Equus Asinus

Finally finished with all his outside jobs for now, he left some hay for the dun mare, checked all the water troughs, and headed inside, not giving another thought to the irritating black mare. She could cool off in the round yard, though ideally she’d be gone before nightfall. Finding the stack of paperwork that he’d been putting off, he reckoned now would be a good time to do it, and got himself a beer. Turning the tv on for background noise, he settled at the kitchen table and got to work, barely paying attention to the noise.

Heading out again to feed the animals as the sun began to set, Julian tossed another biscuit of hay in for the mare, simply assuming that the girl had to be at her other property, otherwise she would have rung him back. Resigned to having the spoilt mare around until Luna came back, he left her there, making the rounds of the rest of the horses. Checking their water, and feeding them, he ended with Ghost as always, slipping the stallion a few treats, before feeding the dogs and starting his own dinner.

Hearing the phone, Julian answered it with a curt g'day, still irritated at the mare. At the request, his scowl deepened. "No, you can come bloody well pick her up, or she'll be sent to the knackers. I have enough on my hands without a spoilt brat of a mare making my stallions on edge and ready to break down the fence. Tell your city slicker that she needs to teach the damn thing manners, or someone else won't bother to ring back and tell her it's still damn well alive."

Muttering to himself about the snobby attitudes of city folk come to the country and thinking the knew everything, Julian was waiting outside on the verandah when the person arrived to pick the mare up, though he was over his bad mood. They never tended to last long. A loose horse was dangerous to everyone, especially a black one at night, and it was lucky he'd been the one to find her. Most of the other stockmen would have shot it on sight to get rid of the nuisance. Most of the farms around had at least a stallion for their own breeding, and with the mare in heat, it would have caused a lot of damage to fences and valuable horses. At least he'd been able to secure the mare before she'd gotten hurt, and that was the main thing. If she hadn't been in heat, he would have been quite happy to let her stay the night.

Coming down to greet the man, Julian simply shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets. "Only reason I got worried is my stallions. The younger's only just grown into his maturity, he's wanting to prove himself, and seems like the mare's in heat. Otherwise, she would have been fine to stay the night. Don't worry about the halter on her, the girl can bring that back later." He had enough spare halters that not having one wouldn't make much difference.

"Aye, a bit of a handful, luckily I know how he ticks, so it wasn't too much of an issue as it could have been." He just grinned at the idea of food and an apology, leaning on the railings as he watched the man with the mare. "Full blood arab then? She needs a few manners if you ask me." He was always happy to talk horses with someone, always happy to learn new things.

Most mares in his experience became more flighty when in heat. "Interesting behaviour then. Might want to take a look at it if she's going to be working the new ones more. Can't keep having a flighty mare running around loose. What happened tonight was best case-scenario. I can't say the same for my neighbours. They'd likely sell her on, she looks valuable." Leaving the round yard gate open as was his habit when there were no horses in there, he waited until the man and mare were gone before heading off to bed, glad that it had all been worked out.

Julian was busy working with the dun mare when he heard the car, but he ignored it. The mare was coming along nicely, allowing him to brushed her all over, except for her head. He was working on picking up her hooves, but whenever he bent down, she fled, so it was taking a while. Finishing up with her, he left the small paddock she was in, tossing the brush and hoofpick into the bucket he kept at the gate, and eyed Luna. "Back so soon, sheila?"

He gave her a gentle smile, taking the offered container. "I do, actually. There was no need to bring them over, just the halter would have been fine." Slinging the halter over his shoulder, he leaned on the fence, studying her. "How's the mare? No harm done, I hope? She seemed very flighty, might need some more work done with her to settle her down."

He simply chuckled. "She was alright once I got her in the yard. I was just worried about Ghost getting to her." Glancing over at the mare, he gave a half shrug. "Going well, I can brush her whole body now, which is good. She'll end up being a good trail horse I reckon." He returned his attention to Luna instead, studying her. "Your gelding is going well too. Accepting the saddle more and more now. I'll be seeing how he reacts to cattle in the next few days."

Her last comment got a proper laugh out of him. "Depends if you want an excitable foal out of her or not. With her arab blood, any foal will be spirited, and everything I've heard about him as a foal makes him out a cheeky bastard." He tilted his head towards the house. "Can I offer you a cuppa, or are you in a rush to get somewhere?" He didn't mind having a sit and a yarn with her, she was beginning to grow on him a little.

"Come inside then, I'll put the kettle on." He led her to the house, continuing the conversation. "Yeah, I'm not sure what exactly he was like as a foal, my parents bought him when he was just a yearling." Filling the kettle with water, he flicked the stove on, and set the kettle on the element. "Have a seat, make yourself at home. How do you have your tea?"