Writing Corner: A Horse Named Solitare

This week's writing is A Horse Named Solitare written by Becca.

It was a beautiful, spring morning in Calgary, Alberta and Brittney and her mother were just getting ready to leave their house.

"Come on, Mom," Brittney called impatiently to her mother as she walked briskly out their large, wooden front door. She stopped and turned around to face her mother as soon as she reached the end of the porch, tapping her foot anxiously. "Hold your horses," her mother said calmly, grabbing her old, weathered paddock boots from the mat that was just inside the front door.

"I would, but I don’t have any to hold," Brittney replied smartly. She smiled mischievously as her mother glared at her. They both laughed after a moment as Brittney’s mother knelt down to tie her boots.

Brittney Morrison, a 15-year-old teen, had always wanted her own horse. She and her mom lived on a 10 acre farm, and they had owned horses since Brittney was little, but she had never had one to call her own. Today, though, that was going to change. Her mother, Julia Morrison, was taking her to McGregor’s livestock market to buy her a horse.

"Mom, please hurry. I want to get there before too many people arrive," Brittney said anxiously, practically dancing back and forth across the porch, "I want

first pick of all the horses."

"Just give me a moment and then we can leave," Julia replied with a sigh and a shake of her head as she tied her boots.

When they arrived at the market, Brittney paced swiftly up and down the aisles of the horse barn, looking at all the horses that were for sale. A few of the dozens of mares, geldings, and foals stood out to her at a first glance. There was a chestnut with socks, a smoky grey with a star, a young black colt, and an old palomino mare. Brittney thought they all had good temperaments but she didn’t really want to buy any of them after she and her mom took a closer look. The chestnut looked as though she cribbed, the grey was older than he was said to be, the colt needed too much training, and the old mare had really bad feet. Brittney began to feel a little anxious. She and her mom had been at the market for hours and they still hadn’t found a horse that Brittney really liked.

She had almost given up hope of finding a horse that day when she reached the second to last stall. The nameplate read "Solitaire". As soon as Brittney saw him, she knew he was the one. He was a dark bay gelding with a blaze down his face, and to Brittney he looked like an Arabian/Thoroughbred cross. He stood in the back of his stall, wearily looking at her. His ears were back and Brittney could see the whites of his eyes. She knew this meant he was nervous or uncomfortable.

She approached him slowly. "Hello boy. You’re a good looking guy, aren’t you?” Brittney murmured softly, holding out her hand to him. Solitaire only slightly pricked his ears before nervously taking a mouthful of feed from his bucket, never letting his wary gaze stray away from Brittney. And even though Solitaire didn’t seem very sociable, Brittney still knew that this was the horse for her.

Want to read more? Check out the rest of Solitare and Brittney's story here: http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/47560-a-horse-named-solitaire