Post by kigerfan on Jan 16, 2008 19:39:17 GMT -5
This one is kind of long...
Sun washed rocky outcrops
Scrub brush huddled in clumps
Scraggly grasses grow in the passes
A rabbit suddenly jumps
Flicking slender long ears
Nose scenting the breeze
A nibble of weed and digging up seed
A sudden dusty sneeze
His ears turn towards the path
Than winds through rocky terrain
His nostrils quiver at the scent they deliver
As he stares at the path in distain
As he abandon’s his favored spot
The sound of hooves becomes clearer
Snuffling and snorting kicking cavorting
The herd gets nearer and nearer
The rabbit darts to his hole
As the foals dance into view
Fighting in play and darting away
Then the mares appear too
As they spread across the field
Searching for tender young shoots
Exuberant foals take tumbles and rolls
As mares dig succulent roots
The rabbit dares raise his head
To glare at the invading band
He spits in despite at the group in his sight
Then dives back below the sand
The mares pay the rabbit no mind
As they go about their task
The stallion stands tall watching over all
The foals lay down to bask
In the distance something thrums
His ears prick towards the sound
He lifts his eyes to search the skies
Then lowers his search to the ground
He can not locate the rumble
It comes from every location
Jumping in fright as it comes into sight
The ground reflects its vibration
Gathering their foals to their side
Mares flee in frantic fright
Standing his ground the moment profound
The stallion turns to fight
His muscles ripple beneath his skin
His jaw sets in defiance
Steel blue coat glistening intently listening
He refuses any compliance
His liquid black mane and tail
Wave in the unnatural storm
He lifts his head his eyes rimmed in red
Blown sand whipping his form
The challenger he faces
He’s never before seen
Beating the air just hanging there
A blinding metallic sheen
In confusion and fear he runs
Keeping his mares tight and true
Rabbit watching on, down the gorge they’re drawn
At full stride they all gallop through
From beyond the gorge they came
Smelling of man and leather
Saddle and girth bridle and mirth
Face controlled with a tether
As their pass narrows down more
The mares run alone
Sweating in panic their calls shrill and frantic
Feeling desperately prone
Finally the fences widen out
And shape to an oblong pen
Sides heaving heavily breathing
They get their first look at men
The stallion joins his herd
He gallops about the enclosure
Sweat induced sheen his lips stained with green
He proudly keeps his composure
As the herd regains their breath
And circle about their cage
They center the foals closing all holes
Nibbling nervously at the sage
The lead mare finds a trough
Filled with cooling water
Looking first she quenches her thirst
Then looks around for fodder
The mares approach and drink
While the stallion watches on
With thirst quenched no longer drenched
Their panic is almost gone
The stallion is cornered and moved
With other studs together
In no mood to fight they accept their plight
And huddle against the cold weather
The mares are joined with others
Weanlings pulled from their mothers
The fillies and colts parted by bolts
Sisters parted from brothers
The horses scan their captors
Confused hungry and cold
Tired and shaking, hearts still quaking
They’re far from feeling bold
Something smells sweet and warm
Spread about their feet
Nostrils searching bodies lurching
They finally begin to eat
This they’ve never tasted
Sweet and pleasingly filling
Weanlings play fight with all in their sight
Elsewhere the mares are milling
Two weeks of hay and grass feeding
The horses are bulking up well
Now settled down just milling around
They don’t even flinch at a yell
Freeze branding already completed
Sale prospects tagged and reported
Stallion and mares loaded in pairs
Depending on how they were sorted
Returned to his native plain
The Stallion leaps from the trailer
In immediate flight he is soon out of sight
Shaking off the touch of his jailer
His band of mares is different
It’s smaller and some are strange
No foals at play he looks with dismay
He moves them onto his range
He proudly takes his stand
Sunset caressing his silken coat
Confusion passed his new herd amassed
He screams a challenge deep from his throat
Back at the many corrals
The rest of his band awaits sale
Their necks branded and throats banded
They line up against the rail
A sassy weanling colt
The image of his sire
His coat steel blue black mane and tail too
His eyes an intelligent fire
Dun little fillies and colts
With stripes on their legs and spine
Long dark lashes bright snips and splashes
Tails tangled like twine
Now used to the sights and sounds
The activity reaches a peak
People milling their gaze slightly chilling
A child’s excited shriek
Then the activity changes
People no longer crowd the pens
Bidding stopped intensity dropped
Now people conversing with friends
Then the trailers back up to the gates
Mares, studs and weanlings are loaded
A shove with a shoulder a kick from the bolder
A swivel of a neck freeze brand coded
The trailer doors are shut and latched
They snort and shift within
Their destiny waits as trailers leave the gaits
