
   
   Chapter 6 
   The morning arises when I hear chatter in the distance, I get up and peek out my back window and see Rebecca there with some other girl patting Sampson! I run out and say "what so you think you are doing!" She looks around and chuckles and says "I'm just giving your horse some affection" i push her away "well he doesn't need any from you anyway" I retort as she gives me a death stare and walks off. I look at Sampson and run my finger up his white blaze and say " I will get you your feed in a second" feeling my nudge my hand. I walk back to the paddock carrying his bright blue bucket along with a pick in my hand. He trots over to me and I hand him the food, I say "I'm just going to try and pick your feet out, you will be alright" I slowly put my hand down his leg and squeeze and he lifts it. I grab it but he tries to kick it forward I say "no!" In a harsh voice picking out the remainder dirt in his feet. I walk back inside and hear my mum say "we better take you and Sampson to pony club so you can ride him there?" I look around my face glowing " yes we should but how are we going to get him on a float?" I say hoping she has a answer. She looks at me and looks around for something when she says "dad has a friend who can put him on a float he is coming around today" I smile and say "I really hope he doesn't play up too much" frowning a little.We drive in our ford territory with a double horse float on the back, I look out the window and look around at the float checking Sampson in the float.  We turn into the drive way I look over and see my best friend Alice riding Pepper her stock horse in the arena. We come to a stop and I get out and slowly open up the float door and walk up beside Sampson and untie him backing him out of the float. He looks around and nickers, Alice notices me and stops and quickly jumps off running over to the side of the fence tying up Pepper. My mum walks into the office as I walk him into the arena, I say to Alice excitedly "I'm putting a saddle on him today!" She looks at me and smiles replying "he's gonna go so good here!." I see mum walking over with the president, as she grabs my saddle the president named Linda says confidently "where did you get him from?" I look at her and say "the wild" trailing off. She looks at me and says picking up her tone "he is going to be crazy!, how are you going to be able to ride him here at shallow halls?" I say quietly, "he will be fine, don't stress ms." She looks at me wide eyed doubting me and walks off as mum enters the arena. I hold out the saddle blanket to him and let him sniff it carefully. I slid it onto his back he looks around at it his eyes tilting a little back. I calm him and apply some pressure onto his back as if someone would get up. I then slide the saddle onto his back gently and do the girth up on the first hole, letting it hang loosely around his waist. I lunge him for a while doing the girth up tighter and tighter until it is just right. I put the stirrups down and place one foot in the stirrup applying some pressure as my mum holds him. I swing up slowly and slide my other foot in. I get my mum to lead me around the arena slowly and carefully I stay focus on him. 
   
   
   Publication Date: April 26th 2014 https://www.bookrix.com/-ti0ff4ee428eb25