Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Equinity ❯ Chapter 21 ( Chapter 21 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: I don't own the G boys, I just borrow them from time to time and return them a whole lot happier, ne?

Rating: NC 17

Warnings: Sap, angst, yaoi, Lemon, AU, OOC

Pairing: 2x1

Summary: Heero is a successful up and coming Showjumping rider with his promising new horse Zero. A fall at a show renders the animal injured and it is up to Duo Maxwell the new vet to treat the horse.

Dedication: To Klingonpoodle who gave me the plot bunny for this fic. *huggles* This one's for you hun!

Many thanks to my beta Yami_Tai.

Archive: http://gundam-wing-diaries.150m.com

http://sweetlysour.net.

http://adultfanfiction.net

http://www.theforsakenwk.com

http://www.templeofthegoddess.com/files/gwyaoi.html

Notes: All the information on showjumping, horses, etc is taken from my own knowledge of the sport having been a competitor and now judge for many years and is written from an Australian perspective. The rules and regulations are courtesy of the E.F.A Handbook. (Equestrian Federation of Australia) Should you have any questions just e-mail me.

Many thanks to Yami_tai for the title! *hugs*

" Equinity "

October 2004 ShenLong

Chapter 21

Dinner wasn't as ruined as Heero had thought, it was a casserole and by leaving the stuck bits on the bottom of the pan, Heero was able to extract enough from the remainder to provide a reasonable meal for the two of them, even if it did have a slightly burnt taste to it. Duo had teased his boyfriend about being distracted and letting their dinner spoil; teasing that Heero suffered in dignified silence, refusing to rise to the bait. He knew he owed Duo a lot and if he couldn't take a little tormenting then he wasn't worthy of Duo's company; he also knew that if he opened his mouth to retort then Duo would only continue and he would end up coming out the loser anyway. He'd already experienced the vet's sharp mind and witty humor. No, it was much better to suffer in silence.

With dinner finished and the dishes done, they decided to take a last look at the two horses before locking up the stable block for the night. Walking towards the stables, hand in hand, Heero thought again about how lucky he was to have found Duo. The man truly had a heart of gold and was an excellent vet and wonderful companion. The day he'd lost the competition with his fall had also been the day he'd lost his heart, even if he wasn't aware of it at the time.

"Luck's in," said Duo softly as they stepped inside the stable block. "She's still alive."

"Well, that's nice to know," replied Heero.

"It's certainly a bonus," chuckled Duo as he headed for the feed shed to grab some carrots. Returning a moment later he found Heero inside the mare's stable, untying the haynet. "What's up?" he asked.

"Nothing, she's finished the haynet so I was going to fill it up again for her."

"Ah. Spoiling her rotten already, I see," snickered Duo as he held out a carrot for Scythe.

Zero banged on his stable door and gave a low whinny. He hung his head over and craned his neck around to see what all the fuss was about and why he wasn't getting any of it.

Scythe shuffled across the stable to take the carrot from Duo's hand, the spark in her eyes seemed just a little bit brighter.

Zero banged again and gave a series of grunts to voice his displeasure at not receiving any attention.

"Someone's jealous," stated Duo as Heero slipped out of Scythe's stable with the empty haynet.

"Don't worry, I'll get to Zero in a minute," replied Heero as he bolted the stable door and then disappeared into the feed shed to fill the haynet again. Duo had agreed with him that hay would be good for the mare and he intended to keep the net as full as he could at all times. He quickly filled it and pocketing a few more carrots, headed back to the stable.

Zero banged his door yet again and gave a low grunt. Why was this other horse getting all the attention? Zero was used to having his master fuss over him and he wasn't too pleased that this other horse was stealing away the affection, especially when he'd tried to 'talk' to the mare and been completely ignored. No, Zero wasn't happy at all.

Heero slipped inside Scythe's stable again and retied the haynet, dodging the mare's attempts to push him out the way to get to the food.

"I can't believe that she's still stuffing her face like that, not after the feed and the other haynet she's had," said Duo. "Surely her stomach must be full by now."

"I'd say it's going to take a few days before she settles down with the feeding habits."

"Yeah, that's true. After being starved for so long you can't blame her for wanting to shove as much down her gullet as she can."

Zero gave a loud neigh.

"Okay, son, I'm coming," said Heero as he exited the stable and walked over to where Zero was all but climbing out of his stable. He pulled a carrot from his pocket to give to the stallion, Zero snatching it possessively. "Hey!" snapped Heero. "Where's your manners?!"

