[Sanctuary] Breeding 101 - I have to do what?!?

[Kavala]

Timestamp: 15th of Spring, 511 AV
Location: Sanctuary
Reason: Breeding Lessons
Status: Open To Sanctuary Staff

It should be pretty interesting to see how folks reacted to cleaning sheaths. Kavala knew most everyone here was trained as a healer so there was lots of medicine involved in what they were going to do. However, she knew it as an important topic and the future of her horses depended on it.

Kavala was planning on breeding Windsong with Kamsin to produce a purebred Strider. Kamsin didn't fit in her program with Vahn or the other two nightwalker crosses. So instead, she'd use Kamsin to teach the rest of the Sanctuary denizens about breeding horses in facilities like Sanctuary rather than letting them intermingle and the bloodlines muddle out on the grass. First things first though.

Stallion care was on the agenda and she had to teach all the students how to clean. So, having Windsong and Sivak (who was just along for the lesson and not to see any breeding action today) in cross ties in the stallion section of the courtyard. Kavala had her supplies all set out and was prepared to give the first lesson her young healers were going to need on sheath cleaning. She gathered them together, cleared her throat, and launched into her lecture leaning against the elderly stallion's flank. Windsong would go easy on them and not mind the crowd. She wasn't certain how the other horses would do. Sivak as well was gentle and got along with Windsong, so both of them acting as demonstration stallions would work well indeed.

"There is always 'cleaning' to do when you are breeding. It's not pretty, and in fact it can be pretty disgusting, but it needs to be done for all the male horses whether they are breeding stallions or simple riding geldings. We are going to clean sheaths. The sheath is the pocket of flesh he keeps his penis in when hes not using it. I need to give you some information on this, and then we are going to get busy and breed Windsong to Kamsin. We'll need to discuss a few things that are necessary prior to cleaning thier sheaths." She said thoughtfully, and got to the whole point. The boys would balk, the girls would blush, but in the end it had to be done.

"Sheaths get dirty because they get a buildup of smegma on them. Smegma is a collection of dirt and excretions like sweat. It builds up inside the sheath and must be removed for the sake of the horse's health. If you don't remove it, the stuff gets crusty, itching, painful, and can cause his sheath to swell and interfere in his ability to breed and urinate. Plus, when we are breeding, if we don't clean his sheath, then that smegma can get into the vagina of the mare and cause infection. He must be clean. She must be clean. Understand?" She asked, then moved forward to continue the lecture.

"The other thing you need to know about is the bean. A bean firm lump of smegma that has collected and hardened inside the horse's penis, in the area of his 'head'. This lump or "bean" must be removed as often as possible. It can cause serious pain to your horse. It can get so large that the horse can no longer urinate...which may also cause other problems due to blockage. Can you imagine how they'd suffer? We as horsemen and women have a responsibility to make sure their entire genital area is clear. And that's what we are going to do today on our volunteer stallions, Sivak and Windsong." Kavala said, smiling slightly. She knew the topic was unpleasant, but it was completely necessary.

Kavala took a deep breath, shifted her stance to her other foot, and continued. "To clean him, you have to get him to relax his penis and drop it down. Because we are healers, we can sedate our horses and everything will relax. I don't like doing this though. I almost never do unless the stallion is in pain and he will not let anyone touch him there. Herbs are generally safe to use as sedation, but its best just to teach him to cooperate. The other way to get him to relax and drop is simple. You can reach into the sheath, grasp the penis lightly and gently ease it out, or rub along the sheath in the area between the sheath and penis to get it to drop. Try everything you can to get him to relax it on his own before you turn to sedatives, okay?" Kavala was firm on that point, not wanting anyone to drug a horse just to avoid unpleasant touching or coaxing.


"Once we get it to drop, we're going to use a mild soap and begin rubbing the soap into the smegma, pulling the bits off, and scrubbing the penis until it comes clean and feels smooth. We rinse it, check to make sure there is no bean, and then we are done." She said, then gestured for the others.

