Spring Auction

[Lottii]

WELCOME TO THE SPRING AUCTION

We have lots of wonderful horses today, but please remember to stick to the few rules we have regarding horse ownership. Students cannot own stallions or horses under four without seeking permission from me. No one character can have more than four horses, again unless you have my permission.

You can reserve a horse for twenty four hours only, and only one horse per person. This is just to give you a chance, but also everyone else a chance too.

Have fun!

[Lottii]

Lot One

SHOW NAME: Roadblocks

BARN NAME: Roadie

AGE: 12 years

GENDER: Gelding

COLOR: Gray

BREED: Thoroughbred

HEIGHT: 15.2hh

PERSONALITY: Roadie is a friendly horse, he loves a cuddle and will stand all day to be fussed over. He isn't lazy, easy-going is a better way to describe him. His stable manners are almost impeccable - the only thing close to a flaw is that he destroys haynets. Yes, completely destroys them. If you leave a haynet in his stable for more then a few minutes it will become shreds on the floor. Water buckets, feed buckets and rugs can all take a fair beating too. To ride though, he is much less destructive. Roadie excels at Show-Jumping, but is willing to turn a hand to anything you ask of him. He's responsive and pretty easy to ride, he doesn't spook easily and never throws a buck just for the hell of it. The only time you need to watch him is water jumps on a cross-country course. For some unknown reason he hates them with a vengance, and will stand on his hind legs rather than enter the water.


HISTORY: Roadie spent his early year as a Dressage horse, which is the discipline he was originally bred for. He competed in low-level classes, but never really had the natural flair for the sport. His original breeder sold him on to a teenager when Roadie was eight, and she taught him show-jumping and also used him for Pony Club, meaning the gelding had a chance at everything. Show-Jumping became his life for the next few years, and the teen travelled around the country with him at some pretty high level competitions. Now she is leaving for University and wants Roadie to be able to carry on being loved rather than coming second to studying. With the college close by, she hopes either someone from the college or the college itself with purchase him and give him some love.


DISCIPLINE: English - Show-Jumping/All-Round

BUYER: Spencer Dalca

[Lottii]

Lot Two

SHOW NAME: Brandy Snaps

BARN NAME: Brandy

AGE: 3 years

GENDER: Mare

COLOR: Bay

BREED: Irish

HEIGHT: To make 14hh

PERSONALITY: Brandy is a sweet little mare. Her manners on the ground are good, she sometimes decides that she is doing the right thing no matter what you are telling her to do! She has a little arrogance about her, but generally behaves nicely. She detests wearing a rug though, and therefore spends most of the cold winter stabled (that, and the fact she is a wimp when it comes to cold weather). She needs to be kept occupied whilst she is in, and can occasionally become a bit of a handful if her mind isn't given things to think about. Brandy will most likely be quite simply to start under saddle, she learns fast - but would also learn bad habits quickly too. It's unlikely she would offer an big resistance though, the mare genuinely enjoys learning.


HISTORY: Brandy was bred on a small stud in Hertfordshire, not too far away from the college. Her breeders have raised her well and taught her the basics of ground work, but they don't have the time to teach her to be ridden properly. Brandy is coming to the auction in the hope that her breeders will find someone willing to give her the attention she needs to fulfil her potential in any English discipline.


DISCIPLINE: English (Un-broken)

BUYER: Shannon Davidson

[Lottii]

Lot Three

SHOW NAME: Breezing Along

BARN NAME: Breeze

AGE: 8 years

GENDER: Mare

COLOR: Gray

BREED: Welsh B

HEIGHT: 12.1hh

PERSONALITY: Breeze is a sweet but spooky little pony. Around people she that she trusts she is loving and affectionate, but still quite flighty. With people she doesn't know, Breeze is just downright nervous. Under saddle, her spooky nature is even more prominent. Everything from plastic bags, strange leaves and tractors will put her own her toes and leaping sideways. The worst she will ever do is bolt though, she doesn't buck or rear. If you can cope with her nervousness though, Breeze is a lovely mare who will be an absolute gem at anything you want to turn your hand to. She's a true allrounder.


HISTORY: Breeze was bred on a stud specializing in children's ponies. The breeder kept her until she was six years old, longer than normal, to see if they could work through her spookiness so that she could become a safe, child's ride. Eventually they had to accept it wasn't going to work though, and spent a long while finding her a nice home. Sadly, her new owner soon tired of her 'misbehavior' and sold her on at auction. Breeze has never been neglected or mistreated, but she has spent the past few years in scores of different homes, and it's left her rather unsettled.


