Budding Spirit (open)

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara stood in the Equine Clinic, running a baby-soft brush over the coat of the rose grey mare that she had been nursing back to health for the past three months. She followed the path of the brush with her left hand, enjoying the company of the young Welsh mare.

Pixie had come along in leaps and bounds over the past month alone, which was good since she seemed to have hit rock bottom a few weeks after she had arrived at the clinic, and today she wanted to move things to the next level with the mare. Now that the bandages were gone from the mare's legs and the scratches on Pixie's side's had healed, the girl wanted to see how the mare moved and to dot his she was going to take Pixie out to the arena and put her on a lunge line.

Once the mare's coat was silky smooth and her steel mane and tail - which turned into a flaxen colour at the end of the dock - flowed free of knots, the girl put an exercise sheet over the mare's back and did it up, she collected the lunge line and her winter gloves and then led the mare out to the arena.

[madison]

Madison had recovered from the episode at the primrose barn, but just barely. She had gone back to her dorm and slept, slept all through the next day of classes and only then did she head out to the barn and rode both her horses. She wasn’t concerned about classes and at this point she could get kicked out of the school and care less. Perhaps it was irresponsible or ungrateful but she wasn’t in the place to even care at the moment, she had yet to show her face at the primrose barn – she had no interest in doing so and felt bad that she had abandoned Suede but was still okay with being selfish. Instead she found herself headed towards the vet clinic, she didn’t even think rationally till she was half way there. She considered turning back and going back to sleep but she didn’t know that it was possible to sleep anymore. She instead wrapped her coat around her and continued walking towards Ava; she would keep her head down and do a short session with the mare before returning to the safety of her dorm. Her boots were quiet on the ground, they were one of her all-time favorites, and she has a few pairs of the Dubarry boots and loved them.

She slipped on her gloves, her hair was up and out of her face – the famous sock bun was her favorite at the moment, it was perfect for when she didn’t want to wash her hair. She headed to the mare’s paddock and smiled as Ava watched her approach and she didn’t walk away. The mare had made great progress recently, she allowed Madison to catch her and was getting to be great on the ground – she even seemed to enjoy being groomed. She decided she would work on the horse’s ground manners and then finish with a grooming session before ducking out and avoiding Dr. Carr. She approached the mare slowly, halter in hand.

“Hey sweetie”

She slipped the halter over the mares head, she was slow and consistent in her movements. She rested a hand on the mares neck, Ava stood there relaxed she was very confident in her paddock and her surroundings and the same in the arena. The trek to the arena was sometimes stressful but it was getting better, Ava followed carefully evidently uncomfortable in the surroundings. They reached the arena and Madison noted Cara, she smiled politely and nodded her tone hit the air.

“Hey Cara I hope you don’t’ mind if we walk around in the other end.”

Madison knew she would be able to stay out of the way, Ava stood patiently by her side – she was very good on the ground, Madison just needed to enforce her confidence. Once in the arena she settled a little bit, she was skittish around quick movements so Madison stood with her quietly in the middle, letting the horse take in the surroundings.

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Just a quick note; the arena they are using is part of the clinic so they wouldn't be walking far and possibly the word "trek" might be a touch OTT (over-the-top).

Cara clipped the lunge line on the mare before they had left the barn and clipped the mare's lead onto a hook on the wall just inside the door and looped it over a couple of times so that none of the horses that might walk passed thought that the hanging rope was a snake waiting to attack them.

She slowly led the mare toward the arena. Even though the clinic arena was only three quarters of the size of Roscose's arena, it was plenty big enough to be able work a couple of horses in, which meant that if another person wanted to come in while she was lunging they wouldn't have to fight for room. After all, Cara probably wouldn't even use the entire length of the line. Pixie has a small stride and she only wanted to see how the mare moved, not work her to exhaustion.

Once in the arena, Cara led the mare down to the far end and positioned herself approximately where I would be. She held the coiled line in her left hand and the part that was closer to the mare's head in her right. "Out." She said in a clear voice. When the mare just looked at her, she flapped the coiled rope toward her and repeated; "out", nodding when the mare got the idea and walked away. The girl threaded the line out until she was happy with the distance and the mare walked in a nice ten metre circle around her. She liked the way that the rose grey mare walked forward. She had obviously had some training in her past, either that or she was just a naturally nice mover.

