It's an art (open)

[Gabriel Reese]

"... thinkin’ ‘bout you baby... five-one-five-oh, just this side of loco. I’m goin’ crazy, think I love you baby. I gotta get your number girl, I gotta call you up, I gotta get you ridin’ shotgun in my truck... This little bit of you I’ve got, it ain’t good enough, reah, you got me all messed up... five-one-five-oh, somebody call the po-po..." Gabriel had a bounce to his step and a wide grin on his face as he led the now ex-stallion into the showjumping arena, moving from side to side in tune with his rather off-key singing. It had been several weeks now since he'd had North gelded and the horse seemed t have recovered perfectly, but, being cautious, Gabriel had chosen to wait several weeks before attempting to ride the new gelding.

The horse in question, he knew, was tired of stall and small paddock rest, as he had turned into a demon on his walks and was, even now, acting up, throwing his head and prancing in place, tail swishing in anticipation and ears flicking back and forth wildly as he mouthed the snaffle that sat in his mouth and pulled at the reins, looking this way and that.

"Easy, North-buddy. You're messing up my mojo... Cause, I ain’t never felt like this, no, and I... I just need one kiss, from you and I’ll be good as new..." Gabe closed the arena gate and latched his helmet, glancing down at his clothing (typical schooling clothes, jods and a short-sleeved red band-shirt over a long-sleeved dark blue turtleneck, and typicalriding boots) and then led the large Thoroughbred to the mounting block to get on, as he didn't feel up to vaulting into the saddle as he usually did... North would probably bolt on him in his eagerness to work.

Gabe held the hyper horse still as he settled into the saddle and picked up the reins, though the second the hrse felt contact with his mouth, he threw his head and did try to take off. "Whoa!" Gabriel reinforced the command and pulled the horses head to touch hisknee, creating an effective one-rein stop. "Calm down, we're working, bud." He laughed, petting the gelding between the eyes before letting him have his head back. "Now, walk calmly." The man squeezed round the barrel of the animal very lightly and North stepped off in a somewhat calm manner, though his pace was very fast for a walk, as he had so much excess energy. "Just bear with me, North. There's nothing good about spazzing out and hurting yourself just because you think you need to run." Gabriel grinned at his own words and shortened the reins, asking through leg and seat cues for a slower, more even pace. As the hyper horse walked on, Gabe went back to singing under his breath,grinning again as he felt the horse slowly relax and start moving in time with his singing. At least the horse didn't mind his singing. "... five-one-five-oh, somebody call the po-po... Think I’m losin’ my mind, girl. five-one-five-oh, just this side of loco... Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah..."

[Keri Rocha]

Keri had just enough time in between last period and work to pack her bag with her gymnastics uniform, and another with her Tastee's uniform, change into a pair of should've been close-fitting riding tights, and a Polo with her well used belt. She slid into her paddock boots which she'd gotten three years ago, and pulled on her half-chaps, a purchase from the consignment tack shop just out of her Aunt and Uncle's town. She grabbed her schooling helmet, one which had taken a fall or two, though not enough to damage the shell, and threw it under her arm. Her schooling gloves, holes and all from overuse, sat inside the helmet, waiting to be pulled on again for a ride. She'd sold all of the things her Aunt and Uncle had bought her to ride in, unless she desperately needed it, in order to pay for her two horses she had at Blue Ridge. She sighed as she braided her hair in a loose fishtail to the side and made her way out of the dorm, grabbing her phone and bag before heading down to the barn.

She could tell which horse wanted to be ridden that day, and which was still giving her the silent treatment. She sighed, walking over to her mare, Jackie, and petting her nose softly. "I promise we'll go for a ride this weekend." She said to the unamused mare in the stall. She then turned to her gelding, Cruise, his ears perked high in the air, his eyes bright and shining, wondering if maybe they'd go riding. He'd come a long way from the Modern Day Black Beauty he was when she bought her, and now seemed to trust her more. "Hey, big boy. You ready for some jumping?" She asked him with a small smile. He snorted and shook his body out, preparing for a good workout. She led him out to the cross ties and brushed him down quickly, tacking him up and leading him out to the show jumping arena. She saw who was inside and sighed, stopping her gelding and looking for another arena, but considering there were no more jumps in the others and she didn't have enough time to set any up, it was either share the arena or cancel the ride. She but her lip as she thought it over, and almost turned around when she decided Cruise would be too mad at her if she called it off.

