Equus Asinus

He shrugged again, unsure what to say to that. He didn't foster the kids to make people admire him. He fostered them to keep the youngsters out of trouble, and safe from whoever was hurting them. "I do my best by them," he finally said softly. "They deserve nothing less after what they've already gone through, poor things." Finishing his tea, he began to tidy the kitchen, happy to let her stay as long as she wanted. She was good company, and it was nice to be chatting with her. "Enough of me, what about yourself? Your mare was a gift, right?"

Putting the brownies in the cupboard, he paused and glanced over at her. "I'm sorry to hear that," he said quietly. "You must have been close to them. I'm sure they're still proud of you." With the kitchen tidy again, he sat back down. "She's a good looking mare, they must have known what they were talking about when they got her. You've done well to keep her handled. Usually Arabs get very flighty."

Julian shrugged. "Ghost is the same. I'd say a light lunge isn't going to work as well any more. The grasses are full of sugar, she'll be a lot more flighty now. Either work her, or put her in a paddock with higher fences." It was simple advice, not meant to be taken as anything else.

He lifted an eyebrow at her. "And then if she jumps those fence?" he pointed out. "Simpler, and cheaper, to raise the fences of one paddock and keep her in that. It's a waste otherwise." Stretching, he grabbed his hat, and pulled his boots on again. "Well, got some bits and pieces to get back to work wise. "I'll be seeing you around, sheila."

He sent her on her way with a quick grin, and tidied up the cups and kettle, and headed out to deal with the dogs that he still had to train. Humming to himself, he worked with the young pups, getting them used to being around sheep, and the movements of the herbivores.

It was a few weekends after that when he was asked to give an impromptu talk at a local show. Easily loading Ned and Ghost into the float, he headed off, not bothered by the couple of hours drive to get the where the show was. It had been a while since he'd done a talk on how he trained his horses, and he was looking forward to it.

Acknowledging her with a lift of his chin, Julian concentrated on getting Ghost out and in the makeshift paddock with Ned before he kicked down the float. With the two horses finally settled, and Ghost showing off eagerly to any passers-by, Julian wandered over to where Luna was, his hands in his pockets. "Fancy seeing you here. Found the dressage, did you?"

He pushed his hat back, running his eyes over the mare as he offered his hand for her to sniff. "Kinda last minute ask to do a talk. Apparently there are a number of people asking for me to do a talk on my training techniques, so here I am."

He gave a small shrug, letting his hand drop. "A couple of hours, I guess. Got a while, in any case. They'll let me know soon." Taking his hat off and gripping it in his teeth for a moment, he redid his ponytail, getting irritated at the stray wisps of hair falling about his face. Tugging the hat back on, he tilted his head, watching her. "You're on in an hour or so, right? They do the same schedule every year. Good luck."

He shrugged a shoulder. "It'll be announced, it usually is. Just keep listening out for something." Following her to lean on the trailer, he shook his head. "Not really. Doesn't interest me too much, I like the more faced paced dangerous sort of games." He flashed her a quick grin. "Like polo, that sort of thing. Much more fun if you ask me."

He nodded. "Yeah, and cross country jumping. Occasionally a bit of show jumping, but not much. I tend to use that just for training for the cross country. My horses are more rough country goers, not the flat work stuff." Quite content leaning comfortably on the trailer, he began chewing on a piece of straw, watching her. "How's the pup you found going? Find a home for him yet?"

Luna buckled her saddle on as Julian spoke and she was a bit suprised when he said that he occasionally did show jumping but she could understand how it would be training. "I never would have thought to pitcure you in a show jump ring." She told him honestly, "I can see the value of using it for training though." She grabbed her bridle flipping the reins over Nyxs neck as she pulled her halter off before sliding the bit into her mouth with ease. "I did yes. A guy named Jackson picked him up yesterday. He was a handful by that point but I must admit the house got a lot quieter with out him there." She said buckling everything up. She clipped the lead rope on the bridle while she picked up everything she didnt need at that time to put away. "If one wanted to start getting into working dogs what breed would you suggest to start with?" She asked suddenly after putting her stuff away as she closed the trailer up.

Contentedly chewing on the piece of straw, Julian snorted with amusement at her astonishment. "I'm not just a jackaroo, kiddo. I learned how to do the english sports as well." Now that she mentioned it, maybe it was time to enter a showjumping competition, see if he was still up to scratch with his skills. It wouldn't do to lose them, after all. Musing on that, he nearly missed her next comments, but managed to nod in time to her answer about the pup. "Good, good. He'll do well with the little thing. Working dogs? What would you use them for? Seems to me you've got enough workers to round up your cattle, there's no other need for work dogs if that's the case."

He shrugged a shoulder. “I get that,” he said, keeping an eye on the time. It wouldn't do for her to be late for her routine, after all. “Chances are you'll just get in the way though. Jackaroos have their own way of doing this, we don't tend to enjoy a change to our routine.” Offering her a quick grin, he rubbed the mare's nose lightly. “Bit like horses, I suppose. We like things staying the same. If you do just want a wander though, I'm sure I can make time for you, depending on when you come along.” Hearing the announcement over the loudspeakers, he straightened from where he was leaning against her trailer. “Good luck, kiddo. I'm sure you'll do fine.”