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Description
Yawarda Volcanic Ash
Horse's Name: YaS Volcanic Ash
Rider's Name: Hugo Mavericks
Stable: Yawarda Stud
Country: Australia
Show Entered: WHR All Things Waler Event
Class: Show Jumping
Start Number: 503
Hosted by WHR-RPG
Place: 2nd
Additional Images:
- None
Story
The morning was warm and sunny; the air dry and still, and only a few clouds lingered in the vibrantly blue sky. The grounds of Yawarda Stud were echoing with the cries of the Currawongs, and laughter of the Kookaburra, serenaded by the elegant chime of the Bellbirds
Hugo trudged down towards the stallion yards, Volcanic Ash’s strikingly purple headstall dangling from his forearm as people began to rouse from their slumber for another day of showing
As was usual, the bay stud was waiting patiently by the gate for his master to deliver his breakfast. He nickered eagerly as Hugo approached, straining his massive neck over the weight-buckled gate, his muzzle quivering in anticipation of his morning meal. He looked rather reproachful when, instead of emptying a bucket of pellets and chaff into his feed bin, Hugo slipped the halter over his nose and led him through the gate. He tossed his head, and nudged Hugo’s shoulders roughly as if to demand and explanation
‘Relax, you idiot. You’re not going to starve’ the young man scowled, shoving the bays he’d away, and after re-latching the gate began leading the frustrated stallion towards the feed shed. Volly jigged the entire way, on more than one occasion pulling in front of Hugo and cutting him off, apparently determined to herd his master back to his paddock so he could feed him
Having finally had enough of the stallion’s antics, Hugo let the end of the lead slip in his palm until the tip pooled at the ground, and swung it. The last two foot came down of Volly’s quarters with a deceivingly loud crack, and the stud launched out of the way. ‘Behave!’ Hugo growled, pulling the animal back into line on his right; his length of lead now only a few inches long. He glanced up as Volly’s attention was snagged, and the stud puffed himself up; his neck arching impressively as a tall brunet woman and a mare Hugo instantly recognized as Hoof Haven Stud’s Debutante, more so by the toungue lolling out of her face than anything else, ambled past. "Morning," the woman greeted tiredly, making an effort not to get in Volly’s way
‘Morning’ Hugo replied easily, nodding politely. Volly attempted, yet again, to pull out of Hugo’s grip; this time in the direction of the mare, but a quick jerk to his lead rope quickly diminished that idea. The woman nodded back, and quickened her pace.
"We'll get out of your way," She called over her shoulder, tugging the mare, apparently reluctant to leave Volly, along with her.
Hugo led Volly down to the feed shed, untrusting the stallion the tie up and stay tied in the presence of mares, where he grabbed a feed bucket labeled ‘Volly’ and watered it down under the tap. Hard feed was terrible for maintaining strong teeth
The bay beast was significantly better behaved now that there was a promise of food. He walked quietly with his head down, while he subtly tried to get his muzzle into the bucket as they headed for the stable block. Hugo flashed the woman a charming smile as they entered, finding bother she and her bay mare beginning their prep work at the other end, and Hugo flipped one of the mountable feed bins over the door of one of the stalls, before emptying the contents of the bucket into it. Volly’s face followed hastily, and Hugo tied his lead rope to one of the tie-up loops.
After a moment, the woman hesitantly approached them, viewing the stud as he dove into his breakfast. "Charming, he is," she said, looking up at Hugo. "Very gorgeous horse you have there."
‘He’s somthin’ else, that’s for sure’ Hugo replied, unclipping the stud’s rug and slipping it from his body, exposing his glossy, shimmering bay coat. He ran his hand over his shoulder; the fine hairs sliding easily between his fingers.
"Competing today?"
‘Show Jumping, then dressage’ he sighed, pursing his lips, and glanced over at the stall the dark mare was locked inside of. ‘You?’ he asked, discarding the rug over the stall door next the Volly’s feed bin, and turned towards the tack lockers in search of a brush, some twine and a pair of scissors, along with a stool for him to stand on
"Same." She responded, leaning against the neighboring stall's door. "Have a bit more hopes in Dressage, though. Jumping isn't exactly my thing."
