Why, We've Only Just Begun (open)

[Cora Addison]

Cora shrugged into her heavier riding jacket, knowing that it would become colder in the late afternoon. It was a bit before dusk, and she planned on taking Remi out to train with him a little. The young horse demanded constant work if he was going to become as good a hunter as Cora hoped, and she had all the intentions to do just so. She had on her slate grey breeches and her normal field boots, along with a white long sleeve polo and her brown riding jacket.

She walked down to the Red Willow Barn and met Remi in his stall, happy to see that the horse had settled in well. She's been more worried about him than Fin, and his eating habits had been off for the first couple days, but he seemed to be doing better now. As for Cora, she was adjusting well to her new job, and quite liked her students so far. The housing on campus was also a plus, and she loved being so close to the barns, and being able to train whenever she didn't have lessons. Leading Remi out and clipping him into the cross ties outside of his stall, she groomed him down and then went to the tack room to get his tack. She used a burgundy saddle pad and her jumping saddle that she used for schooling, and wrapped his legs in white. The chestnut seemed to be a little restless, and she knew that he'd be a little more energetic than normal, which could partially be because of the cold.

Once she put on his bridle, Cora put on her GPA helmet and gloves, and led Remi out to the jumping arena. She led the gelding around the ring with her and set up a couple lines to school over that were of a decent height. One consisted of two jumps, and the other of three. Once happy with the distances, she mounted Remi from the ground and gathered her reins, walking him to the rail. After walking him a lap around, she trotted him in both directions a couple of times. Once satisfied with how he was working, she asked him for a canter, which he picked up energetically with a leap, and she slowed him back to a trot. Collecting him, she asked him again and he picked it up nicely. She cantered him in one direction a couple times around, and did the same in the other, making sure that he picked up his canter nicely, as she asked.

[daine3]

He'd been stuck in a depression ever since he'd had the vet put his mare down the other day. The man hated the feeling of hopelessness and had barely done a thing since that day. He longed to reverse time and take back everything, the fall, the divorce, everything... but that wasn't an option in the real world. And he lived in the real world.

Lukas sighed as he walked Deuce towards the showjumping arena. The Quarterhorse, he knew, was confused. Lukas had used him solely as a trail class and obstacle challenge mount, but he did know the basics of jumping, just as he knew the basics of several seperate disciplines. It was necessary for a a horse such as Deuce to know bits and pieces of just about everything.

Luke had had to force himself out to the barn. All he wanted to do was lay on the couch in his apartment and mope, but he also knew that working with his relaining horse would make him feel better, if only marginally. As he approached the arena gate, he played with the horsehair bracelet he'd made from a bit of Holly's tail. It had been easy to make after he'd cut a bit from her tail. Dipped in wax, braided, and the ends closed off with bits of metal. It was all he had left of her and he hadn't hardly taken the bracelet off except for a shower and sleeping.

The man glanced at the english attire his western horse wore and wondered how Deuce would do, jumping. The horse knew to jump trail obstacles, and did so very often. Tall or short, trail obstacles didn't phase the animal, but he hadn't been inside an actual jumping arena in a while. Lukas watched and waited until the other rider was past the gate before calling it, tone downright miserable, and unlatching the gate and entering, leading the blue roan as he closed and relatched the gate.

[Cora Addison]

Cora watched the man walk in with the pretty blue roan, and nodded to him, breaking Remi down to a trot. She kept a safe distance from the other rider, but slowed Remi a bit more as they passed, "You may change the heights of the jumps if you want. I'll be working with the line of two jumps for the most part, but I can work the triple if you'd like to change to heights of the other line." She then patted Remi's neck and asked him for the canter again, trying to stay focused even with the other rider in the ring.

She cantered the warmblood around once, trying to get him to settle into his gait before calling out "Line!" She turned him off the rail towards the line, keeping him collected to get the right distance. They flew over the first jump, which was about 3'3", and continued on to the second which stood at 3'9". She'd set it up so that the lines could be worked in both directions, and planned on raising the jumps later if the other rider didn't mind. Cantering Remi towards the second vertical, she asked him to lower his head a bit, knowing that this was a habit that he should form. The young gelding only shook his head once before complying, and barely altered his stride. Cora kept her legs steady, but didn't press too hard, holding herself in her hunt seat position without being too stiff. Remi tried to extend his stride a bit when they were two strides away from the jump, but Cora held him back firmly. They took the jump in the correct striding, and she landed softly, cantering him off.

