"For crying out loud, riding the horse no one else wants to is my specialty." The student was eavesdropping on her teacher in the tackroom. Who was she talking to? Jill was trying to impress a handsome cowboy with engaging discussion topics, instead of comfortable silences.
*
"First, I got electrocuted, now I'm gonna get fired?" Jill bemoaned "but, I haven't even started my job!"
She had been helping out in the boss's absence, ahead of her offical start date and an accident had happened. When the boss's partner finally stopped yelling, her buddy, a first time guest, said "and I thought your boss was a hard nose," and handed over a by-then-cold coffee, empathetically...
When one of Jill's favourite new students recapped all the yelling for her momma, who wasn't there she said "We're not allowed in the hayloft and if you have a dog he can shoot it."
The rant had covered a lot more ground than the one misfortune that actually took place. The student and her dad had turned the pony out successfully, under Jill's direction, and she was next to complete the process while they waited. Jill had the grey roan the boss's daughter had asked her take along, since they were on their way out to that paddock anyway. Jill was technically new around the place but she knew everyone and was competent, comfortable, and trusted.
After the child had released her equine in the field safely and successfully, the student's father had clipped the latch to the paddock gate closed in a way that looked weird. And Jill stepped forward to close the big metal gate properly and release the strain that didn't look right, thinking to unlatch then fix it... But, Instant Electric Shock informed her that the man had inadvertently clipped the gate's latch TO the electric wire, instead of the latch ring it was supposed to connect with.
ZIIIING, kablam. In case the amplification of the electricity through the big metal gate wasn't enough of a shock, when Jill touched it the huge jolt also ran thru the leadshank to the grey mare who leapt athletically sideways in pain and surprise.
Right onto the nearby student, standing what should have been a safe distance away.
Splat. OUCH, yowza etc.
In the ensuing shakey moments, Jill realized the horse had only stepped on the student's foot, and, Jill felt lucky for the deep mud. They turned off the electric fence, turned out the grey mare and did their best to compare notes about how to never do anything like that mistake ever ever again.
The student limped to the car, but the report after it was x-rayed was that she was fine.
ACK.
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