Blame it on my mind (Sara)

[Laurena Sithis]

Laurena dismounted Lady, after a grueling flatwork session. Lady had been in a moving trailer for the past 5 days, as they had both just moved here from Kentucky. Lady was 5 days late on their next schooling session, and she was frisky as ever to get out in the ring.

Laurena led Lady over to the wash racks, where she would give the mare a warm bath. She wasn't sweaty, but it was quite cold, and a cold bath would be just plain mean. The fjord tossed her head as her owner hooked her up the cross-ties. She ran her bridle and saddle back to the tack room. The smell of leather wafted into her nose and she placed her tack in their respective spots. She rolled her eyes at the western saddles.

They're just so.. primitive looking....

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Laurena has never been a true fan of western riding, but has a great respect for those who do. After she returned to the wash racks and located the hose, she turned the nozzle to get the warm water. Low water pressure at first, Lady enjoyed the warm bath. She whinnied in content. As she hosed her mare down, she couldn't help but feel a hint of loneliness; she has only met a handful of people, and her only true friend is her mare. She sighed.




[/color]

[Sara Jane Lyena]

Sara sighed as she got out to the pastures and saw the brown mess that was her horse. Grimacing at the gelding as the once-paint horse approached the fence, she joked out loud, "Rolo, when I let you out here, I would have sworn that you were mostly white." She took the gelding's dark green halter and lead and buckled it around the paint's head, then lead him out of the gate, "Cinder, pars." The red and white malamute came from where Sara had left him, at the edge of the pasture fence, and bounded over to follow at the girl's right side, his lead dangling from his collar.

As she led the gelding to the wash racks, she could see another girl and her pony already there, seeming to have started. She smiled quietly at the girl, then led Rolo to a wash rack two down, leaving a space between herself and the other pair. She tied Rolo to the bar, then patted his shoulder, "Wait here." She pointed to her left side, "Calx." The malamute switched into his usual position as her left side.

After grabbing her wash bucket from the Red Willow barn, Sara returned. She dropped the bucket at the edge of the rack, sent Cinder to lie against the tap, then grabbed the hose and turned it to lukewarm water. Carefully checking the temperature, she started running the water over her gelding's back, trying to soak some of the mud off.

[Laurena Sithis]

Laurena glanced over her shoulder as someone came up behind her. She heard the familiar clacking of horses hooves against the ground, which just so happened to be her favorite sound. The girl behind her came paired with an extremely muddy horse, and an extremely cute dog.

Oh my god, what happened that your horse!

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She giggled, and smiled at the girl. She stopped hosing down her own mare, and had thrust her attention completely on the muddy horse, which was quite a riot. She watched as the girl started to him water down, and how the mud, as stubborn as it was, seemed to protest with each water drop hitting the gelding's coat.

Goodness, that looks like it's going to take forever and a half.

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Lady stomped her hoof impatiently, as if to tell her to get the warm water back on to her coat. She figured that after she finished bathing Lady, that she will need to go get her blanket. After she finished up running the warm water over her coat, and turned off her hose, and headed for the tack room, in search of her blanket. After rummaging through her unpacked things (hey, she just got here), she located the blanket. She walked back to the wash racks, where the other girl was still washing the muddy gelding.



[/color]

[Sara Jane Lyena]

When Sara came back with her washing supplies and had started wetting down Rolo, she heard the other girl's voice. Resisiting the urge to come back with a snappy 'he rolled in the mud', duh-like statement, she made a joke out of it, "He decided that he wanted to be pampered like those models who take mud baths." She loved her gelding, but the clumsy paint loved rolling in the new mud just a bit too much. Sara didn't complain, though, as she used one hand to hold the hose steady, using the other to try to get the worst of the mud onto the floor. Rolo rested his head on the bar that he was tied to, and Sara smiled as she continued working. After finishing the gelding's hindquarters, she slowly moved up his body, until she stopped about half-way down his neck. She looked over at the girl, who had just left her horse for a moment, presumably to grab something. She loved the pony's mane, which stuck up for the most part. As the girl returned, she smiled and asked, "Is your pony a Fjord? I love her mane, the way it sticks up."