‘Well, that’s something you have over me. Dressage has never been my forte’ he said, smiling lop-sidedly at her. ‘It’s the getup, I think’ She eyed Hugo for a moment, and Hugo pointedly avoided her gaze; feeling uncomfortable under her calculating gaze. She looked away when the mare whinnied, the sound slicing the silence
Volly’s head shot up as the mare whinnied, and he nickered back enthusiastically; his mouth still full of food. A couple of half-eaten pellets fell to the floor, and Hugo wrinkled his nose. ‘Real womanizer, you are’ he mumbled, as the stud stuffed his face back into the feed bin, and Hugo began brushing out his tail.
‘Oh!’ the woman started, as if suddenly reminded of something. ‘Friendly warning; if you're in your show coat, don't go anywhere near my mare. She'll ruin it in five seconds if you're within range’
Hugo glanced back over at the bay mare as the woman issued her warning, and he smirked. ‘I’ll keep that in mind' he said. He paused for a second, before switching his brush to his left hand, and extended his right to the woman. ‘I’m Hugo, by the way. I don’t believe we’ve met before’
‘Oh! Sorry, I'm Alaura’ She stepped forwards to shake his hand. ‘I don't think we have, you're right; I do know that my mare has met your stud before, though. No doubt where Birrlirri got her looks from, now, by meeting her sire’
Hugo breathed a small laugh, stepping back behind his horses and grabbed a fistful of his long, wiry hairs. ‘That’s the little bay filly you were with yesterday?’ he questioned, running the brush through the ebony strands. ‘I thought she looked familiar. She’s a nice type’ Hugo glanced back up at the mare. ‘She’s nice, too’. Volly began rattling his feedbin in an attempt to get at the food in the corners, his ears wobbling all over the place, and Hugo rolled his eyes
Alaura nodded, looking amused as Volly’s face rattled around inside his feed bin. ‘Thanks, we've got high hopes for her’
Hugo nodded, beginning to run the brush through Volly’s thick, wavy tail again. A moment later, the woman spoke again; sounding almost hesitant ‘...Looks like, uh, my mare might have gotten ahold of you already’ she said, looking a little uncomfortable, and raised an arm to scratch at her neck. ‘Sorry 'bout that’
Hugo looked up, his brow creased, and glanced down and his torso curiously. ‘What?’ he asked stupidly, looking up again; his striking blue eyes glancing between Alaura and Daisy in confusion. ‘I don’t think I’ve been anywhere near your horse’, he mumbled, glancing back down at his T shirt. The only horse he’d been anywhere near that day was Volly. Alaura began tapping her neck, and Hugo’s frown deepened
"No...I'm prrrretty sure." She glanced down slightly, somewhere around his collar, her expression almost pained. Debutante whinnied again, and Alaura’s cheeks began to flush "You've got a, uh, certain mark to show for it."
Hugo’s left eyebrow arched questioningly, his face the image of bewilderment, before realization hit him and his eyes went wide; his hand shooting up to his neck. ‘Shit’, he mumbled, glancing around the stable block in search of anything reflective. He’d run up to the house, but he didn’t trust his horse alone, and he had almost finished his meal. Gingerly he prodded his neck in search of the bruise. He flinched as his fingers made contact with the offending mark, and almost groaned aloud when he found it was too high to conceal under his collar. ‘Bloody fantastic’ he groaned, still clutching his neck
‘Sorry,’ the woman said, avoiding his eyes as her face flushed a bit more, looking very uncomfortable. "I can watch the stud. That is, if you need me to…Or I can go grab someone for you..?"
Erm’, Hugo mumbled, glancing between Volly and the stable exit. He paused, considering his options. ‘No, it’s fine. My cousin should be around soon…I’ll get her to fix it’. His hand slipped from his neck, and grinned sheepishly at the woman. ‘Makeup is a wonderful thing, sometimes’ he said, and picked up a bottle of black-out to fix up any scuff marks on Volly’s legs
‘Very, very true’ Alaura looked relieved as Debutante whinnied again, louder than ever, and smirked. ‘...Right, well, I think I'll start getting my mare ready before she screams the walls down’ She tentatively gave Volly a light pat on the neck, her smirk turning into a smile. "Nice meeting you; thanks for letting me chatter at you for a bit. Good luck out there today."
