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Post by hotspot on Nov 26, 2008 22:26:20 GMT -5
Katie: i hopped down from my perch on the gate, where i had been observing the slow transition from clinic into detective story. "Leigh said that she checked for a chip, but there wasn't one. no brands or lip tatoos, either." i said, quite happy that i wouldn't have to be lifting the upper lips of any reluctant horses any time soon. "While i don't have much experience in the missing horse field, my best bet would be to first ask Black Bluffs outright- the surly manager would probabyl know all about the poor little mare he released a year ago. But before we do that, let's look up Caramel Sensation online. she's supposed to have been quite competitive, so she'll be mentioned somewhere. that's a start."
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Post by phantomstallion94 on Nov 27, 2008 11:47:46 GMT -5
Miley:
"thats a great idea Katie. i have my laptop in the stable." i said and started walking off towards the stable. i looked over my shoulder to see Rampage staring after me. he gave a nicker for me to come back. i'll be back, boy i sent him a silent message.
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Post by bluwings on Nov 28, 2008 22:09:39 GMT -5
Mary Anne: I jogged over to watch the latest developments as they unfolded on Miley's computer. She hadn't returned yet, so I traced hoofprints in the arena dust with the toe of my boot. "Hey Katie, you've ridden the show circuit, right? Did you ever hear of Caramel Sensation? Or, for that matter, Sacrlet O'Paradise? That could be a start in our web search."
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Post by hotspot on Nov 28, 2008 23:59:03 GMT -5
Katie: i shook my head. "both of them are too young for my time- i haven't competed since i was your age!" i said, fondly remembering the days that my parents and i would load up the pickup and live-in trailer, and drive all night and all day to get to some big show. we would camp out with the rest of the show crowd, feed on deep-fried snickers bars and lemonade, and get arena dust in our hair that wouldn't wash out for days. I rode a number of horses during those years, but my favorite had been Invisible Ink, Pandora's distant cousin. While i had forgotten most of the riders i competed against, i would always remember a good horse. But i digressed- "I had heard of Black Bluffs Stables, though, and they've always had a reputation for being very disciplined and strict about everything." i shuffled my feet in the sand, waiting for Miley to return with her laptop.
Arin: "intense," i commented from my spot beside Fly. she was snoozing in the sun, while i rubbed her poll. And then, i had a brain wave; "once we figure out Caramel Sensation's lineage, we should also check the registry of the stable that her father came from. even though Black Bluffs might have shredded the documents, that stable might have a copy."
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Post by phantomstallion94 on Nov 29, 2008 11:50:49 GMT -5
Miley:
once i got out of the arena i sprinted for the barn. i ran inside and over my backpack. i opened it and clutched my laptop. i sprinted back out and then slowed and walked into the arena. i opened the laptop and turned on the Internet.
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Post by Miastar on Nov 30, 2008 21:01:11 GMT -5
Sydney: It was coming clear that we weren't going to be getting anywhere with the clinic today. Everyone's attention was focused on Mystery Mare. Katie informed us that the mare had no chip, tattoo or other identification. Miley fetched her laptop from the barn and Mary Anne and I stood close by to observe.
Mike: My day had started early as usual, but today I decided when I had finished with Taz for the day to head over to Sterling Stables to watch the clinic Sydney was instructing. When I arrived at Sterling Stables, Sydney and two other girls were looking at a laptop. I entered the arena quietly so that I would not interrupt. I stood quietly in the doorway watching.
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Post by phantomstallion94 on Dec 1, 2008 10:24:35 GMT -5
Miley:
i searched Black Buffs Stable and then clicked on the link. it brought me to their home page. i searched for Caramel Sensation. a fudgy brown appeared with another mare next to her. they looked the same. i went down the page to the pedigree. i clicked on the dam's link and a bay mare popped. her name was Urban Cowgirl. i went back to the old page and then clicked on the sire's link. a cremello stallion popped up. his name was Greased Lightning. "well?" i asked. then i saw a link that said 'The Family.' i clicked on it and it brought me to a page with Greased Lightning, Urban Cowgirl, Caramel Sensation(as a foal), and her twin(i guess). i scrolled down to look at the names. from left to right it said, Greased Lightning, Caramel Sensation, Elusive Enchantment, and Urban Cowgirl. "i guess MM is Elusive Enchantment."