She walked over to the gate and looked to Gabriel on his stallion, wondering if he'd mind. "You think it'd be alright if Cruise and I joined you two?" She asked him, not yet putting her hand on the latch, unsure of what he might say. Maybe North was feeling a little too hot that day, a little unpredictable with him being a stallion and all. He was a stallion, correct? As far as she remembered yes. She waited for an answer while Cruise nudged her in the back, pushing her against the gate to the arena.

[Annabelle Archer]

Trotting to the Red Willow barn, the classes had come to a close for the day. Belle had just come from her dorm where she was doing her homework, she was very much glad to have it all done for the day. Two horses were in this large barn, but one was much newer. Sun stuck head out of his stall, lucky for him his owner had stole him in a carrot. Snapping it into two feeding him the one half and saving the other. Walking a bit further down the aisle the new mare shied away from anyone or thing that passed her doors. From the looks of it she had barely gotten used to the horses on either side of her. "Hi Seren." Belle stuck her hand out revealing the other half of the carrot. "Do you want it or not, cause Sun will gladly take it." She teased trying to coax the mare to take it. The mare made no movements, Belle wanted to work her, so she dropped the vegetable in the mare's bin and walked to the tackroom. New tack had just come in for her. Collecting it all she made her way back out to see the carrot gone. "You silly mare." She smiled. Quickly tacking her up, Seren made no objections to being saddled or bridled. With a pat Belle led the mare out to the jumping arena. Yelling out the customary, "Gate" as she saw there was already a man working his mount in the arena. Using the mounting block for safety, as she didn't know how the mare would react. Seren wouldn't move, "C'mon girl", with a strong squeeze of her calves the mare walked forward a bit and then got into a rthymn of the four beat movement.

[Gabriel Reese]

As he sang on, Gabriel felt the horse relax even more and finally, several long minutes later, North was walking at a steady, medium pace. It was faster than what the man wanted, but slower than what he had been doing before, so Gabe was satisfied. He waited until the horse sighed and then let the reins slip through his fingers so North could stretch his neck out and relax. As the horse did just that, the counselor chanced a look around the arena, not singing any longer but humming under his breath in tune with the son, and in tune with his horse's walking.

Gabe was more than satisfied with the set-up of the arena. There were cross-rails and trot/canter-poles set up in the far side and the jumps started off small, only about two feet in height, before steadily rising and turning into more complex jumps. The final few were of grand prix height, he knew, as he'd set them up earlier that day. The man had no doubts that North could soar over every jump in the arena with ease… as long as he didn't grow too excited and choose to ignore his cues, like he sometimes did. The horse loved jumping, but he was best at cross-country because he could really run between the jumps, and here, he couldn't.

"Alright buddy, you ready to g- Huh?" Gabriel cut off mid sentence his words to the horse and gathered his reins again, cueing for a whoa and adding a verbal reinforcement to it before looking at the gate, where he'd heard the question come from. A confused look crossed his face, but was gone in a second as his mind gave him a name to match the girl's face, and he smiled warmly. "Keri Rocha." He stated, his tone friendly, "I remember you from my first day here." And he did, this was the girl who had deemed fit to leave his presence without gracing him with her name, instead leaving him to read through countless files before finding hers. "You know, I think I flipped through fifty files before I figured out who you were. Yeah, come on in. Don't mind North. He's hyper today, it's the first time he's been ridden since I had him gelded a few weeks ago." Gabe ended it at that and gave her another warm, welcoming smile. He then shrugged and gave the other girl who had entered the arena a smile as well, nodding a greeting to her before looking back at Keri, "Don't worry, North won't do anything." Gabriel asked north to circle to catch the eye of the other girl, the one he didn't know, though he spoke to both girls, "If any of the jumps are too high," He stated, indicating the grand prix level and styled jumps, "I can lower them, if you two would like me to."

