Chapter 707: The horse named White

Dayo arrived at the stables shortly before six the following morning, still feeling the effects of the previous day’s work. His arms were sore from carrying feed bags, his back ached whenever he bent too quickly, and the palms of his hands had developed a roughness he was not used to. He had slept well enough, but he could tell that another full morning of ranch work would not be easy.

Richard was already there, speaking with Peter beside the stable entrance. He wore riding trousers, a plain shirt, and boots that had clearly seen years of use. When he noticed Dayo approaching, he finished his conversation before turning to him.

"You’re early," Richard said, looking at the time on his watch.

"You told me six," Dayo replied. "I thought it was better to arrive before six than give you a reason to complain."

Peter smiled at that, but Richard remained serious. He picked up a pair of gloves from a nearby shelf and handed them to Dayo.

"Put those on. We’re doing something different today."

Dayo took the gloves and followed him into the stable. A few workers were already preparing the horses for the morning, brushing their coats and checking their hooves. The familiar sounds of movement and occasional whinnying filled the building, while the smell of hay and horse feed hung in the air.

Richard led him past several stalls before stopping at one near the end. A large white horse stood inside, its coat clean but its posture tense. It shifted its weight as Richard approached, then moved away when he stopped near the gate.

"This is White," Richard said. "You’ll be working with him."

Dayo looked at the horse for a moment, then at Richard. "What exactly do you want me to do?"

"Learn to handle him."

"Is there something specific I should start with?"

"Yes. Learn how to approach him without making him think you’re a threat. After that, we’ll see how far you get."

Richard opened the gate just enough to let Peter enter first. The handler had worked with White for years and knew when to keep his distance. He spoke quietly to the horse while checking the latch, then stepped back toward the entrance.

"Don’t go in there thinking that because he’s standing still, he’s comfortable," Peter told Dayo. "White can change his mind very quickly. Watch him before you decide what you’re going to do."

Dayo listened carefully. He had spent the previous day learning the basic tasks of the ranch, and he had assumed this would be another matter of following instructions until he became familiar with the work. The horse was clearly different, but he believed that patience and a steady supply of food would eventually make the task manageable.

Richard seemed to read his expression. "Don’t assume that what works with the other horses will work with him."

"I understand."

"I hope you do."

Richard stepped away from the stall, leaving Peter to supervise the first attempt. Dayo approached slowly, keeping a small container of feed in his hand. White watched him but did not move toward him. When Dayo took another step, the horse backed away and turned its body.

Dayo stopped, waited, and tried again after a short pause. White’s ears shifted backward, and its hindquarters moved slightly toward him. Peter immediately told him to step away.

"Don’t stand there," Peter warned. "Give him room."

Dayo moved back just as White kicked out. The hoof struck the wooden partition with enough force to make the sound carry through the stable. Dayo stared at the damage before looking at Peter.

"That would have hurt," he said.

"It would have done considerably more than hurt if you had been standing closer," Peter replied. "You need to pay attention to the whole horse, not only its head."

Dayo accepted the correction and tried again, this time giving White more space. The horse refused to approach the feed, and when Dayo attempted to move around the side of the stall, White turned sharply toward him. The sudden movement made Dayo retreat before the situation became worse.

Richard watched from outside without offering much assistance. He had spent more than fifty years around horses and knew exactly how difficult White could be. Choosing this particular horse had not been an accident. Dayo had managed the previous day’s physical work without much complaint, and Richard had decided that a more difficult assignment might teach him something the ordinary ranch tasks could not.

He was still angry about what had happened to Luna and Jennifer. The kidnapping had frightened his wife, shaken his daughter, and placed his granddaughter in danger. Richard knew Dayo had helped rescue Jennifer, but that did not erase the fact that his family had suffered because of the dangerous circumstances surrounding Dayo’s life. He wanted Dayo to understand that determination and money could not undo every consequence.

For now, Richard intended to let the horse deliver the lesson.

After another unsuccessful attempt, Peter suggested that Dayo spend time watching White rather than trying to make contact. Dayo agreed, although he was frustrated by how little he had accomplished. He stood outside the stall for several minutes, studying the horse’s movements while Peter explained what he was looking for.

"See how he keeps turning his body away from you?" Peter asked. "He’s telling you he doesn’t want you close. If you keep following him around, he’ll feel trapped."

"So I should wait for him to come to me?"

"Sometimes. But don’t stand there expecting him to change his mind just because you’ve waited a few minutes. You have to learn what he’s comfortable with."

