• Solo • [Warrick] The Start of a Dream

Lei'lira takes the first step towards her dream. Work thread.

The seven Duchies of Central Rynmere and their respective baronies, cities, towns, villages, and landmarks each overseen by a Duke of one of the seven noble families and ultimately controlled by the King of Rynmere.
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Lei'lira
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[Warrick] The Start of a Dream

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15 Ashan 716


It was a beautiful day. The sun was warm; a very welcome relief after the long, dark chill of Cylus. And the sky was a bright, brilliant shade of blue. There were a few clouds floating lazily through the sky, but they were fluffy white things that added to the beauty of the day.

Lei'lira wanted to make the most of the day, so she decided to groom the horses, and then go out for a ride. With that thought in mind, she headed into the barn to get her curry comb and brushes. Darkwind and Kaiyu had both finished eating their morning feed, so Lei'lira put her lead rope on Darkwind, and led him out of the stable.

She started with her curry comb, moving it in small, circular motions as she began with Darkwind's neck, and made her way slowly down to his shoulders, then his sides, and finally his withers. When she was done with that, she repeated the process on Darkwind's other side. Once Lei'lira had finished loosening up the dirt, and loose hair in the stallion's coat, she switched from her curry comb to her dandy brush. She then brushed Darkwind with the hard bristled brush, using short, straight, flicking motions to remove the dirt and hair that had been loosened by the curry comb. Like before, she started at his neck, and worked her way down.

When she had finished with that, she set aside her dandy brush for the soft bristled body brush that would finish the task of removing any remaining surface dust and hair from Darkwind's coat. Since she didn't have a face brush to use on Darkwind's more sensitive areas, she made certain to be careful while brushing his face, ears, muzzle, and around his eyes. Lei'lira noticed the difference immediately. With all of the dirt and dust gone, Darkwind's black coat seemed to shine when the light hit it. Lei'lira knew that if she really wanted to put a nice shine in the stallion's coat, she could rub a cotton rag over his coat. But she also knew that the first chance he got, Darkwind would undo all of her efforts by rolling in the grass.

So, instead of that, she used a comb to carefully comb all of the tangles out of Darkwind's mane and tail. It took quite some time, since there were a lot of tangles to comb out due to Darkwind's fondness for rolling around in the grass, and dirt. When she was finally finished, Lei'lira gave the stallion a carrot for a treat. He deserved it. Getting his mane and tail groomed was his least favorite part of the process, and he had stood still the entire time, not giving her any trouble.
Last edited by Lei'lira on Tue Apr 19, 2016 8:43 pm, edited 1 time in total. word count: 478
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Lei'lira
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[Warrick] The Start of a Dream

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Darkwind was trained well enough to know not to wander off if he was left while wearing a lead rope that was trailing on the ground. As long as nothing spooked him, he would remain where he was for the few bits that it would take her to enter the barn, and come back out with Kaiyu. The mare was the calmer, and more reliable of the two horses, but Lei'lira knew that it was important to work with a stallion. Not doing so was a recipe for disaster, because he would be unmanageable when it came time to breed him. For that reason, she had decided that she wanted to ride Darkwind today, instead of Kaiyu. But she wanted to groom the mare before she left. So rather than put Darkwind back into his stall, only to have to get him out once more, it made more sense to simply leave him out while she groomed Kaiyu.

So Lei'lira entered the barn to go get Kaiyu. To her surprise, the normally easy going mare seemed irritable, and distracted when she led her out of her stall. Kaiyu's ears flicked back against her head several times, and she even bared her teeth, as if threatening to bite her a couple of times when she tried to get the mare's attention. As she was leading the mare out of the stable so that she could groom her, Lei'lira noticed that Kaiyu was holding her tail in an elevated position.

Darkwind's full attention was on Kaiyu the moment they appeared. That seemed strange to Lei'lira. He was a stallion, so it was of no surprise that he was interested in mares. But he was showing a lot more interest in Kaiyu than he usually did. Something about her mare's behavior nagged at Lei'lira. Then her eyes widened as one possible answer presented itself to her.

It was Ashan. More specifically, it was early Ashan. Kaiyu was almost certainly in heat. That would explain Darkwind's intense interest in the mare, as well as her behavior. It would also explain that although Kaiyu had eaten, she hadn't finished her feed the way she normally would. She had clearly finished eating, but there was more than half of her feed remaining.