Volly finally lifted his head from his feed bin; his muzzle smeared with whatever was left of his breakfast. He turned to look curiously at Alaura, before straining his neck to sniff at her pockets. ‘Nice meeting you, too’ Hugo smiled, still feeling very self-conscious now that he was aware of the bruise advertising his nocturnal activates. He supposed he should have learnt his lesson by now, but he’d woken up late, and hadn’t thought to check his appearance in the mirror. He’d need to change later, anyway; he could fix himself up then. ‘I’d, uh…I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention this to anyone. I shouldn’t have…’ he trailed off, knowing full well he’d already said too much. ‘Well, I’d just appreciate it’
‘Never!’ Alaura replied quickly, shaking her head. ‘Not a word.’ It wouldn’t matter much; Hugo’s reputation as a womanizer had already been well and truly established, but people would talk, and he wasn’t in the mood for criticizing glares and snide comments. Not when he had an event to run. ‘Trust me on that’. Giving a curt nod and a strained, but reassuring smile, Alaura returned to tending her mare, just as a blond haired man stumbled into the stables, hair tussled.
‘We should start soon, everyone looks like they're starting to wake up a little. Want to get a good spot in the warm-up’ he said gruffly, and Hugo sniggered as he was assaulted by Debutante’s lolling tongue. The blond dodged into her stall, groaning, and Alaura shot Hugo a wink before following him. He wasn’t too sure what to make of that
Smiling hesitantly, Hugo made a mental note to keep his neck out of sight as much as possible without drawing attention to it, and kicked the stool into position beside his horse. He picked up the thread and the large, blunted needle and spent the next minute threading it, whilst mentally cursing not having gone back to his own house to freshen up pick up his glasses that morning. Contacts were good, but his glasses were better
Finally getting the thread through the needled, he stuck the thin piece of metal between his lips, and climbed onto the foot stool to begin the long, tedious task of plaiting Volly’s thick mane. The stud fidgeted; refusing to stand still as he strained to see around Hugo to get a good look at Daisy; whinnying quietly in her direction. ‘Shut up’ Hugo mumbled around the needle, and Volly tossed his head in protest
"Good luck today!" Alaura called around half an hour later as she tucked what hair she could under her helmet. Hugo waved, the needle still stick in his mouth, and the woman disappeared around the corner of the stable entrance; mare in tow. He turned back to his horse and finished up his seventh plait, pulled the needle from him lips and wound the end of the twine around the plait, before pulling it back over it’ self twice and tying it off. ‘Why is it, that you always seem to take twice as long to get ready than anyone else?’ Hugo had just gathered the next lot of hair and divided it into thirds when Volly tossed his head again, and screamed after the mare. ‘Oh’, Hugo muttered, rolling his eyes. ‘That’s why’
Forty minutes later, and the stallion was finally plaited, tacked, and looking rather impressive. Ruby had flittered in and laughed herself stupid when Hugo had asked her to get ‘the shit she puts on her face to hide pimples’, and had literally begin rolling around on the floor in hysterics after she’d calmed down enough for him to explain why. She came back with a small makeup bag, and had agreed to watch the stallion while Hugo went to have a shower and get changed. He’d come back to a very glittery Volly, and a very smug looking Ruby
‘Look! He’s Glambertised!’ she giggled, indicating to Volly’s sparkling tail. Hugo had no idea what she was talking about, but scowled none the less as he sat on the stool and allowed his cousin begin patching up the purple bruise on his neck
‘Don’t touch it, or you’ll wipe off the foundation’ Ruby ordered, pulling away five minutes later to inspect her handiwork. Hugo nodded dumbly, resisting the erg to prod the spot on his neck where he now felt a cool, almost wet feeling. How women tolerated having that shit smeared this all over their faces every day was beyond him
‘Is it gone?’ he asked, a touch of concern lacing his voice. Ruby shook her head
‘Not quite, but you can barely see it. You’re lucky we have a similar skin tone’ she packed
TBC...
Credits
Reference: KM-Photos (Unpublished)
Characters Alaura Hase, Sassano Hase, and HH Debutante © HoofHaven
Image size
1000x665px 474.64 KB
© 2012 - 2024 Kurrumin
Comments13
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Pretty! 