Page 14 of Unyielding (Poplar Springs #3)

FOURTEEN

DECLAN

I arrived at Lost Valley and parked in front of the barn.

In the paddock, Shannon was working with two mares.

I assumed they were the two she’d picked for us to choose between, since I didn’t have enough horse semen to try to impregnate two.

I grabbed the temperature monitored cooler and my bag and walked out to join her.

“Hey,” I said quietly, surprised when she jumped. Unless she was very distracted, she should have heard me drive up.

“Hey.” Her voice was subdued.

“You look like you might have cold feet?” I suggested.

She kissed the nose of the chestnut mare. “Cold feet, legs, hands, arms. You name it.”

“Would you rather try this another time?” I wanted to give her a slight push but from the look on her face, she seemed downright distraught.

Horses were sensitive, and these animals that she’d trained were especially attuned to her.

If she was agitated, the mare would be agitated, and that would make it hard to place the semen.

“Yes. No. Maybe.” She blew out a breath and shook her hands out. “We need to do it today. If I push it off, it’ll only give me an opening to cancel all together. So, what do we do first?”

I set my gear down and put one foot up on the split rail and looked at the two mares. “I’m assuming we’ll be working with one of these two?” She nodded. “Okay, it’s just like natural breeding. Where are they on their ovulation cycle?”

She pointed to the pretty little chestnut. “That’s Petal, and the Cremello is Iris. They’re both within a four-hour window, so either one should be fine.”

I tapped the information into my tablet while nodding to keep her talking.

“Okay, good. And you’ve been feeding them the higher nutrient feed like I suggested?

” I looked up to see her nod. “Age?” I scrolled through the Cafferty file.

“Looks like… Iris is six and Petal is four? And both have conceived and carried to term, twice now?” When I didn’t hear Shannon’s reply, I looked up to see her nodding, but she wasn’t looking at me. She was looking at the mares.

“Hey, if you’re not ready, we really can wait,” I said again but she shook her head and huffed out a harsh breath.

“No. I need to try. Iris’s last attempt at breeding didn’t take and she’s become a bit nervous around stallions. Unless you say otherwise, let’s go with her. She’s a great mama and I’m hoping breeding her this way will be easier on her stress levels.”

I didn’t want to say it since I knew it would annoy her, but I was proud of Shannon for stepping so far outside her comfort zone. As much as she was against this, she was also looking at what was best for her horses.

“Okay. Why don’t you bring her back to her stall and I’ll get started.”

She nodded firmly. “Right. Meet you inside.” Shannon climbed between the rails and stepped over to the Cremello, reached for her bridle and walked her into the barn while I followed from the other side.

As I walked, I watched Shannon’s slumped shoulders.

I wanted to tell her that everything would be okay.

That I’d done this hundreds of times now without harming any of the mares.

Maybe even remind her that she’d said she trusted me—but I kept silent.

Walking into the barn, where I’d spent so much time as a teen, I met Shannon at Iris’s stall.

Someone had already rolled a cart over for me to use, so I set my stuff down on top and began to prep everything I would need.

“Did you happen to look at any of the links I sent you about working with frozen semen?” I asked her.

“I did. I also saw that doing it this way can be more expensive.”

I nodded as I prepped. “That’s true, but only because of the number of ultrasounds I might have to do to figure out ovulation timing.

That results in more frequent vet visits, unless you have your own machine and can do it yourself, assuming you know how to read the scans.

” I pulled out the portable scanner to make sure Shannon’s estimates were correct.

“The biggest concern is lower conception rates, but the advantages are enormous.” I began listing out all the benefits including being able to purchase ideal semen from stallions living too far away to transport, keeping the specimens frozen until they were needed—which allowed for a much longer retention period than fresh or refrigerated specimens.

“I heard that some sperm doesn’t freeze well?” Shannon said and I agreed.

“That’s true too, but the stallion you chose with Brandon’s help is a regular donor.

While complications can arise, to my knowledge, he hasn’t had any issues.

From everything Brandon said, Kingston is a great stallion.

He’s in good health and has great genes.

Unfortunately, he tends to be a bit feisty around the ladies, which is why he’s only used for AI. ”

I had everything I needed and looked over at Shannon. “I’m ready when you are.” At her nod, I added, “Okay. It’s going to be uncomfortable for her, so be sure to keep her calm.”

I tried to work as quickly as I could. While AI was a safe option, it wasn’t particularly pleasant for the mare or the vet. At least it was quick. Less than five minutes later, I was finished and pulling off my gloves.

“That’s it?” Shannon asked looking over at me.

“For now. I’ll stop back in a day or two to check her ovulation and make there’s no inflammation, and then I’ll be back in a couple of weeks to confirm the pregnancy. A couple weeks later, we will be able to check for twins.”

“She could have twins? I mean, I know she could have twins but…” Shannon perked up at that and I knew her excitement was more about the prospect of seeing two young foals scampering about than the potential for profit, and I’d expect nothing less from her.

“It’s always a possibility with any equine pregnancy and if she is having two, we’ll need to keep an extra eye on her. Let me finish getting packed up and I’ll get out of your hair.” I left Shannon fussing with the young mare and had just finished loading up when she appeared beside me.

“Declan?” I turned to look at her and saw that she was rubbing her hands.

She looked down, realized what she was doing, and dropped them to her sides.

“I just wanted to say thank you. For everything. I’m still not one hundred percent certain about using AI, but I appreciate that you were willing to work with me on this. ”

Shannon still looked unsure. I resisted the urge to treat her as if she were a frightened horse. She wouldn’t appreciate the comparison even if it did fit in this moment.

“Anytime. I want you to succeed. And if this works out, then it’ll open up avenues for you to expand operations.”

“What, like Becca?” The venom in her tone caught me off guard.

“Uh. I didn’t get the impression that you were interested in something like that.

Nor would I suggest it.” She opened her mouth to say something more and I held up my hand to stop her.

“It isn’t that I think you’re not capable of scaling up like Black Hat.

But I’d like to think that I know you well enough to say that it isn’t something that would interest you.

One of the major assets to Lost Valley’s breeding program is the individualized care and love you give to the every one of the horses.

Anyone who purchases from you knows that they’ll get a horse that’s happy and healthy and worthy of whatever they intend to do with it. Understand?”

Shannon nodded her head and I could have sworn I saw tears misting her eyes.

In that moment, I wanted to reach out and hug her.

Tell her that everything would be okay. While these changes were scary and unsettling, she was doing great and her mares would be too.

Instead, I kept my damn mouth shut knowing full well that later on, I’d be kicking myself for not saying more.

“All right. Keep an eye on Iris and I’ll text you with my availability either later today or tomorrow morning.”

As I was driving away, I caught sight of Shannon in my rearview mirror. Regret kicked in just as I expected, and I chastised myself for not trying to console her.