Dayo spent the rest of the morning helping with the other horses and observing White whenever his duties allowed. He made some progress with the ordinary stable work, but the main assignment remained untouched. By the time Richard told him to finish for the day, Dayo had not even managed to get close enough to touch the horse.

Richard gave him no praise for the effort, but he did not dismiss it either. "Come back tomorrow. We’ll see whether you’ve learned anything."

Dayo returned to the house with tired legs and a growing appreciation for how little he knew about horses. Luna was in the kitchen with Faith when he entered. She looked up from the counter and immediately noticed the dirt on his trousers and the small bruise forming near his forearm.

"What happened to you?" she asked, putting down the cup she was holding.

"White."

Luna stared at him. "The horse?"

"Unless there’s another White on this property that has decided to kick me."

Faith came over to examine his arm. "Did the horse kick you?"

"Not directly. It kicked the partition, and I was close enough to understand the warning."

"That is not much better," Luna said. "Why are you getting so close to a horse you don’t know how to handle?"

"Because your father assigned me to work with him."

Luna turned toward the doorway. Richard had entered behind Dayo and was removing his gloves.

"Dad, you know he has never done this before. Why give him the most difficult horse on the ranch?"

Richard placed his gloves on a shelf near the door. "He needs to learn."

"Learn what? How to get kicked?"

"How to understand what he’s doing before he makes a mistake."

Faith gave her husband a disapproving look. "You could have chosen a horse that would let him learn without putting him in danger."

"He has handlers supervising him. Nobody is asking him to do this alone."

"That doesn’t answer the question," Faith replied. "You watched him work yesterday. He did what you asked, he listened to the workers, and he didn’t complain. Now you’ve given him something that even experienced handlers struggle with."

Richard glanced toward Dayo, who had remained quiet while the two women questioned him. "He can stop whenever he likes. I have never told him that he must continue."

Luna looked back at Dayo. "You don’t have to keep doing it just because my father wants to test you."

"I know," Dayo said. "But I agreed to the challenge, and I want to finish it."

"You’re already bruised."

"I’ve had worse injuries."

"That doesn’t mean you should collect more of them."

Dayo understood her concern, and he did not dismiss it. He explained that Peter and the other handlers were supervising him, and that he would stop if he believed the situation had become unsafe. He was not going to take unnecessary risks simply to prove a point, but he also did not want to abandon the task because it had turned out to be harder than expected.

Faith was not convinced. She turned back to Richard, asking whether he was genuinely trying to teach Dayo or simply making him suffer because of what had happened to Luna and Jennifer.

Richard did not answer immediately. He knew Faith understood him too well to accept a convenient explanation.

"I’m angry," he admitted at last. "I watched my daughter go through a terrible time. My granddaughter was taken from her, and we couldn’t do anything to bring her home ourselves. Dayo got Jennifer back, and I’m grateful for that. But I haven’t forgotten what happened."

Faith’s expression softened slightly, though her disagreement remained. "Nobody is asking you to forget. But don’t pretend this is only about teaching him ranch work."

"I’m not pretending anything."

"Then remember that he is still a person, Richard. If you want him to understand your anger, speak to him. Don’t make him spend every morning getting hurt."

Richard looked toward Dayo. "He is free to leave the challenge."

Dayo met his gaze. "And I’m free to continue."

The answer did not settle the disagreement, but it ended the argument for the moment. Luna helped Dayo clean the bruise on his arm and insisted that he sit down for dinner before going anywhere else. She remained quiet while he ate, and he could tell she was still unhappy with her father’s decision.

Later, when they had a moment alone, Luna asked whether Dayo felt he had to prove himself to Richard.

"I don’t think I can make him trust me by telling him I deserve it," Dayo said. "He watched his family suffer. I understand why he doesn’t want to make things easy for me."

"That doesn’t mean he gets to hurt you."

"No, it doesn’t. That’s why I’m being careful. I’m not going to keep walking into White’s stall if I don’t understand what the horse is telling me."

Luna studied him for a moment, then sat beside him. "I want you to get along with my father. I do. But I don’t want you thinking that if you finish this challenge, everything between us will suddenly be fixed."

"I don’t think that."

"Sometimes you act as if every problem can be settled by doing one difficult thing and proving you can do it."

Dayo considered her words. "Maybe I do that sometimes. But I’m not doing this because I think it’ll solve everything. I want to understand the ranch, and I want your father to see that I’m willing to make an effort."