"Okay, lets see you get them to drop." She said, smiling slightly knowing how uncomfortable this would be for the healers. Dealing with the mares would be a lot easier for the group.

[Mizuriel]

OOCSorry, I failed to post for a bit, but I’m playing catch up now . Mizuriel was getting more and more awkward as Kavala spoke. His face was trapped between surprise and disgust for a moment, only to be usurped by a frown shortly after. He knew they would have to clean the animals too, but he never really wanted to imagine it like this. As more and more information was being bombarded upon him, he tried his best to memorize everything. A simple shout got out of his lungs: “Understood”. He was still too confused and lost to add or ask anything, but when the Konti continued, he just sighed. Once Kavala finished, he stood dumbfounded for a second before repeating the summary of what he had just heard: “Get the stallion to relax. Smegma. Bean. Head. The horse’s genitals. Get them to drop. Got it” he gulped as he finished. He proceeded towards Windsong slowly, almost as if he was sneaking up on him. Nervousness was evident in his uneven pace as he approached the stallion. Once he finally got close, he reached his hand out to the animal, gently patting its side. He knelt next to the animal, still gently caressing its belly with one hand. The other hand kept leaning onto Windsong, as he reached out towards the horses penis. Still a bit afraid to touch the organ itself, he whispered to himself: “You’ve seen worse things, and you have done worse things” he exhaled slowly, trying to pull himself together effectively. Once he reached his hand into the groin area, he started rubbing the inner side of the sheath gently. As soon as he started, he could feel the horse nudging a bit. He stopped for a bit, making sure he didn’t do anything wrong, or generally anything he could get kicked for. The horse seemed to react to Mizuriel’s touch, but he still remained “not relaxed”. He knew he was doing something wrong, so he tried talking to the animal: “It’s alright, I’m not going to hurt you… I think”. He started minding Windsong’s movements more and more as he grasped his hand around the penis and started easing it out gently. After pulling the organ out, he quickly stood up, stepping away from the horse. After all, if anyone touched his groin against his will, he would most likely kick them. Still he remained hopeful that the stallion was willing, or at least not hostile when things like this took place. Turning back to Kavala, he shrugged awkwardly, unsure if he did his job properly.

[Riki Stormheart]

OOCThis color means Riki is speaking in Pavi. I should put that into his signature soon. Riki knew about these practices although not in this depth. As a Drykas, horse breeding was a practice that was never absent in his life. The difference was, he had never done it. He had seen his father do it a couple times as well as his mates of Opal clan. The more... coaxed breeding as a bit new to him. The Drykas did it on some occasions but Riki was more used to the natural courting of the horses. New places brought new experiences though. Awkwardly, Riki looked over at Mizuriel. This would be interesting for the two men to talk about later on. Although, Riki was not sure they would ever speak of it being that they were both more quiet men and obviously, a bit uncomfortable with horse breeding. Riki had bred before but not horses. He had assisted his cousin in breeding a dog. Flower, Sadie's mother to be exact. Riki knew Flower would not live forever. It was a sad truth. He did know that if he bred her, he could let her live on in a way. He could have a part of her in her offspring. Dog's were much different than horses and although that was blatantly obvious, it was becoming more and more so as the lesson went on. Once Kavala was done speaking Riki walked up to a stallion. He smiled at it awkwardly and patted it's back lightly. "Okay, if you cooperate this will be nice and easy. I promise I won't hurt you. Trust me, if it was the other way I would be freaked out too." He took a deep breath and looked at the horse's back. He tried to focus on his pelt to get his mind off the deed we was about to do. "It's only natural. It's going to help the horses. You are a Stormheart, you can do this." Riki tried to think of his other brother Jonas. He was a strong and brave man. He had to try and be like Jonas. Granted, Jonas was not a healer, he was a fighter. He was his brother though and if Jonas could be brave there had to be some bravery within Riki too. Although, if Jonas' bravery came from his mother than Riki was hopeless. Riki's hands moved over the stallion's back as he tried to get the horse to relax. He tried to think back to his time in Endrykas. What always calmed him when he was feeling tense? He had been quite the tense child. He remembered his mother's singing. Her beautiful Drykas lullabyes always seemed to erase his tension. Riki was not much of a singer but he would try it. He was happy to slip back into Pavi tounge. He had not spoke a lot of it since he crossed into Riverfall's borders. "Past the lands of Sylira, and through the grasses that sway like the sea. Far from the islands of Mura and Abura, is the place you find me. The places where the foxes run and the horses roam. Is the place I am free and the place that I call home. My child you are worried and you seem so ill at ease. I will sing until to calm and I'll sing as long as you please. From the Stardowns to the Wildlands. I would travel the word for for your smile. Just to see you smile my dear and to know it shall stay a while. Troubled child with eyes of green and skin like the autumn sun. Just know I love you and know your life has just begun. When trouble finds you scared and shaking, and love seems so far away. I'll be there for you little Drykas child to let you know you are okay." Riki was not as good of a singer as his mother but luckily he had inherited enough of her ability to not scare the horse away. As he sang he rubbed the horses belly and back, hoping to get it to relax. Looking down, Riki saw the horses' penis was starting to drop. He continued to sing and rub the horses' stomach as he used his other hand to help the horses' penis to drop down more. Once the job was done Riki stepped back with a slight scarlet blush on his face. He shot an awkward glance at Mizuriel and then looked at Kavala. He hoped he had not embarassed himself too much by singing to the horse.

