"How are you, Big Guy?" Paul asked as he fed King a carrot. Usually King reacted when he could smell a mare's scent on his hands. This time King just showed a casual interest as he munched the carrot. Paul reached underneath King's belly to give him a scratch when he felt something slick. Lifting his hand to his face he smelled the distinct, light odor of stallion cum. "That's funny, King almost never beats off to ejaculation this time of year." Paul's curiosity was really piqued now. He ducked between the paddock railings and marched his way towards the bushes. When he reached the place where he had seen King standing he reached into his robe pocket and pulled out a Mini Maglight. He searched for a while and came upon a trail of stallion cum which had shot across the center rail of the fence. "Curioser and Curioser," Paul thought. "Now how did you manage that, King?" Paul asked as he surveyed the area. "Have you been humping the fence?"

Just then the Maglight's beam fell upon a rather large pool of cum just on the other side of the fence line. Now Paul had witnessed King ejaculating full-force before and couldn't understand why the horse load hadn't landed further beyond. That's when the Maglight beam came across the pool of fresh urine. Paul stepped between the fence railings and dipped a finger into the urine pool to make sure he wasn't imagining things. A quick sniff told Paul that he was definitely smelling urine. He *had* seen a bicycle riding off from the paddock. "Well, well," Paul said. "It looks like I may just have found a use for that Army surplus night- vision scope I bought a while back." He was sure that it wouldn't be long before he got his money's worth out of that investment.

Paul climbed back through the fence and let King sniff his fingers before he began his walk back to the house. King looked back towards where he had last seen **The Girl** riding off into the moonset. He let out a long, loud trumpeting call in that direction before he turned and trotted back up to Paul on his way towards the house.

"Don't worry, King. Mares like that don't come around in the middle of the night expecting a one-night-stand. She'll be back soon. And when she does, perhaps she would be interested in a little more permanent 'stud services'."

King nuzzled Paul's neck as Paul turned to give him a big hug. King's "pony hugs" were closer to bear hugs as Paul laughed, gasping, and scratched King's neck. As Paul climbed through the fence on his way back to the house, he gave King one last carrot. King accepted it regally and munched it as he watched Paul enter the house. King trotted back to the bushes with his head and tail held high, then stuck his head between the railings. He inhaled deeply and began his flehmen response. His cock slowly lolled out and he began his belly slapping once again.

**Come back mystery mare,** he thought.

Part Two

"Morning King," Paul McGregor said as he patted the well-muscled Palomino stud on the neck. "I trust you slept well?" King regarded Paul with innocent eyes as he nuzzled him on the cheek. Paul was referring to King's little tryst with the mysterious girl that had enjoyed a little bit of extracurricular activities with King the night before. Paul had seen her just as she rode her bicycle away from the bushes next to King's paddock. The fact that the girl had managed to get King to blow his load with just her hands was no mean feat. Paul normally used an artificial vagina and a phantom mare when he needed to collect King. However, on many occasions, King was allowed to breed mares live-cover. Paul had tried the bare-handed method with King with moderate success. With the A.V., King would eagerly mount the phantom and ejaculate without a hitch.

If Paul could perfect the plastic bag method, he could save himself a lot of effort during the warmer breeding days. Not to mention allowing King to get his rocks off a bit more frequently. It was still quite cold in the early January mornings, and Paul looked forward to being able to work in his shirt sleeves in a few months.

Paul went over to the feed room and grabbed a medium flake of alfalfa for King. As King was munching away happily, Paul took the time to check over King's legs and general appearance. King was a perfect specimen of health. His fuzzy winter coat gave him the appearance of a small draft horse. Of course, for a Quarter Horse stallion, King was large. Standing at just under 16 hands high, and with his excellent conformation, King presented the kind of picture that people were clamoring to breed their mares to. Since this was King's first year standing at stud, Paul decided to limit his book to something easily manageable.

Paul made his way to the mare barn and looked in on his three mares. They were currently being kept indoors for the nights as they were being kept under lights. Paul wasn't too keen on messing with the horses normal breeding cycles. However, if a mare's stall was kept illuminated until late night, her system could be tricked into believing it was spring. Thus, the mares would shed their winter coats and begin cycling back into heat. Artificial springtime! The fact that most horses were deemed to be one year old on January 1st made this practice all the more common and forced Paul to adopt the light stalls.

Giving each mare a flake of hay, Paul opened their back doors to allow them access to the large paddock behind the barn. He performed his normal ritual of checking legs, general appearances and cleaned out the few stray bits of hay that always end up in the waterers. When he was satisfied that everything was the way it should be, he wandered back to the house.