Luna accepted that answer, although she still wanted him to be more careful. Before they went to bed, she asked him to tell Peter immediately if White’s behaviour became too dangerous. Dayo promised he would.

The next morning, he returned to the stables and began with the other horses as instructed. He helped prepare their feed, checked water containers, and worked alongside Peter while the handlers completed their routine inspections. He paid closer attention to how they moved around the animals and how they adjusted their approach depending on each horse’s temperament.

When he finally returned to White, he did not go straight to the gate with food. Instead, he stood at a distance and watched. White remained near the back of the stall, its ears moving as people passed. Dayo waited until the horse appeared less agitated before taking a few careful steps forward.

The progress did not last long. White shifted away, and Dayo misjudged the distance he could safely cover. The horse turned suddenly, forcing him to retreat. Later, when he attempted another approach, White charged toward the gate, and Dayo had to move aside quickly. His boot caught against the edge of a low barrier, and he fell hard onto one knee.

Peter reached him before he could stand fully. "Are you hurt?"

"My knee is going to complain about this for a while," Dayo replied, rubbing the sore spot through his trousers.

"Then listen to it. You don’t have to keep going today."

Dayo looked back at White, which had already moved away from the gate. "I’m done for now. I need to understand what I’m missing before I try again."

Peter seemed relieved that he had finally reached that conclusion. He helped Dayo stand and walked him away from the stall, explaining that stopping before frustration took over was part of handling horses properly. Richard had heard the exchange from farther down the stable and made no comment.

Over the following days, Dayo kept returning. He continued working with the other horses, listened to Peter’s advice, and watched White carefully before every attempt. He learned to recognize when the horse was becoming agitated, but understanding those signs did not immediately give him the ability to respond correctly every time. Some attempts ended with White moving away; others ended when Dayo approached too quickly and had to retreat.

The workers began to feel sorry for him. They had seen White reject experienced handlers, and they knew Dayo was struggling with a task that would challenge anyone unfamiliar with horses. One of them told him that Richard had made the assignment unnecessarily difficult, but Dayo refused to blame Richard or use that as a reason to stop.

"He could have given me an easier horse," Dayo admitted, "but he didn’t. I can’t change that. I can only decide whether I’m going to learn something from it."

Peter did not tell him he was right. Instead, he explained another part of White’s behaviour and showed him how to position himself without blocking the horse’s way out. Dayo listened and tried to apply the lesson during the next session, but he still failed to establish any real trust.

By the fourth morning, the repeated failures had become exhausting. Dayo’s body had adjusted somewhat to the ranch work, yet his confidence around White had taken a beating. He was no longer making the same careless assumptions he had made on the first day, but the horse still refused to accept him.

After another unsuccessful attempt, Peter suggested that they stop and return later. Dayo agreed. He walked away from the stall, found a quiet corner near the equipment shed, and took out his phone.

He opened the System.

A notification appeared before he had finished reviewing his status.

[System Notification]

Skill Recognition Updated: Horse Taming

Current Rank: E+

Recognition Condition: Sustained practical effort, repeated supervised attempts, and demonstrated learning.

Dayo read the notification twice. His efforts had been recognized even though he had not yet succeeded with White. Another message appeared beneath it, informing him that a reward was available.

Reward: Maximum Stat Enhancement

Effect: Raises one selected stat or skill to its maximum level for seven days.

Duration begins immediately upon activation.

He stared at the screen, thinking about what the reward could do. There were other areas where a temporary maximum enhancement might prove useful, and he had no guarantee that he would receive another reward like this soon. Using it on a horse-taming challenge could be a waste if he considered only its immediate value.

Yet the challenge had become important to him. Richard had every reason to be protective of Luna and Jennifer, and Dayo knew he could not expect the man to trust him simply because he was determined to repair his relationship with his family. He wanted to show that he could listen, learn, and respect something that mattered to Richard.

Dayo selected horse-taming ability.

[System Notification]

Horse-Taming Ability: SSS+

Enhancement Duration: Seven days.

The change came with an immediate clarity that Dayo had not experienced during the previous sessions. The horse’s movements no longer seemed like a collection of unpredictable reactions. He could read the signs of discomfort more accurately, recognize when White was preparing to move away, and understand when his own position was making the animal feel trapped.

It did not mean White would accept him without question. Dayo still had to approach correctly, and he still needed patience. The difference was that he now understood what he was seeing and how to respond before a tense situation became dangerous.