[Kavala]

NoteI'm so proud of you guys. Some of the most famous horse breeders in the world are guys and have to do this sort of dirty work all the time. You guys are troopers.
Kavala said nothing as she watched them carefully and made sure they were courteous to the stallion. Windsong was seventeen which made him slightly on the old side. He was a veteran of this and took no offense. Getting cleaned meant one thing, and that thing wasn't something he was opposed to so he cooperated completely and remained relaxed while the boys did their work. Once they'd showed effort and hadn't balked, Kavala let them off the hook and stepped forward with a bucket of soapy water and a sponge. She took care of the dirty work, extracted the bean, and scrubbed the stallion thoroughly so the two men could watch and make sure they understood what was happening and how she went about it. Windsong didn't seem to mind and even seemed to fall asleep halfway through the procedure. Once she rinsed him off, patted the length of him dry, and straightened she nodded.

"Now, its the mare's turn. We're going to use Kamsin as our model today." Windsong was returned to his clean stall - where hopefully he'd keep himself clean - and retrieved the mare. She was then cross-tied to a pair of poles in the stable yard. Mizuriel was sent for a fresh bucket of soapy water, while Kavala retrieved clean sponges and towels. Then, she was back and demonstrating how to clean the mare. "First, you braid and wrap her tail so that all that is left is just the tailbone. You don't want the hair of her tail interfering in the cover. Then, scrub the area clean from her anus to her vulva. Use a soapy sponge, wipe any debris off, then pat dry. Make sure you get all traces of soap off, so if you have to rinse, go for it. " Kavala said, then paused, thinking now was a good time to discuss the signs a mare is in heat while one or the other of them cleaned her up.

"Mares typically cycle regularly between Spring and early Summer. For a few ten-day cycles on either side of that, the bodies are in the process of either gearing up for spring or slowing down for winter and may produce odd heat cylces then. During these spring and fall transition periods, the mare may or may not show signs of being in season, but you will notice when their bodies settle down and start regulating themselves. That's the best time to breed." Kavala said.

"A mare's cycle is shorter than a human woman's cycle which is every thirty days. The average length is 18- to 23-day. The mare will be in season or show heat for an average of five days during each cycle, with a range of three to seven or eight days. Some mares feel like they are always in season. Some rarely show it. You just need to get used to the individual mare and keep records on her heats. The normal cycle is for the mare to be in season for the better part of seven days, followed by fourteen days out, then another seven or so in." Kavala explained.

