kiss an angel good mornin... { o p e n}

[Riata Hill]

"You've got to kiss an angel good mornin', and let her know you think about her when you're gone;
Kiss an angel good mornin', and love her like the devil when you get back home..."

A dark haired young woman driving an '88 extended cab two tone blue Ford sang along sub-consciously to the classic Charlie Pride tune. Jasper whimpered from the passenger seat, resulting in a glare from Riata.

"Hey now! My singing isn't that bad," she said defensively in an insulted tone. "If you could hear yourself when you are- oh shit!"

Riata jerked the steering wheel heartily to the right in desperate attempt to correct her lack of attention and near-miss of the turn to the stables. Jasper was slung violently into her lap with a pitiful yelp; Riata cursed under her breath as a shovel, some chain, farrier tools, among other miscellaneous items clanged harhsly about in the bed of her pickup truck.

"Well... My singing is better than my driving."

Riata cruised up the gravel road to the handsome stables where she would be spending alot of her time. It was a unique design, and she wasn't so sure she was all that gung-ho about having all the horses in the same turnout, especially one surrounded by walls, but perhaps she could talk to the manager about turning Rev and RJ out into a seperate, smaller paddock. A good walk every morning would do her good anyway.

She backed the truck up to the stables with perfect alignment, thanks to many mishaps and corrections with backing up many livestock trailers. She didn't bother to reach for the door handle; it had long since been out of comission. Rather she reached through the open window and opened the door from the outside handle. The young woman stepped out, gravel crunching beneath her heavy duty boots. Riata whistled.

"C'mon, Jasper. Let's go buddy."

Jasper leapt from the truck, ears and tail alert, as he was for the majority of the time, especially in new surroundings.

Riata was dressed in the usual; a worn plaid workshirt, sleeves rolled to her elbows, tucked in the 20X jeans to display a Top Hand ranch rodeo buckle. Today she had exchanged her hat for a ball cap, and her riding boots for lace-up work boots; she had some farrier work to tend to.

Riata popped open the tail gate to discover no damage done to her farrier tools. She would need to cart them to the tack room where there was a locked chest for them to be kept safe.

She first hauled out a cart on wheels she had welded herself to custom fit a 200 lb. anvil for the comfort of travel. With a bit of difficulty, she managed to wiggle the anvil to the edge of the tail gate, and then with one great heave, place it snugly in the cart. She wheeled it into the stable, down the isle, past stalls of handsome, nickering horses, to one of the wash stalls that would do nicely for a farrier station. She would store the anvil and other tools of the trade in the tack room, but she would soon be working on RJ's feet.

Next she retrieved a wooden farrier box her father had designed and created, and placed it in it's own cart as well; this one, her father had welded. The box and cart had been a Christmas present 2 years past. Then came a heavy duty plastic toolbox with extra hoof knives, an extra set of nippers, and some silicone-based hoof filling, and the such. The former was hauled to the wash station, the latter to the tack room where it was stored safely in the farrier's chest.

Riata fetched a halter, and with Jasper at her side as he had been all this time, went to retrieve RJ, the handsome buckskin gelding she was proud to call her own.

He was near the gate, watching her with alert ears.

"Hey sweetheart..." she crooned to the buckskin. Kiss an angel good morning... She smiled and touched her lips to his forehead.

"Well, good mornin angel..." She buckled the halter and led RJ from the large turnout paddock, which had a strange aura to it, being surrounded by high, solid walls. Riata led the gelding to the wash stall and tied him securely to the side railing.

"Alright you good boy," she said, velcro-ing her farrier chaps on. "Ya ready for some new shoes? Hmm?"

She bent and picked up his near front; he had thrown a shoe on this foot, but she might as well do all 4 hooves since he was due anyway. From her box she took a hoof pick and began to clean his hoof.

Many thought shoeing was a man's job- it was certainly more common with the men. But Riata had a nack for it, and a love for it... And a talent for it. She had an eye for a horse, and for their feet. No hoof, no horse, her Daddy would always say. She ignored the jeers and teasing comments about her being a woman in a man's profession. She was good at it, and she knew it- what else mattered?

[Nathan Matthews]

Whistling softly to himself, the ,ale made his way across the grounds toward the stables. He walked calmly, taking long strides with his thin legs. The boy was plagued with looking like too feminine. That and he was so skinny, most thought he starved himself. It was sll due to his matablolism, not his eating habits. He continued whistling an unknown tune as a brown and white male Boxer trotted beside him. The boxer held his head high as if letting his head lower any further than that would result in him being whipped. The male laughed at the Boxer and looked forward again.

His arms were rasied on either side if him, wrist curled over the handle of a beaten up shovel. The male was clad in a simple black beater shirt, and a piar of snug fit jeans. Brown boots were fitted on his feet and made soft thuds against the ground. He kept up his tune as he came to the stable doors. His honey colored gaze laxily trailed to his left where he found a truck parked. He tilted his head, but shook off the curosity. He had work to do. He kicked open the doors and slipped in, the Boxer, also known as Demetri, followed close in tow. He scanned the stalls, whistling a bit softer, looking for his partner.

