IT’S TIME

it awayfrom him. Not enough to arouse suspicion, just enough for him to miss the veryedge of it. He grasped nothing but fresh air and it was a sight to behold. Therealisation only dawned on his face in the instant before he hit the floor andit was a sweet moment! He fell like a mighty oak and I refrained from yelling‘timber!’ (only just!). At first there was nothing; then as his brain began toassimilate, a sequence of obscenities were yelled at no one in particular. Itwas oddly fascinating watching him trying to heave his useless carcass upright.Much like when a beetle lands on its hard shell and is temporarilyincapacitated, he floundered helplessly until he eventually rolled onto hisside and pushed himself upwards from there. I whipped my head around to seemother’s reaction and there it was – a huge smile spread across her face.However, the minute he regained some form of composure and was back on hisfeet, the smile had disappeared, and that timid helpless lost look formed inits place. Way to go, Caroline!  Another little victory: he is licking hiswounds and it gave mother a little boost, albeit short lived.

With spirits high in the aftermath ofthis, we take to my room and have an animated discussion about our next move. Icome up with a few ideas, but they are immediately quashed by James andCaroline. “We can come up with something far better than that,” James politelyinforms me. They’re both keen for him to get hurt and I have mixed emotions onthis. What he’s put us through these past few years is beyond redemption, buthe’s never been physically violent towards us. I don’t know how I feel aboutinitiating violence. It’s one thing to push a chair out from under him but toput him seriously in harm’s way, that’s another matter entirely. I wrestle withmy emotions. I know how good it would feel to give him a taste of his ownmedicine, but I need to pause and seriously think about how far I’m prepared togo with this.

Meanwhile, Caroline fantasises about whatlife would be like with him out of the picture. “Imagine, just imagine howpeaceful it’d be here if he had an unfortunate accident and had to convalescein hospital for a week or two. We’d have the run of this place here too; motherwouldn’t bat an eye.”

“What exactly do you have in mind,Caroline?” I interject, curious and anxious at the same time to hear what shehas to say. “I have a few ideas, Thomas … patience. I’m just trying to figureout what would work.”

I try James. “Any ideas, James?”

James has been pretty quiet up until thispoint. “Well I do have something which might work.” There’s a brief interludethen he ploughs on. “What if the girth on Sadie’s saddle wasn’t tightenedproperly?”

Sadie is our nine-year-old Cob. Fatherrides out on her at the same time every week, checking the boundary of thecroft perimeter to ensure there are no repairs needing done on the fencing orany of the dykes. It’s my job to tack her up ready for him. Why didn’t I thinkof that? If the girth is too loose and he picks up speed on Sadie, then thesaddle will slip, making it very difficult for him to hold on. Inevitably hewill blame me for not tightening the girth enough but it’s not something whichis easily proven.

“Yes, let’s go with that! Caroline, areyou on board?”

“I guess so but if this doesn’t work, wego with one of my ideas – OK?”

“OK yes, no problem.”

We had to wait a couple of days to put ourplan into action. He always rode out on a Wednesday morning so before headingto school as is always the case, I made my way to the stable block to brushSadie down and tack her up. She is a beautiful mare with black and whitemarkings and a great temperament. Because she is only nine years old, she isstill high spirited and can take off at great speed with only a little coaxingrequired. You wouldn’t think it as I approach her. She is so placid and snortsin acknowledgement when she sees me. “Hey girl, how are you this morning?” Isay whilst stroking her muzzle. She responds by nuzzling her head into me,rubbing it up and down. “Let’s get you ready.”

This has always been one of my favouritejobs to do around the croft. There is something really calming and nurturingabout spending one on one time with her. This morning this is an extra specialrelief because she’s helped massively in quelling any anxious feelings I haveabout the task ahead.

Brushing over, I reach for her tack whichis currently balancing on her stall door. As always, she willingly lets meinsert the bit into her mouth and fix her bridle in place. Next, I reach overfor her saddle and heave it up and over onto her back. The girth is in my graspand I feed it through to the other side where it will be secured (well, looselysecured!). A sly grin appears on my face, I can’t help it. It does feel goodthinking we are finally doing something which is going to hurt him. It’scertainly not life threatening but, if he comes off at speed, he could have anasty fall.

I fasten the girth at the other side agood three notches looser than normal and have a look and a feel of itunderneath. Perfect, nothing out of the ordinary visible to the naked eye butit is certainly loose enough to slip when Sadie breaks into a canter. Finally,I pull the stirrups down and as I do so, I can hear his footsteps approaching.

He is walking with purpose and stridesinto the stable, opening her stall door with a flourish. He doesn’t evenacknowledge my presence; he simply pulls Sadie around by the reins and marchesher into the yard where he will mount her. He is not a great horseman and has nevermastered the ability to mount her from ground level, so he uses a mountingblock to get to the right height to heave himself up onto her back. This alsoworks to our advantage –