"Okay, some rules for working around mares who are in heat. Avoid approaching the mare from directly behind. If they are coming into heat or going out of heat, they are prone to kicking even if they generally aren't kickers. Start grooming form the neck and shoulders before working backward to their flanks. They can be really sensitive to touch so be conscious of this. If shes in pain, give her some pain relief. You'll be able to tell because she'll sweat and keep her head down and ears flattened. It's like menstrual pain in human females. Try not to work her too much while shes in heat. Leave her alone for the most part if you can. If you do work her, work her on things like speed changes, rollbacks, and things that require her mind to change gears a lot since she won't be able to focus." Kavala explained.


She moved on from there. "Now, how do we know they are in 'heat'? Typical signs that the mare is in season include holding the tail elevated, opening and closing the lips of the vulva which we call 'winking, and variable amounts of squatting and squirting of urine and mucus. They will be crabby, distracted, and their activity level will change. It's more difficult to get and hold her attention, because frankly you're not the most important thing on her mind at the time." Kavala said. Then she continued. "Just before coming into season, and often for the first few days they are showing signs, some mares are very irritable and sensitive to touch. They may threaten to kick or even bite. " She concluded.

"We cover them usually two or three times during full blown heat. If they stop showing signs of heat sooner, we stop all together. Generally that means shes in foal. We then wait fourteen days, see if she's come back in heat, and start all over again. If she does not, she's bred and we're good to go." Kavala explained.

After that lecture, she got out a series of leather cording that looked odd. It went around Kamsin's neck like a giant loop, then two separate pieces down between her front legs. Each individual piece went around the 'elbows' of the mares back legs. "These are breeding hobbles. I use them on mares I don't know or mares that are prone to kick. Kamsin doesn't kick usually and she's in hard heat as you can see because she keeps winking, but we'll use them this time to make sure you guys know what they are for. Mares can kick stallions and break their legs. They can kick them in the genitals and rupture testicles or otherwise damage your stallion. Some mares kick regardless. You'll know who after working with these animals enough. You don't want that to happen. He'll do his job whether she likes it or not, so make sure you use the hobbles if in doubt." Kavala said, looking back. Standing back, she removed the hobbles then, handed them to Riki and gestured he should practice putting them on. Then MIzuriel would get a chance.

Then they were actually ready to bring Windsong in and get down to business.

[Mizuriel]

OOCSorry, I failed to post for a bit, but I’m playing catch up now. And I know you said Riki would go first with the hobbles, but in order not to mess with the posting order, I just figured it was fine if I shove in a small paragraph that happened after Riki posted. If I was wrong to judge the situation as I did, nudge me and I’ll fixit. As he watched Kavala step in and do their part of the job, he could not help but have mixed feelings about it. While he didn’t really enjoy scrubbing the stallion’s private parts, he still took it as something that he needed to do himself. The realization he was off the hook reached him slowly, and when it did, he wasn’t sure if it was a good thing to let a pregnant woman do such needless things. As soon the woman was done, Mizuriel was sent off to get some more soapy water. That didn’t take long, and before he even knew it, he was already back. He took steady notice as the Konti spoke, not wanting to miss anything important. The listening part wasn’t as hard as it would seem from afar, but somehow he knew he would have to revise all he had heard a couple of times before actually managing to call the new information he had knowledge. When rinsing came into question, he could understand that soap would probably cause skin irritation if left alone. What he didn’t quite get on the other hand was why did they exactly need to pat the mare’s private parts dry, and why not just scrub it with soft towels? It figured that irritation was possible even with the towels, but such a chance seemed so small he almost disregarded it in his head. Finally he gave up questioning the woman’s experience, she surely knew best; these were her animals after all. Appreciating the heads up was the pleasant part of the warnings he was presented with, but still knowing that these animals tend to sometimes have kicking habits did nothing good for his confidence. Still it seemed like she had the solution they needed, and that too made his mind at ease. Mares who are in pain would sweat, keep their heads down and their ears flattened and they would surely need sedation. This came as valuable news, as he did not know how to read signs of a hurting animal’s body. Mares in heat needed to be spared as much physical strain as possible, and even if by some remote chance they would be exploited, it was still best to keep switching their work load, their pace and ultimately keep the time short. These animals tended to get cranky, and that reminded him very much of PMS often found in human females. Every breeder needed to be aware of some obvious signs. When checking if mares were in heat, he would need to look for some of them; an elevated tail, the so called winking, squatting and squirting of bodily fluids. Frowning when he heard that kicking was not the only danger the mares might present, he quickly took a second to picture a bloodthirsty mare with a piece of his finger as a toothpick. Everything sounded simple enough, and Mizuriel was glad Kavala failed to notice any other possible dangers, at least for the time being. “Mares can kick stallions and break their legs” was all it took to scare Mizuriel beyond what he thought was momentarily possible. Still, the thoughts of ‘accidents’ were fading in his head as yet another fail safe was presented before them. The breeding hobbles as the woman had called them seemed like a nifty tool for removing danger. The man waited briefly as Riki practiced putting the hobbles onto the animal properly. As soon as the man was done, he too tried the same thing. Trying not to let his fear show, he moved slowly next to Kamsin, attaching the hobbles slowly. Kavala was probably doing all this for a long time and Riki was born among the horse clans of Cyphrus, so they were both knowledgeable when it came to horses. Disgracing himself was not an option in front of the eyes of his skilful peers. Once he finally reattached the hobbles, he gulped before stepping behind Kamsin to check if everything was firmly in place. Once he thought he had done everything as properly as he could, he turned back, waiting for Kavala to tell them how to proceed.

