Solo [Livery Stables]Of Horses and Men

[Reisen Widerspruch]

Spring 6th, 516 AV, 10th bell.

Horses, lovely creatures that they are. Their long faces, illusturous hair and their aw-inspiring ability to run with the wind behind them and be observed with as much majesty as Syna’s Sun. Horses were one of the few things that could raise Reisen’s mood to the point of relaxation. Which is why he had this sort of silly grin on his face as he stood in the stall of one such horse, brushing it contentedly and running his hand through its mane gently.

This particular breed of horse was a Gilding, a palomino horse with a an illustrious mane. They were useful horses, all horses were useful really, but this breed was made for the likes of travelers such as him. If he’d owned a horse this would be the breed he’d choose and would perhaps be his closest friend.

Gildings were playful things in general, they liked playing tricks and messing with people. He overheard once it was those with oddball personalities that would take such mischievous creatures, but Reisen thought that was wrong; rather he believed it was those who liked a bit of life and personality in their journeys who would take such horses and Gildings provided that with levity.

“Enjoying your work then, Reisen?” came the voice and Reisen turned to find that it was the voice of his employer, Collin Askara. The man, as his surename implied, was of the Askara Dynasty who were of the 12 Dynasties that lead Kenash. From he’d been told about the Askara was they they were a family of eccentrics, something about them having weird traditions and manners.

Collin, however, was perhaps the odd one out of the entire family. Being that unlike his families eccentric tastes and mannerisms, he was a cheerful man who dressed practically and loved working with his horses. In fact the man was so nice and normal that he would have fit quite well in Syliras and be considered a model citizen and be considered a long, lost, family member of the Windmounts.

Reisen nodded, allowing a small smirk on his face “Horses are good company, sir.” He said as his way of answer. Collin nodded cheerfully, happy that his new hire was assimilating quite well to his environment.

“Right, after caring for Day Star here. I need you to come meet me at stable number 30 to help me prep Wave Runner, we got a tyke in need of some learning” Reisen nodded, which was returned in acknowledgement before Collin left, leaving Reisen to silently ponder who named those horses.

‘ I’d probably run out of good names too if I owned hundreds of horse’ Which he didn’t but the point still stood.

He’d have to hasten things a bit, not that he’d have much left. He allowed himself to brush Day Star a bit more before setting aside the brush in bucket holding his work tools then walked to the hooks holding the horses reigns, tack and various other accessories. He grabbed for the foodbag and made his way out of the stall to head for the table carrying an assortment of grain bags, opening the appropriate one up to fill the foodbag with the appropriate grains for Day Star’s diet then proceeded back to fit Day Star's muzzle into the bag and then connect its straps behind the horse's ears and allow it to hang on it's neck.

'That should tide you over, yeah?' He thought gently ruffling the horses mane before heading to where his boss awaited him.

[Reisen Widerspruch]

Wave Runner was a Tidal Pony if that weren’t obvious enough. As was with anywhere else, they were appealing to children learning how to ride and the chestnut colored Wave Runner was no exception. The reason for their appeal to children was simple; Tidal Ponies were friendly, smart, and small, a combination that made them cooperative when it came to teaching someone how to ride.

For Reisen, it simply made them easier to fit with a tack which was the collective term for the various riding equipment. Reisen knew this because it was his job to help fit the horse properly, wouldn’t want a too tight a saddle now.

As he arrived at the stall he was greeted by his boss who waited for him with a smile and a chipper attitude, then both headed inside to begin outfitting Wave Runner who greeted them with a gentle whinny. It didn’t take two people to outfit a horse really, but it did make it quicker and seeing as it was likely that Collin was to teach the child himself then he’d want to make sure everything was set to his specifications.

Collin handled the setting of the harness whilst Reisen handle the bridle and bit bit. Both things that one had to be cautious about, more so the face. Reisen learned that horses were very sensitive in the face, it was why they were they so easy to lead. He’d directed the bit far back in the mouth so that the bit rested on the gums and tightened the bridle just enough that it didn’t stress the horses face.

It could a lot of health problems for the horse if the bride were too tight. The reigns dangled infront of the horse and from the bit so that it would be led. It didn’t really take too much time but there were plenty of straps.

