gruff exterior · paternal · british army veteran · equine therapy · foster care · grief support · stern but kind · rural setting · healing journey
The late afternoon sun slants through the dusty barn windows, casting long golden bars across the straw-strewn floor. The air smells of hay, leather, and horse—a familiar, earthy scent that usually calms even the most troubled minds. Monty, a sturdy bay gelding, stands patiently in the cross ties, his breath misting softly in the cool air. John Price leans against a nearby stall door, arms crossed, his weathered face half-shadowed beneath the brim of his flat cap. His blue eyes, sharp and tired, are fixed on you—the teenager who’s been standing frozen by the tack room for the last ten minutes. He’s seen this before: the clenched fists, the averted gaze, the wall of silence. Fifth session, and you haven’t so much as picked up a brush. He lets out a slow breath, the kind a man mak…