[Riki Stormheart]

Riki was more than a little relieved to see Kavala taking a bit of the dirty work off of he and Mizuriel's hands. He stood ready to jump in and help if the woman needed it though. He recalled the women in Endrykas still working hard when they were pregnant but he still could not help but want to make the woman's work as easy as possible to make sure she and her unborn baby were as comfortable and more importantly safe as they could be. When Kamsin was brought out Riki listened intently to what Kavala said, preparing what he would do in his mind. He was happy to have Mizuriel at his side learning along with him. He took a mental note of the practice of braiding and wrapping of the tail, as well as the mechanics of the washing. After Kavala spoke of how the mares acted when in heat he was a little scared to wash the horse's behind. He would though. He told himself to put away his fear so he could learn what he had to and to help bring new life into the world. Breeding, although he was still learning about it, was something that he loved. He felt the drive to learn all there was to learn about it. He never thought he would find himself in the field of breeding but after the birth of Sadie he knew he would be doing it for the rest of his life. To know you helped to bring a life to existance, even though it was mostly thanks to the mother and father, was a feeling beyond explination. Riki nodded as he took the hobbles from Kavala. He was a little nervous but he offered a small smile to Kamsin. "I promise this will just take a minute. We are just going to get you cleaned up." Riki began to loop the hobbles first around the mare's neck and then slowly moved to the back of her body to where he would loop the hobbles around her back legs. He felt a bit of fear working with her back legs but once again he pushed the fear away for the betterment of the art of breeding. "I am just going to loop the hobbes around your back legs. It won't hurt. I'll make sure of it." He carefully took the hobbles and looped them around her legs praying to Rak'keli and Caiyha that she would not buck back and kick him. When the hobbles were put on the horse Riki stepped back and whispered a thanks to the horse in Pavi and then a thank you to both Rak'keli and Caiyha for protecting him from getting his teeth kicked out. He looked back to Mizuriel and Kavala and gave them a small smile hoping that he did everything correctly. Next Riki moved onto the washing of the horse. He started at her shoulders and moved down over her body. As he washed the horse he hummed quietly to some far off tune from Endrykas. He thought of his mother as he washed the horse, trying to recall all of her soothing melodies. As he slowly made his way to her rear he started praying to Rak'keli and Caiyha again. "Please let me get through this without hurting her. I want to get her clean but I don't want to irritate her if she is in pain." First he started to braid her tail like Kavala had told him to. Once it was braided he tied it up to it would not fall down over Kamsin's rear end. He took a deep breath and wetted his cloths in the soapy water. He slowly started to wash her anus making sure not to hurt her. The last thing he wanted was to make the mare uncomfortable. Once the anus was all soaped up he began to rinse it off with water. After the rinse he began to pat dry her rear, hoping to any God or Goddess who was listening that he was not putting her in too much pain.

