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Post by Angelo Harrows-Gallo on Apr 13, 2012 21:16:59 GMT 2
Angelo now found himself wandering up and down the barn, checking stalls and giving interested horses a fuss. Scratching Alisa, a mare of one of the university students, between her ears, he smiled at her fondly. He liked the feisty bay, she was a lovely creature. He always made an effort to give her a pat or a sugar cube when he passed. Walking away when she'd had enough and conned three sugar cubes out of him, Angelo decided to climb up onto the bale tower. He loved this time of year, because it meant that he could leave the bales of hay out in the sunshine without fear of it being rained on. Even if it was forecasted, he had time to cover it with the waterproof sheet. Looking down when he heard the scrambling of large feet, he rolled his eyes when he saw Soot trying to struggle up onto the tower. "Down, big man. You fell yesterday. You'd have thought you would of learned." He warned, watching as Soot tried to struggle a little longer before the large mastiff gave up. Angelo rolled his eyes and went back to sunning himself. He had nothing pressing to do right now.
The male leaned back on his arms, his face upturned to the warm sun that beat down over the estate. Even at 10 am, the sun was strong. The male loved it. His t-shirt felt a bit stuffy, but he decided to keep it on. Ever the professional when it came to welcoming new arrivals. He was pretty sure the new person had a handful of horses, so would hopefully appreciate some help in unloading. Sighing contently, he listened to the birds singing happily in the trees and the distant bleats of ewe's calling to their lambs. It had hit lambing season a week ago, and now Angelo had at least twenty lambs running around. He was also expecting his friesian cows to go into labour any day now. He couldn't wait, he always loved the sight of calves running around. Listening for Ogre's loud bellow, Angelo chuckled fondly as everything else stopped for a moment before picking up again. Ogre always managed to do it. He was only snapped out of his contentment when Soot began to bark gruffly, signifying the arrival of a horse box. Angelo listened out for it and smiled at the familiar sound. Beginning to climb down from the hay bale tower, he got ready to introduce himself to whoever it was arriving. |
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Post by Martin Harrows on Apr 13, 2012 21:59:57 GMT 2
 Everything was mechanical to Martin lately. From his studies to his life, it felt as if he was a robot that had nothing left in his life. For a month he had been in Italy, trying his best to enjoy it before the hard slog of Uni started for him. There was so much that he could live for, but nothing. Without Rico he felt dead and without a future. He wanted the male that made him happy, but when Martin had broken the news about his plans and asked Rico to come with, all hell had broken loose. Martin had basically left with his heart broken and hopes of a future with Rico dashed. He was willing to pay for Rico's brother Nate to come as well, but Rico had left him on the account of wanting family around him. It wasn't something that Martin could understand. He didn't have family unless you counted his uncle that saved him from the clutches of his father. He didn't have anything any more apart from his dog and horses. If he hadn't been lucky enough to get into the Uni, he would have made a plan to stay with Rico, but it was no such luck.
Martin had enough time to brood as went to go fetch his horses from the airport. The familiarity of seeing his four beloved equines was more than he could account for, and it was something he had been looking forward to. Of course his uncle had bought him a brand new truck and float to use, and he was grateful for it. His equines travelled in luxury that was for sure. The loading was fairly easy. Even Knight loaded without a fuss, but he was placed next to Nooks, so the geldings could keep each other calm. The mares were in front of the float, so no major chaos could be caused, but Prank would find a way. Martin had no illusions that his chestnut mare had been given a few dozen sedatives on the flight. She was a handful, but Martin loved her. Nala was the other mare. A gorgeous bay brindle mare that was as stubborn as they come. All of them were his pride and joy.
The drive to the Equestrian Centre seemed to fly by, because as soon as he realised where he was, Martin was already pretty much up the drive way. Livestock lined the fences as well as a few horses. His own horses' items currently occupied every open space that there had been. Nooks alone had three saddles. All the horses had three storage boxes in varying sizes. One was for blankets and rugs, and thus the largest box. The second largest was grooming and bandaging supplies, whereas the smallest one was for show emergencies. Plait coming loose or a scrape on the cross country that needed something. Everything along those lines. Sing, his rather large dog, took up the front seat alone.
