This is the In Character thread for the roleplay, if you wish to join in please post in the http://www.roleplaygateway.com/straight-from-the-horse-mouth-t59146.html thread.

William

William couldn't help but appear restless while he stood impatiently at the side of the grime covered street. His warm breath turned white in the cold early morning air, the small white cloud circling away and disappearing into the wind. The faint sound of the main town centre about ten minutes away was unsettling William already, although on the outside of the hardworking horse he appeared to be unscathed by the loud chattering of people, the clashing of hooves against the cobbles and the smell of rotting food and smog which clogged up everyone's throats.

John stood besides William pacing back and forth rubbing his hands together even though he already wore thin gloves that clung to his frozen fingers. John's weary face was half shielded by a hat that he wore and the collar of his coat turned up to block out as much cold air as possible, the icy wind flying around the streets with no mercy to who ever it hit. Even the cob who plodded past them pulling a cart stacked with food would have felt the cold through his thick coat.

Finally, who the pair of them had been waiting for emerged from a house. A sharp businessmen emerged dressed up in fine clothes that John certainly would never be able to afford. His black jacket was perfectly pressed and his shoes highly polished, which compared to John made John look like a homeless man: John had always tried to make himself as smart as possible even with the little money and clothes he had, something that was quite hard to achieve.

"Morning Sir." John said with a cheerful tone to his voice, trying to break the hard exterior this man bore on his heavily wrinkled face. The man simply grunted something and took to the cab that John so honestly held the door open for him. The Growler cab that was hitched to William sunk slightly with the weight of the well fed man sitting inside which was only due to sink more with the weight of John who clambered up to sit on the drivers seat.

"Move up Will." Grunted John who gave the reins a light flicking over William's' well rounded and formed hindquarters. The horse responded with a bounce in his stride moving off into a hasty wall that transported him and the creaking carriage along the damp street...

Mal grazed what small amount of grass he could find. Anymore it was a silent agreement with the other horses in the pasture that this was his spot, and he shall not bother with the others unless it is a grave emergency. He knew the farmer would come out soon to harness him up and put him on the plough today or maybe an other human would use him he could care less, they were all the same to him. Every once in a while one had the mind to groom him and feed him a bit, but never the farmer. His neck got tried from the position he was in and he could no longer find grass so lifted his neck a bit and stretched. He then paced around and looked for a human he had to get out of here. This was madness it was too quiet, every once in a while someone would break the silence with a snort or the stomp of a hoof but no one was communicating what was happening? There had to be some reason. He could feel him self become more and more uneasy with this. What was so important that they became silent?
Then finally the farmer and a man walked in older than the farmer him self no doubt. The man had kind eyes and black hair with grey streaks through it. He had deep smile lines on his face he could tell this human was friendly or at least was good at pretending like master was. Master was grinning and talking happily. What was going on master never had talked about anything around him like that. Mal couldn't understand what he was saying something about, "likes to run in the brambles" , "rolls all the time" and, "winter was hard for 'im". Then he heard
"If you'll give me a minute I'll bring 'im in and groom him so all of this isn't on him." He was ecstatic. Finally cleanliness! Oh happy day! Master slipped a halter on him and lead him into the barn. Soon you could see the true color of his coat and he was groomed well. Master even had the time to take the horrid brambles out of his tail he didn't chop it off either. Master didn't seem to happy to be doing this but he was happy when he saw the man what could this mean. He couldn't be a stud he had been gelded he hated being a gelding he envied the stallions. They wouldn't hang out with him because they thought he liked them and called him a eunuch. He absolutely couldn't be a carriage horse he was too wounded and too scarred so what could this man want from him?
He remembered Master had trimmed up his hooves earlier so he could walk more easily or was it something else that motivated him entirely? What ever it was it was a strong motivation. After a while of pulling his mane and tail and brushing and combing all the grime was off owner then grabbed a long cloth pipe. He then brought Mal out side next to a huge raised basin of water . He fastened the hose on a cast iron nozzle protruding from the basin, and water began to flow out with a lot of pressure. Master then sprayed him with the water and some more dirt came off and oil . Mal couldn't remember when he was ever this clean in his life it was blissful. What ever was happening was good it had to be. Master then got some oil out like wax or the coat and put it on him so his coat shined. Now Mal looked back his hip bones stuck out. He looked at the other horses and they were always well rounded he began to feel self conscious.