"If I didn't know any better I'd say he's pretty pissed at you, Heero."

"Now that's stating the obvious," replied Heero as he tried to pet the stallion. He offered another carrot, Zero snatching it just as quickly as he had the first one. "That's enough!" scolded Heero. "You keep that up and you won't get anymore."

Zero ignored the words and the tone, he wanted his carrots and he wanted them now. That other horse had been taking all the affection and attention that his master usually lavished on him and to put it mildly, Zero was annoyed. Scythe put her head over the stable door to see what all the fuss was about and Zero immediately flattened his ears, stretching slightly in her direction and baring his teeth.

"What the hell has gotten into you, Zero? That's no way to treat a lady," admonished Heero and gave the stallion a smack to the neck. "Behave yourself!"

Zero pulled his head back and gave his master a 'look' before giving Heero a quick nip to the arm and then scooting back into the stable and turning his rump to the door.

"Ow! Fuck!" yelped Heero and rubbed his arm. Before he could reprimand his horse though, Zero had disappeared into the box and stood with his tail facing Heero. "Why you little shit..."

"Yup, I'd say he's really pissed at you." Duo couldn't help but laugh, the scene before him was just too funny and he found himself clutching his sides as the tears rolled down his cheeks.

"It's not that funny," growled Heero as he pulled his shirt sleeve up to check on the bite.

"Actually, it's rather hilarious," hiccupped Duo as he tried to control his laughter; and failed.

"Damn animal, nearly drew blood," stated Heero as he stared at the bruise that was forming from the bite.

"You can't really blame him," said Duo as he came over and took Heero's arm to inspect the damage. "Ouch, he got you a beauty."

"He usually has good ground manners," snapped Heero. "Looks like I'm going to have to have a few lessons with him in regards to his behavior."

"Don't be too hard on him, Heero. He's just jealous, that's all. You've been paying a lot of attention to Scythe and not nearly as much to him so naturally his nose is going to be put out of joint."

"You studied animal psychology as well?"

"Sort of, but it's common sense, Heero. All this time there's just been you and Zero, now you bring another horse into the equation and of course he's going to feel left out, neglected. He sees you paying attention to the mare and want's to know why he's not getting any. I have some stuff up at the house that will take the sting out of that for you."

"So, what do you suggest I do then, Doctor Doolittle?"

Duo snickered. "Loved Eddie Murphy in that; there's times when I wish I could talk to animals like he does in the movie, sure would make diagnosis of their ailments much easier."

Heero shook his head in amusement.

"It's really quite simple, my dear Heero. All you need to do is go to him first, pet him and give him his carrots and any other attention that you usually would first; that way you let him know that he's still the number one. Go to Scythe afterwards. She won't mind in the least. You know about pecking order?” [1]

Heero nodded.

"Well, that's it in a nutshell. Zero was here first, he's boss cookie and Scythe knows it so she's not going to be put out in the least if you tend to Zero first." Duo looked quite smug and pleased with himself.

"You do have a point, Duo. I'll give it a try starting tomorrow; right now I'm not in the mood to deal with his petty jealousy, I'd probably belt him one for biting. Actually I shouldn't let him get away with it but it's too late to reprimand him now, he wouldn't know what it was for."

"Smacking him one isn't going to solve the problem and you're right, reprimanding him now won't do anything. Start afresh tomorrow. Now, let's go back to the house and I'll put something on that bite for you. Tomorrow's Monday and we both have work. We will need to get up a little earlier too seeing as how there's two animals to be tended to before we go to work." Duo turned around and went to turn off the lights, Heero followed and waited by the large doors to help close them when Duo came out.

They went back to the house and Duo put some ointment on Heero's bite. With the bite treated, Heero made a 'phone call to Bob his farrier and arranged for him to come out on the 'morrow, somewhere around three to trim the mare's feet and re-shoe Zero, then with hot chocolate in hand the pair sat down to watch a movie before retiring to bed.

***

Duo had been right, looking after the two horses did take more time, even with Duo's help. After mulling over Zero's insecurities and jealousy, Heero tended to his stallion and left Duo to look after Scythe. They decided to feed both horses out in the paddocks from now on, it would save time as they wouldn't have to wait for them to finish eating before cleaning out the stables and doing the rest of the work involved with caring for a horse.

