And in a second it was gone...

I was early. I was meeting my boss at a clients barn as it was closer to my place than the office and we'd planned on a very early appointment. This was a good client... but not just any client to me either. You know those people you meet the first time, and you just know they'll be significant in your life? You don't know why or how but you know they will? That's how these clients were.

I pulled in and said hello to the owner and the girl who worked there. My boss was unsurprisingly late. I wandered up and down the barn aisle - the horses were all still in. I held my hand up to nippy nosey babies to smell me and scritch their curious Arab baby faces. I greeted the brood mares and popped in to say hello to a few I knew best with neck rubs. I checked my phone for the time. Gave my boss a call, just to check.

'I just left 10 minutes ago, you're there?' Yep. No biggie, I surely didn't mind waiting around at this barn.

Suddenly, my mind jumped to a certain horse in the barn. He was in the back part of a massive foaling stall that had been divided. Almost hidden away, not forgotten but attention was limited for this horse these days, that I knew. I also knew I thought he was amazing.

I told the owner my boss was a good 20 minutes or so out and asked if she'd mind if I groomed her eldest gelding. She happily agreed and pointed me to a bucket overflowing with currys, brushes, combs and hoof picks. I grabbed the necessary paraphernalia and headed into the first half of the divided stall. There was a 16 hand chestnut yearling, dripping with chrome and awkwardness. He knew me as a friend though he was timid and nuzzled my hand. I scratched his neck and moved to the door in the divider.

The older geldings' ears perked up and he nickered deeply as I unlatched the door to his stall. I closed it behind me and put down the brushes on the dividers ledge only hanging on to the curry. I greeted the bay gelding with some scratches on the neck. Suddenly he lunged forward at the yearling whose curious nature had led him to stretch his neck across the divider towards me. The bay gelding was not pleased with the young upstart nosing into his space. I was a little taken aback and fussed at the bay and popped him on the chest. None of that with me in the stall! The pinned ears and grumpy face were less than friendly but his expression softened quickly once the nosey chestnut retreated.

Standing there, waiting with no real purpose, currying the bay I, as is typical, became quickly lost in my thoughts. I was taking in the lovely horse smell and thinking through the days schedule as I stood facing the bays right side currying away at his back and flank.

Whooooooooooshhh.

Right in my ear. Not a snort but what I interpreted as a blow, and not a friendly one, right next to my face. I could feel the imposing nose just off of my cheek. The ugly pinned eared, teeth barred lunge at the yearling popped into my mind. I had come into the stall with this relatively strange horse and assumed that he would be enjoying my currying him, I had just corrected him... and his teeth were a half inch from my face and he just blew.

My heart hesitated. My breathe caught. Oh shit, the pain is coming was all that I could think.

Suddenly the breath got hotter and was on my cheek. I had not had the time to react, and if I had for some reason I had frozen in my boots. I was sure however, this would not end well...

Slllluuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrpppppppppp.

Chin to ear. He licked me chin. to. ear. And cocked his head just so I was looking right into his eye. He looked as if he were smiling gratefully at me with a mischievously satisfied twinkle in his eye.

I took one step back, drew a breath and about fell over in a fit of laughter. I couldn't help but laugh at my reaction and misinterpretation of his intentions but mostly his expression afterward. I hugged his neck and kept currying until my boss arrived. He was obviously an appreciative horse. In one big wet horse slurp my heart was gone.

A girl had found her horse... and a horse had found his girl.