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Post by hotspot on Dec 1, 2008 18:19:31 GMT -5
Trillium: i crept up behind miley and her laptop, almost too tense to breathe. i peered over her shoulder as she conjectured about Caramel Sensation's twin's identity. "that just doesn't make sense, though," i said, a furrow clouding ym brow. "the stable manager can't have been that careless when destroying files." the pedigree listings for Greased Lightning and Urban Cowgirl noted that both were papered- Greased Lightning a quarab, and Urban cowgirl a thoroughbred. "Linc Slocum would never buy a horse with that many different breeds running through her veins," i commented. "while i personally think that she would be an awesome horse...." i trailed off.
Arin: "hmmmm...." i joined Trillium at Miley's side. "there's something fishy going on for sure. and, look!" i motioned to Greased Lightning. "He's a cremello. i got interested in color genes after yesterday, when Leigh was talking about them." i explained. "Greased Lightning could not possibly have sired either of these foals. see, a cremello horse is basically a chestnut horse with two creme dilute genes. there must be two of the dilutes to create a cremello. however, any foals that the cremello has will carry one of the genes- two, if bred to another creme-based horse. so, the foals must either be palomino or cremello or perlino. "so, let's say that Greased Lightning wasn't the father. we go on to Urban Cowgirl. she's a bay, which, as Leigh deomonstrated before, is just a black horse with an agouti gene. however, black is always dominant to chestnut, meaning that any foals she has, not matter what other genes they acquire, have to be either black, bay, or have a creme base. it's impossible for a bay mare to have a chestnut foal, no matter what genes the father has." i paused for breath, and made some calculations. "hence, the only colors that Caramel and MM's parents can be are chestnut, and possibly some with a chestnut base but other recessive alleles. like flaxen."
Katie: i comandeered the mouse on miley's laptop for an instant, and scrolled down a ways. "besides, Elusive Enchantment has an impressive show record. i think she's Caramel's half sister, or something." i had noticed a shadow lurking near the gate, a surreptitiously peeked under my elbow to Mike watching the proceedings. i decided not to tell Sydney- i didn't want to embarass her.
Owen: i gave Mike a silent wave- i still didn't know if Miley had forgiven me yet, and didn't want to skulk about near her computer.
OOC: sorry to be a stickler, but i can't let my two weeks' work on a acc bio paper two years ago talking about horse genetics go to waste!!! i do cringe if i hear of a fictional blue roan mare having a sorrel baby- sigh.
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Post by phantomstallion94 on Dec 2, 2008 18:41:07 GMT -5
Miley:
"you have a point Alex." i said to her. "but if Urban Cowgirl's dam or sire was a chestnut or sorrel she can have a gene for that color. and if this was like her third and fourth foal with Greased Lightning then she could have a chestnut or sorrel. also Greased Lightning is a cremello, and lets say that his sire was a cremello too. but his dam was a chestnut or sorrel. so then he can have a chestnut or sorrel gene like Urban Cowgirl. so that could mean that they could have a chestnut or sorrel. so it would be possible to have Caramel and Elusive." i told everyone.
OOC: sorry i learned about genes and stuff last year in science class.
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Post by hotspot on Dec 2, 2008 23:47:19 GMT -5
Arin: i shook my head. "that works with a lot of alleles, but agouti is one of those rare ones that trumps everything. there are only two basic coat colors that every horse has- chestnut or black. black, or another black-based color, will cover chestnut every time, no matter what other genes previous ancestors had. So, even if Urban Cowgirl had a number of chestnut-based predecessors, one black gene is always going to cover it up." i thought for a minute. "and creme dilutes can also be codominant with other colors- chestnut, for example, to make a palomino- but any horse with two of them has to pass on one or both. i just don't think it's genetically possible."
