Natural Attraction Read Free

double front gates that look to be handmade from wrought iron.  The gates are set well back into the driveway to allow vehicles to pull off the road before the gates open. 
    The gates are hanging on a magnificent set of chunky post and rail timber gate wings that flank the driveway as they stretch towards the road.  The wings then angle out widely to allow large trucks and floats to turn into them so the vehicles are safely off the road before opening or closing the gates.  At the end of each angled wing sits a small, neat garden bed with shrubs and flowers creating a friendly and inviting entranceway to the property. 
    The driveway itself is lined with beautiful old English trees and leads about two hundred meters or so up to a neatly presented, ranch style brick veneer home.  Behind the house I can see an enormous blue- gray American barn and day yards with various horses camped in them.
    The property looks to be about fifty acres in size, with lots and lots of double, single strand wire fences dividing individual paddocks.  The paddocks are bordered with bands of native flowering gums trees, alternated with thick shrubs to provide shelter belts to their inhabitants from all directions.  There are many horses scattered throughout the paddocks, grazing happily on thick, lush pastures.
    This is not exactly the entranceway I was expecting to a property owned by a cowboy.  I suppose I was expecting rickety old barbed wire fences and a plain farm gate entrance.  I wasn’t expecting flowers.  Perhaps this particular cowboy has a neat freak wife, or some hired help to care for his property while he does cowboy stuff all day?
    With property presentation being my first pleasant surprise, maybe I’ll be even more surprised and he will just be an old man who's only too happy to help sort my disaster of a horse out.  I can’t say I know anything about this guy other than Jen got his name off a friend.  She has been told that this old guy called Jack is into natural horsemanship (whatever the hell that means), and he is also into Arabian horses.  This in itself is a rarity as everyone I know is into those ugly assed, bucket headed Quarter Horse horses.   She has also heard that he sometimes helps others out in getting their horses going and solving issues such as bucking or bolting. 
    “Wow.” I say to Jen as she swings into the driveway and pulls to a stop near the post with the button for the automatic gate opener.
    “Wow alright,” she replies as she winds her window down and leans out to press the button that then starts the process of swinging the gates open in front of us.
    “That’s cool,” I say lifting my eyebrows and bobbing my head towards her.  “I’ve got to get me one of those.  It would save me the hassle of getting out to open and shut the gate at my place all the time.”
    “Shit yeah.” Jen approves.  “It would also mean that visitors wouldn’t have to get out and be accosted by your crowd of dogs until we were a bit closer to the house.  It would mean that visitors would have a fair chance to make a run for it and make it inside before being covered in an inch thick coat of yellow dog hair.”
    “Don’t be so melodramatic.  I’ve only got three Golden Retrievers, not a crowd. I’ve also told you not to wear high heels and black dress pants to my house anyway.”
    I scowl at her and then stick my tongue out to add emphasis to my statement.
    Jen grins as she starts to move along the driveway.
    “Oh don’t be in such a foul mood woman, I was only joking.  You know I love those dogs to death and I don’t give a shit about the dog hair.  I was just trying to get a rise out of you because I know you are cranky and here against your will.   It’ll be okay you know.  I have heard good reviews about this old guy and you do need to stop buying and selling all these hopeless case horses and just fix the one you have.  How are your ribs, wrist and head? ”
    “Crap, they are