Paul had recently hired a couple of hands to help with the chores around the ranch and could breath a little easier. He had been getting a little stir-crazy with his solitary life. He had never imagined that his realization of his dream ranch could be lacking anything. Paul loved his horses very much, but as the days wore on, Paul yearned for some human interaction. He found himself thinking back to the girl he had glimpsed riding away from King's paddock late last night. Paul knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she liked horses. Liked horses? She *loved* horses! If only he knew who she was! At about that time, the work crew pulled up and got out of their car.

"Hi, Mr. McGregor!" one of the young men said.

"Morning guys. It's a great morning! I'm going to run into town and stop in at the diner for some breakfast. Do you think you can manage without me?" Paul asked jokingly.

"No problem sir," they said, and gave a mock salute. "We should have all of the stalls and walks in ship shape by the time you get back."

"Great! You can reach me by my beeper if you need me," Paul said as he prepared to leave. "Oh, there's some fresh coffee in the lab." With that, Paul drove into town in search of a good country breakfast.

**********

Paul hadn't had much of a chance to get into town lately. He had just finished overseeing the construction of the breeding and boarding barns late last month. He had lucked out that the rainy season cooperated and allowed the construction to be completed before the breeding season. Paul still had some butterflies about his first season. However, he was qualified. He had taken some equine breeding and management courses and even managed to work at a horse ranch before he acquired his fortune. Paul had slowly worked himself through the ranks. First he mucked stalls. Then he was graduated to feeding. As the managers began to trust his judgment more, he eventually made his way as part of the breeding crew. Paul was at home there.

Paul was a tinkerer and had used his spare time after work trying to invent something that would make him financially secure. It was just blind luck, but eventually he hit upon something that would actually sell. Almost overnight Paul was wealthy and able to do whatever he wanted with his life. It happened so quickly that Paul still woke up sometimes thinking that it was a dream. Paul shook the fog out of his head as he pulled up to the diner.

"Mornin', sir. How many today?" The waitress asked as he stepped into the diner.

"One, please," Paul admitted grudgingly. "She's kinda cute," Paul thought to himself as he followed her to a small table.

"My name is Susie and I'll be your waitress for today. Would you care for any coffee while you check over the menu?"

"Yes, please." As the waitress poured his coffee, Paul noticed a small locket on her necklace. "Do you like horse?" he asked.

She gave a little start. "Why, yes... Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I was just admiring the small horse on your necklace," Paul answered truthfully. "I just finished building my last barn a few weeks ago. I own the new ranch a few miles out of town by the foothills."

Susie gave a start and almost spilled the coffee she was pouring. "Oh, yes. I've seen it on my way to and from work. I was wondering who ran the place. It's *gorgeous*!"

"Why, thank you," Paul said a little bashfully. "By the way, my name's Paul McGregor. I've been fighting the weather to get the barns finished before breeding season starts. The paint still looks wet on the breeding barn."

Susie's senses were reeling. This was the owner of the ranch that had the stallion she'd secretly visited the night before. "Act cool. He doesn't know you from Eve," she thought. "Nice to meet you, Paul. I haven't seen you around town before. Are you from around here?" Susie asked automatically.

"Well, I grew up about fifty miles from here. I liked the area here and decided to put up shop. If you'd like, I can show you around the place sometime."

Susie was at a loss for words. Well, she'd wanted to meet the owner and now here he was confronting her. It was too much to comprehend at the moment. "Would you care to order now, or would you like some more time to look over the menu?" she asked slightly flustered.

"Oh, I still need a little more time to decide."

"What are you doing, Paul?" he thought. "That looked like all the world like you were coming onto her. Too much isolation has dulled your social skills."

When Susie came back, she tried not to look nervous. "Be calm," she told herself.

"Well, Mr. McGregor, what'll you have this morning?"

"I'll have the biscuits and gravy... With English muffins and O.J., Paul answered. "Oh, and I'd also like some milk."

Paul ate his breakfast in relative silence. Susie dutifully refilled his coffee cup when it got low. As Paul was just finishing and preparing to leave, Susie came up to him.

"Mr. McGregor, if the offer's still open, I'd love to stop by and see your ranch sometime."

Now it was Paul's turn to be caught off guard. "Oh, well, uh... Great! I'm there practically all the time. Just give me a call to let me know when a good time for you would be."

"Well, I normally work the breakfast shift. I'm off tomorrow. If it's not too inconvenient, can I stop by then, say, around 7 A.M.?"

"Well, that's right after feeding time. Sure, why not. As a matter of fact, If you can make it a little earlier, you can help feed."

