[JOHN EOIN RYAN]

August 2023 • outfit + Jett • TY XAVIER WEBBER

John Ryan had left the grooms and his personal assistant in charge of the barn for the day while he took a day trip to London to visit the England's Equestrian Federation Headquarters. It had been a long day, full of paperwork and stopping by to see some familiar faces and peppering them with jokes about how they sold out their days of horses for boring offices. It had been a good time, but like all trips, John felt that yearn to head back towards home after five hours. While the trips never exhausted him, the man was always one for putting on a face and doing networking, he always felt like one of his horses felt the need to be stupid while he was gone.

And sure enough, when he was saying the last of his good byes did he get a text from one of his grooms, Ty Webber, "Shit." He muttered, blue eyes looking over the message, "Fucking Jett." It was serious for John to be throwing around the f-bomb but it could not be helped. The black irish sports horse was his main mount now for show jumping and just about everything else, and currently, his favorite mount as well. The text wasn't very elaborate, just that Jett had hurt himself. John knew why the young man kept it brief and short, he didn't want to freak his boss out while he was a few hours away. Sighing, he texted Ty back that he'd be back as soon as possible.

Loading up into his truck, he headed on his way out. Saying goodbye to the busy streets of London once more and heading back to sleepy but comforting Hickstead. It was the evening by the time he pulled into the lot of Ryan Sports Horses, dusk settling in on the evening sky. Not bothering to lock the truck, he headed inside now and making a beeline towards his horse's stall. Sure enough, a black head greeted him and blue eyes saw the groom close by and in the stall, "Ty, lay it on me. What did he do this time?"

whatever it takes 'cause I love the adrenaline in my veins

thanks aofie!

[TY XAVIER WEBBER]

self-belief and hard work will always earn you success

Even when the boss was gone the barn was busy. There were people complaining why John was gone - resulting in Ty explaining that he was in London for the day. A few people were disgruntled, but accepted their fate. Ty himself asked another groom to give him a flat lesson with Beachie during their lunch break. The mare decided to throw a tantrum - it took the two of them a bit to settle after that. 

He thanked his coworker and pat the mare on the neck, not knowing what was up with her. Usually, out of his three mounts she loved flat work. In the two years of working for the Ryan's, he knew that the horses acted odd when John was gone - it was as if they knew. When Ty dismounted and led the bay mare into the main barn, another groom came running towards him. "Ty, Jett isn't walking right. I just brought him in for a ride and noticed it." The red head lifted his head up, Jett was John's show horse - meaning he had to talk to the boss. Ty often tried his best to leave the boss man alone, as he was allowed to have his time away from the barn. "Great, just what we needed. Here, you look after Beachie and turn her out and I'll deal with Jett." The other groom nodded, gently taking Beachie's reins as Ty took Jett's lead rope. The man gently led the Stallion into a clean, empty cross tie. With one glance, he could see blood drip down one of his back legs. 

With a sigh, he pulled out his phone and called the vet. It was a quick conversation and the team was on their way. Ty made his way over to the injured leg, seeing that there was a small gash - which if he was to guess would need stitches. While he waited for the vet, he pulled out his phone again - sending John a text, warning him about Jett. The vet arrived not that much longer and looked at the wound. "Someone had fun playing outside today I take it." The vet spoke, pulling out a saline solution to clean the wound with. "Of course he picked the day John isn't here to do this." And if he remembered right, there was a show coming up in three weeks. 

The vet treated the wound and put stitches in - leaving Ty with instructions before he left. He thanked the vet and leaned against Jett's stall door. He checked his watch, knowing John would be home shortly. Sure enough, the man approached him. "Someone decided to throw a party in his pen and get a cut. The vet just left. He cleaned it out and put two stitches in. He'll probably have to be on stall rest for a few days though." It wasn't the best news but at least the horse wouldn't need surgery. 