After returning to the stall, he asked Peter to supervise another attempt. The handler watched him carefully as Dayo approached White at a measured pace. He did not try to close the distance too quickly or use food to lure the horse into a position where it could not retreat. When White moved away, Dayo stopped rather than following.

Peter watched in silence for several minutes before speaking. "That’s better. Keep giving him room. Don’t rush it because he hasn’t moved toward you yet."

Dayo followed the advice, allowing White to become familiar with his presence. When the horse shifted its weight and turned slightly, he adjusted his position instead of continuing forward. White remained wary, but it did not become agitated in the way it had during the previous attempts.

The process took time. Dayo made small movements, waited for the horse’s response, and adjusted whenever White showed signs of discomfort. Several times he had to stop and allow the horse to settle before continuing. He resisted the urge to turn the session into a race against the clock.

Eventually, White allowed him to approach close enough to make contact. Dayo kept his hand steady and avoided forcing the horse to accept more than it was ready for. When White moved its head away, he did not grab at it or attempt to hold it in place. He waited until the horse settled, then continued carefully.

Peter moved closer to the stall entrance, watching with growing disbelief. He had expected another difficult morning, and he knew how quickly White could reject someone who misread its behaviour. Dayo’s approach was different from anything he had managed during the previous days. He was not simply repeating instructions; he was responding to the horse in a way that kept it calm.

Richard arrived while Dayo was still working. He stopped outside the stall and watched without interrupting. At first, he seemed to expect White to turn away or challenge Dayo as it had done before. Instead, the horse remained near him, allowing him to guide its movements without becoming agitated.

"How long has he been doing that?" Richard asked quietly.

Peter turned toward him. "Not long, sir. But look at him. He’s reading White properly now."

Richard watched as Dayo guided the horse a few steps, then stopped to give it time to settle. He had spent more than fifty years around horses and had never managed to tame White. Experienced handlers had tried, failed, and eventually learned to work around the horse’s temperament rather than expect it to accept them. Dayo had arrived less than a week earlier with almost no experience, and now White was responding to him.

For a moment, Richard could not find anything to say. He had expected Dayo to become frustrated, perhaps even to give up after a few days. Instead, the young man had returned each morning, accepted correction from the workers, and continued trying without blaming anyone for the difficulty.

When Dayo finally stepped away from White, Peter was still studying the horse as if he expected the change to reverse itself. Another handler came over after hearing the conversation and asked to see what had happened. Dayo repeated the process under supervision, and White remained calm enough to be guided again.

"How did you manage that?" the handler asked. "We’ve been trying to get him to accept people properly for years."

Dayo glanced at Peter before answering. "I watched how you worked with the other horses. Peter kept explaining what I was doing wrong, and I finally started paying attention instead of assuming I could figure everything out by myself."

Peter looked pleased, though he tried not to show it too openly. "You listened eventually."

"I should have listened earlier."

Richard stepped into the stable area. "You know how many people have tried to handle that horse?"

Dayo turned toward him. "Peter told me that experienced handlers have struggled with him."

"More than a few. Some of them had spent their whole lives around horses."

"I know it wasn’t easy."

Richard studied him for another moment, still trying to understand how Dayo had achieved what so many others had failed to do. He could have questioned the result, but the evidence was right in front of him. White had accepted Dayo’s presence and was responding calmly to his guidance.

Dayo seemed to recognize that Richard was struggling with the outcome. Rather than making a point of his success, he continued speaking about the lessons he had learned from the ranch staff. He gave Peter credit for teaching him how to recognize White’s behaviour and explained that the other handlers had helped him understand the differences between horses.

"The work here taught me what I needed to know," Dayo said. "I couldn’t have done it by guessing. I had to listen to the people who understand these animals."

Richard’s expression changed slightly. He had expected Dayo to celebrate his achievement or perhaps remind him that the challenge had been unfair. Instead, Dayo had made room for the people who had helped him. Richard could accept the result without feeling that his own experience had been dismissed.

"Well, you did the work," Richard said at last. "The horse accepted you because you stopped making the same mistakes."

Dayo knew that was as close to praise as he was likely to receive that morning. "I still have a lot to learn."

"That much is obvious. Taming one difficult horse doesn’t make you a rancher."

"I didn’t say it did."

Peter laughed quietly at the exchange, and even Richard’s expression eased. The tension between them had not disappeared, but the conversation no longer felt like a contest. Richard had seen Dayo struggle for days, and he had also seen him take instruction from people who worked for him without acting as though his status made him their equal in experience.