She was quite happy with how Remi was doing, despite the few rough edges he still had. She hadn't had the gelding for terribly long, and already they'd made significant progress, especially with him being such a young horse.

[daine3]

Lukas looked up as the other rider spoke to him, and a slight frown appeared on his face as he heard her words. He briefly wondered if she thought of him as a student, as he had gotten that confusion several times by a few other people to date, and he knew that being clean shaven for once, and not sporting the usual five-o-clock shadow did cause him to look several years under his twenty-one years of age. He was struggling to come out of the funk that had gotten him so down lately, but it was jut so hard... He didn't even feel much like grinning, and he always had a smile on his face.

"Thanks, but no thanks." He said to the woman as he led Deuce to the side and mounted up, situating himself in the saddle and getting used to the english saddle again, as he hadn't ridden english in several months. "Things are fine the way they are." Luke knew his Quarterhorse had jumped fallen logs and other natural obstacles that were higher than the jumps set up, but he did briefly wonder if the actual, 'proper' jumps would cause the forwards-going horse any hesitation.

He gave the woman a nod and started off, asking Deuce to walk and taking his time to get him on contact with the bit. Luke usually rode with a loose-rein, and Deuce neck-reined perfectly, so the horse was a bit confused at first until his previous, basic training came back to him and he slowly relaxed and gave to the bit, walking around the arena a bit more calmly. It was obvious that he wasn't an english horse, but he knew enough. After a few laps, Lukas asked for a jog.

[Cora Addison]

Cora had not, in fact, mistaken the man for a student, but was just rather surprised to see him in the jumping ring. She recognized him as a western instructor, but didn't know what discipline, nor how high he was looking to jump. She just wanted to let him know that she was fine with the jumps changing heights, though reminded herself that perhaps this wasn't necessary in the future when the other instructor frowned a bit and explained that they didn't need ot be changed. Shrugging, she smiled, "Excellent, then."

She couldn't say that she wasn't a bit surprised that the instructor, who seemed to be getting used to the english saddle at first, would be jumping that height. It wasn't very high, but high enough to put a little though into, especially if one wasn't accustomed to riding english and jumping. Nevertheless, she didn't say anything, knowing that it would be better if she kept her mouth shut, and kept her expression completely neutral as well.

She didn't pay much attention to the other pair as she worked Remi, but was considerate in keeping her space. Since they wouldn't be changing the jumps, she decided to work the triple too, since Remi hadn't had an issue with the first line. The triple combination consisted of three jumps, with three strides in between each. The first was 3', the second 3'6", and the third was 4', the highest in the ring. Again, she'd set up the jumps so that they could be taken in both ascending and descending order.

Keeping Remi at a canter, Cora called out "Triple!" in warning, and prepared Remi for the approach to the combination, which would be taken in ascending order in this direction. Turning him off of the rail, she pressed him on towards the first jump, which he hesitated a bit towards. Pressing her calves harder again him, Cora pushed him towards it, and Remi's distance was a bit short, but he made it over fine. Landing and bringing him back, Cora immediately noticed the difference in the warmblood's stride. After gaining confidence over the first jump, he;d become much more powerful, and she settled back a bit, holding him to the second jump to get the correct distance. They flew over it, and she collected him after the landing again, getting the three strides to the tallest vertical, gathering his power on his hind end. Remi made it over easily, though he clearly overestimated the height, and jumped high for the jump. The horse was certainly scopey, but when he jumped like that it was far too sloppy for pinning well in the hunter ring. Patting his neck, she cantered him off to the rail before bringing him back to the trot. She wanted to do the line once more, with him feeling more confident at the first jump.

[daine3]

Lukas definitely wasn't new to english riding, jumping, or anything. Growing up in an extremely wealthy family had its benefits, which far outweighed the cons of living in such a family. He had just chosen western riding as his set discipline, as he enjoyed it more than he enjoyed english riding. Western was more relaxing. It took no time at all before the young man had settled fully back into the role of an english rider, the years of lessons he'd taken showing that they'd ingrained into his mind. Lukas didn't like to admit it for fear of being asked to teach an english discipline since they seemed to be much more popular than his own trail classes, but he was as well-versed in the english riding styles as he was western.