Lei'lira's eyes traveled from Kaiyu to Darkwind, and back again, thoughtfully. Why not breed them? She wanted to turn her part of the farm into a breeding farm some day, and for that, she was going to need more than two horses. Having three wasn't that much of an improvement, but it would be a start. And if she decided to sell the foal once it was weaned, she could put the nels towards buying more stock for her breeding farm.
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Lei'lira
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[Warrick] The Start of a Dream

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With that thought in mind, Lei'lira approached Darkwind slowly. When she reached his side, she freed him from the lead rope. Then she put some distance between herself, and the two horses. With luck, nature would take it's course with no interference from her. And with more luck, she would have a foal to show for it next Ashan.

She didn't have to wait for long. As soon as she gave the horses some room, Darkwind began to approach Kaiyu cautiously. When she showed no signs of rejecting his presence, he lowered his head, and sniffed at her tail. There was still no signs of anger or rejection coming from the mare.

As Lei'lira watched in hopeful anticipation, Darkwind reared up on his hind legs in an attempt to mount the mare. She wasn't quite certain what might go wrong, but she had heard stories from Meadow Farms about disasters where the mare rejected the stallion at the last moment, and lashed out at him in fury. The stories usually ended up with either the mare or the stallion injured, sometimes badly. And in the worst cases, both were injured. So to prevent possible disaster, Lei'lira kept a close eye on things, just in case.

But she had nothing to worry about. Kaiyu accepted Darkwind's advances, and Darkwind mounted her. It didn't take long for him to mate with Kaiyu, and he dismounted when he was finished. Then he seemed to lose interest in her as he started to graze near by. Lei'lira watched the two horses for a few bits as she wondered how long it would be before she knew for certain whether Kaiyu had caught, or not. Were there signs she could look for beyond the most obvious, that of the mare's growing belly? Lei'lira decided that she would ask Iggy the next time she went out to Meadow Farms to volunteer, and look at the many horses he had available.

That was for another time, though. For now, Lei'lira had an irritable mare to groom. Although she knew the mare well, she was very careful not to approach Kaiyu from behind. Lei'lira wasn't certain if Kaiyu would be as quick to lash out in anger if approached from behind now that she had been bred or not, but there was no need to take any chances.

Lei'lira went and got the brushes she'd need for the task from the barn. Her familiar kept a close eye on the horses while she was gone, ready to call out at a moment's notice should they start to wander off while Lei'lira was gone. But they stayed where they were, content to graze peacefully. After a few bits, Seirei was ready to begin.

As before, she started with the curry comb, and began at the mare's neck, working her way down slowly. Kaiyu still seemed to be distracted, and somewhat irritable, but she also seemed to enjoy the attention. Lei'lira spoke to her softly as she worked, telling her what a beautiful mare she was, and how good she was being by not protesting against getting groomed. Lei'luna chuckled, and told her that Kaiyu was a vain mare telepathically. Lei'lira paused in her task, and made a face at her bondmate. She was right, though. Kaiyu was a beautiful mare...and she knew it. She spent more time preening and posturing than Lei'lira did.

When it came time to comb out the mare's mane and tail, Lei'lira hesitated. Kaiyu had been tolerant of her efforts so far, but now she was starting to show signs of impatience, and irritation. From the way that the mare's ears kept flattening against her head briefly, and the way she was stomping at the ground with a foreleg, she guessed that the mare wouldn't cooperate for much linger. It was best not to press her luck. So she gathered up her grooming equipment, and brought Kaiyu back to the barn. Once the mare was safely in her stall once more, and her brushes were put away, it was time for the ride she had promised herself.
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[Warrick] The Start of a Dream

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Lei'lira


Skills
Animal Husbandry: 2
Observation: 2
Animal Training: 1

Knowledge

[columns=2]Basic:
Grooming: Horses
Animal Training: Leading a horse

Specialised:
Darkwind: Likes to roll in the grass
Signs that a horse is in season[/columns]

Notes: Horse is in foal

Comments: Well those things aren't always the most comfortable to read but you kept it professional and actually made this a rather pleasant story, kudos! Enjoy the rewards.
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word count: 72
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