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 Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2010 6:10 pm
Who: Doucette and Leah + Pets
Where: Expansive park good for dogs, hiking, horse trails
When: Early afternoon
Weather: Slightly overcast but still warm and pleasantAlthough she usually preferred to run around in the sand barefoot with Dolce and Gabbana as a means of exercise with the pups, Doe was beginning to get tired of the mess it left on her rug at the end of the day. Sand is like the devil's work, you can't get it out of anything! Doucette might be a slight on the side of organizational needs, but she hated cleaning with a passion. A friend had told her about a really nice park over on the main land, and she decided that it might be good for the two pugs to make some friends of their own species. Certainly they'd fallen easily in love with Vivi and Shepard, but the two needed some friends with more legs.
That was how the three of them found themselves on a warm but marginally hazy day out in the park chasing after one another. Doe had never seen a need to keep the two dogs on a leash unless required to do so by others, and so the three of them ran free and wild in the grass thanks to the lack of a "collar Your Pet" sign. Dolce and Gabby always came when called, so there wasn't a matter of bothering...until today.
Suddenly Dolce, the more adventurous of the two, froze and perked her ears, staring off with her dark round eyes into the distance, before making a mad dash off the grass and into the trees along one of the many trails curling through the park. Doucette stood with her mouth open for a bit and Gabby just tilted her head, before the two of them ran off after her, Doe screaming the pug's name and Gabby yipping and bouncing from side to side as if it were all a game.
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Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2010 6:52 pm
Even with a day off, Leah found herself brushing away at Hendrick's sleek black fur, there was no way she was letting the stallion get away with rolling in mud without a decent bath after. With the soft bristle body brush, Leah added the last shine on the onyx coat. With grooming her horse, the rider had completely lost touch with her surroundings. She acted unconsciously, body moving expertly around the horse in a dance unprinted in her mind long ago. It did not take much however, for Leah to be brought back to reality, with someone asking her to move the equine so they themselves could pass with their own horse. Unclipping the cross ties and giving a light shove on the flank of the stallion, he obliged and moved over giving her little resistance.
"Are you going to be going out for a ride Leah?" The woman was now facing her and tying her horse with the chains.
"Hm. Is it nice out?" Came the soft reply.
"It's warm."
"But I just gave him a bath." Leah sighed, Hendrick was so clean he could be going out to a competition. The pull of a nice ride was to much, and she still went to fetch his saddle and saddle pad. Leah currently owned four horses just to herself, most of which she used for competitions and sometimes lessons for the advanced rider. All were stallions, she found the males sometimes didn't have as much attitude as some of the females.
With saddle in one hand, she placed the saddle pad on the Frisians back and then the leather English saddle. Then it was on to attaching all the two Velcro pieces, then the girth to tighten so that she didn't fall off the saddle. Going back to his front, Leah undid the cross ties, then removed his halter. She gave him on stern look, usually she trusted her horses not to move, but you never knew for sure. Briskly walking to the tack room, she went to get the bridle and returned by his side to slip it on. She'd also grabbed her helmet off the tap, and her glovers were already neatly stuffed into her pants.
Grabbing a single rein, Leah lead Hendricks outside, undid her stirrups and swung herself onto his back with the grace few ever had. Sitting back onto her butt bones, the rider lightly squeezed her legs and checked her balance as the stallion started into a light little trot. Leah thankfully didn't live far from the trails, and a few minutes later they were slowly trotting in the dense forest, surrounded by all the quietness in the world. Or were they...
Hendrick perked his ears, swiveling them in a different direction, then huffed once and abruptly stopped. Leah, completely caught off guard, blinked. There was this weird noises coming through the forest, it almost sounded like a dog. The stallion flickered his tail nervously, never having heard the sound it was something completely strange and new, this needed investigating. Sadly, Leah wasn't letting the bulky stallion go anywhere, and they stood in place. Soon, the dog did appear, much to only Leah's frightful yelp. Hendricks on the other hand, was casually lowering his head to get a better whiff if this tiny thing. Even foals weren't this small, how could this lively thing even exist!
(( Frisian ))
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Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 1:52 am
Dolce enjoyed her moment of freedom, thinking little about the likely punishment she'd get for having run off. Well it was sort of in her job description! Gabby was the crafty one, good with tricks and tangling people in her leash, while Dolce was good at adventure and challenges. She especially loved to discover new things and melt otherwise cold hearts. No doubt anyone seeing the little pug frolic through the trees in her little hoodie jacket would have gone 'Aww' at the sight.
Whatever had caused the pup to gallop off into the woods had been long forgotten, but a new noise brought a delightful yip from her and she took off in the new direction. A screeching halt soon followed, Dolce digging in her heels and the little hood coming to fall over her face due to the momentum. That thing was HUGE! And it was sniffing her! Well certainly the only polite thing to do would be to sniff back, but the giant-mister-fuzzy was too far up for the normal dog-greeting and she instead gave him a great lick right up the line of his nose.