They carried the feeds out to the bins in the paddocks. Duo thought it would be best to pop Scythe in the paddock next to Zero's, that way they could get to know each other over the fence and if need be, Scythe could move out of biting range. With the feed's in the bins and the addition of two more house bricks to Scythe's bin, the pair went back for the horses. Heero led Zero out first, the gray seemingly a little more docile this morning after his 'display' the previous evening. The bruise from the bite had turned a lovely shade of purple during the night and Heero was aware of it each time his shirt pulled against the skin. With Zero safely in his paddock, Heero went back to the stables to see if Duo needed a hand with Scythe.

"Come on, girl," coaxed Duo as he led the mare from the stable. She was moving stiffly, more from her feet than anything. "Don't worry, your feet will be much better this afternoon once the farrier has been and trimmed them up for you."

"Do you think I should get her shod, Duo?" Heero asked as he returned.

"No, I'd leave it for now, especially with the hoof that has that touch of laminitis in it. Once that's cleared up and she starts to put some weight on, her feet should improve and we can reassess the need for shoes then."

"Okay. You right with her or do you want a hand?"

"I'm fine, Heero. It might take us a while to get to the paddock so if I'm not back in half an hour, send out a search party for me," Duo chuckled.

"Sure you don't want to take a cut lunch and a water bag with you?" [2]

Duo laughed. "Love your sense of humor, Heero."

"You're corrupting me well," replied Heero with a smirk.

"That I am," stated Duo. "I'll be back shortly... I hope." Duo turned and with the mare moving slowly, made their way out to the paddock nearest the stable block.

Heero picked up the manure bucket and 'poop scoop' and headed into Zero's stable to clean up whilst his boyfriend was busy with Scythe. He'd finished Zero's stable and had started on the mare's by the time Duo returned.

"You haven't chucked Scythe's shit out on the pile yet have you, Heero?"

"No, it's still in the bucket. I thought you might want to take a look at it." Heero knew that a lot could be learnt simply by studying a horse's droppings.

"Thanks." Duo went over to the bucket and peered inside. Just as he'd thought a lot of the feed had passed through the mare's gut without being digested properly, confirming his suspicion of sand in her digestive tract. Duo fetched a pair of gloves and another bucket.

"What are you doing, Duo?" Heero asked as he came out of Scythe's stable from raking the sawdust.

"Just going to see if I can get an indication of how much sand she has inside and also if there are any worms in here," replied Duo as he lifted a portion of the manure out and put it in the other bucket. Taking the bucket over to the hose, Duo turned on the tap and added a generous amount of water to the bucket, then turning off the tap he carried the bucket out the back of the stable block and began to swish the water around.

Heero followed along, curious to see what the vet would find.

As the manure 'dissolved', so Duo began to pour the water off, along with the broken down manure which consisted of mainly bits of undigested chaff and lucerne. When all that remained in the bucket was sludge so Duo's gloved fingers sifted through the remains. "Fuck!" he whistled through gritted teeth.

"How bad is it?"

"Take a look, Heero."

Heero peered into the bucket and was stunned at the volume of sand he saw there. Mixed in with the sand were the remains of worms, most red and round in shape with the odd white one. "Bloody hell, she's riddled with sand and worms."

"You can say that again. The sooner we can drench her, the better. I'd also like to give her another dose of wormer, this time through the tube when I drench her. Those are mainly round worms and nasty little buggers to get rid of. Dosing her through the tube will enable me to give her a much more concentrated wormer, one that will directly target those shits and get rid of them quicker and more effectively."

"She's never going to put on condition whilst carrying a gut load of worms and sand," muttered Heero.

"No, she won't. Look, all being well I'd like to drench her tomorrow. She should be a little steadier on her legs by then and able to take the dose."

"Right. I'll help you."

"Thanks." Duo emptied out the bucket and cleaned it before replacing it.

Heero finished off the stable chores and the pair of them went back to the house for breakfast before heading in their separate directions for work.

***

Scythe lipped up the last of the feed in the bin and chewed, lifting her head to gaze around her. The paddock she was in was nice, large and well grassed. She could smell the scent of fresh water and slowly walked over to where the full trough sat. She drank her fill and then took a better look at her surroundings. There were several large, shady trees scattered about, plenty of grass, sweet water to drink and best of all - no sand. Scythe lifted her head and sniffed at the air, scenting the smell of gum trees, fresh air and hay. She looked around to see where the hay smell was coming from and began to follow her nose. Tied to one of the lower branches of a large gum tree she found a haynet stuffed to overflowing. She didn't need a second invite.