She heard the sound of another voice and she broke eye contact with the mare, though asked her to keep walking around on the line. "It's not a problem, Madison." She replied. "I could move Pixie into the centre if you would like the perimeter of the arena. I only intend to work her at the walk and a little trotting on each rein."

She returned her attention to the mare as she waited for the other girl's reply. There would be time to talk about the progress of their charges when their current jobs were finished. Giving the mare a little more line, the small girl clicked her tongue and wiggled the line a little. "Trrr-ot on." She sang. She only had to repeat the instruction another couple of times, the third time with a motions of the coil again, and the mare bounced forward into a flowing trot, her tail held up like a flag - which was the evident display of the Arabian blood that came from the Thoroughbred and Hackney blood that was in Section B ponies, making them ideal hunter-jumper ponies for children.

"Wa-alk." She soothed, after only two laps, as she moved her right hand in a downward motion, putting pressure on the mare's poll and she nodded as the mare dropped easily back to a walk.

[madison]

Madison felt Ava relax beside her, the mare was interested in the other equine and human interaction but remained still and respectful of Madison’s space. She reached up and laid a hand on the mares neck, her quiver had settled and the horse was just on slight edge. It wouldn’t take much to startle the pinto mare but Madi liked to give her a moment to settle before they began their short in hand session – she didn’t really like to make them much longer than 5 – 7 minutes. The mare whom was in much better shape than when she arrived had clearly been handled properly somewhere in the past as Madi was not teaching her much – just brushing off her skills really and keeping her calm. It would be interesting to know what exactly had happened to the mare to put her in such a mess but it was obvious someone, at some point loved her – she wanted to trust Madi but couldn’t convince herself to do so all the time.

The mare was now calm with Madison’s touch on her neck, pulling her hand away slowly Madison looked back to the mare happy to see she had settled and curious about the other mare. Deciding to get the mare moving a little Madison looked forward, she set off at a simple walk while it was a brisk pace for her small frame the mare didn’t have to extend herself to keep up at all. Ava was familiar with the game, they started with it pretty much every time now. Madison stopped and hesitated – the mare mirrored the movement, taking a step back she was slow and cautious for the mare who had displayed a dislike for backing. Ava tossed her head but as Madison persisted stepping back towards her the mare took a small step. Madison stopped, removed the pressure of the back and scratched the mare’s withers. Small sigh from the horse was a good sign, it matched the way she licked and chewed. Madison looked to Cara who spoke, her mare seemed to be lunging nicely.

“Thanks! I appreciate it, working the rail would be good for her.”

Madison picked a spot on the end she was in, and lead the mare to the rail. Ava was naturally curious about what laid beyond the rail, though Madison kept her attention by speeding up the walk and slowing it back down after a few steps. A few snorts from the mare was encouraging, Ava seemed to be settling into work well today – despite sharing the arena. Madison looked up to Cara and Pixie, the mare looked good as she trotted out - a nice mover.

“She looks good Cara, a nice little mover.”

As Cara brought Pixie back to a walk Madison waited for the pair to move their circle more towards the center and that way the rail would have plenty of room to continue working with Ava. The mare was being very good today; she didn’t want to push too much on her but if she never pushed past what they were doing now she would be stagnant in progress.

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara watched the mare intently, though she was careful not to let the Welsh pony think that she was staring, as only predators stare, and she had spent enough time convincing the mare that she was anything but a predator. The mare's movement was fluid, she was indeed a nice mover and Cara could see her doing well in the show ring. However, with the scars that now decorated the mare's forelegs, there was no way that Pixie would do well in an in-hand show.

Her forehead was creased in thought as she kept the mare circling her, but carefully shifted their circle to the middle of the arena. She had been working so hard on forming a bond with the mare that she had never thought to wonder if the small pony had been introduced to a saddle before... She looked up and across when she heard the other girl's voice. "Thank you." She replied with a bow of her head. "I would like to take the credit, but her movement is all from her and nothing to do with me." And that was the truth, as what she was doing had nothing to do with how the mare moved herself, but to make sure that she was moving evenly on all four legs.

She returned her attention to the mare as she asked her to return to a walk and then halted Pixie before walking up and giving the rose grey's forehead a rewarding rub, a smile turned up the corners of her lips as the mare leaned against her hand. "I'll need to speak with Dr Carr about seeing if I am allowed to ride you." She said softly to the pretty pony as she stepped back, got the mare to change rein and head off again at a walk. She knew the only way to find out of the mare had been ridden before was to try and see how the pony reacted to weight on her back.