[Keri Rocha]

Keri seemed to have caught him off guard, but he almost immediately knew who she was, and she smiled at that. "Well, at least you got your homework done while doing so." She said to him with a laugh as she opened the gate and closed it behind her again, leading Cruise over to the mounting block. Usually, she'd have no problem swinging her long legs over the horse's back, but lately, the saddle seemed higher and higher from the ground, and her legs seemed to have to work harder and harder to get her up there, so the mounting block was her best bet.

Once in the saddle, she could feel all of the energy wound up in the jumpy gelding. She heard Gabriel's assurance of his horse's behavior for the day and nodded to him, strapping on her helmet and sliding her hands into her gloves before taking the reins in her hands and pressing her leg into his side, letting him know she wanted to turn around to follow the direction of the others in the arena.

Cruise was bouncing even at a walk, as he was everyday, it seemed. He was definitely the kind of horse that needed daily exercise, if not, she didn't want to know what would happen. Gabriel's voice broke into her thoughts again as he nodded to the large jumps he had set up in the arena. She saw the smaller ones however, and knew that she'd be fine with those, and she'd attempt the larger ones if she felt Cruise was in a good position to take them on. In response to the man's offer she shook her head, "We should be fine." Keri said to him as she gave Cruise a slight half-halt to remind him he needed to work, not jump on trampolines.

She hadn't exactly acknowledged the other girl who'd come in, as she was busy trying to get herself and Cruise situated for their ride. Now, she looked across the arena and saw her on her horse, riding along the rail, just like the rest of them. She seemed a little older than Keri, though not by too much. It was then that a small throw of his head reminder Keri that Cruise was waiting to pick up the pace, easily lost in boredom. She gave him a small squeeze and he picked up his trot, which she chose to sit for a lap, making sure not to move her legs, or press on his barrel with her heels which were down so far, they seemed to be weighted. 'Heels down' was a command drilled into her mind like one of the 10 Commandments into stone. It was a natural position for her now, and she was glad, seeing as so many people had trouble with it, or so it seemed.

Cruise started to canter around the next bend, ready to go, but was brought back to a trot by Keri, who was now slightly annoyed by his inability to calm down. "I swear you have ADHD." She sighed as she went around, warming him up. If he stayed like this, it'd be a long session for all of them.

[Gabriel Reese]

Gabe humored the thought of starting to sing again, but he knew he was off-key and singing had never been his strong point... and he didn't want to give these girls a reason to poke fun at him, so he stayed silent and simply worked on warming North up. He could feel the gelding's hyperness in his walk and after another lap around the arena, he caught the girls attentions. "I'm going to start with the trot and canter poles, over there, and work my way around the jumps when he's more warmed up." He told the girls before breaking from the rail and asking north for a ground-covering trot as they headed to the far side of the arena.

North went eagerly and when he saw the trot/canter poles, his head rose and ears pricked evem more than they had already been. Gabriel let the reins slide through his fingers and asked for an extended trot as the two reached the area, and North eagerly went over the poles, though he seemed to have forgotten that they weren't a jump, for the large horse took a leap and cleared the final two poles completely.

Gabriel laughed a little as they landed and stopped the horse, walking him around to the first pole again. "Excited, buddy? Well calm down, we're not doing any jumps until you start listening." He told the horse before trying again.

[Keri Rocha]

As she sat deeper in the seat, she tried her hardest to relax her body, knowing Cruise must be sensing her vulnerability. She took a deep breath, reminding herself to keep her heels from touching his barrel, already having learned that he was quick to speed up when he felt the small rubber spurs which were built into her beat up old Ariat paddock boots.

She was still trotting him down the far side of the arena when she heard Gabriel's voice again. She tuned in, not wanting to turn her head and accidentally give Cruise the impression that they were deviating from the rail. She gave him a nod, looking straight ahead, judging by where she heard his voice from, that he was heading down the line near her first, so she reflexively tightened her grip on the reins, which only caused Cruise to prick his ears even higher into the air, bundle up his muscles again, and jerk forward with each stride, confused as to why she wasn't asking him to canter. She released her grip a bit, telling him to settle, but he couldn't. She sighed, starting to canter her large gelding down the rail towards the turn, planning to slow to a stop before Gabriel reached the end of the line, not wanting to cut him off.