Zero finished off his own feed and moved away from his bin to find a nice spot to roll and then settle down to some serious grazing. The movement of the mare attracted his attention and then Zero decided to ignore her. She hadn't been receptive to his attempts to 'talk' to her yesterday so why should today be any different? Having enjoyed his roll, Zero got up and shook himself from head to toe, the scratchiness of the sand against his skin and coat had felt good, sort of like rolling out the wrinkles. He moved off a couple of paces and lowered his head to graze, feeling a lot more content after his master had lavished attention on him and only him so far that day. To Zero it seemed as if his little reminder to his master about who was the boss here had served its purpose.

Having eaten half of the contents of the haynet, Scythe decided to leave the rest for now and see if the grass tasted as good as it looked. It had been a long time since she'd eaten any of the green stuff that she'd forgotten what it was like. Her head lowered and she began to graze, delicately biting off the long blades and chewing them. It was much easier and less painful to chew now too since that nice human had taken away that horrible thing in her mouth. She didn't like having her mouth forced open with that other 'thing' though and had hated the cold metal object that had been put inside. The sound and feel of that metal as it worked over her teeth had upset her, but she hadn't had the strength to object. As the rasp had grated over her teeth so her jaw had vibrated, shaking her eyeballs and making her feel most uncomfortable. She had to admit though, once it was over she'd felt a lot better. It was wonderful to be able to chew without suffering pain with each move of her jaw.

And she wanted to chew!

The grass tasted wonderful, sweet and rich and more importantly, there was a lot of it! Scythe settled down to some serious eating, aware of the stallion's eye on her from time to time from the next paddock but choosing to ignore him for now and fill the seemingly never ending chasm that was her stomach.

***

Duo breezed through the morning consults; he'd gotten better at handling Nrobbuts since Heero had taken the time to patiently coach him in computer skills. He could now load all the client files with minimal fuss and had even conquered the evils of getting the thing to print out receipts. Yes, Duo was feeling rather smug. Having finished the morning's work and cleaned down the consulting room, Duo headed back to the house to make lunch and check on the two horses. Just as he was about to head out the door, the 'phone rang. Retracing his steps, Duo answered, "Maxwell."

His eyes lit up as he heard Quatre's voice on the other end of the line. Five minutes later, he'd hung up and was making his way back to the kitchen to add to the sandwiches he'd already finished. Quatre was dropping by with some paperwork and news on their acquisition.

Heero arrived home ten minutes before Quatre rolled up the driveway, Duo had barely had the chance to inform his boyfriend of the Inspector's impending visit and share a kiss and cuddle before the blonde man was knocking on the door. Heero went to change whilst Duo let their guest in and made them all a drink.

Sitting down at the table, a mountain of sandwiches between them, Quatre filled them in on the latest in regards to the mare as they ate. "The society is currently in the process of drawing up the papers to take our Mr Muldoon to court for neglect, I'd say the preliminary hearing will be in a week or two. Meanwhile the society recognizes the fact that the horse needs veterinary attention and care that Trowa is unable to provide at the shelter with his limited space and resources. They are happy for the horse to remain in Doctor Maxwell's care; all expenses will be covered by the society for drugs, treatment and feeding," he added looking directly at Duo. "So no fiddling the bill, Duo, and making it less than what it should be."

"Would I do that?" asked Duo innocently.

"Yes." Two voices sounded the affirmative in tandem.

"In regards to Heero taking over ownership of the mare... Pending the outcome of the court hearing the society will need to look at re-homing the mare once she has recovered enough. I have spoken with my superiors in relation to Heero taking her and they have asked me to do a preliminary check on you, Heero. It's nothing much, just some background information, employment, past history with animals, how you intend to look after her and so on. That's what I'm here to do now, if that's okay with you?"

"Fine by me, Quatre. Ask away and I'm happy to answer," replied Heero.

"And I will vouch for him in regards to the horse's future welfare," added Duo with a smile.

"Great!" Quatre beamed at them both. "I'll get out the paperwork just as soon as we've finished lunch." Quatre took another sandwich.

Heero wondered exactly how the blonde managed to stay so slim with the amount of food he managed to pack away into that slender frame.

