Okay, a while ago I posted about a nebulous idea I had for a story in which an unscrupulous stallion owner whose champion stallion is infertile substitutes an Appaloosa, with colourful results for mare owners. Discussion ensued--more than I planned on, for sure, because it was strictly at the hee-that-would-be-hilarious stage and had not yet risen to the level of an actual plot.

However. The discussion pointed up some areas of weakness in the initial idea that I'd have thought about if I'd taken it a step further. And after the discussion I actually did think about it a little more seriously than I'd bothered to previously.

What's the point of the inundation of Appaloosas? Just that--the spotty baby horses showing up where they're not expected. The unexpected Appaloosa arrivals struck me as the sort of event that would be funny as hell--if it happened to some other mare owner. (In my case, of course, any arrivals of Appaloosas would be fervently hoped-for.) The story is a murder mystery, but I actually planned to think up some other motive for the murder: the foal scam is just how the perspective characters get involved. The stallion owner was going to have given plenty of other people reason to be much angrier at him.

When I got thinking about it, though, the thing I was left with was, I liked the idea because it struck me as a good joke.

And there we have it: it's got to be a joke. An elaborate, somewhat nasty joke.

Ta-da!

So: the stallion owner (who in my mind is starting to resemble Ronnie Hawkins) is fairly recently divorced and doesn't get along with his ex. He's got a malicious sense of humour but is basically not a bad guy. The ex-wife is a little tightly wound, but also basically all right. The local horse community is elaborately tactful because it's a small one and nobody wants to get in the middle of a fight.

The main character is a young woman who teaches some lessons at a local barn, where she used to keep her Appaloosa gelding, Willie. Willie died of colic a few months ago so she's between horses, and the barn owner lets her ride her youngsters. (For convenience we'll call the stallion owner Ronnie, his ex-wife Mary Lou, the main character Julie, and the barn owner Charlene.)

In the divorce Ronnie and Mary Lou each kept the horses who were registered in their names--she has a couple of thoroughbred broodmares and her jumper, and he has his quarter horse gelding he rides in team penning. But they also owned a young stallion in common, and the horse is pretty much Ronnie's pet. So the deal was that he retained physical custody of the stud but she could breed to him.

While all this was being worked out, Ronnie was diagnosed with lung cancer, and his outlook wasn't good.

Because he and Mary Lou can hardly be in the same room together, they agree the first breedings of her mares will be via transported semen. (I need to check on whether the Canadian Sport Horse Association will register foals conceived in this way. I know the Jockey Club won't, and the AQHA will, so if CSHA demands live on-site cover or I can't find the info I'll just have Mary Lou breeding appendix quarter horses.)

Julie and Charlene get involved when Ronnie talks Charlene into a test breeding with her QH mare, Calista. Charlene is an old friend of Ronnie's and although she points out that she's not interested in a great big ol' English-type horse, she finally goes along with him. She knows Mary Lou well and has some sympathy with Ronnie's explanation that he just wants to make sure everything goes well so he won't need to deal with Mary Lou any more than is necessary this breeding season. He's philosophical about "kicking the bucket" but there's some aggravation he says he doesn't need.

So after Calista is confirmed in foal, Mary Lou's mares are bred. Calista foals first. Julie, the App fancier, is present at the birth and thinks the leopard baby is wonderful, just a dream foal. Charlene's first comment is, "The old bastard!"

The next morning Charlene heads over to confront Ronnie (Julie is tagging along because this is too good to miss) and that's when they meet the App stud he has stashed. They both recognize him on sight:

Charlene: "That's the few-spot stud Linda Robinson used to ride in the pennings! He always throws a ton of colour! The old bastard was counting on it!"
Julie: "I always did like that horse."
Charlene: "Well, I know where you can get a good deal on one of his babies! And the old bastard must have known I'd offer the foal to you!"
Julie: "I could name him Waylon..."

By this time Ronnie is not in very good shape but he's delighted with his joke and the anticipation of Mary Lou's reaction. He points out that once he's kicked the bucket, Mary Lou will have the original stallion all to herself and be able to breed as many mares as she likes. Julie and Charlene agree it was a really dirty trick, but what are you going to do to a guy who's already dying of lung cancer?

Well, murder him. Which someone does.

Obviously this is just a sketch of one element of the story, there would need to be more going on and more characters with other agendas. I'd want to make both Ronnie and Mary Lou essentially sympathetic, though the sort of people Julie can only take in small doses.

Who knows if it'd hang together as more than a sketch, or if I'll still be interested in it when I finish with Kowalski. However, it's fun to think about.