When they were both done, Collin examined the straps and made adjustments here and there. Satisfied, he and Reisen had led the horse outside of the stable. There a child and his mother awaited them, with the child grinning and giggling gleefully. The mother…. Looked to be quite haughty but pleased at her child’s reaction.

“Right, I should be gone for a couple of Bells, Reisen. In the mean time I want you to clean replace Wave Runner’s feed bin and shovel out its feces. Then take out the horses in stall 10 for a stroll to stretch its legs, poor things been cooped up. Then I want you to check on the horses in box 5 and 6 to see how they're are doing, I should be there to help you with that later”

Reisen nodded, those tasks would certainly keep him busy for a bit and he gave Collin a thumbs up in affirmation.
“ Good man. We should be wandering around the area so if anyone needs me don’t hesitate to send word. “ He gave Reisen a good pat on the shoulder “ Now off you go then, there’s a good man” Reis waved goodbye to Collin, watching his back as he led Wave Runner away then promptly to get his own tasks done.

The sooner he starts, the sooner he finishes.

[Reisen Widerspruch]

Grabbing a pail and a shovel, Reisen mumbled bemusedly thinking he’d had escaped the years as a groom. But realized sometimes that being an animal hander was the next step for those in the grooming position who had aspirations to own their own stables one day and breed their own horses. Typically those who start out as a groom are meant to get acclimated to the horses and vice versa, some horses were tentative after and grooms often did not know how to act around animals.

As a groom they were also learning how to feed the horses properly, how to set and put away their equipment and how to keep a horses living areas clean. Once they knew they could train horses proper and begin doing things that really earned the money. For Reisen it wasn’t about the money, but rather about the interaction…. The better you were at caring for animals the better that you could understand them and they you.

Still he would rather do without shoveling horse dung into a bucket. With a sigh he left the stall to empty the bucket into a manure cart, there it waited along with other smelly manure to eventually be taken to some plantation to be used as fuel for torches and camp fires. After washing his hands and face extensively at a wash basin, he went to gather a wheel barrow and a pitchfork.

Returning soon after he had begin the tiresome process of lifting the used bedding into the wheel barrow. It was hardly any different than shoveling horse dung in that it put the arms to work with repeated use, it was kind of like weight lifting except you were lifting unpleasant things and you couldn’t wait to get rid of them.

Reisin knew he couldn’t it as he put the last dregs of used straw into the barrow and moved it out to another cart. After getting rid of that pile of mess he returned with a pail of water ana rage to give the pitchfork a good washing along with the shovel, then used the pitchfork to gather fresh straw from a bail within the stall and spread it around nice, soft and flat for Tidal Wave to stand on even lay down if he ever wanted to.

One thing about the Kenash stalls were that they were specious enough for a horse to lay down, not as roomy as the sick boxes but those were roomy by necessity as injured horses tended to be laying down. But he digressed, this was neither here or there for now as with the same pitchfork he struck into a bail of hay and stuck into the feed bin.

After that was done, he set away the tools in safe place and walked to stall number 10. Entering it he recalled the horse was a simple Colorsplash horse with a mixture of a black and white coat, with its mane being predominately white. It was one of those classic things, but by whatever god who liked horses it was a classic and Reisen couldn’t help but grin with delight at the oppetunity to walk such a horse.

[Reisen Widerspruch]

The Colorsplash was named ‘Swanson’ he recalled…. His mind was curious as to who would name their horse that but he would just be pointing out a repeated thought. He approached Swanson how neighed gently at him in greeting. Reisen responded by running a hand against it and whispering his own greetings.

“Hey there, boy. Ready to get a walk? Sure as sure it would do you some good, yeah?” Getting the gist of it perhaps, Swanson seemed to whinny in delight at the thought of a walk which made Reisen smile. “Alright, let’s see about getting the halter set up?”

With that said, he went to the corner of the stall and grabbed Swanson’s halter then approached the dear horses head. Swanson, a well-trained horse by Colin, complied by lowering its head lower as Reisen fit the collection of leather straps over his head and behind his ears . Reisen on his part made sure to be gentle as he tightened the straps and attached the lead strap to the halter.

