Equus Asinus

He didn't move from his spot, watching as she handled the apparently untrained and unhandled stallion. He was too calm to be an unhandled six year old, but that didn't mean he shouldn't have been gelded. Giving a sigh, he put his cup on the table that was on the vernadah, and came down the stairs, studying the horse. "Untrained and unhandled, yet he floats and is easily haltered. Sounds like you've been conned, youngster." He swept his critical eye over the roan horse, ignoring what he looked like in favour for finding any conformation issues. "He won't do for barrels. Barbs don't have the speed or agility for it. They're better for endurance riding. You've wasted your money on him." Circling the horse, his sharp gaze picked out the faults, pointing them out to the girl. "Hooves are bad, looks like he's slightly pigeon-toed in the front. Pasterns are rather straight, he won't turn fast enough to do barrels. Cow hocks, too." He stepped back, gauging the height of the horse. "Too tall for a barb, willing to bet he's not purebred no matter what his papers say. My advice would be to geld him. Too many faults to be worth breeding. He'll pass them down to the foals, and there's enough unwanted horses nowadays."

He lifted an eyebrow at her. "Well it's obvious that he's not an unhandled boy. He's far too calm around humans for a start, let alone happy with a halter and being in a float." An angry call sounded through the air, and he sighed. Ghost had seen the newcomer, and was making it clear this was his turf. "If you're not going to let him near mares, then there's no point in keeping him a stallion," he informed her. "They're harder to handle, and cause much more trouble. As you can see in the video. He can smell mares, that's what he's trying to get at."

He snorted. "Now you're being silly. It doesn't cause them much pain at all. It'll be safer for everyone involved if you geld him. Otherwise, find another trainer. I have two stallions of my own - it's too dangerous to bring him in and work with him, and I don't have the time to be travelling to yours every day." He pushed his hat back, studying her. "You mean if he stays unbacked? That's your decision. Right now, I'm willing to bet he's been taught groundwork, and they were just lazy in backing him."

[center]Luna nodded slowly but she had seen a bad gelding happen and it had killed the horse that it had been performed on. He, if back able, would still be of use riding out on the farm and wouldn't go to waste or sold to the knackery. "I worry though. I've seen a stallion die from gelding and it was painful to the poor buy til the end." She explained, "I know it needs to happen though. How do we know if the stories of him bein backed aren't true though? I know they have clearly lied about the rest of him and I'm gonna have to go find another stallion for what I want but if he's rideable I can use him around the cattle." /center]

"Then the person who did it wasn't a trained vet, and that shouldn't have happened," he told her bluntly. She was so naive, it was almost funny. The horse was far too calm around Ghost to be a stallion, and he studied the horse again. "Are you sure he's even a stallion? With Ghost carrying on the way he is, this one should be far more worked up than he is." It was lucky Ghost respected the electric fences, otherwise they'd have a bit more trouble on their hands. "There's only one way to find out if he's been backed before or not, and that's to try it." A thought occurred to him, and he gave her a thoughtful glance. "He could be a rig, which would explain why they sold him on. Can't geld him in a paddock if he is."

He shook his head at her movement, nudging her away. "First rule of stallions, young lady. If you don't know them, don't crouch. He can kill you easily. Now, am I right about him being a gelding, or him being a rig? Either way, you're going to need to remove him before Ghost forgets about the fences." He frowned at her slightly. "I'm highly inclined to think you've been conned good, city girl. From his calm behaviour, I want to say they've sold you a gelding and told you it was a stallion."

He snorted, inclining her head at her. "Next time, ask more questions, and keep to what you're looking for. Impulse buys only work out when you know what you're doing." He tugged his hat down further, shading his eyes. "And if you're around next time, leave the mare at home. Can't guarantee next time that Ghost or Spots will be as well behaved." Glancing at the sun, he gauged the time, then sighed. "Still wanting me to train the bugger? Make sure he's gelded, and then come back. We can talk more then."

He waved a hand, already thinking about the rest of his plans for the day. He now had to calm Ghost down before he could do anything else, and that would take him a good while. "Don't bother ringing, I ignore the damn thing." He pointed at her. "Still need to know his temperament before I agree to anything, young lady. Just remember that." With that, he nodded goodbye to her, and went to Ghost's paddock to calm the stallion. With that done, finally, he saddled Ned and released a couple of the dogs, and at last was able to go check the top paddock's fencing.

Pushing the girl out of his mind, Julian got back to work, easily fixing the partly broken fence before returning as the sun set. It had taken far longer than he'd liked, but at least it was done. Bringing Ned to a halt outside the gold mare's yard, he watched her for a while, glad that she seemed to be getting used to her new home. He'd do some more work with her tomorrow, since hopefully he would be uninterrupted by anyone else looking for a trainer for their horse. Taking care of Ned, he turned the gelding loose with Ghost like usual and then fed the rest of the horses, testing the dun mare to see how close she'd let him. It wasn't any closer than before, but at least she wasn't pinning her ears back, which was a step in the right direction. Leaving her to her feed, the stockman whistled happily as he headed in the house for a quick meal, then to bed.

The few days had seen the mare finally begin to realise that he wasn't going to hurt her, and she was finally allowing him to touch her. Granted it was just on the shoulder and back, but they were huge steps. He was working on brushing her gently when he heard the truck arrive, but ignored it. The mare was jumpy now with the new thing around, and he moved the brush away, returning to what she was more than comfortable with. "Easy girl, you're okay. Just a truck." he spoke softly to her, hoping to calm her down, and once she was, he rubbed her shoulder gently, rewarding her. "Thatta girl. Easy now." leaving her to it, he let himself out of the yard and watched the truck, wondering how the experience with the city girl would go this time.

He tossed the brush into the bucket at the gate, dusting his hands off. "I just finished with her, no worries. Got yourself a gelding now, do ya? Let's have a looksee at his gaits and temperament then." Hopefully this time, they'd get further, and he could actually see what the issues with the horse were.

"Good to hear." The man's gaze was critical as he watched the horse, and he began to chew on a piece of straw as he studied him. "Nowhere for now. I want to see him moving. Could be that his gaits are why he disliked being backed. What did they tell you about him, anyway? Get him trotting for me."

"Hm." He chewed on the end of the piece of straw, watching carefully. "Did the vet happen to give him a once over, see if there were any other issues? And do you have any tack that fits him? Otherwise I won't be any good if he's been taught groundwork." He didn't have anything that would fit the horse, nor was he inclined to get any. it wasn't his horse, so he wasn't going to provide the gears. All he would provide was his knowledge.

He lifted an eyebrow. "Stock saddle huh. Interesting choice. Do you know what they were using to back him before?" He finally moved over to the gelding, taking the lead rope and making the horse lower his head. "They didn't give any indication of why they thought he was acting up when he was being backed?"