[Laurena Sithis]

Laurena laughed, a bit too hard, at the girl's joke about her pony wanting to be a model.

Well, he sure does look like one! Now his coat will be very soft under that mud!

While the girl continued rinsing her gelding down, she turned back to her mare, Lady, and put the blanket over her back.

Yes, she is a fjord! And thanks! Her mane is a bit mohawk-y, but I love it.

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She crouched down under the mare, to clip the blanket into place. It was a nice, deep red colored blanket, with enough weight to it to keep her mare, who is acclimated to California's weather, warm during the cold nights. She frowned at the way the blanket fit the mare; it made her a bit wider than she actually is.

You know, the best thing about owning a Fjord is the fact that I don't have to slave over plaiting her mane for shows!

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She smiled, and remembered a time when everyone at her old barn would spend a lot of time doing their horses' manes, while she sat around just spit shining away at her boots. However, she does regret that she has never taken the proper time to learn how to correctly plait a mane. She smiled, and starting working out the knots in her mare's tail. Brushing her mare's tail remains one of the most relaxing exercises in her life. [/color]

[Sara Jane Lyena]

Sara smiled as she had guessed right, "Those Mohawks make them stick out a little bit." It would bother Sara trying to brush it, but it was a neat enough feature when admired from a difference. As the other girl spoke of the braiding that she didn't have to do, Sara grinned, "Well, then, English rider, maybe you went to the wrong side." She rubbed Rolo's neck. The gelding's mane didn't get braided for anything, although Sara had been thinking about doing a few loose braids to get it to grow out even more. As much as the longer hair would bother her, she knew that long, flowing manes captured attention in the ring, especially on the spins. Finally having gotten most of the mud off of one side, Sara stepped back, planning on moving to the other side. The time it had taken, though, was a bit longer than she had planned. Dropping the hose carefully, she rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a portable water bowl. She used the hose to fill it up with cool water, then set it in front of Cinder before picking up the hose again and changing the temperature back to lukewarm to tackle the next side.

[Laurena Sithis]

Oh, totally! At shows, those stuck-up hunter girls look at me like I'm riding a freaking zebra or something! Like they've never seen a horse that isn't a warmblood.

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The dorsal stripe that ran from the mare's forelock down to her tail was a deep black, and made her mane and tail very distinctive, especially in the show ring. She laughed at her own joke, a characteristic that she gets a kick out of. She continued brushing her mare's tail, trying to get it as soft and flow-y as possible. The mare would periodically swish her tail, setting back her work of getting it knot-free. The girl next to her called her an "English rider", which came as a surprise.

So, since you called me an "English rider", I'm assuming you do not ride English. Do you ride Western, then?

[/right]

She turned and rolled her eyes. Western riding was just never really interesting to her, and it carried a stigma along with it, that she didn't like. But, the girl to her side didn't really fit the stereotype of a Western rider, which came as a surprise. Nevertheless, she figured she may as well give the girl a chance. Who knows.

She finished brushing her mare's tail, and moved up to brushing out her forelock, trying to make it as puffy as possible. [/color]

[Sara Jane Lyena]

Sara laughed at the joke, "Yeah, I hear zebras have those Mohawks as well, although I thought they had stripes." She raised an eyebrow as she glanced over the mare critically, "Sorry, I think your horse is missing one of the criteria for that." She turned back to her work of scraping off the gunk that had started drying on Rolo's skin, wetting it first, then using her hand to get the worst of it on the ground. Her shirt and pants were splattered with the stuff, and Sara grimaced, knowing that a ride was probably out of the question for the day. She patted Rolo's neck good-naturedly and spoke to the gelding, "I'm not putting you out in the pasture again, though. You won't get out of two days of training."