He settled back into the familiar rhythm of Deuce's westerny, yet action-paced jog and asked for a lope along the rail, taking his time and letting the horse get used to the only slightly familiar tack before he asked him to try out one of the jumps. Lukas paused momentarily to watch the other instructor as she and her gelding sailed over the jumps. Much better form than what I and Deuce will have… I guarantee it. Even though he knew how to jump, and, to an extent, so did the horse he rode, Lukas had been doing trail classes for years now, and in trail classes, you mainly rode western and even jumped western…

He waited until she was through for the moment and softly called out, "Line!" before lining the blue horse up and asking him to lope forwards. Deuce saw the odd looking thing he was asked to go over and his ears pricked. He was a trail horse and was used to being asked to jump new obstacles. As they neared the jump, the horse tried to speed up, anticipating a bit of a run after the 'obstacle'. It was confusing to him when his rider checked him, but he shortened his stride a little.

As the jump loomed near, Lukas wondered, briefly, if the big Quarterhorse would refuse, but the worry was thrown from his mind when the horse boldly threw himself over the jump. It wasn't the prettiest, but not the sloppiest, either. It simply was. Luke knew it was mostly because Deuce was distracted and confused that he was sloppy, and it would fix itself in time, as the horse got used to everything. This just wasn't what the horse knew. Instead of letting the blue roan go over the second jump, Lukas shifted his weight, cueing the animal he rode to circle around and jog once again on the rail. The man could tell from his equine's actions, the flick of the ears and eagerness in his movement that he'd been anticipating the run-out to the next obstacle, and the man wasn't about to let him do such a thing. This was a jumping arena, not an obstacle challenge. As they jogged around the arena, Luke slowly let a smile cross his face. This may be fun yet…

[Cora Addison]

Cora watched the other instructor ride out of the corner of her eye, a bit surprised by how comfortable the other instructor seemed in the english tack. It was becoming clear that he had some background in english riding, which answered some of her questions. She continued to trot Remi around the ring, asking him to bring his head lower. In hunter under saddle classes, they would be judged on his movements, and she wanted him to be able to work fluently without his head stuck in the air. He was good with lowering his head at the walk, but brought it higher at the trot.

When the other instructor called out that he'd be taking the line, she watched. His horse certainly rushed to it, but he slowed him effectively. The horse's jump wasn't bad at all, and Cora was quite impressed, since it appeared that the quarter horse was usually ridden western. Turning her attention back to Remi, she called out "Triple!" She kept Remi at the trot until she turned him off of the rail to approach the line. She then asked him for a canter, which he picked up strongly.

The chestnut warmblood pricked his ears towards the jump, becoming more powerful, and Cora held her grip on the reins, holding him back firmly. He took the first jump strongly, and she collected him at the landing, settling into her hunt seat and holding him firmly between her calves. They took the second jump just as well, and collected him towards the third one. The horse clearly had a different idea about distance than Cora, and extended in preparation to take a long spot to the higher jump, but Cora knew that the young horse would knock the jump if he took it from that distance. She checked him back sharply, and he lashed his tail in annoyance but got in the shorter stride before the third jump. It didn't look the prettiest, and certainly wouldn't pass in the hunter ring. Riding off from the jump, she shook her head the teeniest bit and demanded sharply in her head Again. Cora would take the line again and again until she and Remi got it right. There was no room for leaving in error, especially when training a young horse for excellence. Remi would end up in the show ring whether it be with another owner, a student, or her.

[daine3]

Lukas kept Deuce in a jog around the arena. The horse, if trained properly, could be a nice jumper or really anything, as he took so much after his sire. Deuce's sire threw versatile youngsters who were capable of going in any direction, and Deice was no exception. He had a surprisingly nice, natural scope to his jumps, he just wasn't really trained to go the way of a jumper or anything. It wasn't his rider's and owner's 'thing'.

The man asked for a lope and was beyond pleased when Deuce moved into the faster gait smoothly, keeping his head lower, showing that he was beginning to 'get it'. Luke had taught him to keep his head low, as he felt it made for a more 'finished' look, but when the horse got excited, he had trouble remembering. Lukas kept Deuce at a canter, doing figure-eights at the far end of the arena until the woman finished her jumps, then, with another call of "Line!" He let the horse go, directing him straight for the two jumps, planning on trying to take both of them as long as Deuce didn't rush too badly.