[Kavala]

Kavala nodded her approval and then unclipped the breeding hobbles so they were just loosely wrapped around the mare's neck and lead her out into the large arena. "Always breed out here where there's lots of room. Never do it in a confined space. If someone gets loose, a fight breaks out, first and foremost you want to be able to get away. Secondly you want to be able to control the situation better." She said and left the mare tied up to the side of the arena, inside it. She left the two men standing there and then went to fetch Windsong.

Kavala lead the strider stallion from his stall. He seemed to know what was going on because the horse arched his neck, bounced at the end of his lead, and snorted with his tail fluttering like a banner. He seemed larger than he really was, fierce, and bold. Kavala didn't take him into the arena like they might have suspected she would. Instead, she lead him around the outside until he was where the mare was tied up and lead him up to the rail. "Keep a rail between the two when they first meet. See how receptive she is to the stallion's attentions and how he reacts to her."

Kavala instructed her two students who were standing there. Then, calmly, she lead the stallion up to the mare and they touched noses. The mare squealed and then screamed, but didn't kick out. She also didn't strike with her hooves. Instead she arched her back, raised her tail, squatted and urinated. Windsong started to get excited, danced lightly in place, then nibbled the mare on the neck flirtatiously. "You remain calm at all times. Keep calm and they will stay calm. Her response is exactly what we want. She's receptive. She'll let him mate without hurting him and he's not going to force the issue since hes a gentleman. Now we can take him in. Riki, get the breeding hobbles back on her. Mizuriel, you stand at her head and calm her, but do it on this side of the fence. Untie her from the rail and give her some room to back up a bit. I'm bringing Windsong in." Kavala said.

She brought the stallion around, through the gate, and up to the mare's side. The reaction was about the same as it was with the two across the fence, and so she gave him more room and when the mare lifted her tail and urinated a bit, the stallion moved into position, mounted her, and bred her with little fuss. There was more excitement in the washing and prep work than the actual cover itself. But Kavala still watched, unembarrassed, for Windsong was giving a gift to the business with his blood and seed that would ensure another generation of foals for Sanctuary.

When he was done, she let the two horses talk a bit, nibbling on each other and making soft noises. Then, when the mare flattened her ears and started looking annoyed, Kavala lead Windsong back to his stall. "Take her back to her stall. Don't clean her up or anything, just leave her alone with hay and some fresh water. We'll cover her again later tonight and in the morning. I'll let Riki do it next time and be in charge. Then Mizuriel, you can take the morning cover. I'll still be here to supervise, but I want to make sure you can all do it yourself just fine. The only difference is we will have Windsong washed up, but we don't want to do anything other than wipe down Kamsin's backside to remove any dirt or manure." The konti healer said softly.

"So, shall we meet back here tonight so Riki can show us how its done?" Kavala said, needing to sit down for a while after being on her feet. In the mean time she have to sit down and decide which mares were getting bred with which stallions and turn the guys loose to see that it was done. That was a big project in itself. But one she'd turn over to them to make sure happened. It would be no problem for her to check that they were in foal at the course of the end of spring. IF not they'd late breed spring/winter to make sure the mare's who hadn't caught did.

