Thread: The Stud Farm {hyper & mercury}

The sweltering heat of the sun was nothing new to Jake. The southwest was a great place to raises horses, but they were still technically in a desert. Sure it wasn't the vast ocean of sand and the occasional mirage that Hollywood showed, but the heat part of the tale was certainly there. He shielded his eyes from it as his father droned on, blocking out the sharp glare so he could eye that beautiful form in the distant pasture. Finally, a sharp smack to the back of his head made Jake pay attention. GOOD LORD, BOY! Were you eyeing the mares again? For the last damn time, get your damned hormones under control! You'd think we raised you IN the barn! Jake rubbed the back of his head, his father's berating words cutting into him. As the older stallion went on about how valuable their mares were and how they weren't for such base purposes - there were ranches that specialized in that, and the West family never spoke highly of such places - Jake just stared at the floorboards of the front porch. He'd heard the lecture a thousand times, even gotten himself into some much deeper trouble than a lecture the time that he'd been caught trying to sneak a mare out of the barn and off of the ranch at night, his intentions with her having been clear. It wasn't that Jake was a sleazeball or otherwise unsavory sort of fellow. He was actually quite nice, but this life was torturous to him. He'd grown up around his own kind, both the two and four-legged varieties. The smells and sounds of breeding were familiar, but for the past few years they'd worn more and more on his mind. He could smell them in the fields, hear them teasing the neighboring stallions, and then their squeals and whinnies when the stallion was let loose int he pasture, ran her down, and gave her what she'd been asking for. And he knew it wasn't just him. He couldn't miss the way his parents got more affection during the breeding season, the way they started acting young and newlywed. He knew it wasn't just him. But he didn't have a spouse to take care of those urges and needs. Which wasn't to say that Jake couldn't get a woman. At almost six and a half feet, Jake's upbringing of manual labor showed clearly. His broad chest and thick arms were strong and defined, his muscles seemingly chiseled out of stone. His equine head was sharp and well-formed, quite a handsome young man by equine standards. The most notable thing about him, especially to educated equestrians, was his coloration. Dun Deal Ranch, his family's establishment, only traded in horses of the dun family and particular the rare coloration of grullo. Jake himself was a silver grullo, as the family's trademark breed was something they carried themselves, not just in their animals. His coat was a beautiful silver that shone in the light, that color interrupted on his face by a black blaze. His mane was also black, and that color continued in a dorsal stripe that ran down the length of his spine, one of the key identifying factors of his rare color genetics. Black socks on his hands and feet rounded out the two-color appearance of the young stallion. Yeah dad, I'll get right on it. Jake went out towards the barn, grumbling as he moved around it's side to get the manure cart and fork. Soon his shirt was off, the smell of his feral ancestors around him as he cleaned out the stalls. This would take hours! And he'd had a date tonight! Jake fumed over that as he worked, the sun gradually keeping towards the western horizon as the young man worked up a sweat, trying hard not to think about the new stablehand they'd hired recently. The mares were bad enough, but now to have a real woman his own age around all the time... He'd barely spoken to Elise, really. They had met, shared dinner together if she sat down with the family, and certainly had some work together. But he actively tried not to socialize with her if he could avoid it. To a girl like Elise who'd certainly gotten male attention her whole life, it's clear that the reason was not dislike but more likely the opposite, that he liked her but was either too inexperienced with women or for some other reason was trying to ignore his own feelings.