She heard the dislike of the style of riding she did in the other girl's tone, "Don't knock it 'till you've tried it." She clapped a hand on Rolo's neck, "Rolo here and I compete in reining together, yes." She paused, "My other horse, though, seems to prefer running the barrels to just spinning around for no reason." She focused on the task at hand, seeing an end to her task coming closer.

[Laurena Sithis]

Laurena had always been very bad at identifying sarcasm. So, naturally, when the girl made the zebra comment, she couldn't help but wonder if it was meant to be snarky or not. She went with her gut, and figured that she was trying to be rude.

Oh, I'm quite aware that she has no stripes. I just used a Zebra for the sake of an example, you know.

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Her mare's forelock was starting to come along nicely, getting puffier with every stroke of the brush. She was almost done preparing her to back to her stall for the night. She pulled her tail bag out of the wash box, and starting to tie up the mare's tail, so it doesn't get tangled overnight. She went back to the mare's head, and tickled her nose. She frowned when she noticed her wintercoat starting to grow in -- back in southern California, where the temperature never dropped below 65, her and her friends at the stable would clip their horse's coats in mid-December. But here, she obviously needed to let the coat grow in nice and thick, to protect the mare from the harsh weather, something neither of them are used to.

The girl mentioned not to discount Western riding until she gave it a fair shot -- and she agreed, to some extent, but she never can quite get around to it, even when she has nothing else to do.

Well, you see, I would give it a chance if I thought I knew what I was doing. Hell, I don't even know how to put a Western saddle on. But I mean, if you want, maybe you can teach me, so I'm not all ignorant and stuff.

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She smiled at her and tilted her head, trying to show her she isn't as bad as she thinks. [/color]

[Sara Jane Lyena]

Sara rolled her eyes at the girl's tone. Obviously, this girl hadn't gotten the sarcasm. "It's a tiny thing called sarcasm, zebra-girl. I'm pretty sure you would know if your own horse had stripes or not." She lapsed into silence, irritated even more with this girl, who seemed against most of the things Sara held dear. As the other girl said that she might give western riding a chance, if she ever found a teacher to do it. Sara shook her head, already set against the idea, "I don't think that'd be a good idea." She wasn't all that great of a teacher, and she didn't think this girl would be good for her to work with. It already seemed tense between the pair of them, and she didn't even know how well the other girl rode. Forcing a smile onto her face, she added, "Not that I don't think you should try it, I just know I'm a horrid teacher, especially about riding." She used her thumb to direct a spray of water at Rolo's nearly-clean coat, using the spray to get the last of the mud away, "If you really wanted to learn, though, there's a beginner Western class on campus, and I'm sure you could use one of the school's horses."

[Laurena Sithis]

Laurena frowned. The girl obviously didn't want anything to do with her. Just in time, she was just about done combing her mare's mane.

That sounds like a cool idea. I'll check out those beginner lessons.

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She half-smiled at the girl. She couldn't stand when people were rude to her for no apparent reason, and she didn't feel like being around this girl anymore. She grabbed her lead rope from the side of the wash rack, and hooked it up to her mare's halter.

See you around, maybe.

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She unclipped her mare from the crossties, and backed her out of the wash rack. She held up her hand, but didn't wave. She just held it there, and half smiled again.

If I need any help putting on my western boots, I'll be sure to come and find you.

