Lucky Number Four?

Aslan tightened his grip on the bell and ribbon in his hand. Dulce was proving to be a very difficult pony, and he was nothing if not persistent to try and take her home. After the last pony, hope remained for Dulce. Aslan finished his lunch, got out of the car and walked over to the paddock, his eyes scanning each cob until they laid on Dulce. The mare was grazing with the others, not too bothered by the noise of the mass of adoption event-goers, though flicking her ears around every now and then in case of any perceived danger.

When Aslan closed the gate behind him he took a deep breath. This ribbon had to work this time. He looked back at Hawley for a moment before striding casually over to the group of horses. Dulce raised her head at the man, ears facing towards him and reached her head forward, sniffing his hand. She was familiar with him now, and knew he meant no harm. Aslan spent a couple minutes muttering nonsense to her, petting her neck and giving her withers some scratches in the spot he knew she liked most. Eventually, the time came to tie the ribbon into her mane.

Dulce stood still, her breath slow and steady while Aslan's fingers fiddled with the mare's tangled mane trying to get a neat section to braid the ribbon into. It only took about five minutes, and soon enough he had begun integrating the light blue ribbon into the braid. Aslan tied it off as best as he could, and stood back to admire his work. The ribbon looked firmly in place, and as long as no other horse tried playing with it, it looked like it had a good chance of staying in.

When he was done, Aslan gave Dulce one last fuss over and begun the long walk back to the gate. He absolutely adored the mare he had now spent many times befriending and braiding the mane of, and he could only hope that this time was when he got lucky. Aslan rubbed his cold hands together and opened the door to the warm car, climbing in. He greeted Hawley and they talked once more about the cobs that they hoped they could take home at the end of the event.