Chapter 181 – Jet Ride
Once they took off, Frank looked over at Jack.
"So tell me more about the horses that we are going to be looking at." Frank said.
"We are going to actually be looking at three horses." Jack said. "They are all Irish Sport horses."
"Remind me again." Frank said. "Those are crosses of what?"
"Irish Draughts are commonly crossbred with Thoroughbreds and Warmbloods to produce high-quality sport horses." Jack said. "This cross is termed the Irish Sport Horse (or Irish Draught Sport Horse here in the US). All three of the ones that we are looking at are crossed with thoroughbreds and are registered as Irish Sport Horses."
"Okay." Frank said. "Nice horses. What color and how big?"
"The two jumpers are five years old." Jack said. "They are both bay colored, with dark manes and tails. They also both have darker legs and one had some white on the bottoms of the legs as well. Right now they both stand just over sixteen hands. They might get a bit bigger, but probably won't hit seventeen hands. They are half brothers and fully trained in show jumping, cross country and dressage."
"So the girls could do eventing with them?" Nathan asked.
"Yes, if the girls wanted to." Jack said. "I know that they have taken some lessons in dressage, but have yet to have horses that were properly trained for it."
"Another point for these two." Frank said.
Jack nodded. Elizabeth was listening to them talk and was once again amazing at Jack's ability to recall information. She was also impressed with how much he knew. She knew that he had obviously done his homework, but she was learning that Jack usually went beyond the basic first glance information.
"So good bloodlines?" Frank asked.
"Yes." Jack said. "The dam was a thoroughbred that did well on some local tracks in Canada, so I know that they have some speed. The sire, obviously the Draught, is a champion fox hunter in Ireland."
"Impressive." Frank said. "So tell me about the third."
"The third is a three year old stallion." Jack said. "He is black in color."
"Are the two jumpers gelded?" Nathan asked. "I don't remember if you said it or not."
"No they are not." Jack said. "I won't have cared one way or the other, but I do actually prefer to not geld a horse unless it is needed. If a horse is trained right, they won't develop bad habits that can be common among stallions. I do however see why people do it. I have always thought that it was best to do it before they are two, but we have done it with older horses as well."
"So back to the three year old." Frank said.
"Is he also a jumper?" Elizabeth asked.
"No, not specifically." Jack said. "He is halter and saddle broke, but not specifically trained for one thing or another. He is not quite as big as the other two at just over fifteen hands. The best part is that his sire is a full brother to the sire of the other two."
"What about the dam?" Nathan asked.
"She is a thoroughbred broodmare for a stable over in Ireland." Jack said. "She had a decent racing career before they bred her. The guy bought this horse as a yearling in an auction over there. He told me that he was planning on training it as a jumper as well for his other grandchild."
"And you said that the jumpers were for his granddaughters?" Nathan asked.
"Yes." Jack said.
"So why is he selling them?" Frank asked.
"He didn't go into it much." Jack said. "But from what I understand, his granddaughters are no longer going to be jumping. He could have sold them at auction, but he wanted to keep the jumpers together since they have been stallmates since birth."
Both Doug and Elizabeth were sure that Jack knew more about the situation than he was staying. Both knew Jack to not leave it with that vauge of an answer. Elizabeth wanted to ask Jack more about the situation, but she wondered if he would even share. She made a note to ask him later when they were alone.
"I can see that." Frank said. "Splitting up horses that have spent that amount of time together can be hard on both horses."
"Another reason that I wanted both." Jack said. "Not only do I need two horses for Doug's sisters, but the fact that these two are used to being together will make it easier for the girls to learn to ride either of them. I think that this is going to be as close to twin horses that I am going to be able to find. I know that there are some twins who don't want everything alike, but from what I can tell Maddie and Missy like having 'twin' things. Even when they pick out things separately, they tend be more alike then not."
Doug nodded as he knew exactly what Jack was saying.
"So if you don't mind me asking." Frank said. "What is the guy asking for the jumpers? With those bloodlines, they won't be cheap."
"He is asking thirty-seven thousand Canadian apiece for them." Jack said.
"So that is what in American?" Frank asked.
"The conversion rate is about ninety-six cents on the dollar." Nathan said. "So would be just over thirty-five and half thousand American each for the jumpers."
Everyone looked at Nathan.
"What?" Nathan said.
"How did you know that?" Frank asked.
Nathan ducked his head, but also didn't say anything. Jack was impressed. He knew that he was good at math, but even he didn't know the conversion rate off the top of his head.
"Do you know what he is asking for the three year old?" Frank asked.
"Not specifically." Jack said. "I do have a check for one hundred thousand for all three, I doubt that it will be more than that and I am being generous on the third since he is not specifically trained for anything."
"Think he will agree?" Nathan asked.
"I hope so." Jack said. "He knows that I am his best shot at keeping the jumpers together."
"Then I will hope for the best." Frank said.
They guys started talking about various other horses. Elizabeth closed her eyes and snuggled into Jack's side. She may have had her eyes closed, but she was listening carefully to the conversation that was going on around her. She realized that Jack was right about Frank and he sounded like he was knowledgeable about horses.
By the time that Gran, Abigail, Becky and Lee took a break to get things ready for lunch, they had two batches of peanut butter cookies done, a batch of molasses cookies and a batch of brown sugar cookies done. They had the refrigerator cookies left. They had also pulled everything to make sugar, chocolate chip, and shortbread cookies. Abigail agreed to stay and help for a bit. She called Peter and had him put the roast in the crock pot so supper would be taken care of. Gran put some chicken breasts in the crock pot so that they would also have supper taken care of.