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With that, she lead her mare forward, off to her barn. She was surprised -- she always thought there was this thing called "southern hospitality] in Kentucky, but apparently not. She got all the way to Lady's stall when she realized she left her wash box at the wash rack, still sitting there next to the girl. She put Lady in her stall, kissed her goodbye, and started back towards the wash rack. [/color]

[Sara Jane Lyena]

Sara nodded as the girl said that she would check out the beginner lessons, "The academy has a few really nice, easy horses to learn on." She'd met a few of them in her various lessons, and there were a few she was sure would be wonderful teachers for this girl, if she really wanted to learn. As the girl finished up with her mare and mentioned that they might see each-other around, Sara grinned, "I'm guessing there's a chance of that." It was a small school, after all, and one always had the chance of running into anyone else. At the girl's parting comment, Sara rolled her eyes, "If you need help putting on your western boots, you might be in the wrong grade. They don't even need to be tied." She continued scrubbing the mud out of Rolo's coat, finishing just as the girl came back to grab her obviously-forgotten wash bucket. Smiling, Sara asked, "What was your name, anyway? I don't think I caught it, and if I ever get a call because an English rider couldn't figure out how to put on her Western boots, it'd help if I knew who it was."

[Laurena Sithis]

She grabbed the wash bucket, and just as she was about to turn around to walk away, the girl spoke up.

My name? It's Laurena, but I go by Cal. What about you?

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She laughed at the girl's retort to her Western boots comment. She enjoys people who can dish witty comments right back at her, without getting angry or anything.

Hah, well, just incase I can't figure out how to pull the boots on, I'll let you know. You know us English riders, always lacing up our boots and such.

[/b]
She smiled at the girl, seeing how she would respond to her sarcastic remark. It was almost fun, bantering back and forth with the girl. Laurena loves to test people, by subtly challenging them with sarcastic comments and jokes. The girl was passin the test, thus far. For the majority of her time at Blue Ridge, she has only met really nice people eager to make friends with her, but this girl was so different from the rest. She didn't really show any interest in becoming her absolute best friend, and she wasn't afraid to throw sarcastic responses at her, just as Laurena had thrown them at her. Whether they become friends or not, their relationship would surely be an interesting one. [/color]

[Sara Jane Lyena]

Sara nodded as she heard the girl's name, "Well, I'm not sure yet if it's a pleasure meeting you yet, Cal, or just an added chore, but I guess it can be both." She smiled, "I'm Sara, helper to all of the silly English people who can't get their Western boots on straight." She was starting to rethink her evaluation of this girl, just a tiny bit, not that she would tell her. As the girl continued their bantering conversation, Sara finished getting the mud off of Rolo and started filling her bucket with soapy water instead, so wash the gelding's coat. He was soaked already, why not finish the job and give him a nice bath while she was at it. After filling up the bucket, she walked over to the spigot to turn off the water, then detoured back past Cinder to check on his water. His bowl still had a lot in it, so she didn't worry about him, instead going back to Rolo and picking up the sponge. Running it along the gelding's mane, she asked, "So, what English style do you do with your Mohawk pony, anyway?" The girl had said something about 'hunter', but Sara wasn't sure whether she had just been talking about her critics.

[Laurena Sithis]

She laughed inwardly at the girl's comment. She was actually starting to like this girl, even though they hit it off to a rocky start. Laurena never really had people that didn't like her, as she was normally able to get along with just about everybody, but this girl was different, though it seemed to be making progress.

Haha, well, Sara, regardless of what you think, I'd say it is a pleasure to meet you.

[/right]
She stood there, still holding her wash bucket, as Sara went back to washing her horse. She was actually relieved when Sara finished getting all of the mud off.

Well, my Mohawk pony and I mainly do English Pleasure. Basically we ride around in a circle at a walk, trot, or canter. Boring stuff. But now, I'm hoping to do some Dressage.

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She smiled, remembering all of the shows she had been to, and how they all seemed just about the same. Walk, trot, and canter one direction, do a half circle for a direction change, rinse, and repeat. She was excited, however, to begin learning Dressage.

So, what kind of Western riding do you do?

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She thought of all of the different kinds of Western riding she knew. There was barrel racing. She thought harder. She remember, at all of her English pleasure shows, after English was done, Western riders would go. So there was barrel racing, and Western Pleasure. She smiled at her, awaiting her answer.