Why do I look scraped up like this? Because I didn’t cooperate. I didn’t follow when my handler led me to the auction ring. I wouldn’t step up onto the display platform like a good show mare. So I stumbled. Over and over - with my body chained, my balance gone - until the skin on my knees and breast got raw. It wasn’t smart. I know that. But I refused to pretend I was ready to be shown off in the middle of a freezing winter like it meant nothing.

Of course, it didn’t change anything. They tethered me to the post anyway, just like they would have if I’d gone willingly. All that struggling just to end up here the same way.

And can someone please explain why every interested buyer insists on inspecting my feet? What are they checking for? How well I can be driven? Whether I’ll handle the winter roads without breaking?

…If that’s the test, I guess my soles are telling the truth today.