Their new life now will begin
Sun washed rocky outcrops
Scrub brush huddled in clumps
Scraggly grasses grow in the passes
A rabbit suddenly jumps
Flicking slender long ears
Nose scenting the breeze
A nibble of weed and digging up seed
A sudden dusty sneeze
His ears turn towards the path
Than winds through rocky terrain
His nostrils quiver at the scent they deliver
As he stares at the path in distain
As he abandon’s his favored spot
The sound of hooves becomes clearer
Snuffling and snorting kicking cavorting
The herd gets nearer and nearer
The rabbit darts to his hole
As the foals dance into view
Fighting in play and darting away
Then the mares appear too
As they spread across the field
Searching for tender young shoots
Exuberant foals take tumbles and rolls
As mares dig succulent roots
The rabbit dares raise his head
To glare at the invading band
He spits in despite at the group in his sight
Then dives back below the sand
The mares pay the rabbit no mind
As they go about their task
The stallion stands tall watching over all
The foals lay down to bask
In the distance something thrums
His ears prick towards the sound
He lifts his eyes to search the skies
Then lowers his search to the ground
He can not locate the rumble
It comes from every location
Jumping in fright as it comes into sight
The ground reflects its vibration
Gathering their foals to their side
Mares flee in frantic fright
Standing his ground the moment profound
The stallion turns to fight
His muscles ripple beneath his skin
His jaw sets in defiance
Steel blue coat glistening intently listening
He refuses any compliance
His liquid black mane and tail
Wave in the unnatural storm
He lifts his head his eyes rimmed in red
Blown sand whipping his form
The challenger he faces
He’s never before seen
Beating the air just hanging there
A blinding metallic sheen
In confusion and fear he runs
Keeping his mares tight and true
Rabbit watching on, down the gorge they’re drawn
At full stride they all gallop through
From beyond the gorge they came
Smelling of man and leather
Saddle and girth bridle and mirth
Face controlled with a tether
As their pass narrows down more
The mares run alone
Sweating in panic their calls shrill and frantic
Feeling desperately prone
Finally the fences widen out
And shape to an oblong pen
Sides heaving heavily breathing
They get their first look at men
The stallion joins his herd
He gallops about the enclosure
Sweat induced sheen his lips stained with green
He proudly keeps his composure
As the herd regains their breath
And circle about their cage
They center the foals closing all holes
Nibbling nervously at the sage
The lead mare finds a trough
Filled with cooling water
Looking first she quenches her thirst
Then looks around for fodder
The mares approach and drink
While the stallion watches on
With thirst quenched no longer drenched
Their panic is almost gone
The stallion is cornered and moved
With other studs together
In no mood to fight they accept their plight
And huddle against the cold weather
The mares are joined with others
Weanlings pulled from their mothers
The fillies and colts parted by bolts
Sisters parted from brothers
The horses scan their captors
Confused hungry and cold
Tired and shaking, hearts still quaking
They’re far from feeling bold
Something smells sweet and warm
Spread about their feet
Nostrils searching bodies lurching
They finally begin to eat
This they’ve never tasted
Sweet and pleasingly filling
Weanlings play fight with all in their sight
Elsewhere the mares are milling
Two weeks of hay and grass feeding
The horses are bulking up well
Now settled down just milling around
They don’t even flinch at a yell
Freeze branding already completed
Sale prospects tagged and reported
Stallion and mares loaded in pairs
Depending on how they were sorted
Returned to his native plain
The Stallion leaps from the trailer
In immediate flight he is soon out of sight
Shaking off the touch of his jailer
His band of mares is different
It’s smaller and some are strange
No foals at play he looks with dismay
He moves them onto his range
He proudly takes his stand
Sunset caressing his silken coat
Confusion passed his new herd amassed
He screams a challenge deep from his throat
Back at the many corrals
The rest of his band awaits sale
Their necks branded and throats banded
They line up against the rail
A sassy weanling colt
The image of his sire
His coat steel blue black mane and tail too
His eyes an intelligent fire
Dun little fillies and colts
With stripes on their legs and spine
Long dark lashes bright snips and splashes
Tails tangled like twine
Now used to the sights and sounds
The activity reaches a peak
People milling their gaze slightly chilling
A child’s excited shriek
Then the activity changes
People no longer crowd the pens
Bidding stopped intensity dropped
Now people conversing with friends
Then the trailers back up to the gates
Mares, studs and weanlings are loaded
A shove with a shoulder a kick from the bolder
A swivel of a neck freeze brand coded
The trailer doors are shut and latched
They snort and shift within
Their destiny waits as trailers leave the gaits
Their new life now will begin