The powerful hindquarters of the blue roan enabled them to sail over the first jump, Deuce taking it as though he were leaping over a fallen log jump on the trail, but at least he took it. Lukas checked him slightly upon their landing and then let the forwards moving horse go, expecting him to at least try the other jump.

The horse had had to jump doubles before, but never two of the exact same. Deuce started to swerve out, obviously confused, but Lukas steadied him. The big horse flicked an ear back uneasily and unexpectedly put on the brakes, performing a sliding stop right as he neared the jump. Lukas dropped the reins as his horse refused, and he pushed against Deuce's neck to keep himself from falling from the sudden lack of forwards movement. "Deuce!" He exclaimed as time seemed to blur and in the next instant, he felt the impact of something hitting the horse, then felt the feeling of the ground dropping as Deuce made up his mind and tried to leap over the falling jump poles that he'd slid into. Lukas felt a moment where the horse seemed to scramble for his footing and closed his eyes, mentally sending up a prayer, though he didn't necessarily believe in any type of god.

Then it was over and they were back on the ground, the poles of the jump laying all over the ground, one or two between the horses legs where he'd gotten tangled, but had managed to keep his feet about him. Lukas slowly released his grip from Deuce's mane and sat back, a surprised look etched into his face for several minutes before he cracked. Laughing, he seemed too shocked to do much else and as he sat there, while the horse stood still, Lukas was surprised to feel his eyes wet, though he struggled to hold back the grief that threatened to overcome him... from everything, his mare and having to put her down to his divorce that was still rather nasty whenever he spoke to his ex-wife... He'd much rather break down in the private comfort of his apartment, not out here in the company of another instructor.

Deuce, on the other hand, didn't seem too spooked by the incident, as he stood still, with his head down, and nosed at the scattered poles curiously. He was a rock solid, steady horse and not much startled him.

[Cora Addison]

Cora kept Remi at the rail, planning to work him around one more time to calm his nerves before taking the triple again. She could already feel the young horse growing tenser, and the last thing she needed was for him to be a nervous wreck and hurt himself. Once thing that Remi didn't handle well was stress and pressure, and Cora knew that if she worked him correctly, he'd grow to be able to handle it. He was still young, and it was unreasonable to expect him to be perfectly calm in all situations, and she would definitely work on building up his confidence.

She collected him to a working trot and asked him to loosen a bit, which he only did when she did the same herself. She loosened the reins a centimeter and become lighter on his mouth, and let her own movements become a bit looser. Cora had always been a perfectionist and worked for precision in her riding, but right now, that wasn't what Remi needed. The gelding slowly became more relaxed by the time they reached the triple again, but Cora decided to keep him on the rail for a bit longer so that he'd become completely comfortable.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the unmistakable sound of clattering rails, and she turned to see the other horse refuse and crash into the jump, leaping out of it at an awkward angle. She thought for sure that the rider was going to be sent to the ground, but miraculously, he stayed on. Slowing Remi to a walk, she made her way over to him, careful not to spook the horse since he was rather unfamiliar. "Are you okay?" she inquired. The other instructor looked rather shocked, and Cora was beginning to try and think of ways to get him off his horse and to a doctor when he started laughing hysterically. This only managed to make Cora more nervous, especially when she noticed that his eyes were wet as well.

Thankfully, the gelding was very tolerant and well behaved through the whole incident, though Remi was clearly very nervous. Cora spoke up again, "Is there anything I can do? Can I get you to a doctor?" It was unclear to her whether his strong emotional response was due to head damage, though she hadn't seen him strike his head, or if it was just from whatever was going on in his life.

O.O.C. Sorry that took so long.

[daine3]

Deuce twisted his neck around to nose at his rider's booted foot when Lukas dropped the reins to land on his neck. The horse was confused and a little tense from crashing into the jump, but not flat out terrified. Deuce placed his trust in his rider and he'd never been let down before. He'd never had his rider freak out atop his back, though. When long seconds passed and Lukas did nothing, the blue roan shifted uneasily, a hint of unease entering his mind and setting him on edge just a bit, though he only flicked his tail and sidestepped once.

