CLOSED // to be deleted

[ossa di cervo]

Kyle laughed a little at Christian's words, "What's someone like you doin' on a ranch? Anyways, if you ever have an urge to get serious with horses, I'm your man. I might even let you take Socks out. Maybe you can even get your horse soon, if a sale roles by.. Or an auction, that'd be nice. Socks needs some company.." He laughed again as he poured feed into Sebastian's green feed bucket, "Though you might need some help, he's still a bit new to this. Though, yet again, you may've learned all the basic ropes already." Kyle smirked as he poured another can-full of food into Socks' plain old black feed bucket.

He jumped a little when he heard Lily's voice, "Oh. Hey there. It's not problem really, but," He picked up the two feed buckets and pushed Sebastian's into her hands, "since you're here, I suppose you want to feed your own horse." He winked at Lily and flashed a smile before sliding past her, into the stables, "Oh and I hope you don't mind that Christian feeds Rosey. By the way, hows she been?"

Kyle trotted over to stable three with an awkward sort of gait. The kind of gait you see middle school children running with when they still have their back-packs on. Lop-sided and reckless. Once he reached the box though he ducked down below the wooden edge and waited. A low whistle slid through his lips and small whinny could be heard in response. Soon enough and light grey horse was sticking his head over the gate to look around curiously. Once this happened Kyle laughed a little, slowly standing and pulling lightly at the horse's forelock. Socks whinnied lightly nudging his shoulder and Kyle responded by pressing his forehead to the horse's.

It was like Kyle forgot everyone else was there and when he remembered, he spun around and smiled, "You were saying?" He pushed the gate to the stall open and slid in with Socks, watching the other people from over the gate.

[KiwiKoala]

Christian merely smiled in response to Kyle's mild teasing. But he couldn't help thinking about getting his own horse while he finished pouring the last of Rosey's feed. He'd never had a dog or cat for a pet before, let alone a horse. And did he even have that big of a desire to own one? It seemed like a lot more of a responsibility. And once he got back to his studio apartment in Southern California, he wasn't sure what he would do with such a big animal.

Lily's voice broke him out of his thoughts, and Christian turned sheepishly. He was glad she wasn't upset that he was feeding her horse. He had always assumed that horse-riding girls were the sort that would bite a guy's head off if he so much as held a door for her. He looked down at the feed bucket once Kyle took over the social aspect of morning feeding. It seemed enough, but he wasn't exactly sure where to put it. Christian's head turned towards Kyle then, looking for an example of some sort. Of course, Kyle was already in Socks' box, so he wasn't exactly any more sure of what to do.

[readysetride]

"Hello, Ebony." Ivy whispered, patting Ebony lightly on the nose. The roan stallion snorted, bringing his large head closer to Ivy's body. Ivy smiled, stroking his nose. "I got a name plate for that halter. It has your new show name on it." She revealed a brown leather halter from behind her back, and carefully slipped it over Ebony's head. Ebony shook his head, grunting. Ivy knew he didn't enjoy having a halter on his face, but she would need it when she started showing him. "What a handsome man you are." She said to Ebony, grinning. "Sky's the Limit." She loved that name. She thought it was perfect for Ebony, and she couldn't wait to show him under that name. She slipped the halter off, and hung it on the hook on Ebony's stall. Ebony nudged Ivy's shoulder, he knew she had treats somewhere. "Okay, okay." Ivy said, going over to her tack box. She grabbed a couple stud muffins then made her way back over to Ebony's stall. She held out her hand, and Ebony ate them in a few seconds. "Pig." Ivy said affectionately.

[OutFoxed]

Lily nodded toward Kyle as she took Sebastian's bucket. "Yeah she's doing alright. Maybe a month to go, but I still worry everyday." She said over her shoulder as he walked by. In a softer voice, "Thanks." Lily said to Christian. Oh by the way, I'm Lily. I don't remember if we've fully met. We probably did when you showed up, but whatever." She flashed him a smile and focused her attention on the feed.
"Oh don't forget to add supplements." Lily said cautiously. Rosey was on a special diet full of healthy grains and added vitamins. She helped herself to a couple of bottles stacked on a shelf over the counter. Unscrewing the caps, she carefully measured out each supplement and added it to the grain mixture.
When Rosey's morning feed was done, Lily took both buckets in her arms. "You can come if you want. It's not that exciting but I can introduce you to Rosey and Seb. Just a warning though, Sebby gets cranky in the morning before he's had his grain." She asked Christian before leaving the feed room.