***

After lunch was finished, Quatre drew out the necessary paperwork and began to grill Heero, filling in the spaces on the forms and adding footnotes where they were warranted.

"Shit! You weren't kidding when you said the society is very thorough, were you?" stated Heero as he sat back feeling mentally exhausted.

"We have to be very careful as you can appreciate. No sense in rescuing an abused animal and then sending it back out into a similar circumstance, now is there? With a horse it's even more in-depth for obvious reasons. I apologize for all the questions and invasion into your privacy, Heero, but the society has to be sure that she's not going to end up in the same position again."

"I know that Quatre and I'm not offended, actually I'm pleased to see the society doing such a thorough job."

"What I want to know," began Duo, "is do they have a space on that form for Heero to tell you what color undies he wears each day of the week?"

"Nani?"

"I beg your pardon, Duo?" The blonde looked shocked; Heero looked confused.

"Well, it seems to me that the society wants to know just about everything else about Heero so why not add the color undies he wears each day? Or how many times he pees in twenty four hours?" The mischief danced in Duo's amethyst eyes while the smile on his lips grew broader.

"Duo? Shut up!" Heero had turned a bright shade of red with his boyfriend's comments, but even his color wasn't enough to rival the deep crimson that Quatre had turned.

"I think I'd rather forget you said that, Duo," stated the blonde.

Duo simply snickered.

"Can you tell me what treatment you've given the mare so far, Duo?" Quatre asked, subtly changing the subject.

Duo reeled off the treatment that he and Heero had administered to Scythe yesterday evening, adding that the farrier was due that afternoon to trim her feet and the remaining treatment that Duo intended to administer as the horse improved.

Seemingly satisfied with Duo's answers, Quatre asked if he could see the horse and the vet stood up to take him outside to the paddock. "I don't need to check on the facilities," the inspector said, "I already know your set up, Duo, so that won't be a problem with the society."

"That's nice to know," replied Duo as they approached the paddock.

The three halted when they reached the paddock railings, Quatre's eyes softened as he looked at the skinny state of the mare. "You know, it doesn't matter how many times you see an abused animal, it never gets any easier to accept," he said softly.

"No, it doesn't," said Duo sadly. Heero opted to remain silent.

"Are you sure that you still want to 'adopt' this mare, Heero? I mean, there's a lot of work involved in getting her back to a healthy state again and even with Duo's expert care things can and do go wrong. If you're having any second thoughts I suggest you tell me now and we can cancel the paperwork and no one will think any less of you for doing so." Quatre turned his steady gaze to Heero.

"No. I have no second thoughts. She needs this, needs someone to take care of her and help her regain her strength. I've said it before and I'll say it again; underneath all that rough hide and bag of bones is a nice horse, and I want to see it blossom." Heero promptly shut up, feeling more than a little embarrassed with his words.

A genuine smile spread over the blonde inspector's face. "I'm glad," he said softly and then turned to look at Zero who had ambled over to the fence to see what all the fuss was about. "That's your horse? The one Duo's treating?"

"Hai. That's Zero."

Quatre gave a low whistle. "Nice animal, Heero."

"Thank you. I think he is too, but then again, I'm biased."

"You weren't too happy with him last night," Duo snickered as they all walked over to where Zero was standing with his head over the fence obviously looking for attention; and carrots.

"Oh? What happened?" asked Quatre, turning to look at the vet as they walked.

"Zero got a little jealous of all the attention Heero was paying to Scythe..."

"Scythe?" questioned Quatre.

"Yeah, that's what Heero called the mare. We didn't know what her name was, you didn't mention getting a name from that Muldoon guy and we couldn't keep calling her 'the mare', so Heero named her Scythe."

"The marking on her forehead, looks like a scythe," added Heero as they halted where Zero was patiently waiting. Heero rubbed his horse affectionately between the eyes and then produced the expected carrot.

Zero munched happily on it and then began to wuffle and search for more.

"Ah, I see. I'd be surprised if Muldoon would be able to remember her name, he seemed to be having enough trouble remembering his own and what day of the week it was."

"Anyway," continued Duo, "getting back to last night. Scythe was getting all the fuss and attention and Zero didn't like it so when Heero went to give him his carrots, Zero snatched them. Heero reprimanded Zero for trying to have a 'go' at Scythe over the stable door and Zero bit him."

"Ouch, I bet that hurt."