A smirk came to his face when he spotted the black and white paint in the back stall. He picked up his pace, completely ignoring the fact that he was not alone in the Stables. "Hey there, Boy. How are we today?" The male asked in his thick, Scottish accent. He may not have looked it, but he was of Scottish decent, so thus he was blessed with the heavy accent. He took one hand off the shovel and lowered it to his side. Using his free hand, he stroked the stallions nose. The stallion shook his head, snorting in content. The male smirked. "Good to hear, Boy. Mind if I come in?" the male questioned with a smirk, obviously knowing the answer.

The boy, also known as Nathan Matthews, unlocked the stall door and stepped in. Demetri stayed outside and reclined to his haunches to watch. Nathan smiled and closed the gate, before patting the stallions neck. He then looked around the stall and clucked his tongue. He shot the stallion a disappointed look, then smirked to show he was merely playing. "Now Dusk, look what you've done to your stall. You must love making me work hard, don't you?" he teased in his heavy accent. Dusk stamped his right front hoof and shook his head, whinnying in reply. Nathan playfully rolled his eyes and patted Dusk's back. "Let's get you cleaned up before we do anything with the stall." He announced, opening the stall gate once again and leading Dusk out, before shutting the gate again. He then lead Dusk with him down the eisles toward the washing stalls. He let out a sharp whistle and Demetri bounded after him and walked calmly beside him. Nathan shook his head and shook his mud colored bangs from his eyes.

Nathan stopped abruptly at the sight of the other occupant of the stables. It was a female and she seemd to be working on a horse's hoof. He tilted his head in confusion and smirked in interest. He stopped and stroked Dusk's nose to settle him. He looked down at Demetri and clicke dhis tongue twice. He led Dusk by a rope he had tied around the stallion's neck before leaving his stall passed the girl. he chanced a glance back at her and nearly tripped over his own feet. he stumbled a bit and caught himself at the last second. He laughed nervously at himself and focused on getting to the wash stalls. He glanced back at her every chance he got and tried to focus on what he was doing. But the fact that a girl was cleaning and apparently shoeing a horse confused him to no end. he'd never seen it done before and he wanted to know more.

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[Riata Hill]

Riata studied the hoof, nestled between her knees, with a skilled eye. RJ had a tendency to get what the young farrier referred to as 'platter feet' where the hoof spread out in a wide flat shape that hardly offered support for the horse. Riata did all the work on her own horses though, and RJ's naturally bad feet were under control.

Riata pulled a hoof knife from a leather pouch on her farrier chaps and went to work removing dead hoof tissue from around the sensitive pad of a horse's hoof, the frog. RJ stood patiently; he was often the guinea pig with experiments or new techniques Riata learned of, and was always on his best behavior during farrier work.

The dark haired young woman next retrieved a pair of hoof nippers from their compartment in the wooden shoeing box; about this time she became aware of a person's footfalls, in addition to the stabalized beat of a horse's hooves. Well it's a stable, what must you expect Ri? Still, she was curious. The footsteps came nearer. She looked up from beneath her cap brim just barely enough to see the person's face. It was a young man, and certainly not of the appearances a young man had where she was from. He had faintly feminine qualities, and yet something in his eyes, his expression, his walk, sparked her interest. But nevermind, he was none of her business, and it was probable things would remain that way.

She busied herself with the nippers which required a steady and experienced hand, trimming the outer edge of the hoof. She stopped after trimming the edge of the hoof and stood, letting RJ rest his leg for a moment... And her back. Shoeing a horse required one to contort themselves into a rather unfortunate position.

Riata glanced across the stable isle at Jasper who had nestled in a pile of hay; to a passer-by he would appear content at rest, but that was only part of the story. He was strangely aggressive towards others... Perhaps because Riata was the only he had ever truly known. If approached, new colors would emerge. If left be... He was a perfect angel. He was alert of everything, brown eyes never left Riata.

Riata couldn't help but glance once again at the guy in the neighboring wash stall. Not one to be shy or beat around the bush, she nodded when their eyes met in the ranch-folk manner.

"Mornin'."

Brief. But to the point. Perfectly Riata.

[Nathan Matthews]

Nathan took the rope and tied to a nearby post once he lead his stallion into the washing stall. Dusk shook his head, snorting and stamping one hoof. Nathan shook his head, knowing the stallion hated being tied up. "Don't worry, this won't take long. Then I'll clean out your stall and take you down for some exercise in the pasture. How's the sound?" Nathan said, moving to a faucet and placing a bucket beneath it. He turned the knob and added some soap. Dusk snorted in content. Nathan felt for his stallion, being stuck in this sstable all day wouldn't make him very happy either.

He turned the faucet off when the bucket was full and picked it up. Nathan may have looked skinny, but he was deffinitely strong. Born and raised to take care of horses, he had to have the muscle mass to handle the heavy lifting involved. He set the bucket down by Dusk's right front hoof and dipped a sponge into the now soapy water. He placed his free hand on the stallion's side and ran the sponge along hthe stallion's side, scrubbing in random places. Dusk shook his head, snorting again. "Easy. Boy. You'll be done soon." He said, calmly. The stallion remained still as he wetted down his black and white paint coat. He leaned down to grab the brush to scrub off the dirt, when a sudden voice caught his attention.