Gabby took that moment to come bounding into the clearing as well, having out-striped Doucette a ways back though her voice was still as irritable and loud as it was at the beginning of the chase. Wearing a matching, but different colored jacket, Gabbana came trotting up beside Dolce and plopped right onto that curly tail of hers. Neither knew what to make of the black thunder in front of them though.
Doucette finally joined the group, very red though not entirely from her sprint. "Oh, bad dogs! Very bad girls!" the red-head scolded for a moment before taking a breath and turning to grin at the woman, up, up and up! Wow, that was a long ways to climb! For a moment the threesome just sort of stared skywards at the lady and her horse, before Doe finally found her manners, "So sorry about that! I hope my girls didn't do any harm!"
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Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 9:08 am
Leah hadn't seen the pup coming, she'd only seen a flash of colors and braced herself for Hendrick to have a fright himself. Though the one who'd gotten the fright was Leah and after she'd collected herself, she casually leaned forward over Hendricks neck to see what the heck had been running at them! It looked like a pug, but with a jacket? Leah blinked, wild dogs certainly did not come with miniature fitting jackets, there was an owner somewhere probably looking for his or her dog.
Hendricks was rubbing his velvety upper lip all over the little dog, including taking large whiffs and exhales as was a custom horse greeting when meeting others. Things thing however, licked him and Hendricks himself felt even more confused as to what this thing was. Then another appeared, quick similar to the first however this one just sat there looking at him. The stallion extended his neck, greeting and getting a good whiff of the other tiny being too.
"Oh, bad dogs! Very bad girls!"
Leah had seen the woman from her perch and was quite glad she'd showed up, lost puppies were never a good sign. After scolding her dogs though, everyone stayed quiet and starred at each other. Granted Hendricks tried to get a mouthful of grass, Leah let him though she barely let him move.
"So sorry about that! I hope my girls didn't do any harm!"
Then the woman found her voice, and Leah's followed suit. "Oh no, Hendricks is good. Little things won't scare him. I thought your dogs were lost for a second there!"
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Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 5:24 pm
Dolce gave a few playful shakes as the horse lipped at her, beginning to play a game of keep-away until Gabby trotted up and the horse turned its attentions to the sister-pug. When Hendrick turned to nibble on grass instead of pay attention to them, the pugs quickly began bounding in and out of the horse's legs and nibbling at the grass in a similar manner to his.
The Irish woman eyed her dogs, irritation lacing every line on her face though she did her best to smooth her expression when she finally turned back to Leah with the smallest of smiles, "Lost dogs are surely the saddest of things to encounter. I'd be devastated without my girls to keep me company," she said in her most forlorn voice, turning her head slightly so it was directed at the two pugs gnawing on grass like it was their life source. As if they could have understood the fear in her veins when they'd ran off like that.
"Maybe I should get one of these instead," Doucette speculated, watching Hendrick for a moment. Though she wasn't anywhere close to getting a horse, she was thinking about how much harder it would be to lose a giant beast of an animal compared to the little pudgy pigs whose leashes she'd finally retrieved.
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Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2010 4:15 pm
The mammoth of a horse paused his nibbling for a few seconds as he watched the things lace through his legs. Dear lord, they were worst then new born foals! So full of energy and yet so small. It was only when they began nibbling grass did the equine really begin to think they were just a much smaller version of him, such small things needed protection. As a father of two other foals, he wouldn't mind watching over these two.
"Lost dogs are surely the saddest of things to encounter. I'd be devastated without my girls to keep me company,"
"I agree," Leah agreed whole heartily, she'd never had a dog before, but if anything every happened to one of her horses she'd just die. In any case, dogs seemed so much easier to lose then horses, canines had so much more freedom and horses were always tended to when they were out of their stalls.
"Maybe I should get one of these instead,"
Leah giggled, she'd better get off Hendricks so the woman wouldn't have to strain her neck talking to her way up so high. Taking her feet out of the stirrups, Leah swung herself off of Hendrick on the opposite side and landed with a soft thud. She tied the reins to the saddle so they wouldn't dangle on the ground and possibly trip Hendrick before making her way around him. "They're not much trouble if you got the time." Or the space, then again a horse needed more then that. Leah had grown up with horses, her mind didn't connect that everyone acted like her when it came to the large animals.
"I'm Leah by the way and that's Hendrick," she offered the woman a smile and her hand.
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Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2010 6:07 pm
The two pugs had never actually known or remembered their father figure. Or mother figure for that matter. To them, Doucette was the epitome of parental protection. Not that they didn't like playing around the beast of a horse simply because it was fun, but they would hardly spare another thought for him after they left. Dolce took the moment to pounce Gabby, the two rolling around for a moment until bumping into Hendrick's nose as he lipped at the grassy meal.
Doe eyed the black monster with the slightest of trepidation, her brows puckering together into a small facial frown. Though a horse would be nice, and probably more dependable than a pug, she was sure she didn't have the nuts to take such a leap. Where would she keep it? What would she do with it anyway? The Irish woman couldn't ride, but you didn't need your own horse to learn. Appreciation from a distance was going to be her motto for the afternoon and she nodded with a smile as she watched the woman launch herself from the horse's back. What grace.