[ugh. Crap post. I have my laptop back up and running so I can post more often.]

[ossa di cervo]

Kyle's head perked a little as he heard Ivy's voice. He peeked into Ebony's box, which happened to be right next to Socks's and snickered, "You treat that horse almost like I'd treat another person." Kyle smiled broadly, "Though I can't talk myself. Socks gets just about the same treatment. By the way, thats a nice name you got goin'. Sky's the Limit. I like it."

"Oh! Lily! Will you wake me up when Rosey has her foal? I wanna see it! I'm sure it'll be the cutest thing this ranch has seen." Kyle slipped out of Socks's box, letting him have some peace while he ate. He then did an odd sort of prance toward the other two, but then got distracted by Luca. The little dog was barking up a storm near Kyle's legs and Kyle couldn't help but laugh. He fell onto his knees and placed his palms on the cold stone, "Luuuuuca girl, com'ere!" The little dog dashed in and out of Kyle's reach which sent Kyle into a storm of laughter.

Soon enough though, Kyle stood up again, bounding off of the ground, "Anyone else gonna ride? I kinda want to jump Mr. Criminal over there."

[KiwiKoala]

Christian blinked, considering his options. Lily had just offered to let him help feed her horses, while his sketch book was sitting unattended in the living room. He was leaning more towards the sketch book, but decided it would be rude not to help. "Sure," he said simply, following Lily towards the main stables. He had to dodge around Kyle, though, who was on his knees and playing with his dog. That was worth a chuckle. Kyle reminded him of a hummingbird- zipping around and talking at top speed.

[readysetride]

Ivy turned, grinning. "Thank you." She said. "And sure. I'd love to take Ebony out on a ride with you guys." She turned back to Ebony, stroking her horse. "Where are we going to go? A trail?" She asked, taking a comb out of her tack box. She slipped into Ebony's stall, running her hand along his neck. She started brushing him, bringing her curry comb across his pelt in circles.

((Aghh, WB.))

[OutFoxed]

Without hestitating, Lily headed down the aisle. She walked up to the large stall of her pretty grey mare. "Hey sweetheart." She cooed softly. Rosey had her head over the half door and was nickering at her owner trying to hurry her up. Lily quickly emptied the bucket into her feed bin.
"This beast is Sweet Heavens, or Rosey. She's got about a month to go before we have a new edition to the ranch." Lily introduced Christian to her mare. Rosey of course was greedily munching down on her breakfast. With keen eyes, she checked over the mare, then turned to walk down the aisle toward Sebastian's stall. She could hear the restless gelding banging his stall door. He always had to make his presence known and make sure everyone knew that he had attitude. Lily shook her head and walked past Ivy and Kyle to Seb's stall. He was acting up, pacing and pinning his ears back at Socks in the stall next to him. "Knock it off Sebastian." She scolded. She pushed his head away and dumped his breakfast into the bin. A sigh escaped her lips as she ducked back out into the aisle.
"And this nasty boy is Sebastian."

[KiwiKoala]

When they stopped at Rosey's stall, Christian took a moment to look over the mare. She had a beautiful grey-dapple coat that looked shiny and soft. He looked ahead towards Lily. She must really care about her horses. Christian couldn't help a sense of pride when he looked back to Rosey eating her food. After all, he had prepared it. Or at least some of it. Nevertheless, the pride was there.

Christian had to raise his pace slightly to catch up with Lily, who had moved on while he had been admiring his 'handiwork'. Once he caught up, he winced at the sound that could only be Sebastian protesting for his breakfast. The thought of such a big animal making so much of a fuss was quite honestly a bit frightening to Christian. He was amazed that Lily could so confidently enter an enclosed space with him, let alone deal with him so casually.

Suddenly, a thought popped into being in Christian's mind. "Is Sebastian the father of Rosey's foal?" He asked -more like blurted- the question with a great deal of curiosity. It all made sense to him: The reason why Sebastian might be behaving badly towards Socks; why Rosey was pregnant; and it was all connected by the fact that they both belonged to Lily. Suddenly, the answer just became very, very important. Important simply for the sake of putting these theories to rest.

[OutFoxed]

[I'm going to wait for someone else to post, but if you want me to reply right now, I can.]