Parking the truck and float in a fairly shaded area, Martin got out and already saw a man approaching him. Martin wasn't talkative, but he raised his hand in a friendly gesture. His eyes were blocked by his sunglasses, but if one looked when they were off, his eyes were a deep blue. He easily stood as six foot two and face was marred by a long scar that started at his left earlobe. His tattoos were also revealed by his short sleeved shirt. His well cut jeans set off his body and his paddock boots were merely for comfort. Already he could hear the mares stamping in anticipation for what was to come, the foreign scents intriguing all his horses.
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Post by Angelo Harrows-Gallo on Apr 13, 2012 22:21:16 GMT 2
"The centre is fairly large, with the farm house being in the far back, the outdoor arena just in front of it, the round pen to the right, and the livestock barns to the left. The indoor arena is just to the right of the main barn," He pointed to the barn where the male's horses would be staying, "And the stallion barn is over there on the left, and the paddocks just behind there. There is also a path that leads to the trails." He grew a little more serious as he came to the rules. "You mustn't go near the livestock fields because I have a horse there that doesn't take kindly to strangers. It's more for your safety than anything, but also his too." That was the one rule that Angelo always wanted kept, no matter what. If anyone ever broke it, he was well in his rights to ask them to take their horses and leave.
"I close the gates at 12 o'clock every night, though will leave it open for special requests. Don't take mares or geldings anywhere near the stallion barn, mostly because of other owners and their finicky ways, but again it's for your horse's safety. The stallions we have now are tame though." Angelo fell into thought again, aware that he was saying a lot but he wanted to get it out of the way. "I have three dogs running around, the English Mastiff, Soot, is a guard dog but he's a sweetheart when he knows you mean no harm. There is also a Border Collie, Tiger, and an Maremma Sheepdog, Bianco. Bianco won't be seen as much, she's pretty anti-social but you'll see a lot of Tiger. All of them are good with other dogs."
Searching his mind again, he smiled when he realised that there was nothing more. "That should be about it for now, unless you have questions. Your horses are stabled in stables 3, 4, 5 and 6. Next to a red dun." He then rolled his eyes at himself when he realised that he hadn't introduced himself. "I'm Angelo Harrows-Gallo, and I guess the last thing I have to do is welcome yourself and your equines to Pietra-Ruscello equestrian centre." His smile returned, eager to hear the boy's introduction. He was eternally guilty of being a slave to meeting new people. He just loved it. |
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Post by Martin Harrows on Apr 14, 2012 20:14:48 GMT 2
Martin walked over to the passenger side to let out Sing, seeing as the dog was eager to get out. He nodded as the man approached him, thankful for the help. So he wasn't talkative, but he never was around strangers. The last time he talked to a stranger he fell in love with said stranger. Sing placed herself next to the trailer, tongue lolling out. Knight and Nooks also picked up the stamping and Knight, vocal as he was, snorted and whinnied in anticipation. Lowering down the ramp, four different coloured rumps greeted him. He listened to the man speak, taking note of everything, but his main attention was now on unloading his horses. Going in by the side entrance, he undid Knight's lead rope, starting to back him out. The grey gelding seemed gangly and uncoordinated, but it was something that quickly disappeared when in the show arena. Handing the lead rope to the man, he went back to Nook's and did pretty much the same to him.
The mares would be walked out from the front off loading ramp, just making it easier. Martin lowered it slowly, before going to get Prank, the mare the easiest to off load. The chestnut mare's whinnies overlapped with Knight's, and soon there was a horse choir going when Nook's joined in with his low, almost baritone sounds and Nala's high pitched whinnies. Nala was the last to come off and she gave a welcome stretch as she did so. Martin Harrows. Pleasure to meet you, he murmured to the man as he led in the mares. Whistling to Sing, he was all set to start unloading everything. Finding the stalls, he allowed his girls to settle in before taking the gelding's from Angelo. He put them in their stalls, going out to his truck.
His cold manner could be considered rude, but he wasn't. He was just wary of new people. He opened his boot, and pulled out a trunk, his eye catching a photo of Nala and Rico together. With a sad smile, he lifted out the trunk completely as he remembered the times that he spent with Rico. Everything that was dear to him. The love that he had for the male made his heart ache and a smile emerge, but that was all dampered now. Nothing for him. Nothing but complete emptiness. |
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