As Paul was trying to get out of his stable Louis came in and noticed the mess that he had made the night before and started to chuckle saying:
I mean, I know you like this girl Paul, but this is quite the achievement. Are you sure you didn't manage to jack off with your hooves or something.
Paul was visibly upset at his brothers remark as he lowered his ears and his head. What bothered Paul the most about that comment was the fact that he couldn't jack off with his hooves as he would have done it by now, but that was just the problem. His hooves were amazing at everything that he had to do with them besides jacking off, they just weren't capable of it.
Louis wiped his belly with a towel and told him to get out while he cleaned the mess that he had made.When Paul moved his hooves from the place in which he had fallen asleep in they uncovered 4 clean patches of ground showing how heavy Paul truly was.
When he got out of his stable he was greeted by his dad showing him four identical horseshoes while saying:
Paul, I managed to talk to the metal worker last night and he complete our custom order just in time. He is leaving tomorrow on a holiday, so we might catch him in time to shoe you.
Paul was very happy at the sight of his new horseshoes and the prospect of actually wearing them today, but he realized that they had to get to the metal worker in order for him to put them on him.
As Paul realized that, he pushed his saddle with his nose and made a gesture with his head for his father to get on.
His father got the message and put the saddle on Paul.
After his father secured his saddle he was lead to the front gate. His father locked the gate, climbed on his back and he started walking being careful not to go over pavement.
Paul started to trot at the prospect of getting shoed, while his father started to remember the motion of going up and down in the saddle with the horse, in order to reduce the uncomfortable jumping.
Paul was oblivious to the fact that his father was practicing his riding skills on his back because his father was distributing his weight in such a way that Paul couldn't feel that he was there. If Paul would have taken riding lessons maybe he would have recognised that style of riding.
But he hadn't taken any, although now he had the chance to give them to other people who wanted to learn how to ride.
They got to the metal worker in no time thanks to his father's riding skills. After they got there, Paul was immediately recognised by the metal worker from what his father had told him.
Did you actually ride him here?
Of course I did,he wanted us to get here faster and making me ride him was the fastest way he could think of. I didn't force him to go faster though.
But you called me an hour ago saying that you are leaving.
Yes I did, Paul managed to trot all the way here with me on his back in less than an hour. It's amazing what he can do when he puts his mind up to it.
Of course he managed to trot all the way here, look at him, he is barely tired.
Oh well, so you want to shoe him with the horseshoes I made for him,right?
Yes,that is his reward for helping us plow the land.
You even strapped him to a plow? Damn, you did put him through a lot of work, tell me how does he fair?
Well, he is definetely very efficient at what he does and he doesn't seem to mind pulling the plow.
Well, in that case let's make him more efficient at it.chuckled the metalworker.
Get him over to the center of the shop and I'll get my tools.
As he said that his father brought him to the center of the shop and placed his right back hoof on that special device.
As the metal worker came back he brought with him some long nails and a hammer. His father handed him the horseshoes and he was of to work.
He secured his hoof in that device and carefully laid the horseshoe on Paul's back leg.
As he started to work he couldn't believe his eyes, he was hitting those nails as hard as he could and they were barely making any progress.
At this point the metalworker told Paul and his father that it would be very hard to remove these horseshoes once he put them on him due to the hardness of his hooves. At this point he asked Paul point blank if it was worth it for him.
When faced with the question of having these horseshoes secured on him for a long time due to the difficulty of swapping them or pulling them off, Paul decided that it was worth it to him and nodded at the metal worker, only thinking at the places he could take Anne with those horseshoes on him. The fact that they were very hard to remove didn't bother him that much since he wasn't planning on taking them off anytime soon.
That was the only thing that the metal worker needed from Paul, a sign of approval and he got that, and so he was of to work.
The excruciating work of nailing those to the back of his hoof began and after 20 minutes the metal worker finally finished one oh his hooves.
When he loosened the device's grip on his hoof Paul pulled it out and placed it on the floor with a familiar clop.
Paul was definetely excited and the metal worker noticed grabbing his other back hoof and starting to work on that one as well. After another 20 minutes he finished his hindquarters and started to work on his front legs.
At this point the metal worker told Paul:
I bet you didn't think anybody was going to nail horseshoes were your hands once were did you?
Paul raised his front left hoof on the device and snorted at him telling him to get back to work.
Paul unknowingly made the metalworker secure that horseshoe much better than his back ones through his arrogance.
The metal worker was starting to get tired and he secured his front right hoof just as good as the front left one saying to himself:
Well, you have certainly embraced being a horse and having hooves so, I might as well treat you as one. In that case every owner of a horse wants his investment to last and I more than made sure that those horseshoes are staying on you for a long time.
When the metal worker was done he let Paul outside of his shop and they could both hear him clop with excitement on the pavement outside.
At this point the metal worker asked for payment and his father told him that he didn't bring any money with him.
At this realization the metal worker suggested leaving Paul to work his land for 3 days as payment.
His father reluctantly agreed and he told Paul about what he had to do for the metalworker.
His father left that day and left Paul in the care of the metalworker for a few days.
In the meantime Paul was strapped to a plow with the help of the metalworker's family and he began to pay for those horseshoes. Paul didn't mind the work as he had become familiar with it.
During those three days the metalworker told Paul about the quality of the horseshoes. He told Paul that the metal in them had come from a railroad track in to the mountains that lead to a mine. The carts were pulled by draft horses such as him so his horseshoes did carry quite the legacy.he said.
The difference between those born animals that didn't know any better and you is that you wanted to do what they did.
You should have seen how eager you were to have these horseshoes put on you. Your attitude tells me that you are not planning to turn back at all. You are enjoying it!
Paul couldn't deny that he wasn't enjoying pulling the plow so he just gave him a quick glance while continuing to pull.
Well, that is a stone of my heart, yesterday I shoed you while thinking of you as a 16 year old child. Well, you clearly aren't one anymore. Since you and your father decided to make such an investment I am sure that you are going to be a horse for years to come.
Paul hadn't thought that far into the future but for now, he was enjoying being a draft horse.
His father eventually came back to pick Paul up and he sort of appologised, but Paul didn't whennie at him so,he understood that he wasn't mad at him.
The return trip was pretty much the same as the first one, but there was a small difference. This time Paul was trotting on the asphalt with the familiar clip clop clip clop of the horseshoes interacting with the pavement.