He rubbed the back of his neck and shuffled around a bit. "I rode horses a lot when I was younger."

I blinked. "That's...awesome," I said, not really knowing what else to say. I was amazed. I had no idea he had a past with horses. Could this man get any better?

"Kristin? Are you in here?" Olivia asked, entering the room. She saw my guests. "Oh, hello there! I'm Olivia Bryan. Are you all friends of Kristin? She didn't tell me she would be having any visitors today!"

I stepped up before Pentatonix could say anything. "These are some friends that are visiting from out of state, Olivia. Their flight got in early, and they came to visit me at work instead of waiting until later on."

"It's so great to meet you guys! I'd stay and talk, but I just popped in to tell Kristin that Paul said he believes Nico is limping slightly."

I sighed and nodded. "Thank you for passing on the message, Olivia. I'll be right there."

She nodded and waves at Pentatonix, smiling all the while. "I hope you enjoy your time in New York! It was nice seeing you all!" She flounced out of the room as Pentatonix waved as well.

I began walking out of the locker room and turned to look over my shoulder. "You all are more than welcome to follow me. I apologize for not having more time to talk. I know you have to leave soon to start getting ready for your show."

Scott brushed it off and came to stand beside me, throwing an arm carelessly over my shoulder. "We have an hour or so to spare. Esther doesn't even know we're gone yet."

"And while I'm here, I'm going to immerse myself in the culture as much as possible," Mitch said, wiping imaginary dust from his very nice shirt.

I smiled. "I'll check on Nico for a moment then return to untack Apollo. You can stay with him if you wish. There will be nothing interesting to see. Paul always over-exaggerates things. Which, I cannot fault him for being cautious, but not every minor thing will result in a major injury. Horses are durable creatures."

"What could possibly be wrong with him?" Kirstie asked, coming to stand beside me.

I looped my arm with hers and began walking to the section where the show horses were kept. "Worst case scenario, he sprained his ankle and will need to rest for a few weeks, maybe even months. Best case scenario, he had a rock caught in his hoof and his frog is sore to the touch. That would cause him to limp without causing any serious problems for his joints."

"You're not worried that he broke something?" Scott questioned, moving closer to my side as we went by horses in their stalls. The snorting and huffing created a familiar symphony.

"Horses can break bones in their legs." I winced, causing Scott and Kirstie to glance at me in worry. "The outcome is usually euthanizing them."

"They're put down?"

I stopped and turned to Kevin. "Yes. Fractures are usually very complicated and will not heal easily. Horses need all four legs in order to live successfully."

"That's horrible," Mitch whispered.

I nodded and resumed walking, pulling Kirstie and Scott with me. "Luckily, those types of injuries are few and far between if the horse is well cared for and properly exercised."

"How many horses are housed here?" Avi asked.

I thought. "There are probably about seventy or so horses here at any given time. Many are here only temporarily. Once they are properly broken and trained, they will return to their owners and either be sold or ridden professionally. The show horses here are either owned by the owners of the place or boarded by their riders."

"That's a lot of horses," Scott commented.

I nodded. "It can get crazy around here, especially on days that shows are held here. I try to stay in the shadows those days. There are entirely too many people who wish to brag about how they have the best trainer."

"You seem like a pretty good trainer, though. Do you not wish to be known as such?" Kirstie wondered.

I shrugged. "I let my horses do the talking for me."

She nodded, and when we rounded the corner, Nico and Paul came into sight. "Wow," Kristie whispered beside me. I smiled, knowing she was talking about both the man and the horse.

Paul was originally from Montana. He had worked with cattle in his younger days and had moved to New York to attend university here. He was offered a scholarship through Evergreen Acres and has been here ever since. At twenty-nine, he was certainly a fine specimen of a man. Paul had beautiful steel gray eyes and dirty blonde hair. He was six-foot-two and worked out regularly.

"Kristin! I'm so glad to see you, darlin'! I brought Nico out this morning, and he was favoring his hind left leg. I wanted to get a second opinion before I saddled him for our lesson today."

While Paul had been working with horses all of his life, he was relatively new to the rodeo scene. He had been working with Nico for a while now, but competitions were very different from practices in many aspects. "That's fine, Paul. I'd be more than happy to take a look at him. Was he favoring it yesterday?"

Paul shook his head. "No, ma'am. He was fine yesterday."

I nodded and removed myself from Kirstie and Scott. I stood in front of Nico, placing a soft kiss on his velvety black nose. "Hey, handsome boy. I hear that you're not feeling a hundred percent. Why don't we see what is wrong, yeah?"

Nico was a 15.2 hands Paint stallion. At fourteen years old, Nico had already reached his maturity and had enjoyed quite the winning streak in his younger years. He was mainly being used for stud before Paul got his hands on him. Personally, I was glad. I had thought about buying the beautiful black and white horse myself, but my schedule was too crazy for me to show him like he deserved to be.

I placed a hand on his shoulder and moved it while I walked until I was stood beside his left hind leg. "Will you be a good boy and let me see it?" I asked softly as I ran my hand down his leg. Like the good boy I knew he was, he propped his foot up for me to take. I lifted it easily, placing it on my bent knee so I could get a better look at it. While there was nothing irritating his frog or stuck in his hoof, I softly pressed around to see if anything bothered him. When he did nothing, I placed it down softly and kneeled down beside him. I ran my hand over his knee and ankle again, paying special attention to any temperature change or swelling.

"I think he may have sprained it very slightly. There's a bit of swelling, but there's not a lot of heat retention." I stood up and patted his hindquarter. "He'll be fine. We can take it easy today; perhaps it would be best to do some ground work rather than putting him through the barrels."

Paul nodded. "That would be fine, darlin'."

"I know your show is in two weeks. You two do need to train, but if you take it a bit easy these next few days, he will be able to show. Whereas, if you were to go full out today, this leg will probably get worse rather than better."

I knew Paul had knowledge of this already, but I wanted to say it aloud, if only to reassure Paul of his course. "Who are these people with you?" he asked curiously.

I smiled and turned to Pentatonix. "These are some of my friends from out of state. This is Scott, Mitch, Kirstie, Avi, and Kevin."

Paul tipped his cowboy hat. "It's a pleasure to meet y'all." I noticed his eyes linger on Mitch and resisted the urge to snort. Oh, Paul. It never failed for him to appreciate whatever was available.