Barry stepped away, and immediately a hard, swift kick rattled the stall door.
“Spicy.” I grinned. “He’s going to be fun.”
“Good thing he has some spunk left in him. The mare will need more coaxing.”
We moved to the next stall, the gelding kicked again, but the black and white mare inside didn’t even twitch her ears.
“Yeah, she’s not doing well.” I opened her door and stepped closer to her. “Hey, girl. How are you?”
I had pieces of carrot in my pockets from the morning, and I held one out for her. She didn’t have much interest in it, but she took it anyway.
“She’s eaten more than she’s left,” Barry said, pointing at the pile of hay in the corner.
That was a good sign. Eating and drinking were the main things at this point.
“Poppy will come by tomorrow to check their hooves and do whatever needs to be done,” I said as I gently picked up the mare’s front leg.
She let me do as I wished, and I checked all her hooves and even her teeth.
“Can’t be older than ten or so,” I murmured as I examined her mouth. “I’ll check the others, too, see if they fit what was on their listing.” Because sometimes you didn’t get what you bought from the shitty auctions.
The others proved to be around the ages they were supposed to be based on their chompers. I noted a couple of them needed work done on their teeth, and all should probably be checked. Seb would do that for us, since he was our teeth guy.
The draft mare was a surprise, though. She’d been listed as a Shire and Clydesdale cross. I believed half of that. While it was impossible to say which of the draft breeds she had in her heritage, I would bet good money she was cross-bred with something lighter. She was tall and I could see, with proper nutrition and training, she’d make a good, athletic horse for someone.
I called Jules.
“Hey, Theo, what’s up? How are the newbies?”
“They’re all fine, considering. Hey, I have a question for you.”
“Shoot.”
I leaned on the stall and stared at the mare who was munching on hay with great enthusiasm. “You still in contact with that guy who trains rescue horses for cross country and stuff?”
“Yves, yeah. How come?”
“Well, one of our newbies looks like a sporty cross of some type. The listing says she’s seven, which seems accurate based on her teeth.”
“Huh, that could be interesting. You want me to give him a call?”
“Sure.” I sighed. “I was just thinking that…well, he’s well off, right?”
Jules chuckled. “Yeah, he’s old money.”
“We’re a bit short on income right now…” I trailed off, knowing they’d know what I meant.
“Ah. Okay, I’ll make that obvious. What color is she?”
“She’s roan, darker bay with random white. Very Clydesdale-ish.”
“Perfect. He loves the more special colorings. I’ll make this happen, Theo.” Jules’s tone was determined and understanding, because they, better than most people, would know what it was like when funds were draining fast.
“Great. Thanks, let me know what he says.”
“Will do. Good luck!”
“You, too.”
