I could hardly sit still as I perched on the corral fence, the long white horse trailer just twenty yards away, inching up the road to the stable. The trailer was ancient, and let out a long sigh as my dad brought it to a stop. I flopped off the fence and skipped to the loading dock, my hands itching to throw open the double doors and see our new beauties. My dad’s easy lope seemed more like a sloth’s shuffle, even as he stood beside me and placed both calloused hands on the door and let it creak open.

Inside was one muscular bay, a colt by the looks of it. Beside his broad booty I could make out the rears of two others in the dimness, one strawberry roan and another bay. The second bay horse seemed terribly fretful, shifting from foot to foot and tossing its head.

One by one the yearlings came out. The colt was territorial, already trying to stake a claim on the mild-mannered roan.

I could tell before she was even lead out that something was horribly wrong with the third horse.