ordinaryredtail

“Well, at least the line today is shorter,” Dagny pointed out, doing her best to lead Tikva through the quickly growing puddles of dark mud around the inspection site. Scott and Blayke merely groaned, Scott inwardly, Blayke outwardly, at the joking comment. Luckily, their haspar drafts, Vaakhai and Loma, weren’t cremello like Tikva was, so they were more immune from dirt and grime, but Tikva’s light coat was already beginning to turn into the same color as the grime around them, especially along his normally clean legs. The weather for the inspection yesterday had been beautiful and clear, not a single cloud dotting the Aeslend sky, but today’s forecast had taken a turn for the worst. Well, it could have actually been worse, but the weather still wasn’t pleasant to be out in. Clouds covered the landscape, and rain had been drizzling nonstop since the sun had risen. Unfortunately, the weather hadn’t been enough to cancel the inspections entirely, despite how messy the horses would look

The sun was just beginning to rise as the handlers and their newly acquired horses made their way to the inspection site. Most traveled on foot, not wanting to accidentally burden any young horses in the mix before something this big. A sore horse could technically pass inspection, but it could reflect poorly on the owner for future deals in such a tightly knit setting. It was best to show up with only the best, healthiest horses when in the public eye. Traveling this far was not a difficult task for Scott, Blayke, and Dagny, who had met up on the road with their group of horses. Though they had not intended on originally meeting up, sometimes friends made this process more bearable, so they had decided to continue along and make camp together to avoid potential threats along the road. This inspection was a little different as well. Normally, people did not do anything special for such an event, despite making themselves and their horses look presentable for the inspector. However