"It did," said Heero dryly as he produced another carrot. "You don't really deserve them you know, you rogue." Heero's words held an underlying affection to them though.

Zero knew the tone, his master wasn't displeased with him so Zero snuffled at Heero's pockets for another carrot. This time though it was Duo that gave him the orange treat and Zero's attention immediately left his master and focused on the vet.

"Shit! He really does love those things, doesn't he?" laughed Quatre.

"You better believe it," snickered Duo. "It costs Heero more for the carrots this animal eats than for the rest of his feed."

"And he changes his loyalties to suit who has the most carrots," sighed Heero.

Quatre couldn't help but laugh, it really was quite comical.

"Yeah, give him a carrot and he's your friend for life," muttered Heero.

"Still, he's a magnificent animal, Heero. One of the best I've seen and obviously well cared for. That will go down really well with the society. I don't think you'll have any problems with being granted ownership of Scythe," said Quatre as he stared at the gray. "Well, I'd better be going; things to do, places to be, animals to rescue, paperwork to file and people to prosecute. You know how it is."

Duo grinned. "Say hello to Trowa for me."

Quatre blushed. "I will. Oh, it looks like you have a visitor."

Both Duo and Heero looked towards the rear of the house where a white ute was pulling in.

"That's Bob," said Heero.

"Bob?" asked Quatre.

"The farrier. He's come to trim Scythe's feet and re-shoe Zero."

"Ah. Okay, I'll leave you two to it then." Quatre turned and shook both Duo's and Heero's hands. "I'll be in touch somewhere in the next couple of days and let you know how things are progressing regarding the prosecution and your application, Heero."

"Arigato."

"See ya, Quatre."

"Bye, guys." Quatre walked back to his car and left.

Heero and Duo walked up to greet the farrier. "Do you think the society will let me take Scythe on a permanent basis?" asked Heero as they walked.

"I'm sure they will, Heero. Especially if Quatre has anything to say about it. He's a really good judge of character that guy. He seems to have a sixth sense about him when it comes to people and what they're like; why do you think he's so good at his job? The society knows it and trusts him completely when it comes to re-homing animals. He's never been wrong yet and he certainly won't be wrong when it comes to Scythe and you either." Duo gave his boyfriend a warm smile.

"Arigato, Duo." Heero returned the smile feeling a little better for Duo's reassurances.

The farrier stepped out of his ute and gave the property an appraising look. Spotting Heero and another guy walking towards him he shut the door and turned to meet the pair. "Hey, Heero, how are you doing now?"

"Hi Bob. I'm fine, thanks for asking. Bob, this is Doctor Duo Maxwell, he's the vet that owns this place. Duo, this is Bob, my farrier."

"Pleased to meet you, Bob." Duo extended his hand where it was shaken by a rough, calloused but gentle one.

"Likewise, Doc."

"Now, what was this you were telling me about a new horse on the 'phone, Heero?"

"I'll fill you in on all the details whilst you're shoeing Zero," replied Heero. "Duo needs to talk to you about her as well as she's got a few problems with her feet."

"No problem. Where is the big fellow?"

"Down here."

"You can drive your ute down closer to the paddock to save lugging all that stuff with you if you'd prefer," said Duo.

"Thanks. I think I will," replied Bob and got back into the ute.

Heero and Duo walked back down towards the paddock, Bob driving behind them.

Zero spotted their return and came back to the fence to greet them. His ears pricked up when he saw the farrier and he let out a loud neigh. That got Scythe's attention and she raised her head to see what the fuss was about.

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph," muttered Bob as he got out of the ute again and stared at the mare.

~ * ~

tbc.....

[1] Pecking Order; I'm sure most of you know what this is. Basically the animal with the strongest, more dominant personality is the 'leader' of the group. Usually the last horse in is at the bottom of the ladder and will only rise up by standing up for itself and challenging the others. The dominant horse though generally gets in first and establishes itself as the boss before the other has a chance. My retired Showjumper Teddy Bear, whom Zero is based on, stands only 14.1 hands high and although he's the smallest horse on the property, he is boss of the paddock! The big 16.3 hand Warmblood literally runs away when Bear approaches.

[2] Cut lunch and a water bag: More of our quirky Aussie humor for you. If someone says this it means that wherever it is that you're going is a long way away, hence the need for food and water to survive the trip. :)

Bob the farrier is based on my own farrier who is called Bob and not only an excellent farrier but has a great sense of humor as well.