|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 6:57 pm
Shakil is doing great. He's come so far along with his playfullness since he came. Not once has he bucked or reared enough for me to fall, and even when he sees a strange horse in the distance, he's more quiet about it than before. He and the pale stallion I've named Surandor are getting along great. I can put them together and not have to worry about them getting into a fight.
Surandor is still mean and angry like before. Why, I don't know. I can't figure out his history. I can tell that somewhere, deep down, he's a gentle and friendly horse, but where has that side of him gone? It's hard to tell.
Kaderac is more of a mystery. She hasn't been abused, I can tell, but perhaps she was born like this. She's scared of everything, but she's so patient. But she becomes bitter and snappy at feed times. I don't know why. She doesn't get enough to make her fat, but it sometimes seems as if she's getting a bit of a haybelly.
~. Azhra.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 7:54 pm
There was a sudden squeal from outside the yurt, and the thud of hooves against packed ground. Azhra leapt from her seat on the floor and shoved her way out of the yurt.
"What the..." Kaderac plunged forward with a snap at the two stallions in the next pen herding them away from the fence, where they had dropped some hay and were bending down to pick them up. As Shakil wandered back over, ever hungry for the hay, the mare wheeled and lashed out with her hind legs, striking the top of the fence. Shakil squealed and bolted away, with Surandor next to him. "Ahh, Kaddy, what in hell is wrond with you? Don't kick my boys!" Azhra hastily grabbed two handfuls of hay and tossed them into the mare's pen. She had been kept on her own, with no other mares, because of her fiery temper at feeding time. It was so strange - she seemed a possessed beast when it came time to eat but she was so timid and shy most of the time. Except for when Azhra tried to brush her belly. And that was another mystery. She'd lift her hind leg threateningly whenever a brush went near the underside of her belly, and a sharp 'no!' from Azhra would only keep her from lifting her leg again for a little while.
Kaderac wolfed down the hay as if she'd not eaten in weeks, and barreled up against the fence, looking for more.
"But you just ate! That's why you're so fat, Kaddy!" Azhra snapped, shoving another handful of hay under the rail. The mare pinned her ears and the hay disappeared again. Azhra shrugged, climbing into the pen. The mare's belly had gotten bigger again. It had been quite a few months since the three horses had arrived in Azale, and it seemed as if Kaderac's belly never stopped growing. Which had to mean she was getting too much and somehow getting even more than too much, or... Azhra stopped. "Holy..." She breathed. She could have sworn that something had kicked, that she'd seen movement in the mare's side that was not the up-and-down of breathing. "That's why... You're in foal."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2006 6:30 am
"Hey there, girly, yer butt's gone all soft. You gonna have those babies soon?" Azhra put her ear against Kaderac's swollen belly as the mare's tail swished nervously. She had gotten back to her usual mild-mannered self, having finally been fed enough food to nourish herself and the babies (yes, two) inside her for the past months of her pregnancy. Azhra could faintly hear small heartbeats, and there was always the squirming of the unborn foals to reassure her that they were still healthy. She patted the mare, who snorted and lowered her head to the hay.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2006 6:57 am
Night had fallen. Azhra snuggled into her bed, the sounds of night ringing in her ears, and before long, she was asleep...
"Miz Azhra!" The flap of her yurt was thrown back as a man rushed into the tent and shook her roughly. "Miz Azhra! Your mare! She's foaling!" Azhra was awake in a flash, quickly throwing on a jack to keep warm against the cool desert nights.
"Where?" She dashed to the mare's pen, where a few men had gathered and a few more where trickling in. "Stand back, people!" She said loudly, pushing them aside to get to the fence. The first foal had already been born. He shivered, wet and cold, huddled in the thick straw bedding. She grabbed a large towel from the hand of one of those standing nearby, vaulting into the pen. She knelt down beside the foal, ignoring the protesting snorts from the mare, who was in the process of giving birth to the second foal, and rubbed at the damp furry chestnut baby down. He was soon dry, struggling to get to his feet.
By now, the second foal had been born and Kaderac had got to her feet, licking him dry. The first foal got shakily to his feet, but immediately collapsed. The crowd seemed to groan at this failed attempt. Someone pulled Azhra back. "You cannot 'elp 'im, miz." Azhra nodded, and stepped back.
Both foals were dry, and in the lanternlight, she could see that their chestnutty down, soon to molt into the fur they would be recognized by, was lightly mottled in color, an indication that they could molt out into paints.
The first foal, a colt, struggled again to his feet. He stood unsteadily, and the crowd held its breath, waiting to see if he would fall again, but he didn't, and wobbled his way over to his mother.
Now the second foal, already obviously slimmer in build but slightly taller than the first, bulkier colt, staggered half way to his feet, before he fell forward, small chest plunging into the straw. Groans. He struggled to his feet again, but his legs were thin and his first step caused his overbalance and he tumbled onto his side in the straw. Pushing himself into an upright position, he raised his rump for the third time. As his first foreleg came up, his other leg slipped and his muzzle fell into the straw. Azhra chuckled as a small squeal was emitted from his muzzle. He was determined this time, Azhra could tell. He shoved himself up onto his feet, and carefully stepped forward. His brother, older than him for no more than five minutes, had stopped feeding and was blinking his huge liquid brown eyes and watching his little brother. The colt stared back impassively, and took another step. And yet another, until he had reached Kaderac's side. A loud cheer went up all around.
The colts had been born.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 2:49 am
Azhra watched as Kaderac herded her babies away from the crowd nervously. She slipped into the pen again, making her way slowly toward the mare. She stroked the mare's neck reassuring as the first of the two colts roughly pushed the second out of the way.
After a while, they both laid down on the straw and fell asleep.
*
Many days had gone by, and the two colts were beginning to molt, distinguished paint colors showing through where the chestnut had been. The bigger colt had a large white splotch on his rump and a white face. Ah, white. Dhaval, Sanskrit for 'white' was his name. The colt whose frame was slender and refined, Azhra named Salvador. His name was closer to Surandor's, which was good, considering he was their father.
The two colts were frisky and played with each other with no end to their energy. They frisked about around their mother, often rearing against each other.
"You guys!" The two colts stopped, poised. Then Dhaval, the more curious of the two by far, trotted over, flanked by his little brother. Azhra held a stalk of hay in her hand, swaying it about. Dhaval lipped at the hay, yanking it from her grasp. Salvador took it from his brother, but lost interest inmmediately, and it was dropped into the thick bed of straw, lost.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
