A Run Through the Barrels

[phantomstallion94]

Justin:

"ok," i said, "im gonna get Miley's mare Crown Jewel." i said jogging off after the flighty sorrel flaxen. i remembered her as a quick young foal who always ate, so this was gonna be hard.

OOC: hotspot, how about we make a post of the mustangs in the Buy a Horse thread. so then other people could train and own the mustangs. unless you want to use them as the barns riding horses. cus then Justin and im sure of some other riders would love to help train the mustangs. Justin has had a lot of experience with training and working with mustangs from his ranch.

[hotspot]

OOC: we'll have to have a BLM agent (me, since it'll be dealing with both stable managers) to come and appraise the situation. i;m still trying to decide about that, but at least some of the horses will get to go free. then, the agent can also look over the wild horses at Sterling.

Milton:
"very good. i hope the filly remembers civilization." even after a lifetime in the horse business, i hated to see horses in pain. the filly looked like the type who wouldn't just sit there and be roped, but i could be wrong.

Trillium:
i heard Milton come back from wherever he was, and jogged out of the office, where i had been balancing the checkbook. i was greeted by a bunch of sweaty, galloping horses. WOW.

Milton filled me in on the entire event. i was surprised that my cousin actually had the guts and courage to face down a horse rustler, but, then again, he was related to me, which was saying something. i prided myself that i had the guts and courage to sneak riding lessons and secret identities under his nose. "What will we do with them?" i asked.

Milton:
"put in a call to the bureau, to schedule an appointment. for tomorrow, late morning to early afternoon."

Trillium:
"right-o." i grudgingly left the pasture, where i had hoped to see Justin competantly lasso Miley's feral filly.

[phantomstallion94]

Justin:

i waved my hand to Mr. Berryhill as he was talking to Trill, my date to the ball. when i approached the mare. Spirit nickered to Jewel and the mare returned the nicker with a high pitched neigh. she trotted up to him and they touched noises. they remember each other from their early ranch life together. when Jewel came to the lasso she pinned her ears back and spun around into a full out gallop. Jewel could jump and i didnt want to lose her in the corral.

[hotspot]

Milton:
"easy does it," i said encouragingly from my post on the fence. "at least she recognizes Eagle- that'll help her adjust."

[phantomstallion94]

Justin:

Spirit trailed after her. i was low on his neck ready to start to twirl my lasso over her delicate neck. if she did jump the fence then i would have to call Jake Ely and we would have to track her. to get her back to Lava Slide, her herd stallion. she looked like she was in foal and if she was she wouldnt jump the fence. when we came to the fence she slid to a stop and twirled back at me. she stopped and tapped her nose to Spirit's like they were playing tag. they used to when they were foals. Spirit remembered the game because he pranced after. when he ran up to her side he pulled on her mane and loped off in the other direction. i didnt like my horses just forgeting about their rider but i didnt want intrupt the playdate. after 20 minutes of Tag, Jewel finally let me put the lasso over her head.

[hotspot]

Milton:
"unconventional, but it certainly worked." i said. "now would you like ot call your friend Miss Brawling, we can let her know we have her horse. i think that this mare was illegaly running free, so we can treat her as one of our own horses, since she is not owned by the government."

[phantomstallion94]

Justin:

"i think i should, but i want to surprise her on the day of the competion. like after the competion i will give her to her. so how did this whole entire thing with the competion happen?" i asked.

[hotspot]

Milton:
"it's a long story," i laughed. "but here goes."
"basically, Owen was riding Brumaire L'Ouverture, one of the more, ah, spirited horses here. Bru got rather spooked by something, and took off cross country over to the Sterling side of the woods. little did they know that Katherine Sterling and a good number of her riders were having a trail ride in that very spot. he almost collided headlong with them, but was able to avoid it. they got to talking, and Miss Katherine, as well as Sydney Bristow, decided that they wanted to accompany Owen back to Berryhill to view my stock. so, they came. ever since the stables began, Sterling and Berryhill have been regional archrivals, so tension was already high. then, miss Bristow spotted Monte Cristo, one of my newest purchases. he's a full brother to her deceased champion Cultural Icon, and she decided to buy him. however, once she pointed out exactly who he was- i had beleived that he could have been related to Icon, but i had doubts, since his papers were missing- i decided that he was no longer for sale. Katherine confronted me, we got in a fight, and decided to settle it this way. because the dispute over who is the best stable has been raging for a decade or more, and it's time ended it, once and for all. the winner will get Monte Cristo and rights to the title of "best stable in Darton county." that about covers it."

[phantomstallion94]

Justin:

"wow! all that over a horse? no affense but if that happened between my ranch, Perfect Harmony and Miley's ranch, Stone Ridge, the worse that would happen would be that we would have like a rodeo. yea i have a lot of horses but Miley, has like 100- like 200 horses on her ranch." i said to Milton.

[hotspot]

Milton:
"oh, it's an age-old rivalry that will finally be brought to light," i said, cracking my knuckles cryptically. "at least we didn't decide to settle it Theo's way... paintball."

[phantomstallion94]

Justin:

"i think that would be fun. i would do it that way. but you said its an ago-old rivarly, why dont you settle it in the olden days? in the mid-evil years. like a chatriat(sp?) races and stuff like that?" i said having some ideas. but i didnt want to change everything around for competition. it would be hard and stressful.

[hotspot]

Milton:
"Have you seen 'Ben-Hur?' chariot races were almost as dangerous as gladitorial combats in the coliseum in the Roman age! spiked wheel, whips, getting thrown under the pounding hooves of horses... and, the Circus maximus, where they were held, collapsed four times over the course of a century due to earthquakes!" i laughed. i bet that i sounded exactly like the history nerd that i am. "anyway, we aren't quite that old, although my great-grandfather who started the stables back in the 1800's was said to be a crack shot with a dueling pistol." i feigned a bowlegged dueling stance, fingers guns at my sides like an OK corralsmen. "ten steps and DRAW!"

[phantomstallion94]

Justin:

"hahaha. i think if we did that and someone dumped one of the girls from Sterlings. then all the girls would begin shootin." i was still laughing. "Perfect Harmony used to be the sight for one of the world largest Dressage competition. if you listen hard you can still hear the sound of the music being played on the wind." i said picturing the competition in my head.

[hotspot]

Milton:
"creepy," i commented, imagining one of those horrible 80's pop songs, the kind frequently used for lyrical dressage, haunting me. "I wonder what our lyrical dressagists will be choosing music-wise?"

[phantomstallion94]

Justin:

"it is, but wonderful." i said to Mr. berryhill.