"Of course this had to happen on your day away. I do hope this didn't cause you to leave earlier than you wanted. But, I know how important Jett is to you." He knew John would do the same if something happened to his three - people were also lining up to have their mare's bred to Capitan and Hiroko. "Did you enjoy the visit? Or were they boring as usual?" Ty was sometimes glad he wasn't a pro rider - the media attention would drive him crazy. 

August 10 2023
outfit
JOHN EOIN RYAN

thanks aofie!

[JOHN EOIN RYAN]

August 2023 • outfit + Jett • TY XAVIER WEBBER

Perhaps the good news was that upon laying eyes on Ty Webber, the young man hardly looked worried. John told himself that this boded well, at least, just a little bit. Granted, he paid his grooms to be level headed and non-panicky, but the man was willing to bet that whatever had happened to Jett, had it been career or life ending, Ty wouldn't look as cool as he did in the moment. Nor, did the young man look like sick when he opened his mouth to talk: "Someone decided to throw a party in his pen and get a cut. The vet just left. He cleaned it out and put two stitches in. He'll probably have to be on stall rest for a few days though." The explanation alone was enough to let a sigh escape John.

The black horse himself seemed to sense his human's presence as well, since it wasn't long before Jett was sticking his head over the stall door now looking for treats. A wry smile pulled at John's lips, "You sir, don't get any treats." He informed the stallion now, still giving the horse a good pat on the neck before returning his attention to his groom now, who continued to talk: "Of course this had to happen on your day away. I do hope this didn't cause you to leave earlier than you wanted. But, I know how important Jett is to you.". John smiled now, nodding his appreciation, "Well, I appreciate you taking care of the situation Ty, and handling it with care. I'll see what I can do about giving you a bonus of some sort. And do not protest that."

Bonuses didn't happen very often outside of the competitions, but if an employee of his handled putting out a figurative fire swiftly and efficiently, John Ryan was always willing to express gratitude when it was due, "It's like Jett knew we had an upcoming show. Although, it sounds like he will be back up and running in no time." The man shook his head now at Ty's question, "Nah. I was mentally checked out anyways by the time you called. Just gave me an excuse to leave a bit earlier. No issues at all." Laughter did escape him though, as he mulled the visit over, "Lots of politics over at the headquarters, the kind where you have to pay your respects and shake a bunch of hands to keep the relationships up. I'm sure you and or Harlow will be doing it one day yourself."

whatever it takes 'cause I love the adrenaline in my veins

thanks aofie!

[TY XAVIER WEBBER]

self-belief and hard work will always earn you success

Ty knew accidents happened with horses, though it felt ten times worse when it happened to the boss's horse. The grooms were all well trained enough with horse first aid to do what they could, but there was always the line that needed to be drawn about when to call the vet. He glanced over at the stallion who looked pleased with himself. 

"He won't be too happy about not getting treats. I didn't realize until recently that he is a bit of an attention seeker. Has he always been like this?" Ty liked to think he knew Jett well enough by now, but knew little about his background and where he came from. He knew out of his three horses, Hiroko was the one that always wanted attention - often reaching over his stall door to anyone passing by for a pet on his liver chestnut nose. "It's really just part of my job, but thank you. Maybe I can compete this coming year after all." His fathers had insisted on paying for him to compete as it gave the two stallions he had a chance to shine and get noticed. Ty was honestly just happy riding at home and helping others get ready to show. 

The red head nodded hoping that Jett would recover before the competition. "The vet was pretty hopeful about it. She said she'd come back in a few days to check the incision as well. Do you have another horse as backup?" Ty was lucky enough to have three of his own, though only two of them could jump at the same height. He felt a bit of relief when Ty hadn't interrupted anything too important. It was something he hated to do, though when a horse got injured - the owner needed to be informed. "Well as long as it was just shaking hands and not kissing them. It's something I'm not really looking forward to." He felt his shoulder shrug, glad it wasn't anything he had to do as of late. 

"Don't tell me you had to do interviews or a press conference on top of all this?" 

                                                                               August 10 2023

outfit
JOHN EOIN RYAN

thanks aofie!