DISCIPLINE: English - All Round

BUYER: Harry North

[Lottii]

Lot Four

SHOW NAME: The Golden Fox

BARN NAME: Foxy

AGE: 8 years

GENDER: Gelding

COLOR: Palomino

BREED: Thoroughbred

HEIGHT: 16.3hh

PERSONALITY: Foxy has lovely kind ground manners, he doesn't fuss often and stays pretty clean out in the field. He loves being groomed, and will happily stand forever whilst you mess about with him. However to ride, a stereotypical thoroughbred nature takes over. All he wants to do is run, or jump, or just do something, anything so long as it's fun. He isn't dangerous with it though, and a more experienced rider can keep a handle on him. It is rare that he will just bolt off, generally he just constantly wants to go and you have to keep his attention on something else.


HISTORY: Foxy is one of the only palomino thoroughbreds in the UK, but when he was maturing his male bits didn't descend properly and he had to be operated on to be gelded. His bloodlines are rather impressive though, he was the first foal by the first palomino stallion into the UK, with a great grandsire who is the only all white palomino thoroughbred stallion in the world. So his breeders were rather disappointed to find he couldn't be used for breeding. They sold him on as a youngster and an experienced teen owned him for the next few years, starting him under saddle and getting him experience. She went to college last year though, leaving her parents with strict instructions to find a nice loan home for him. After three homes in a row that haven't worked out, she's reluctantly agreed that her parents can sell him. They've sent him to the auction to be sold, just wanting to get rid of him now.

DISCIPLINE: English - All-Round/Endurance

BUYER: Alexi Killian

[Lottii]

Lot Five

SHOW NAME: Moon and Stars

BARN NAME: Moon

AGE: 12 years

GENDER: Mare

COLOR: Blanket Appaloosa

BREED: Pony of the Americas

HEIGHT: 14hh

PERSONALITY: Moon is your typical moody mare. She has a high proportion of off days, where she will be a little so and so who nips, buck, kicks out, you name it she does it. On her good days though, she is a little sweetheart who you can't help but adore. She will give you cuddles and rub her nose against you and make you forget all the nasty things she does usually. The only time you can count on her to be reliable is for racing. She's trained in Western and English and excels at O-Mok-See and Gymkahna events. Barrel racing is her other love, she is often the smallest of the competitors but she can keep pace with the big horses and turn round the corners that bit tighter.


HISTORY: Not much history is really known about Moon. She was bred to be a child's pony, and sold throughout her life as that, but her moodiness meant she was soon sold on again, time after time. Her last home ended after she nipped her young owner one too many times. So now she's been dragged to this sale hoping to get rid of her on the cheap.


DISCIPLINE: Western and English All-Round

BUYER: Katie Vaden

[Lottii]

Lot Six

SHOW NAME: Livin' It Up

BARN NAME: Livvy

AGE: 6 years

GENDER: Gelding

COLOR: Buckskin

BREED: Mustang

HEIGHT: 14hh

PERSONALITY: Livvy is terrified of almost everyone and everything, but that's only because she's never experienced it. She has an insane curiosity for absolutely anything though, and that will probably help when someone tries to work with her. With other horses, she is definitely the dominant one though, and spends her time bossing everyone about. Once she understands humans aren't a threat to her, she might be a bit of a handful if this approaches continues, which it most likely will.


HISTORY: Livvy was brought into human company as the result of a BLM adoption round up. She was adopted by a young woman who was preparing to move to England. She found out that she would have to own Livvy for a year before she could move her to a different country, the mare spent the twelve months turned out with a small herd of horses in fifty acres of grassland. She spent the journey from her field to England sedated, and then got turned out into a field again. Her owner started trying to work with her, but she had moved to take up a new job which left her with little time for the mare. Sedated again, the mare has come to the auction on the owner's hope that one of the college students will have the time to work with the mare and reveal what's underneath the frightened exterior.


DISCIPLINE: Not started under saddle.

BUYER: Cara Kitchi

[Lottii]

Lot Seven

SHOW NAME: Jokers Folly

BARN NAME: Folly

AGE: 6

GENDER: Mare

COLOR: Grey

BREED: Quarter Horse

HEIGHT: 15.3 hands

PERSONALITY: Folly is a shy and lonely mare. She doesn't socialize easily, and prefers to be on her own in the corner of a field. She also doesn't like being confined to a stall or stable, and is very much an outside horse. Under saddle she is headstrong and opinionated. She is very well trained, but has a broken spirit in the sense that she can't stand anyone on her back. Folly has good manners on the ground though. She's an intelligent one, but needs a good and gentle rider to get her out of her shell.

HISTORY: Folly was bred in England by an old west American cowboy. She is of unknown breeding, but wasn't a planned foal by any chance. She had a bad start, but this particular cowboy still used the methods that are now deemed sick. She was literally broken. Tied to a rope post and left without food or water until she accepted a rider. Still her spirit remained in tact and she threw every rider that got on her. Folly was sold as an untrained three year old, but drugged so that her new owners couldn't find any issues with her.