Dia's hooves resounded through the stable that housed her and the other Christopher family horses as she was lead out to the courtyard, where her charges waited. The groom handed the mare to young Henry, and Dia lowered her head for little Eliza's hands to pat her muzzle. Eliza's other hand held on to her brother's coat tails, as she was on the very tips of her toes to pat Dia's nose. Her governess was standing off to one side, afraid of the large horse, but Eliza would soon have to return to the thin faced woman as Henry swung himself into the saddle the groom had fastened onto Claudia's back. Eliza let the material slip out from under her fingers, and waved to the pair as they trotted out on the way to a paddock that they usually used to practice.

It didn't take them too long to get there. Henry dismounted quickly, opened the gate and picked up one of the long poles next to the entrance. He lined up the mare, and his pole, with a wooden target, because this was his idea of practicing jousting. Even he himself wasn't sure how he thought this was going to come in handy, but he couldn't deny he enjoyed it, Dia could tell. Dia felt his legs nudge her sides, prompting her to start her charge, as he tried to hold the pole steadily on target. She had her ears turned back, pointed straight into the air, so as she could hear the boy easier. She heard the thump of a glancing blow on the target, and the hiss of her rider being annoyed. Such a temper, she thought with a quiet eyeroll.

William

The sound of metal horse shoes crashing against the cobbled street echoed around the otherwise quiet street. William's face wasn't exactly a picture of enthusiasm, but he still got on with his work loyally, as long as John was kind to him and showed him a bit of compassion, William was willing to carry on with his duty.

Despite the moaning of the man in the passenger cab about the time, they had still managed to reach the bustling train station without picking up the pace anymore than a brisk trot. People bustled around and other horses weaved in and out of each other expertly driven by their drivers who tried to keep their carriages and cabs from getting stuck to others.

"That'l be a shilling please." John said as he let the man out of the cab, William feeling the weight of the cab on his shafts changing suddenly as the cab lightened up.

The old man grumbled something about prices going high and he trudged off, swinging his stick by his side as he pushed his way through the crowd to the station where a large black train was sitting waiting, with a smoking funnel: black smoke billowing into the sky.

Shorty

His bushy mane sprouted out in all directions and straw clung to his tail and a dark muddy patch from the dirt from the rain last night settled on most of his back. Shorty was looking quite grubby as he stood inside his stable, and John's father would be certainly up for some work to make the small Ice cream pony presentable.

Shorty didn't start his work until noon unlike his stablemate William who left early in the morning and returned late in the evening, Shorty had it considerably easy due to him having done all his work in his previous years and in reality he had a well deserved semi retirement, only working for 5 hours a day.

Snuffling at the last few scuffs of hay on the floor of his side of the shack, Shorty took to filling up his stomach as much as he could before chewing tenderly on the stalks of straw. He was quite a greedy pony, and whenever he had the chance of food he would eat it; most likely due to a reflex from his days when food was scarce, but now in his job he usually got fed treats from the younger kids, being greeted with slices of carrots and apples and other vegetables that they had spare.

Master lead Mal out of the barn to the man again. He seems alright, I guess, Mal thought to him self, But don't they all when they're around others?. The man looked him over he checked his muscles and structure. He then said, " Could you hook him up to a carriage or find some tack for riding I would like to see how he pulls and rides." Now this was it the dreaded bit Master put on him it would cut his mouth. He hated that bit. Then Master turned and said
"Why sure sir Ill be out in a minuet to tack 'im up." This was it he could taste the blood in his mouth and feel the pain already. Then Master came out with a bridle and saddle
" I wouldn't recommend riding these horses their a bit.. Large" Master slid the bridle on him and adjusted the size. This bit was different it was smooth and thin.
"Nonsense, 'e's been broken hasn't 'e?"The man said.
"Well yes-," Master was cut off, Master would probably loose his temper now Mal wondered did humans use whips on each other? If so this man was in for it.
"Then there's not any reason to let them go with out being ridden then."The man said. Master nodded and put on the saddle and tightened it on him. Then the man mounted. It took him a bit but he finally did. "Where exactly could you find a saddle of this size?" The man asked.
Master answered "I had it custom made at a leather man's. " The man clicked a little and pressed his heels lightly into Mal's sides. Mal started at a walk and the man pressed again a bit harder and he changed his gait to a medium trot. Mal feel how the man was moving with him and it wasnt exactly smooth. The man pulled the reins back lightly and Mal stopped and the man dismounted.By then Master had the tack out for the Carriage pulling. Mal was untacked and retacked then driven. He went through basic things like turning and how much he could pull. Finally the man was done.
"Overall he did well the ride was rough but its probably because he is underweight but that's an easy fix. He's able to pull alot of weight with out bending or breaking down but Ive heard his breed has a problem that comes about when they are older it was called something like Chronic progressive lymphedema its supposed to resemble scratches. Now is he a Fen or Midlander?" The man asked.
Master smiled and said "Oh, a Fen of coarse."

