The following conversation took place on an evening trail ride.

Tyra: I’ve had enough of that fat, opinionated red mare you call Raudi.
Alys: What gives?
T: She’s never been easy to deal with. And lately she’s gotten worse.
A: How so?
T: See? You haven’t taken notice. You dote on her, telling her she’s your favorite horse and the best riding horse ever.
A: But I tell all of you this too.
T: Uh uh. Oh, we all get called “superstars.”
A: This is because you are all special in your own ways.
T: How am I special?
A: You are very easy to work with, especially when under saddle.

Riding the Lander Cut-Off

T: And I’m agile, right?
A: Extremely so.
T: More so than the others?
A: More so than the others.
T: So why don’t you sell Raudi?
A: What kind of question is that?
T: A good, honest question. Look. She’d make someone a very nice pasture ornament.
A: I can’t believe that you are talking this way.
T: I have had enough.
A: I’ll bet if someone purchased Raudi, and you watched her get loaded into the trailer, you would feel a sense of loss.
T: Maybe so. Maybe we should give it a try.
A: No, no, no, no, and no.
T: You saying no to my proposition?
A: Yes.
T: You’re then saying yes to my proposition?
A: No.
T: Now you are messing with my head.
A: No. You are messing with my head.
T: It’s all the same, isn’t it?
A: Yes, it’s all the same. Raudi isn’t going anywhere. And if she knew that you felt this way about her, she’d be heartbroken.
T: You think so?
A: I do. Now what was it that prompted you to talk in such irrational terms?
T: Your friend Ellie came over today. I went up to the fence to say hello, and Raudi barged past me. And she was the one who got a pat. Oh lord, she just ate it up.
Hrimmi: I was there. I saw it. Tyra’s right.
A: Do you think that this action on Raudi’s part means we should get rid of her?
T: There are other things. She’s always chasing me away from the hay piles. And I can’t get near the jugs with the hay pellets in them.
A: But I do put out plenty of hay and in differing places.
H: You shouldn’t have to do this.
A: Well, if I sell her, then someone else is going to have to deal with her. Selling her isn’t going to change her.
T: I don’t care what becomes of her. I just want to be left alone.
A: Uhhh, what really is the problem here?
H: I know what it is. Tyra wants to be the number one all around horse.
A: Tyra and Hrimmi, listen up. You all are the number one all around horse. You each have your strengths and no weaknesses. Whoever I am with at a particular moment in time is my favorite. Got it?
H: Got it.
T: Sort of.
A: Yes, your lives could be a lot worse than they are currently.
T: Well, I am not sure I agree. But thank you for listening.

Next: 153. 6/2/20: Rooted