I stood in the corner of my paddock, the spot where I could see furthest up to the farmhouse. I waited here at this time every day. My little human would often come out and sneak me some extra hay. I appreciated it a lot, I was often hungry. It never used to be like this, we were always well fed and cared for, and we had lots of grass to eat. One day the grass seemed to stop growing, the dams dried up and the hay we were given was not soft and green anymore. Ever since then, my little human would bring me extra hay when the other horses went to the back of the paddock, and the big humans were not around. She would sit with me while I ate my hay and brush my mane and tell me stories. I really loved it when my little human came to visit.
I could feel deep sadness before she even walked outside the house. My little human came running to me, tears streaming down her face, gulping in air between her sobs. She slid through the wire fencing like I had seen her do a million times before. I lowered my head as she approached, and she wrapped her arms around my neck, burying her face in my mane. I had felt sadness from her before but never like this. She had never squeezed me so tight or sobbed for so long. She kept repeating the same words to me, "I'm so sorry, I love you so much." I didn't understand why she was so sad but I kept my face beside hers, hoping it would make her feel better. She stayed with me for hours that night, longer than she ever had before. "Please be brave, I know you will be a good girl, I'm so sorry, don't forget that I love you," she whispered to me before she slipped through the fence and went back into the farmhouse, tears rolling down her cheeks.
The sun hadn't even begun peaking over the mountains when the big truck clattered down the driveway. It reversed into our paddock and lowered a back panel down with an awful screeching sound. The smell that came from it burned my nose and made me curl my lip, I did not know why it was in my paddock but I didn't like it. Some of my paddock mates were running and snorting, it was an unfamiliar sight to them as well. Two new big humans came out of the truck, they stomped over to the farmhouse where my humans were. They talked for a moment before the new humans came into the paddock and pulled out some fences and put them either side of the truck. After that, they turned towards me and the other horses, holding long sticks in their hands. They started swinging the sticks at us, and yelling and pointing. The sticks made an awful, frightening noise. They chased us towards the truck, yelling and running after us. We were all so afraid, we didn't want to go into the scary truck but these new humans were so mean. I looked everywhere for my little human but I couldn't see her anywhere. Before I knew it, I was pushed into the truck with all of my other paddock mates. The back panel slammed shut behind us and we stood, jammed together, shaking and snorting in fear.
The trip was long. My legs ached from standing still while trying not to get pushed over by the other horses. When the truck eventually came to a stop, I could hear horses outside, lots of them, snorting and neighing and squealing. The scent of fear was strong. The back of the truck screeched down again and we were all chased outside into a narrow passage between fences. There were more strange humans here, they chased me away from my friends and locked me into a small pen beside some horses I didn't know. After they locked me in, they left me there and went to chase my friends some more. I felt the fear coming from the horses either side of me, I tried to look for my small human again, but I had lost the scent of her a long time ago. My stomach ached with hunger and my throat burned, searching my yard I found a tub of water and tried to take a drink, but the water inside was hot and stale and smelled strange. The yard was hard dirt, there was nothing for me to eat here. By now, my friends were all in little pens of their own, I could see some of them from where I was, they were pacing back and forth calling out to me, I called back.
Once the sun rose in the sky, lots of humans came, walking down the narrow passages we had been chased down earlier. Some of them peered through the fencing at me, but most just walked past, talking amongst each other. A couple came into my pen and tried to approach me, but I shrunk back against the fence away from them, they were unfamiliar and moved so quickly, I was afraid they would chase me like the other humans had. I observed while some of the humans went into the pens with my friends, looking them up and down, I had never seen so many humans before and I didn't understand why we were here. One human stood at my pen, looking in at me. She watched me for longer than the other humans had. After a while, she opened my pen and stepped inside. She seemed different from the other humans here, her movements were slow and calm, and her voice was soothing. She walked very slowly towards me, extending her hand for me to smell. "Hey pony, it's okay," she spoke. She reminded me of my little human, so I stood still and let her pat me, I was glad that I did, she was very kind. "Can I have a look at your feet, girl?" She asked me with a kind tone, before bending down and asking me to lift my feet one at a time. I lifted them and held them for her, like I had for my little human before. "You're a sweet girl, aren't you? Will you let me see your teeth?" She spoke again, lifting my lips and looking into my mouth. I didn't understand what she was doing but I let her continue, I could tell she wasn't a mean human and I didn't need to be afraid of her. After stroking me for a while and rubbing my face, she left my yard and walked away. I was sad when she left, I had felt safe while she was here, now more strange people were looking at me again. I watched her closely while she walked down the narrow passages, looking at the other horses, I never lost sight of her once. A few times I saw her glance back at me, I hoped she would return and pat me again, I liked the sound of her voice and the safe feeling she gave me.
Humans crowded around my pen, so many humans, some jumped in my pen and one climbed up on top of the fence above me. I felt so trapped and afraid, I paced around my pen, trying not to get too close to these strange humans. The one on top of the fence was yelling, "Get me started, have I got $500?...$250?...$100?...$50?" A large man outside my pen waved a white paper in the air, I had seen him waving the paper while the yelling came from the other horses pens. He looked mean, he didn't even look at me for more than a second. The yelling continued for a while until he said, "$200? Have I got $200?" There was silence, and then the girl waved a white paper in the air, "$200 here!" She called out. That was the end of it, the humans moved to the horse beside me. The yelling continued down the line of pens but I didn't pay much attention now, I was looking for the girl. I had lost sight of her when she disappeared inside a building. I stared at the door she went into until she reappeared, walking down to me with a purple halter in her hand. She let herself back into my pen and quietly slipped the halter onto my face. I stayed very still and let her adjust the clips to fit my face. She very gently wrapped her arms around my neck, like my little human had, and whispered to me, "It's okay my love, you're safe now, I won't let anything bad happen to you." I turned my head to keep her close to me, I desperately wanted her to stay. She clipped a lead to my halter and walked me out of the narrow passage I had been chased through earlier that morning. I walked close by her side as she led me outside the fences and up onto a horse float. I walked in eagerly, I knew I was safe with her and I desperately wanted to get away from this horrible place. Once inside the float, she hugged me again and told me I was a good girl, tears welled up in her eyes, but I could tell this wasn't sadness. "I'm so happy I could save you," she said, "I promise you will always be safe with me."
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