[Mizuriel]

OOCI’m sorry for the wait. Seems like I have fell out of practice when it comes to writing for this character. The fence was his ally. It didn’t take Mizuriel long to grasp that, so when Kavala asked him to stay on his side of the rail it only came natural. So many things kept poking at his head, and for the first time in a while he could actually feel stupid. Was it a good thing? Probably not, but then again he was here to learn, among other things. So all he needed to do was stay calm and the mare would reflect his state of mind, he could do that. The man understood instructions he was given. He untied the mare quickly, letting her move away just till the limit of his reach. He patted her head gently, slowly ruffling the mane and scratching the animal’s neck. Something like this was usually done with dogs, so how different could it possibly be? The stallion came and done his deed so fast that Mizuriel almost missed the sight of it. Kavala let the animals talk it out afterwards and led the stallion back to the stall once she saw it as a fit choice. The woman told them to lead the mare to her own stall as well and told them that they would be doing this kind of work alone in the future. Again a strange feeling of insecurity engulfed Mizuriel; how could she trust him so easily when even the man himself wasn’t sure he could pull it off at first. Treating the animals after the mating was different for each sex, stallions needed to be washed up and the mares only needed to have their backsides wiped. He could have guessed it wasn’t as simple as it seemed, still there was so much to remember. Did the woman truly master all that knowledge? If so, the feat seemed impressive. So Riki would be the first one in charge? That revelation came as a relief and Mizuriel only nodded slowly and unless something else needed to be done, he would then lead Kamsin back to her stall.

[Riki Stormheart]

THe Drykas watched the horses quietly as they met and get used to one another. He was happy to be in the presence of so many horses but more so, to help them breed. It made him feel closer to Endrykas. At times it seemed like he was counting down the days until Fall came around and he would be able to visit. When Kavala asked Riki to help he moved quickly to the mare's side and began to help her into the breeding hobbles. "Okay Kamsin, this time it is for real. You will be fine. I'll take good care of you." His hand trailed over her pelt as he began to slip her legs through the hobbles. He was feeling a bit less scared at the face of Kamsin. She was excited but he felt secure in the fact that she would not kick hi teeth out. When she was secure in the hobbles Riki placed a hand on her back and smiled sweetly at her. "Great job Kamsin. You are doing beautifully." There was not a lot of time to talk to the mare. More important things were waiting to happen. Windsong was going to give her the gift of life. Riki did not have embarrassment at the sight of the mating horses. It was something that was so normal to his clan, at least with his pavilion. The Stormhearts would heal anyone who wanted their help but they specialized in animal healing and breeding. New life was next to come and Riki could not wait to aid it into life. When Riki heard he was going to be leading the next to he heading the next breeding he was a little scared although he was excited as well. He wished his father could have seen him. He always strived to make his father proud even now that he was an adult. "That sounds good to me." He wanted to prove he could work on breeding somewhat on his own. It was a act of proving it to himself though. He wanted to know he was getting better.

[Kavala]

Once the actual deeds were done, and before more breeding took place, Kavala sat both men down and showed them her studbooks and how she kept a book for each stallion and a book for each mare. Each stallion's schedule was paced out so that he was not overused and was given restings between breedings. Times, dates, and even anything unusual like scuffles were recorded. In the past, she'd also made notes on the foals each stallion produced and that provided information like whether the mare he needed bred too should have a longer or shorter back, higher withers, etc. Kavala was careful about her notes and made sure the men understood the importance of keeping them. The mare books contained all the breeding and foaling info, accurate to each mare. She made the men
make the notes, and then sat down and formed a plan, pulling each mares book down, and opening a calendar.

Before she was done, the final meeting before the evening breedings, a calendar was completely filled out and the boys knew which mare was getting covered by which stallion and approximately when depending upon their cycles.

Then, with a whole lot of trust, Kavala turned the men loose on the project, which of course she'd supervise, but she knew she was in no shape to oversee and work each and every breeding in the facility. The men could. And so with a guideline, and know how, Kavala knew each one wouldn't be perfect, but each one would be attended with someone who roughly knew what they were doing. The men could keep the schedule, breed, and have all the mares ready to go for next year after they foaled out and came into their heats.

It was a good solution for a woman that was roughly the size of her own barn and couldn't be on her feet long nor could take a knock by a horse that was not quite ready to do what came naturally. So with a lighter heart, Kavala let go of some of her control and turned it over to Riki and Mizuriel, knowing the Sanctuary was in good hands.

NoteShall we wrap it up?