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Post by phantomstallion94 on Dec 3, 2008 17:39:11 GMT -5
Alex:
"well the only way we are going to figure this out is to call Black Buffs." i said coming inbetween the girls, so a fight wouldnt break out. i could tell that Miley was edging toward a fight. i saw the spark in her eye. hopefully no one else saw it. "Katie would you like to go to in the barn and call the stable?"
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Post by hotspot on Dec 3, 2008 19:22:27 GMT -5
Katie: i smiled mischeviously. "My pleasure! now follow me!"
There wasn't much room in my little office, but i made room for most of the riders in the few swivel chairs i had. the Black Bluffs number, along with the numbers for all the other local stables, was tacked up next to my turn-dial telephone. "here goes," i breathed, before whirling the dial this way and that to plug in the number. On the first ring, a slightly harried-sounding, high-pitched male voice answered. "Black Bluffs Stables, Sewald speaking... how may i help you?" the answeree squeaked. "This is Katherine Sterling, owner of Sterling Stables. Is this..." the voice interrupted me. "Oh! Hang on one second. let me transfer you to my boss." after some time, and the sounds of pattering feet from the other end of the line, iheard a gruff voice mumbling ant the squeaky one. then, the phone swtiched hands, and the deep voice said, "Miss Sterling. This is Chet Clark. What can I do for you?"
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Post by Miastar on Dec 3, 2008 21:49:57 GMT -5
OOC: Ok, I'm not sure if this goes for stallions but I know that with cremello mares, they always have a foal the color of whatever stallion they were bred too. Wierd huh? My uncle (who breeds Quarter Horse Show Horses told me that ) Sydney: Genetics and Color genes were often unpredictable in breeding horses. Further more, have twin foals that actually survive more than a few days and go on to lead healthy, normal lives is rare. Mike: I could hear most of the conversation about locating the original owners of a mare that had recently come in from the wild. Dad and I had once had a similar problem when a mare that was supposed to have bred with one stallion, had a foal that wasn't the stallion's. It took months of DNA testing to determine who the real father of the foal was. Turns out, the mare had been put in the correct stallion's pasture but he'd been turned out in a different paddock that day. A costly mistake as the father turned out to be a pokey old stud we only used for training youngsters/trail riding.
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Post by phantomstallion94 on Dec 4, 2008 17:22:12 GMT -5
OOC: that is really cool!! Miley:
i glared at my sister. but i let her go. she knew me well. i backed off and then walked after Alex and Katie. Katie led us to her office and then she dialed the number. i waited and looked from Syd, to Alex, to Mike, to Owen, to Alex, to Caden, to Justin, to Arin.
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Post by hotspot on Dec 4, 2008 19:28:13 GMT -5
OOC: i actually read a book that mentioned the whole stigma of hiding twins in the competitive horse world, and it gave me the idea... so sorry for lacking original ,aterial and facts!!! and i'm not sure about cremello stallions... my source said that either one or both cremello genes are always going to be passed on, but i do think it's different for stallions- that's whu they're always billed as "heterozygous" or "homozygous" in ads for their farms- hetero may only pass on one gene or none at all, but homozygous will pass on their color in some form gauranteed. Katie: some shufflinf accompanied my conversation as everyone- mary anne, sydney, arin, miley, theo, owen, milly, kale, jack, trillium, and, now, mike- crowded in to hear. i tried to concentrate on what Chet Clark was saying. "Mr. Clark," i said, in my warmest, least implicitive-that-i'm-calling-about-your-misdeeds voice. "I recently accquired a mare that was born at your stables." "Did ya now?" he asked, seeming curious. "I did indeed. however, we don't even know her pedigree, name, breed, history..." i trailed off. "Oh," he said, rather pompously, "i suppose you haven't checked her for a chip yet." "Actually, we have." i let the implications i had been hiding creep out and percolate. "by a BLM official, as a matter of fact." there was a chilly, stunned silence on the other end of the line. someone behind me- theo, i think- made a cricket sound. "Ohhhh..... that mare."
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