Nathan looked back at the girl from before and smirked. He watched her work on the horse's hoof for a moment and then nodded his head in greeting. "Mornin'." he answered, his voice slurred by his accent. Dusk snorted and shook his head, making Nathan glare playfully at him. Dusk lijed having all attention on him, so naturally he'd be upset if Nathan was distracted for even a second. He began scrubbing his stallion's neck and looked back at the girl. "Something wrong with his foot or are you just simply shoeing him?" Nathan questioned, trying to get a look at the other horse's hoof. He craned his neck and just about fell over. he caught himself and Dusk neighed loudly, as if laughing at his owner.

"You think that's funny, eh?" Nathan asked, pretending to be angry. Dusk shook his head and Nathan dipped his hand in the bucket and splashed the soapy water at Dusk. Dusk neighed again and reared up as if frightened and stepped back a couple steps. Nathan laughed at the stallion, making it snort back at him. Nathan smirked and stroked his black and white mane. "See, not so funny is it?" He teased, making Dusk snort again. He continued scrubbing his neck and moving to his back. He glanced back at the girl, waiting for a response to his question.

[Riata Hill]

Riata nodded and smiled gently as Nathan returned her greeting, running her fingers through RJ's thick black mane, blindly loosening tangles. She looked on as he continued to scrub the stallion with a sponge; she for one had never washed her horse with soap, much less a sponge. Every time she unsaddled them she hosed them off, but that was all. She looked Nathan in the eye when he spoke, questioning about her current task. She used to give folks questioning looks when asked about her profession, or about shoeing, but she had grown used to it. Although it did still seem odd that some people owned horses, and yet had never even trimmed their horses own feet, or seen them shod. She glanced down at her gelding's hoof when Nathan spoke his question.

"Well he-" she started, but immediately glanced up at Nathan when she heard the scuff of his shoe on the concrete. Her sharp brown eyes smiled in amusement as Nathan stumbled backwards, and then gave the paint a taste of his own medicine. Riata scratched the buckskin's withers and then continued with her reply.

"He has a tendency to get 'platter feet'- basically the hoof spreads out too wide and flat, which doesn't support the leg enough. The hoof is also liable to chip in that condition."

She bent to lift the hoof and then knelt, resting the hoof on her knee to show Nathan.

"I've got that under control, but I have to be careful with how I shape his feet. He threw a shoe off of this hoof day before yesterday, haven't gotten to him until today. I'm gonna go ahead and shoe him all the way around though; he is due."

She let RJ's hoof slide off of her knee to the concrete, approached the stall divider, rubbing her hands on the farrier's chaps. She extended one calloused, sun-tanned hand across the divider.

"I'm Riata Hill, by the way; Vision Springs' new farrier."

[Nathan Matthews]

Nathan scrubbed the last bit of mud from the stallion's coat and went to get the hose. He looked back at the girl as she explained what she was doing. he looked at the hoof when she showed it and cringed when she explained the condition. He bit his lower lip and sighed in relief when she told him she had it under control. "That's good. The last thing we need is a horse with a chiped hoof." he replied, laughing softly. He uncoiled the hose and hooked it up to the faucet,. Stepping over the hose, he walked back to Dusk. he then screwed on the spray nozzle as she spoke again.

He stopped dead in his tracks when she introduced herself as a Farrier. He looked at her, his mocha brown eyes wide in shock. "You, a Farrier? Isn't that supposed to be a man's job?" Nathan asked, shock written on his face. Nathan wasn't sexist, but he had never encountered a female doing such a job as that. He cleared hs throat and looked back at Dusk, who was watching him carefully. He smiled inncocently at his stallion and pressed down on the trigger. A light mist of clear, cool water erupted from the nozzle and drizzled on the stallion's paint coat. Dusk shook his mane under the mist, enjoying the cool water. Nathan laughed and pressed a bit harder so the stream was more concentrated. He quickly cleaned off all the soap and dropped the hose on the ground. This caused it to land on the trigger and sent a short stream of water up at him, hitting him in the side of the head. "Ahh!" he shreiked, jumping back a bit. He wasn't expecting that.

He calmed himself and looked back at Riata. He used the back of his hand to wipe the water away and shook his head. "Nice to meet you. Lassie. The names' Nathan Matthews. I'm one of Vision Springs' Stable Hands, if you may not have noticed." he answered, bowing his head a bit. "So, is that stallion your's or are you showing him for someone else?" Nathan asked, looking at the horse. It was an innocent question. Most the horses he handled were not his as well. He was usually in charge of other people's horses. Cleaning them, feeding them, bringing them back to the stables. the thought made him groan. he had recently been hired as the stable hand of some lassie named Jewel. He rolled his eyes at the thought of her and shook his head. Then he focused back on Riata.

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