When they did, she was sent to auction. No one bought her, and they have become a second home to her. Her wild nature in confinement makes her a near impossibility to sell.

DISCIPLINE: Barrel Racing, Roping, Reining

OWNER: Jemma McLaughlin

[Lottii]

Lot Eight

SHOW NAME: Fire Nectarine

BARN NAME: Loopy

AGE: 7

GENDER: Gelding

COLOR: Grey

BREED: Dutch Warmblood

HEIGHT: 17 hands

PERSONALITY: Loopy is everything that his name suggests. He's a lovable creature, but shies at everything. Most of the time he's just acting as if he's scared, but flying bucks get annoying. Loopy loves any attention, and is attentive to anyone that passes his stall. He turns into a grouch if you walk past him without acknowledgement, but that is quickly rectified with a carrot. He can be slightly headstrong, but yields quickly to his rider. Loopy needs someone who is gentle yet firm, as he is a sensitive horse.

HISTORY: Loopy was bred in Wales on a small time competition stud. He was given the best start possible as his natural talent was seen from a young age. This horse just loves jumping. When he was sold as a four year old, he just didn't have the same heart as he did when he was at the stud. It was as if he gave up on what he loved, but it was more accurate to say that he missed his owners. He bonded quickly, but was sold on again. This is the first time that he is at auction though, with no apparent reason why.

DISCIPLINE: Show Jumping, Dressage

BUYER: Melissa Whitcombe-Bass

[Lottii]

Lot Nine

SHOW NAME: Wild Swallow

BARN NAME: Swallow

AGE: Five

GENDER: Gelding

COLOR: Bay

BREED: Thoroughbred

HEIGHT: 16.1hh

PERSONALITY: Swallow has always been a bit of a troublemaker, since the day he was weaned from his dam and went through every fence on the property to get back to her. Since then he's become more and more of a handful. He was gelded young, in a hope to make his behavior improve, but it didn't make a difference. On the ground he is pushy, constantly wanting to get his nose into everything. He can open stall doors, paddock gates and - his favorite - getting into feed bins. To ride he is similar, wanting to always be on the go and dancing about. He needs retraining, but there isn't much chance he will just settle immediately.


HISTORY: Swallow was born on a large thoroughbred racing farm, and trained in that area. He was on the track until just a few months ago, when he was retired. He sustained a small injury which made him off lame for a couple of weeks, not really cause to be retired. But his erratic behavior meant his owners chose that time to pull him out of training and send him to the auction with another horse from the same farm. He hasn't had any training at all in other disciplines, but he would probably do well in jumping.


DISCIPLINE: Off the track.

BUYER: Evann Morgan

[Lottii]

Lot Ten

SHOW NAME: Tweed and Lace

BARN NAME: Lacey

AGE: Four

GENDER: Mare

COLOR: Bay

BREED: Thoroughbred

HEIGHT: 16.2hh

PERSONALITY: On the ground Lacey is as sweet as sugar. Despite having been practically starved as well as heavily raced, she has managed to retain her nice personality. To ride, the best way to describe is that she's as mad as a hatter. She bucks, rears, bolts and does anything and everything else. Although, Lacey is still very young and green. Hopefully it will be able to be worked out, with some carefully handling and schooling.



HISTORY: Lacey was born to some fairly average racehorses, on a fairly average stud. She showed some potential in her early racing days, however she would not go through the start barrier and therefore, after three starts, was chucked with no rug in a paddock with a biscuit of last seasons hay a day, and became very skinny, very fast. The owner of the stud had an older daughter, who came to visit her parents one day, and was disgraced at Lacey’s condition. She told her parents to feed up the horse, and did a little lunging work with her. However, at the time she had two young children, and was not brave enough to get on. She enlisted the help of a thirteen year old from the local pony club, who was promptly chucked off. Lacey was sent off to auction, and if she didn’t sell there she was to be dogged. Swallow's yard picked her up cheap, interested in her bloodlines and wondering if she could be used as a broodmare - they owned a younger half-sibling of hers that is very promising. It didn't work out though, so she's come to the auction with Swallow.



DISCIPLINE: Off the track.

BUYER: Charles Evans

[Lottii]

Evann wandered through the auction, his tall frame shouldering past those who got in his way without shoving. Sometimes he was thankful for his height, but right now he wasn't. Almost all of the horses here could be discounted as they were too small. He wouldn't really consider anything much under 16hh. Only a handful met that specification, and all were thoroughbreds. Two were straight off the track, and he almost ignored them. The gelding caught his eye though, catching something in his heart. Slipping through the crowd, he moved in for a closer look and ran an experienced eye over the horse. Pleased with what he saw, he grabbed hold of the information sheet hanging off the pen and flicked through it. Apart from the massive fact the horse was untrained, he really liked him.

