The shaky voice of her groom answered. "Brynn?! I'm glad you picked up. It's Stolen, we are in the pasture, but his leg got caught in the wire fencing by the cross country field and, and he's bleeding. It's really bad it looks like the wire dug deep into his skin right above his fetlock and up to his knee. It's bleeding badly from his cannon. The other horses were nearby, but ran away after seeing the blood."
Brynn jumped up, and told Felix to get William and call the vet. She hung up and grabbed Greyson's hand.
"Babe, we need to go now. It's Stolen, his leg is caught in electrical wire." Greyson paled. He grabbed his keys from his pocket and they walked out of the bleachers. Colton tried to ask one to stay, but they didn't listen. If Stolen continued to bleed out, he could lose his leg, along with his life. Brynn broke out into sobs as they entered the car. She fastened her seatbelt and Greyson accelerated fast.
"Don't worry Brynn, I'm sure he'll, he'll be alright." Greyson said shakily.
Brynn's head was a blizzard of thoughts. Then the most important one hit her like a chunk of hail.
"Greyson, the Hampton Classic." Brynn whispered, face pale. Greyson cleared his throat and kept his eyes on the road. He didn't say a word. Brynn could tell he didn't want to say anything in fear of it being taken the wrong way. Brynn and Stolen were popular, they had articles about them in the paper, FEI had sponsored them when they were younger. People would surely find out about this, and Felix couldn't keep a secret for his life.
They pulled up at the barn fast, and Brynn dashed out. She grabbed her boots and literally changed her shoes as she ran. She didn't care if her fancy game clothes got dirty.
She slowed to a stop when she saw Stolen, lying there trying to move, despite being held down by 5 grooms. His leg was in horrible condition, the grass stained red.
The vet was just getting a sedative ready. Brynn went to sit near his face so she could tell her poor horse everything was alright.
As she stroked his mane, the vet injected a sedative. He stopped trashing and calmed down. In fact, he calmed down so much he was asleep. The sedative was working. As Brynn stroked Stolen's head, she began to cry quietly. Then a little louder. She felt bad for crying instead of helping but she could not help it. Tears streamed down her cheeks as the vet put stitches into Stolen's leg. Usually, a practice like this would be done in a sterile lab, but there was no moving this massive horse.
Greyson kneeled down and hugged Brynn.
"Don't cry, don't cry, it's alright." He soothed. Brynn could tell he was trying not to cry. Stolen seemed to have cut his forehead, near his forelock because Brynn's hands were stained with blood. Even though the stitches had covered the wound, the bleeding for waiting for 18 minutes had been lots of blood loose, even for a horse.
"In a few minutes, the sedative will weaken." The vet commented. She sighed. "Sadly, there is no way he will be ready for the Hampton ma'am." The vet confirmed.
Brynn wiped the tears from her face with the handkerchief Greyson had handed her. She got up as a few more grooms and vet staff came up with a stretcher. They'd have to move him into a stall, fast. If a massive horse woke up with 10 people carrying him in a stretcher, there would be more injuries.
They slid the stretcher under Stolen and it took 14 people to move him. They were moving fast. They got him to the stall in 2 minutes and gentry rolled him off.
"Good boy," Brynn cooed. She got up and went to change. There was too much blood. People surrounded his stall when she came back. They had all watched the chaos. She cleared her throat and went to Salem's stall. She had to ride her almost everyday for the deal. She asked a groom that was not covered in blood to help her get Salem out. The massive barn had 50 grooms in total, and 8 of them had helped her with Stolen. 20 of them worked for her for free, in exchange for a flatwork or jumper lesson a week for free. Her Sundays were booked with 5 group lessons of 4 people for an hour per group.
Her groom tacked up Salem while Brynn watched poor Stolen try to get up. He eventually did, but had to keep his weight off of one leg, meaning he needed to lean against the wall of the stall. After 4 minutes of balancing, he gave up and collapsed onto the shavings in his stall. The shavings were thick straw and hay so it was comfy for him. The vet was checking him up and trying to get him to lie flat while she finished her procedure.
The groom called Brynn down and she went to the washracks where Salem was ready and waiting. She tried to show no emotion as she led her to the outdoor arena. She thought she needed some fresh air, but when she saw the blood stain in the pasture, she went back to the indoor arena. Though she could not stop thinking about Stolen, she needed to focus on her restarted mare.
She did her dressage performance with many struggles. Then a shout came from the barn.