As the other horse and rider neared, Deuce flicked his ears up and turned to gaze at them, though he didn't offer to walk over to see them. A moment later, the blue horse once again had his head and neck twisted around and gripped the toe of Lukas's boot getween his molars, as though silently asking his rider what was wrong...

Lukas grimaced as he struggled to regain control of himself and he raised his hands to his face, burying his head in his hands as he took a shuddering breath. He could feel his body shaking, but didn't want to worry the woman with something that he felt was entirely unnecessary. A strangled sob escaped him before he pulled it back and sat perfectly still for several moments. Lukas wiggled his foot slightly, causing Deuce to release his boot, and finally lowered his hands, eyes rimmed red from where he'd allowed tears to fall until he had regained some semblance of control over his mind. He offered the woman a small, shaky smile, though it appeared to be more of a grimacing smile as Luke really didn't feel anything like smiling. "I'm..." He started, falling silent as he wiped a hand over his face roughly and took a deep breath, trying to keep in control. "I-I'll be ok..." He answered her, voice shaky.

[Cora Addison]

Cora watched the other instructor carefully, frowning slightly. His horse was rather adorable though, with his concern for is rider apparent. She didn't know whether Remi would respond that nicely if they had a small accident like that, but she hoped that he would eventually. They hadn't been working together for all that long, and were both still learning about each other. Fin, however, was a different story. He and Cora had been working together for ages, and she'd have trusted the gelding with her life. The last time she'd fallen from him, he's stopped almost immediately and returned to her. She suspected that if she fell off of Remi in the middle of a course, he'd probably become spooked and stray away from anyone who tried to catch him.

Patting Remi's neck in reassurance, she nodded when the man explained that he was okay, and ignored his red eyes and shaky voice. She didn't want to make things more uncomfortable, and simply noted, "Just let me know if you'd like something." She walked Remi back to the rail, gathering her reins slightly. The warmblood seemed a little distracted and Cora asked him for the trot, demanding his attention and nitpicking with him a bit, making sure that the gelding and her movements were perfect. She wouldn't take that triple again until the other instructor started working again, knowing that it would be rude. Instead, she kept working Remi on the rail, demanding perfection as usual.

[daine3]

Lukas took several deep breaths, trying to get his emotions back under control. He disliked the fact that he'd almost broken down, and he knew he'd ruined the other instructors ride for at least a bit by his lack of control over his own emotions, but it was times like this that things seemed to just come crashing down. sighing, he blicked several more times and nudged Deuce's nose when the horse twisted around again to try and bite at his boot. "I'm... I'm sorry. I... " he trailed off, giving her a depressed shrug, "I didn't mean to ruin your ride. Life's been tough lately." He finally mumbled as an excuse, swinging down from Deuce's back and pulling the reins over his head to drop on the ground silently. The horse sighed and cocked a hind leg up, resting as Luke started rebuilding the jump.

Lukas tried to give the woman a friendly smile, but he failed miserably, as he just didn't feel up to exerting the energy to grin or laugh. He slapped Deuce on the side of the neck affectionately, and then poked the animal in the shoulder, intoning a, "Move." Deuce obediently stepped sideways, over one of the fallen poles so Lukas could drag it from between his front legs. As he worked, Luke wondered if maybe he should follow the doctors orders and start taking antidepressants again. He shook his head slightly, No, they make me feel horrible...

[Cora Addison]

At his apology, Cora shook her head, her jaw clenched, "Don't worry about it." She couldn't say that she understood, as that would sound illegitimate, and it probably was. She didn't know what he was going through, and chances were his situations was much different from hers.

Leaving her home and everything she had there had certainly been tough, and it was taking her a little longer that she'd have liked to transition. She just continued to tell herself that she was lucky to have Fin and Remi, and this job and housing as well as being in the financial state that she was. Everything was just as it should be, and just as she wanted, but it was still hard to shake off the feeling of loss, even though it'd been her choice. It seemed pathetic, and she sort of hated herself for it.

Continuing to work Remi at the rail, she waited for the man to finish setting up the jump and start working again. In the meanwhile, she considered how she'd get Remi nicely over the line this time. Riding Remi, there was a fine line between there being not enough power and too much power, but once one was able to get it, he did very well.