Later that morning, Richard invited Dayo to walk with him around the property. They visited the feed storage area, checked the schedule for deliveries, and discussed how the workers divided their time between the horses and the visitors who came to the ranch. Richard explained which tasks had to be completed before the day’s activities began and which ones could be adjusted when supplies arrived late.

Dayo asked questions about the existing arrangements before offering any suggestions. He had noticed that certain supplies were checked by different workers at different times, which occasionally led to duplicate orders or delays when something ran out unexpectedly. He suggested that a simple shared record could make it easier to track what had been used and what needed replacing.

Richard was cautious. "We’ve been doing it this way for years. The workers know what they need, and I don’t want them spending half the morning filling out forms."

"I’m not suggesting that they should," Dayo replied. "It could be a short record at the end of each shift. Someone checks what was used, someone confirms what needs replacing, and you can see the information without asking three different people."

"Who would maintain it?"

"That depends on how the work is organized now. I wouldn’t want to add a task to someone who already has too much to do. We could look at the schedule first and see whether there’s a practical way to manage it."

Richard considered the idea without agreeing to it. They continued walking, and Dayo asked about the delivery arrangements for feed and equipment. He suggested that certain orders might be scheduled more consistently, provided the suppliers could meet the agreed times. Richard pointed out that weather, transport, and the needs of the horses sometimes made a fixed schedule impossible.

"Then it should allow for changes," Dayo said. "The point isn’t to force everyone to follow a plan that doesn’t work. It’s to make sure a delay doesn’t become a surprise every time."

Richard looked at him more closely. Dayo was not proposing that the ranch abandon its routines or turn every task into a business target. He was trying to understand how the operation worked before suggesting improvements.

They also discussed the visitor experience. Dayo wondered whether guests could be given clearer information about the ranch’s daily work and the care required for the horses, rather than being treated only as customers paying for an activity. Richard was wary of anything that might turn the property into a tourist attraction at the expense of the animals and workers.

"I don’t want people coming here and thinking the horses exist for their entertainment," Richard said. "The work comes first. If visitors don’t understand that, they can go somewhere else."

"I agree," Dayo replied. "That’s why I think the information should explain the work instead of making promises about what visitors can do. They should understand that the horses have routines and that the staff may need to change the day’s activities."

Richard did not accept every suggestion, but he recognized that Dayo had paid attention to what he had seen during the previous days. The young man was not trying to redesign the ranch after a few hours of work. He was asking questions, offering ideas, and allowing Richard to explain why some changes might not suit the property.

By the time they returned toward the stables, Richard was speaking to Dayo more openly than he had when the challenge began. He still had concerns about the dangers surrounding his daughter and granddaughter, and nothing about White had erased those concerns. However, he was beginning to see that Dayo could listen and learn without treating every disagreement as an attack on his pride.

Luna noticed the difference when she came out to find them. She had expected Dayo to return from another difficult morning exhausted and disappointed, and she had been preparing herself for another argument with her father. Instead, she found Richard discussing the ranch’s operations with Dayo while Peter led White back toward the stable.

"How did it go?" she asked, looking first at Dayo and then at her father.

Dayo explained that White had finally accepted him. Luna listened carefully, asking whether he had been hurt again and whether Peter had remained with him throughout the attempt. When he assured her that the handler had supervised the work and that he had been careful, some of her worry eased.

Richard joined the conversation by explaining that Dayo had made real progress and that he had listened to the workers rather than trying to force the horse to accept him. Luna was surprised to hear her father acknowledge the achievement so plainly. She knew how difficult White was, and she had seen how frustrated Dayo had become during the previous days.

As they approached the stable entrance, Richard stopped beside Dayo and asked whether he wanted to join him for another ride the following morning. He said it casually, as though it were simply another activity they could do together, but Luna immediately recognized the difference. Her father was no longer giving Dayo a task simply to see whether he would fail. For the first time since Dayo had arrived, Richard was inviting him to spend time with him because he wanted to.

Dayo accepted the invitation, thanking Richard before following Peter back toward White’s stall. Luna remained beside her father for a moment, watching Dayo speak with the handlers and check that the horse had settled comfortably. Richard did not explain what had changed his mind, and she did not ask him to.

She could see it for herself. Her father was still protective, still angry about the danger his family had faced, but he had begun to make room for Dayo beside him. It was a small change, and it did not settle everything between them, yet Luna knew how much it meant.