Henry sighed behind Dia's head, as the mare slowed down and turned to avoid the edge of the paddock. He lowered the tip of his pole to the ground, and patted Dia's neck.
"That was my fault, girl. I held it too low to get a proper hit.” He sighed. He knew he could hit it, he had done it before, but he had been having some trouble with it since. He went to position her again for another try at it. That was something Dia liked about her charge; he just did not give up, especially on this idea of being a knight. She had seen other people from his social standing that gave up on hunts so easily, nevermind truly impossible dreams of being a real knight.

William

The pair of them set off, William at a steady walk pushing their way through the sea of horses and cabs. His ears shot flat back against his head in annoyance of the daily bustle he had to make his way through but the thoughts of food at the end of the day to satisfy his stomach was something that kept him going through it, and also kept him working instead of protesting wildly.

With one forceful push, they made their way to the open street clear of the station, John breathed a sigh of relief, accidents were quite common back in crowded places like the station and main streets, cart wheels were bound to become stuck and it was sure that horses would bound into each other causing injuries to one another through frantic kicks and bites to escape.

John guided William along searching for a new customer. During the morning the streets were usually laden with people searching for a cab, but needless to say those people were usually taken as soon as they asked because any cab driver would take the chance as soon as it came up so no other man could step in and take business from him. Even if it meant galloping your horse through the street and risking a broken leg, the main goal was just to earn some money to put food on the table.

Shorty

The door creaked open, splinters of wood falling to the floor that broke away from the rotting door. Shorty looked up suddenly from the ground seeing John's father Joseph creeping through the door, preparing for work later that day. He was a quiet man, his grey wispy hair was hidden under a flat cap and his wrinkled face creased up against the cold, the wrinkles a picture of hard work over the years.

Looking at the state of Shorty, he set to work brushing out the tangles in his mane and brushing the dark stains off his coat whistling a slow tune to pass the time. Shorty didn't move much, enjoying the attention he was given quite often by Joseph, John's children and the children in the street.

Shorty look somewhat presentable after a good half hour that was spent carefully cleaning him, he always did look quite scruffy, his mane would for ever stick up all over the place and the bottom of his legs would grow dirty due to the puddles in the street. It was a lost cause with Shorty unlike William who looked smart and stayed that way throughout the day....

Pip stood in his dark dusty stall and flicked his ears as he heard the first cage full of miners creaking its way down the shaft. He rested one leg and began to think about what the day might be like.The large stable door swung open with a creak and one of the miners walked into Pip's stall he ran his hand across Pip's back ruffling his matted dirty pelt. Pip stood straight and turned his neck to look at the miner, He was quite a old man with a cheerful but wrinkled face who Pip liked.The man placed a small bucket of food down in front of Pip who took a large mouthful and crunched it through his worn down teeth.

William

William walked along his head bobbing up and down as they patrolled the dark back streets for work. They tended to stay off of main roads as they were dangerous and were more of a health hazard than anything. The streets covered in rotting food, animal blood from the butchers and rats scurrying along occasionally from one drain hole to another; not to mention the smell that rose in the air mixing with the thick black smog clogging everyone's throats.

Coming to a halt, they finally managed to pick up a customer who had a hard expression about himself and a young woman stood besides him who had the same disproving expression upon her face. They clambered into the cab after a few minutes of discussion from the two men, William set off his flanks sweating with his work. His mind was occupied with the thoughts of home, out in the large green fields that stretched for miles where there were other healthy horses who didn't have scars or welts on their skin and their ribs didn't show underneath their skin. William indeed considered himself lucky, luckier than most; listening to stories told by Shorty back home really made him realise that he didn't have it as bad as he thought.

Shorty

Harnessed up to the small brightly decorated ice cream cart, Shorty stood patiently chewing on the bit inside his mouth while he waited for the straps to be pulled tighter around his figure. The cart was brightly decorated with pinks and yellows, all sorts of different colours and on the back and both sides underneath the window was written 'Walsh's Ice cream'. They mainly circulated the richer areas of London - where people had money to allow their kids to buy ice cream.

Setting off, they walked for half an hour through the streets, Shorty's hardened nature to the roaring of the traffic making him oblivious to the rush around him and he carried on plodding along with a distant look in his brown eyes. he didn't necessarily care much anymore about the rushing of the world, he was too old for it now and he just wanted the time to roll around when he could be back in his stall waiting for William to get back...