James came up to eat, just as the piano guys arrived. Lee was totally shocked that they had gotten Jack a baby grand piano. Gran, James and the rest sat down to eat as the piano guys unloaded and brought in the piano. Gran offered them some cookies, but they declined saying they had another delivery to make. Lunch was a quiet affair as they all wanted to eat and get back to work.
"James." Gran said. "Just remember that I have a ladies guild tonight. I have chicken in the crock pot so supper is taken care of."
"What time is it?" James asked.
"We are having a supper meeting." Gran said. "So six. I will leave by five thirty."
"Okay." James said. "Call Chris or Katie if you have problems."
"I will." Gran said.
"Don't worry about things." Lee said. "I will make sure that things are taken care of ."
"Thank you." Gran said.
James grabbed a few cookies and headed back to the office. He had let the group know that Opal might come up to the house after they have lunch in their apartment. Gran had said it was fine, there was plenty for her to do or she could help with cookies. After James left, Abigail and Lee quickly cleaned up the lunch dishes as Gran checked out the new piano and Becky started putting cookies into containers.
Just as they were going to start cookies again, there was a knock at the back door. Gran saw that it was Katie and Opal, so she went over and invited them in.
"I am sorry." Katie said. "Opal wanted to come up here. I told her that you might be busy."
"It is no problem." Gran said. "We are baking. She can help or she can play with some of the toys."
"Can I help bake?" Opal asked.
"Yes, you may." Gran said.
"I will be back to get her as soon as I am done." Katie said.
"Don't worry about it." Lee said. "Gran is leaving by five thirty. I can bring her down to the stable. I told Jack I would check on the horses."
"Thank you so much." Katie said.
She then turned to Opal.
"Be good and listen." Katie said.
"I will." Opal said.
Katie left to head back to work. Opal went to wash her hands so she could help with cookies. When she came back, Gran took the opportunity to introduce Abigail and Becky to Opal. They had a fun afternoon making cookies together.
The jet landed in Bancroft just under two hours after they had taken off from Albany. They were met by airport staff and after a few questions were shown to their vehicle. They buzzed into town and grabbed some McDonald's since it was lunch time. Once they had their food from the drive thru, Nathan punched the address into the GPS and Frank headed to the ranch. Jack had sent a message to the owner when they had landed to let him know that they were on their way.
Thirty-five minutes after they left McDonald's they pulled into a quaint little farm. They saw a mare and foal in one field and what looked like some goats in another field. Elizabeth snapped some photos of the goats. As they pulled into the yard, they saw that the farm also had mini highland cows. Elizabeth was excited.
"Can I get some pictures while you look at the horses?" Elizabeth asked.
"We can ask." Jack said.
As they pulled up to the house, an older gentleman stepped out. Frank parked the truck and they stepped out.
"Mr Thornton?" The man said.
"I am Jack Thornton." Jack said. "You must be Mr Giroux."
"Yes." Mr Giroux said. "Please call me Carl."
"Jack."
"I didn't expect a houseful." Carl said. "Who do you have with you?"
Jack went about introducing everyone. Each stepped forward to shake Carl's hand.
"Mr Giroux." Elizabeth said. "While the guys see the horses, can I get some photos of the mini cows and the goats."
"If that is what you want." Carl said. "Just don't cross the fenceline."
"Of course." Elizabeth said. "Thank you so much."
Jack gave Elizabeth a quick kiss and she practically skipped over to see the mini cows. Jack shook his head. He realized that they might end up with some mini cows in the future. He had never seen Elizabeth quite as excited as she was about mini cows. Carl watched Elizabeth happily head to the cows as well.
"It must be a girl thing." Carl said. "My wife, daughter and granddaughters all are the same way. I only have them because my wife and daughter fell in love with the little buggers."
"I will admit that they are kind of cute." Doug said. "I am sure my sisters would love them."
"See a girl thing." Carl laughed.
"Well, let's go see some horses." Jack said. "We have a schedule to keep as we need to be in Toronto later this afternoon."
"Your friends are free to wander around if they want while we look at the horses." Carl said.
"If you don't mind." Jack said. "I would like them to come along. The jumpers are for Doug's ten year old sisters and both Frank and Nathan are well versed with horses."
"Fine by me." Carl said. "So the jumpers are for a set of twins?"
"Yes." Doug said. "My sisters. They are jumping on a pair of fifteen year old thoroughbreds right now, but need different horses to move up the levels. Hopefully these work. We didn't tell them just in case."
"Understood." Carl said. "Well, they are Irish Sport five year olds. I trained them myself. They were supposed to be for my granddaughters, but …. things have changed. I know that I could have sold them at auction, but I was really hoping to keep the pair together. They have rarely been apart since they were born two days apart. For some reason the one mare rejected the little colt. We put it in with the other mare and she accepted it, so they were raised as twin horses."
"Cool." Doug said.
"So what are their names?" Nathan asked.
"Their barn names are Bubbles and Squeak." Carl said. "Their registered names are Sir Bubbles of Donegal and Sir Keegan of Donegal. We called him Squeak because that was the sound he made when he was drinking from a bottle."
"Neat." Doug said. "My sister will love the names."
Carl led them over to a grazing pen that had three horses in it. It was obvious to everyone that these were the three that Jack was wanting to buy. Carl grabbed a treat bucket and shook it. Bubbles and Squeak immediately ran over to get a treat. After giving them each a treat, Jack and Doug took a few moments to look over the horses.