"Doucette," the woman grinned back, shaking the hand offered to her with a slight bit of a weaker grip. "Over there, that's Dolce in the pink and Gabbana, or Gabby, in the pale green."
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Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 12:10 pm
If Leah wasn't letting him eat grass maybe the Frisian would have found the creatures slightly more interesting, but a horse was a horse, and being allowed to eat grass wasn't a daily thing. The stallion was content with simply watching, sometimes pushing both gently over when they bumped into his nose or even blowing on them with deep breaths.
"Doucette,"
"Over there, that's Dolce in the pink and Gabbana, or Gabby, in the pale green."
Leah bent over to look at the two pugs for a brief instant. "Pretty dogs, never seen some with jackets though," Then again she'd never been allowed anything other then a horse or a cat, dogs tended to run after the horses and spook them; they'd been strictly forbidden to her young. The rider found her curiosity piked by the tiny dogs though, after all the opportunity to talk to a dog owner didn't arise very often. "How old are they?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 6:01 am
The pugs delighted in snorting back at the horse when he blew on them, but their little snuffs were hardly comparative to the beasts. They were as much children in size to him as they were in personality and possibly age, though a horse's age is considerably harder to pin-point than a raucous pup.
Doucette tucked her hands into her coat pockets, leaning back slightly to find a comfortable conversation stance. "Ah, I was a bit worried about the weather. Don't want my darlings to get cold," she said with a wide grin.
Gaze flickered between the pups and the horse before dancing back over to Leah. "Oh, they're about two. I adopted them around a year back and the person I got them from quoted me their age at one. Who knows though. They certainly still act like kids though," the Irish gal laughed.
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Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 8:28 am
If a horse could have laughed, Hendricks certainly would be laughing right about now. They were actually trying to snort back at him, but the most amusing thing was that they were able to fight each other and not hurt themselves. Horses couldn't do that, so he figured they weren't equine as he'd earlier thought. Pulling a mouthful of grass, the stallion switched his attention back to his rider. He put his head over her shoulder and extended his nose for a whiff of this other person, and possibly a pet.
"Ah, I was a bit worried about the weather. Don't want my darlings to get cold,"
"Thankfully, with this guy," Leah pointed to Hendrick with her thumb. "You don't get cold and neither does he." Grabbing onto the bridge of his nose, Leah held Hendricks in place so he wouldn't push her forward to see whom Doucette was, she even gave him a kiss on the cheek. Leah giggled, she couldn't see the fighting from her standing point, but she could hear the ruckus they were making in the grass.
"Wow two, really? They do kinda sound like little puppies. This one here is pretty young, he's around six now."
Horses sometimes lived up to thirty years if they wanted to, and they only attained full maturity at the age of 3, and even some breeds continued to grow for a little while after. Compared to some of the other horses in the barn, Hendrick was a baby.
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 8:32 pm
Doucette couldn't help but to flinch back slightly as the horse invaded the general space of the human conversation. Not that she was scared, but it was certainly a surprise to suddenly have a beast's head moving towards you and making odd snuffing noises. Tentatively she reached out a hand and patted the round of his nose, surprised at how soft the area was. She'd honestly never pet a horse before, and she laughed as his breath tickled her hands.
"That's pretty old in dog years I suppose," she said, stealing a glance at the pugs and puckering her brows in a frown at the sight of them getting their jackets quite dirtied. No new things for those two for a while! "Have you had him for all six years?" she asked with a tilt of her head, the wind sweeping up some of those frizzy red curls to make them dance about her head.
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 7:50 am
When Doucette finally started petting him on the nose, the stallion relaxed and used Leah's shower as a headrest; he'd be content with just relaxing for a little and soaking up the warmth.
"How do dog years go anyways?" Thank god Leah wasn't blond, because right now with her lack of information on dogs, which seemed to be the usual house pet, she probably looked quite naive.
"I got him when he was two actually. Did a bit of travelling and I found this one place where they had these huge black beasts. They were selling some of their spring foals and I just couldn't help myself. Trained him, and everything." Leah gave him a large pat on the shoulder, then again, four years did seem like a long time.
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Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 10:20 pm
"My vet said they are about 21 now," Doucette started, eyeing her little adults and thanking god she wasn't taking care of a 21 year old human, "Because they age so fast in the beginning, but after the first two years they age much slower. About 10 years per human year for the first few years, and only 4 years per human years after that." The woman grinned as the two seemed to finally wear out and collapse on top of one another in the grass. Looked like it was about time to head home.
Blue eyes widened as she listened to Leah talk of finding the black monster. That was pretty cool, raising and training your own companion. Teaching Dolce and Gabby how to sit and trade was hardly impressive in comparison to a horses's talents, and Doucette said as much to Leah with a warm smile before motioning to the pups.
It was time to take them home unfortunately.
"I really enjoyed meeting your boy," she gushed, giving him another good rub on the bridge of his nose, and of course complimenting Leah once more before trading contact information with her. Maybe one day she could drop by and learn how to ride horses and Leah could teach her? That would be lovely.
The three left them then, waving over her shoulder and the pugs being half pulled along on their leashes.
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