Evann glanced around, spotting a groom hovering between the two off the track thoroughbred. Offering a smile, he bowed his head politely as the male not much older than himself came over. A short negotiation followed, in which several possible prices were thrown around. Eventually, Evann nodded, happy with the deal. Shaking the male's hand, he gratefully accepted the halter and rope offered to him and slipped it onto the horse's head. Recieving a not so grateful headbutt from his new equine, he lead him out of the auction and up onto the trailer ramp. He wasn't shocked when Swallow came to a slightly defiant halt on the ramp, but he just stood and waited, content to let the horse load in his own time.

[Myssi]

Melissa browsed through the auction quietly, takinging in each horse with her expressive eyes soft and calculating. She didn't need another horse, but she felt the need to browse. One more addition to her herd would not hurt her, but it would need to be an English mount, as Sham and Samba took the Western side.

Levi could use a break from all the jumping as well. The class and her own work on the side could take an unwanted toll on his legs if she furthered her training with the beautiful animal, and perhaps that is why she was here.

It didn't take her long to find the horse she liked. Loopy. A name that not only fit her, but could fit just about every animal she owned. Lot Eight's gelding was tall, elegant, and beautiful. The horse reached out and rubbed his forehead against her slight body, and the girl laughed in surprise, having to take a step back from the force of his cranium. "He loves people." Said the seller, and she grinned. "How's his training?" The man told her, and she aksed other questions, examining his legs and feet, then his eyes and nostrils before looking at the seller once more with a serious expression. "I like him. How much?" The price was named, negotiated, and set. Melissa handed over a check, and haltered the animal with the pale blue one handed to her, ruffling her new gelding's forelock happily.

[Onzy]

Jemma fiddled once more with the ring on her finger. She knew that once she had decided on a date then there would be millions of things to do, and she was grateful for Lisa's help in the matter of planning a wedding. Pushing wedding thoughts from her mind, Jemma focussed on the road ahead. She towing an empty two berth trailer another sign that she might return from the spring auction with a horse. She couldn't help it, and she knew that one horse she bought was a horse that was saved.

The early morning bustle of an auction was already there, and Jemma parked the truck. The best horses always went earlier, but she wasn't there for the best. Taking her time, she walked among pens, observing each animal, reading their histories and watching their reactions to the people around them. An angry scream alerted her to a grey mare at the far end of the auction house, protesting her confinement. Jemma sped up, already knowing that somehow this was the mare that she was taking home.

Inside the pen there was an elderly cowboy fighting the mare, and she was angrily lashing out in return. Jemma wanted to shout at the man to let the horse be, but instead she saw that same hatred and brokeness that Spartan had after the accident. I'll give you 600 quid for her, she shouted above the racket. The cowboy looked at her briefly and laughed. Why don't you find something nice girlie. Jemma glared the man down and held out the money. That was her whole budget blown, but she knew that she could help this mare.

The cowboy's greed overcame his sense of protectiveness. He left the huffing mare with Jemma, and as she walked out of the auction house, she realised that the mare had perfect ground manners, but just wanted the freedom of the outside.

[Onzy]

There was somewhat of a tense silence in the truck. Andrew was driving the Land Rover. Alexi sat in the passenger seat and a rather depressed Bella sat in the back seat. Andrew could see that his sister's heart was breaking at the thought of Kian leaving. Alexi was just staying silent, because it seemed that everything he said was taken as an offence. Rolling into the parking lot, Alexi felt his way to the door handle. I'll see you two in a while, said Andrew with a look towards Bella. It clearly said play nice.

Bella linked her arm through Alexi's. They had left the dogs at home, more a general thing of safety than anything else. I don't get why we are here. I mean, Cody and Pan are enough for me to handle, grumbled Alexi. He knew that he needed a younger horse to train and take over from Cody when he retired the gelding. Stop moaning, Bella said, really not in the mood for being at the Auction.

There was only one listed Endurance horse, and so the pair went straight to the pen. Bella saw a pretty palomino thoroughbred. The seller saw the interested party and caught the horse. He's good looking. 8 years old, same as Cody, Thoroughbred with good breeding, Bella rattled off the list of attributes.

Alexi waited and then felt a snuffling muzzle in his face. Holding out his palm he allowed the horse to sniff him. Feeling his way across the horse's face, Alexi felt something click between them. How much? he asked. They negotiated a price, and soon Bella was leading the horse on one side, and walking with Alexi on the other. The whole thing hadn't taken longer than half an hour.