He began to lead Swanson out of the stall, the horse complying, perhaps with delight, as it walked out and followed Reisen out of the stable and into the fresh Kenash air! Though how fresh was subject to debate at a stable….

It was a walk without incident to be sure although for Reisen there was certainly some unusual sights for a Syliran. Such sights included a barely clothed slave carrying packages for its master who lead the slave haughtily by a chain as if a cross between a pack mule and a dog. He didn’t know how to feel about usch things though his body deigned that ‘discomfort’ was the best course of action and simply move along.

Another point of interest was seeing his boss leading Wave Runner as the child was riding. As they ran across each other they greeted the other with a ‘hi’ and then promptly gave their farewells with a ‘bye’ as they walked past one another.

Swanson, proving to a curious horse, nearly dragged Reisen to the flower store. It was a difficult task to dissuade a horse larger than himself but he managed after tripping the first time and giving the horse a light chastising. After the passing of time, they soon returned to the stable and Reisen returned Swanson back to his stall and removed the halter and palced it back with the other equipment. He bid the horse goodbye and began to move to the special boxes where the ill horses lay.

In particular he checked up on box one and two. Box one contained a Zavian horse who had a laceration across his body, the poor thing had a bad run in with a crazed slave who managed to obtain a weapon. Poor horse got a nasty cut. Thankfully the slave was put down before it hurt anyone else….
“How you dong today? Can’t imagine you’re enjoying all this, being cooped up in here” The laceration ran across the horses flank, resulting in the necessity of a large bandage covering the flank. The horse seemed to the neigh gloomily but otherwise wasn’t in pain, though it did need cheering up. Even animals get depressed after all and depression helped no one.

“Alright Gus, lets see what we can do for you” Grabbing a brush, he began brushing the horses and gently caressing it, whispering comforting words to it. It was saddening to see a horse cooped up inside, especially in pain. He checked its teeth and eyes, cleaned the stall out its refuses and came back with fresh bedding with food, having washed before bring the latter of those of course Personally Reis didn’t want to imagine being cooped up inside, although at least the horse could still walk a bit albeit in a limited fashion “We’re gonna get you moved later, alright buddy?” He patted the horse gently before leaving it to check on guest number two in the residing box.

This horse, another Gilding which was easily identifiable by the way it seemed to somehow glow, was pregnant and was contently chowing down on the extra amount of hay it had been given “ Well you seem to be a happy sort, enjoying your meal then?” Further munching sounds were the only answer and Reis could only chuckle as he picked up a brush and began to give the gilding a good brushing.

“Right then, eat right and proper then. You’re eating for two after all and the Boss will want you healthy by the time you give birth” This Gilding was bred with another Gilding if one were to ask, two horses in top-shape condition and with good breeding, continuing the line with another healthy Gilding hopefully. He crossed his fingers at that, pregnancy no matter the mammal was always a tricky thing and by the Gods of all that is good he hoped nothing bad happened here.

At that moment Colin entered with his kindly demeanor “She doing alright, Reis?” It was a rhetorical question, Colin was by far Reis’ superior in the caring of horses. Still, Reisen answered anway.

“She’s eating up a storm, sir.” He answered with a nod “ Was jus’ giving her a brush and then go about cleaning out the stall and replace the bedding. Collin nodded and approached the pregnant Gilding who had stopped eating and greeted Colin with a gentle bump to the head. Colin chuckled and gently ran a hand through the horses main before examining its teeth then going about to examine every other inch of her body and not in the lewd way. It was clinical, not cold, but clinical like a doctor examining their patient.

“looks alright so far, will have to check on her more late. Reisen, for now keep doing what your doing and I expect to also bring in more hay for her to graze on” Though it was toned like it was a request there was no doubt that it was an order. Reisen didn’t need to be told twice and simply nodded and received another utterance of ‘good man’ before being left to his chores.

By the end of it, Reis could confidently say that today was a productive day…. Now he just needed a bath to get rid of the dung smell…..

‘Maybe I should invest in freshners…’

[Konrad Venger]

Hey, dude! Once you get back and deduct your Seasonal Expenses, I'll grade this up, no problem. PM me when you get back!