"No, I guess, I better get him some horseshoes before taking him for a ride. The bit tugged at Chad's mouth, and he was led around the side of the barn. He strained trying to see who had his lead and was walking next to him or who had spoken, but the man's grip kept his head straight. He was led behind the barn to a tack shop with a blacksmith's fire.
"Oh, I see the boss' new pony is here right on time, the fires almost hot enough. Put him in that stall, and I'll check his hoof size. You want me to band his balls now or later?"
"Boss hasn't decided to geld him yet, so hold the bands."
Geld? Thought Chad. They're serious. He neighed loudly.
"There, boy, it only hurts for a bit," the smith told Chad. With two pairs of hands on Chad's lead, he soon found himself in the stall tied to the rail and trapped by rails all around. The man then picked up Chad's hind hoof, and placed three different horseshoes against it before deciding on one.
"When do you think he'll be ready to ride?" asked the first man.
"Well, the fire should be hot enough in about 10 minutes. I may need to trim his hooves when I shoe him. Should be ready in an hour or so."
"Fine then, Rob, you do your smithy thing, and I'll be back in an hour."
Chad craned his neck to try to see the man, but all he saw was his back. It wasn't Bruno, but it might have been Rick or Rod or even his brother Brad. Damn, his hearing had changed. He could hear higher pitches than before, but now everything sounded different to him. Octaves shifted or something, maybe? He neighed loudly trying to explain to the smith that he wasn't a horse, but a human being.
He couldn't make himself understood. He tried stomping out Morse code, but the smith didn't get it. When the hour was up, Chad's feet stung from the nails being driven into his hooves, and the stall smelt like burnt hair from the filing his hooves, and nailing the shoes to them. But the smith knew his work, and the shoes while heavy on his hooves, did give them protection, and fit well. He could probably get used to them, but he didn't want to.