**********

Susie slept fitfully throughout the night. She had another dream about her riding Paul McGregor's stallion nude in the moonlit meadow. By the time morning rolled around, she was wound up like a coiled spring. As she tried to unwind in the shower, she realized that she was extremely horny. As she soaped herself, she made lazy circles around her nipples and began to rub her clit in the steamy shower. She cut her activities short when she realized that she had to meet Paul in time to feed. She wanted to make a good impression on him.

As she pedaled her way down the road, she kept telling herself, "This is not a dream. It's actually happening."

She pulled up to the drive leading to the large ranch house. Looking around, she caught sight of the stallion from a couple of nights ago that she knew all too well. He had spotted her as she pulled into the drive and trumpeted a call of recognition to her. The door to the house opened up and Paul stepped out.

"Morning, Susie."

"Good morning, Mr. McGregor. Quite the watchdog you've got there."

"Oh, King. Yes, he's top dog on this ranch. He's got it pretty easy right now, but pretty soon he's gonna have his hands full," Paul said half jokingly. Susie looked at King sideways and gave him a very knowing smile. "Well, let's get the horses fed. Then I'll show you around the place."

They started feeding at the mare barn and Paul introduced Susie to his three mares. "This bay mare here is Sasha," Paul said as he checked over her legs and body. Sasha stopped her chewing and gave Paul a loving nuzzle on the cheek.

"She's so slick and shiny," Susie said. "Do you keep her blanketed at night?"

"No. The barn is heated. These mares are under lights. The extra light at night tricks them into thinking that it's spring. They shed their coats and begin cycling earlier than in the wild."

"Oh, yes. I've heard about that," Susie replied.

"You're familiar with equine reproduction?" Paul asked with genuine curiosity.

"Well, most of the stuff I've learned from reading books in the library. But I have seen a few breedings in the past."

"That's interesting," Paul said as he closed Sasha's stall door. "Let's have a look at King."

Paul led King out of his stall and petted him on the side of the neck. "Say hello to Susie, King. He's real gentle, Susie. Come up and pet him."

Susie thought to herself, "Oh yeah, I know *exactly* how gentle he is," and presented her hand to King to sniff.

King's ears were pricked forward in recognition. **This is the mystery mare!** King thought. **Is Paul presenting her to me?** King gave Susie a nicker of recognition. When no restraint was forthcoming from Paul, he took a step forward and nickered more insistently.

Paul made King take a step back. "Pet him here on the neck. He likes being scratched underneath his mane."

Susie scratched King while he made goofy faces and curled his lip out. He was blissfully enjoying the scratching and craning his neck out when Susie stopped scratching. King's head dropped down and rested on Susie's shoulder. He took the opportunity to take a deep sniff of her. "Heeee, huh, huh, huh," King let out lowly, certain that this was a mare being teased to him.

"Easy, King!" Paul said as Susie retreated a few steps back. "He's been getting pretty excited lately. It's close to breeding time and he wants to breed. Unfortunately, it's too early in the season to breed any of the mares. We can't have them foaling in December! I'd better put him away and let him eat his breakfast."

Paul left King to start in on his hay while they made their way to the breeding barn. "I'm sorry if it still smells a bit in here," Paul said. The paint takes a little longer to dry in this damp weather."

"Oh, that's OK, everything looks so new and fresh!"

"Well, that's soon gonna change," Paul said. "I have some mares coming in next month to be bred to King. I'm hoping to get things running fairly smoothly before then. As a matter of fact, I need to collect King today and check out his fertility."

"You're going to do that all by yourself?" Susie asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah. I suppose. I was going to ask one of the guys I have cleaning stalls help me. But, they seem kind of uneasy around King. I know King pretty well. It shouldn't be any big problem."

"Mr. McGregor. If you don't mind me offering, I'd like to help out with the collection. If that's OK with you, that is."

Paul thought about it for a while and then asked, "You say you've worked with horses before? You aren't afraid of having some lustful stallion trying to run the show?"

"I'm very comfortable around horses," Susie said truthfully. "With you telling me what King responds to, I'm sure I can help out."

"Great! Then we'll get to it after he's finished his breakfast. Speaking of which. I haven't had mine. Would you care to join me?"

"I'd be delighted, Mr. McGregor," Susie said a bit too quickly.

"Fine. And *please*, call me Paul."

About that time, the two guys pulled up to clean stalls. "Morning, Mr. McGregor," they said almost in unison. Their eyes glancing from Susie to Paul and back.

"Morning guys. This is Susie. I've been showing her around the farm this morning and we're just getting ready to have some breakfast. There's coffee brewing if you want it. You know where it is."

The two of them muttered their greetings and then watched as Paul and Susie made their way to the truck. "Right on, Paul!" one of them said sotto-voce.

**********