An unexpected shower

[Bruce Ropata]

Having a horse that lived out in the pastures more than he spent time in his stall, meant that Boss needed a wash more often than most other horses, and if he wanted to ride, Bruce often found himself bathing the horse first and leaving him in his stall to dry out.

Attaching the cross-ties to the sides of the gelding's head collar, Bruce turned the hose on and checked the temperature to make sure it would be at a level that his giant of a horse would approve of, he started with the Stationbred's lower legs and worked his way up. "Don't" He said as he watched Boss lift one hoof, no doubt to put it on the hose and cut off the water supply. The flaxen horse flicked an ear forward and back as he lower his hoof again.

Bruce wasn't quite sure how it happened, but the next thing he knew, the gelding had the hose and he was the one who had just been drenched. "I had already showered this morning, but cheers bro." He laughed as he quickly wiped the water from his eyes.

[Bridgette Iris Beaumont]

Iris led a very muddy Six toward the wash racks. She had intended to go for a short ride, but it looked like she'd only have time to wash him off and put him in his stall. "That's the last time I leave you in the pasture unattended." she said to him as they walked along. Well, to be fair, he was only caked with mud on one side of his body. Of course it was the side that his mane fell on. And she didn't even want to look at his tail.

She stopped a few feet away from the rack to stifle some giggles. A teacher was there, bathing his huge horse. Or was the horse bathing him?

[Bruce Ropata]

Bruce pursed his lips as he could hear the giggling and turned toward the girl with a mock stern glare. "Think this is funny, huh?" He asked. "Would it be as funny if you had to ride without stirrups for a week?" Yeah, he couldn't do that - at least he didn't think he could - and the situation was funny enough that he didn't care that he was being laughed at. "I'm only pulling your leg." He assured her. "And if you were one of my students, no stirrups normally works in your favour."

He studied the chestnut horse the girl was holding. "Looks like he's more in need of the shower Boss just gave me." He looked at his own gelding with narrowed eyes and laughed as the Stationbred exhaled through his nostrils.

[Bridgette Iris Beaumont]

When Mr. Ropata turned to face her, she straightened and put her hands behind her back, doing her best to appear innocent. Her grin and shaky shoulders gave her away; she was still trying not to laugh. "Sorry! But it is pretty funny." she said. She wasn't terribly afraid of his threat; even if he was serious she could do it. Well, she'd have to, wouldn't she? But she'd guessed right and he admitted that he was joking.

She looked at Six and sighed. "Yeah. I mean, at least you don't look like him, right? I'm just glad I took his halter off when I turned him out." she shook her head at the red gelding and then turned back to the instructor. "You're the mounted games teacher, right? I was planning to take your class next year. Well, I wanted to take it this year, but I didn't have room on my schedule."

[Bruce Ropata]

Bruce pulled a face and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess when you approach here you expect to see we horses, not wet people." He narrowed his eyes toward the gelding. "You're just lucky that you're already in here getting a bath." Ah, more empty threats. "Guess I deserved it for telling him off before he could step on the hose." That's what had led to him losing the hose.

He nodded his head to the question about who he was. "That would be what I do here." He nodded as he listened. "If you're around during the start of summer, I run small clinics before I head home for the ski season." Though there may not be much of a ski season back home, if the weather continued the way it had been going; he was just lucky that his family hadn't been battling fires.

[Bridgette Iris Beaumont]

She laughed again when he threatened his horse. "Boss, right? What breed is he?" He was quite tall, taller than Six, anyway. Some kind of draft horse?

"I think I can stick around for a few weeks to attend some clinics. I'll be on the lookout." She only lived a few hours away, so it probably wouldn't be a terrible burden on her parents to stay a little longer into the break.

[Bruce Ropata]

Bruce chuckled and nodded. "He's a New Zealand Stationbred." He replied with a bright smile and then laughed. "Pretty much he's a crossbred horse born on a station, bred to be surefooted and have good endurance. He's a Clydesdale crossed with a Thoroughbred, no idea about his actual parents." He had a feeling that Boss was a little on the tall side for a good working horse, which could be why he had been left behind when the 5000 acre station he lived on had gone into closure.

"Is your horse always this much of a fan of mud?"

[Bridgette Iris Beaumont]

She smiled politely at his answer but had never heard of the breed before. His explanation helped a little and she nodded. "Oh, okay. Well, I can totally see the Clydesdale in him. But he's so tall! What do you use him for?"

At Mr. Ropata's question, she looked back at Six, who turned one ear toward her. "I mean, he's rolled before, but I've never seen him this muddy. This is just insane." She scratched at the dry, caked-on mud, leaving a patch of Six's natural red to shine through the dirt. All well and good, but now she had more dirt under her nails.