Cruise had other ideas, however, taking off at a gallop and heading straight for the turn, his sights set on the jumping line at the other end of the turn; a jump at a height Gabriel had set for he and North to jump, which Keri had never even dared to try yet with Cruise. She sat back and continually half-halted, and sent her heels as far as they could sink in the stirrup irons. The 17.2 hand gelding shook his head high in the air, now headed straight for it, ready to go, ready to jump, ready to fly. Finally, she knew he wasn't going to listen, which was nothing like him, and she grabbed his mane and jerked it back, trying a new approach. He was so close to the jump at this point that when she pulled back on his mane, he stopped on a dime, and, thought she was mentally prepared for it, her body couldn't keep up, couldn't brace itself, hold on, hold back inertia, and the last thing she saw before she closed her eyes was Cruise's nose under her own as she flew out of the saddle, headed straight for the Grand Prix sized jump, face first. Well manure... She thought to herself as she felt the poles hit her face, arms, stomach, and then legs. Cruise stood perfectly still, wild-eyed, and terrified. Maybe it was the fact that his rider wasn't moving in that mess of jumping poles and dust; or maybe it was the fact that this was exactly what had happened before he was first sold.

[Gabriel Reese]

Gabe was focusing on getting North to relax; the hyper horse was really showing off his high-strung TB side, pulling at the bit, mouthing it like a silly youngster… trying to break loose just long enough to take a run towards one of the jumps. Gabriel struggled to get the horse to focus and they zigzagged through the crossrails again, the horse leaping in the air with his front legs at the last one, managing to bolt for a few strides before his owner and rider jerked his head to touch his knee, effectively stopping the gelding in his tracks. "North! Relax!" Gabe barked, his voice coming out harsh as he grew slightly frustrated. Maybe we should have taken a trail-ride… let you run a bit…

He looked up at the sound of hoofbeats, and Gabe's eyes widened as he saw the inevitable crash in almost slow motion. North leapt into the air and skittered sideways when the other rider crashed into the jump, and Gabe was off his back in a heartbeat, jerked the horse to the closest jump set-up and tieing him quickly. The man bolted across the arena to where Keri had taken her spill. Gabriel ignored the girls horse as he reached her side, quickly moving the randomly scattered poles and coughing a little as the dust settled slowly. "Keri!" Gabe's voice was concerned. He may not have known the girl very well, but he was concerned for her well-being. She was a student, afterall, and he was the only adult figure around at the moment, thus responsibility fell to him.

[Keri Rocha]

She had crashed straight into the center of the jump, which left the poles laying both on top of her and underneath of her. She tried to take a few breaths, but having gotten the wind knocked out of her as well as the dust still settling around her was not allowing for it to happen. She started to move her arm, but even the smallest of movements hurt her.

She could hear Gabriel now, as he ran across the ring, yell her name. She wanted to turn her head to see him, but the pole which lay on the back of her neck was keeping that from happening. She closed her eyes, letting the pain sink in. She'd never let a tear fall out of pain, not a day in her life, and today was no exception. Today she let a tear fall because it was the first day she could feel what everyone else could see; she could feel how weak she'd grown. She could feel the weight of the poles crushing the little to no weight of her body.

She tried to move again, to get out from under the poles, but not only did her arm feel broken, her shoulder felt wrong also. She winced as she tried to continue moving, knowing she needed to get up, otherwise she'd scare this poor counselor even more than she already had. She finally caught her breath and went into a coughing fit, trying to clear her lungs of the dirt she'd just taken in. "I'm okay." She said to him with another cough.

[Gabriel Reese]

Gabe almost panicked when she didn't move at first. When she did finally start to move slightly, he relaxed, but only just. Gabe knew that she didn't need to move right immediately, and placed a restraining hand on her shoulder when she started to shift. "Don't move." He told her, his tone serious as he applied a very slight pressure to her shoulder, hoping she'd not fight with him. "We don't know how badly you're injured."

The man waited until he was sure she wasn't going to try and jump up before standing and shifting the poles off her small frame. He finally got them cleared out and kneeled back at her side, her horse and his own forgotten as he focused on Keri only. "Alright, easy…" He said, "Let's get you sitting up, then we'll evaluate your injuries. Hen we'll know if you need a hospital of just the nurse here. Alright, Keri?" The man asked the girl on the ground, eyeing her with much concern. "Just takes things slowly, don't worry about the horses. Mine's tied and yours is still standing here. I think your fall freaked him out." Gabe tried to lighten up the tension in the arena, though it didn't seem to work too well. "Here, let me help you. Not too fast." He said, extending a hand to grasp her arm that didn't seem to be injured. "Tell me if something hurts." He told her sternly.

