“Is it difficult to set those visits up with the stores?” Trixie said.
“Most people are eager to help, but, of course, you’ve got to have insurance in place, and you need to control the number of people approaching the horse, so the horse doesn’t get overwhelmed,” Ed explained. “All of that is discussed ahead of time. If you decide to train your own minis, we have contacts through our associates in several states. We can help you make those connections, whether you buy a horse from us or not.”
“That’s so nice of you. Thank you.” She looked at Nick, who nodded as if to say, See? He’s a good guy. “What kind of training does a horse get after basic?”
“After mastering those first visits, they’re ready for intermediate training. They progress to soft visits in assisted living facilities, hospice, and rehab centers. We take them to facilities that aren’t as busy as hospitals to prepare them. Their first visits are solely to learn the environment and get used to the sights, sounds, and smells, not to visit with patients. Once the handlers feel they’re ready, they begin one-on-one visits with patients. And when a horse has completed at least a year of consistent training and patient visits, the horses that we feel can handle more move on to advanced training. That’s when they visit with groups, where there’s more going on, such as airports, children’s events, parades, and the like.”
“That’s a lot of training. Have you had horses who simply aren’t suited for therapy?”
“We’ve been lucky. We’ve had only a handful in the last ten years that haven’t been right for therapy.” He nodded to the arena and said, “Let me show you some of our training facilities.”
Inside the arena were three handlers who looked to be around Trixie’s age working with mares and their foals. Trixie’s heart squeezed at the sight of the babies watching their mamas and following in turn. They were adorable and eager. But the horses weren’t the only impressive sight. She’d never seen such an elaborate training area. On one side of the arena, a woman with a long blond braid was walking a foal up a wide set of steps to an elevator. On the other end of the arena, another handler was taking a mare and its foal over various types of flooring, and in the center of the arena was a younger woman working with another mare and her baby on basic commands.
Trixie leaned against Nick and said, “Look at those babies.”
He gazed down at her with the softest expression she’d ever seen on him and put an arm around her, keeping her close.
“The foals are hard to resist,” Ed said. “The handlers are my daughters, Caroline, Molly, and Heidi. They’ve been working with horses since they were waist high.”
“Me too, although not like this. My family owns a cattle ranch, but we also have horses. We do general training, and Nick taught me freestyle training techniques.”
Ed nodded. “He told me you have a way with horses and that you’re quite the stunt rider.”
“I’m not bad,” she said modestly. “I have to ask, is that a real elevator?”
“Yes. It goes to the second floor, where there are more training stages. We have rooms set up with hospital beds, wheelchairs, and various types of rehab equipment to help acclimate the horses before they go on their first visits. We play sound clips replicating the sounds in hospitals, too. The earlier and more often they’re exposed to those things, the more comfortable they’ll be. The horses also frequent our house, so they’re used to being indoors and navigating around furniture.”
“You’ve got a great setup, Ed. It’s very impressive,” she said.
“Thank you. Are you ready to meet a few of our beauties?”
“Yes,” she said excitedly.
“After talking with Nick, I took the liberty of picking out a few horses that I thought would fit your needs,” Ed said as they left the arena and headed down another path toward a small red barn. “Nick said you would be bringing the horses to children’s parties, too, so I’ve chosen four advanced horses. They’re comfortable with groups and screaming children, and they get along well with each other, which is important.”
“Perfect.” She mouthed Thank you to Nick, and he nodded.
Beside the barn was a small fenced area with four beautiful horses. “Here we are,” Ed said. “The white filly is Annabelle. She’s thirty-two inches and four years old. Annabelle’s been doing advanced visits for two years. She’s a sweetheart, and she’s trick trained.”
“How much is she?” Trixie asked.
“She’s the most expensive of these four, at sixty-eight hundred dollars.”
Trixie tried not to react to the price, and slid her hand into Nick’s. He held her hand tighter and stepped closer, making her feel even more connected to—and supported by—him.
“The handsome chestnut is Dreamer. He’s a three-year-old gelding, and twenty-eight inches tall. Dreamer has a little more than a year of advanced visits, and he’s a real charmer. Dreamer is five thousand dollars.”
Nick squeezed her hand again.
“The bay gelding is Alfie, and the pinto filly is Elsa. They’re four years old. Alfie is twenty-six inches, and Elsa is twenty-four. They’re gentle as can be, and both have two years of advanced visits. They’re fifty-eight hundred each. I’m not here to sell you on my horses. They’ll do that themselves,” Ed said kindly. “But I will say this. A trained horse will help bring other horses up to speed. It takes a lot of patience to train a therapy horse, but minis are smart, and they’re eager to learn.”
Nick brushed his thumb over the back of Trixie’s hand and said, “Trixie is as patient and charming with the horses as she is with people.”
His vote of confidence and that intimate touch sent shivers of delight through her. She wondered if he really thought she was charming. She didn’t think of herself that way.
“Well, then, why don’t you spend some time with them and see if you connect,” Ed suggested. “If you don’t feel comfortable with any of them, we can choose others. There’s no pressure from my end. We’re here every day, and you can come back as many times as you’d like. But if you do connect with any of them, you can work with one of my girls to take the horses for a test drive through the arena training areas and watch the videos to see them in action.”
“That sounds great. Thank you, Ed.” Trixie was worried about the cost of the horses, but as Ed opened the gate and Dreamer came to greet them, the excitement of working with trained horses took over. “Hi, beautiful. How are you today?” She petted him as the other horses approached. Annabelle rubbed her neck against Nick’s leg. “I hear you, girlfriend. He just draws you in, doesn’t he?”
Nick and Ed chuckled.
Ed stayed with them while they visited for the first half hour, answering their questions and going over the commands the horses were taught. When he left them alone with the horses, Trixie looked up from where she was crouched beside Annabelle and said, “These horses are amazing! They follow every command, and they’re so docile. I love that Ed’s family works here. It reminds me of home. I feel good about this, Nick.”
They spent the next hour getting to know the horses, taking them through more commands and talking about their personalities. She loved them all, and her excitement bubbled out. “If I move forward with two trained horses, I could spend a month bonding with them, get them used to my parents’ ranch, set up the company and insurance, and start the business in no time. Assuming I can pick up clients, of course.”