Hippocampi come to shore

In the calm waters of spring, the hippocami come to shore.
Majestic creatures, they lounge in the sand and survey the waters from which they rose like rulers overlooking their kingdom.
I've come to the cliff to watch their arrival for the past three years. Each year, I watch as the mares care for their young, while the stallions spar amongst themselves and ward off merlions.
I've learned much about these spawn of sea serpents and horses. The most important fact being that despite appearing like horses with the hindquarters of a sea serpent, their temperament is nothing like that of a horse.
At least, not while they have a connection to the sea.
My target slithered away from the herd. Its serpentine body moved like a snake, the two forelegs barely touching the ground. The foal was smaller then the others frolicking through the herd, and its dam was distracted by the foal's larger twin venturing too far into the water.
Hippocampi young at this age have yet to fully develop their gills, and so the possibility of being swept out to sea was a constant threat to those overly drawn to the water.
The mare gave a call, and moved through the herd toward the sea. The smaller twin slithered past the gnarled bush that marked the path to my cliff.
I waited with baited breath as the hippocampus drew nearer the trap I had laid the week before, when the beach had yet to be overrun with the herd.
Glancing back to the herd and scanning for a stallions nearby, I moved my hand to the trigger. Three steps, two...
The foal entered the trap.
Pressing the trigger down, the rope went slack. Below, the net rose into the air, and the frightened foal gave released a keening cry.
Immediately, stallions raced toward the distressed foal. Coiling their serpentine bodies, they shot up like springs in an attempt to reach the still rising net.
But I had been watching the hippocampi for years, and knew how high they could jump.
I also knew they wouldn't venture far from the beach, and certainly wouldn't take the rocky path up to the top of my cliff for one little foal.
At least, I hoped they wouldn't, at least not until the foal's net reached me and I could move inland.
I wanted to prove that the monsters could be trained, and this foal could be my only chance.