[Keri Rocha]

She felt his hand on her shoulder, and it didn't matter if she had wanted to move, because under the pressure he was applying on her shoulder, there was no way to could even try to move anything but her legs. "Oh, it's not that bad." She said to him with another cough, but immediately winced at that movement. She was kidding herself; it was pretty bad.

She felt him start to move the poles off of her body and she could already feel the dark bruises starting to form from where they had landed. She wasn't very small, or at least she'd never felt that way before, but today, her 5'8" frame was small compared to everything and everyone around her. Once they were all off, he had her sit up, which she started to do slowly. She pushed with her arm that wasn't obviously injured and immediately winced, clenching her teeth, as pain seared a burning fire in her shoulder. Now she was crap out of luck with getting up using anything on that side. Possibly broken arm, definitely injured shoulder, she just hoped everything was fine on her left side.

She'd almost forgotten about Cruise until he mentioned them, and immediately tried to turn her head to see where the gelding was, which inflicted more pain from her shoulder, or was it her collar bone that was hurting? Either way, she couldn't do it. Then he offered her his hand and she closed her eyes slowly, reaching up with her left arm, trying to keep herself from putting pressure on her right side, knowing it had taken the worst of the fall. He wanted her to tell her is anything hurt, and she couldn't help but laugh lightly at that. "It all hurts." She said to him with a shake of her head.

[Gabriel Reese]

"Not that bad?" Gabe asked, an odd tone in his voice. "You're in obvious pain and it looks like you possibly have a broken bone or two… and it's not that bad?" He asked disbelievingly, "No, look. This is bad. Very bad." He muttered to himself as he helped her to a sitting position. "No further than that. You stay right here, don't try to get up. I'm going to tie your gelding then we'll assess your injuries and… honestly, I think I may call an ambulance." Gabe said softly as he left her side.

It didn't take him long to return to her, and he kneeled in front of her, "What specifically hurts, Keri?" He asked gently as he studied her small frame. She would be bruised, he could tell, but he was more worried about possible broke bones, because it looked like she had at least one or two. Gabe sighed and ran a hand through his hair before fumbling around and pulling a cellphone from its case on his beltloop. "I'm calling an ambulance, you need medical help." He told the girl in a 'no arguments' tone of voice as he quickly dialed the emergency number and spoke into the phone, voice low and tone serious.

[Keri Rocha]

He sounded a bit confused when she said it wasn't all that bad, which would probably lead to disbelief or anger that she was lying. Disbelief was first. He had already guessed that she had at least one broken bone: her arm. 'This is bad. Very bad.' He said to her and she sighed, knowing that he was right. One of her very first rides with her new gelding and she'd already managed to fall off and break a few bones. He was calling an ambulance. She knew before he had even decided that he was going to call an ambulance. Wonderful She thought to herself.

She waited for him to finish typing Cruise down before he came back over and asked her what hurt. "Specifically, my right arm, and something up in this region." She said to him, pointing to her arm and then her upper arm/shoulder/collarbone area with her left hand. He looked flustered as he sighed and ran his hand through his dark hair, searching for his cell phone; but then again, who wouldn't be? It's not like anyone had planned on having to deal with a bad fall that day. No one was ever really prepared for a bad fall, so it scared anyone who saw it. 'I'm calling an ambulance...' He said her her. Called it...[/COLOR] She thought to herself, holding back the urge to shake her head. She didn't want to go to the hospital, but she knew she needed to. What would coach say? They had a meet in a few days and she went and got herself hurt. Sh*t, he's gonna kill me. She thought to herself, now glancing around to see if anyone else had seen her fall, or was watching. As far as she could tell, no one was around, besides the other girl in the ring, but was she even there anymore? She couldn't see her, but then again, she might have been behind her, or maybe she left a little while ago for some reason. She waited as Gabriel called the ambulance, in total 'take charge' tone. She felt bad, she'd ruined his ride on North, and now he had to take her to the hospital too. "I'm sorry." She whispered to him quietly.