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Post by Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω on Aug 2, 2010 1:28:36 GMT -6
Cara led her new pony into the outdoor arena. Arlette was wearing brand new tack: a brown Wintec, close contact saddle with a shaped white saddle blanket under it. On her pretty head she wore a simple brown snaffle bridle with a caveson noseband. The walk back to the school grounds the day before had been uneventful and the pony had been more than happy to plod along beside her new owner.
Leading the mare into the centre of the arena, the girl tightened the girth, pulled the stirrups down and vaulted into the saddle. "No you don't." She said as the pony started walking off before she was asked to and the girl circled her around. Swinging down from the saddle again, she positioned the mare where they had started from and went through the process again. Again, the mare tried to walk off before she was asked so the girl once again swung down to the ground and once more "parked" the pony.
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Post by lorilie on Aug 2, 2010 1:38:12 GMT -6
Loki pranced by Seamus as he led her out to the arena, tossing her silky, luxurious mane in the air as her big hooves did the same motion to her thick feathers adorning her ankles.
The boy rolled his blue eyes at her eager nature, knowing that it was all planned. The gypsy vanner was just looking for way to make chaos in the arena, and knowing her, she already had it planned.
On her broad black and white patterned back was a simple brown dressage saddle and grey pad, and her wide head sported a similarly colored brown leather dressage bridle. Seamus head was crowned by a brown riding helmet and riding clothes covered his lean, lanky body.
He entered the arena, closed the gate behind him, and quickly mounted the mare before she started any shenanigans. Only then did he have a chance to scan the pen for other horses and riders.
Cara was here, as he'd expected, because for some reason, he was always in the same place as she, not that it really bothered him all that much. she had a mischievious looking pony mare under saddle, a beautifully patterned chestnut skewbald, by the looks of it. He hadn't seen the mare around the barn, but he would assume she was new, as new horses were coming in often.
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Post by Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω on Aug 2, 2010 2:12:53 GMT -6
It only took another three attempts until the pony got the hang of the "parking" idea and remained still while her rider mounted.
It was only after Cara was sitting astride the mare that she noticed that they were no long alone. She sat tall in the saddle as she asked the pony to remain standing still. Every time that Arlette made a move - in any direction - the girl returned her to the spot they had started from. It was only when the mare was standing still, one ear forward, the other cocked backwards toward the girl that Cara gently asked the pony to move forward.
She hadn't planned for this to be such a training session, but she had a thing where she started off how she always wanted things to go. And the mare thinking that she could walk off while being mounted was just bad manners, and Cara didn't want her new mount to think that she could get away with being rude. The pony's paper had said that she could be spunky at times, and for a pony that normally meant stroppy, so she was waiting for this to show itself.
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Post by lorilie on Aug 3, 2010 2:22:38 GMT -6
The vanner mare began to walk at Seamus' cue, but it was clear her mind was far from her workout. She nickered at Arlette as she passed the skewbald, but at a quiet word from Seamus which got one of her large ears to swivel towards him, she silenced and began to focus, a bit. It wasn't exactly focus yet. More like an offhand disinterest.
Seamus kept his eye on Cara. He'd figured out some things about her, and so far, he wasn't sure how he would ever get her to notice him. For one, she had a passion and spirit for horses, and was more knowledgable about them than the average horse expert. She was fourteen. And he was head-over-heels for her.
It was a realization he accepted grudgingly, almost as though he wished it weren't true. The boy was exceptionally bright, but his tall frame, lean figure and brooding mind made him rather unpopular with the opposite gender, and no doubt Cara would agree that he wasn't what you could call a looker of sorts.
She on the other, caught the eye of any male her age or slightly older. Slim and fit with a sweet face and enchanting eyes were her most noticable features, while the confidence in her stride and the sureness of her voice around horses were the underlying qualities. Her character was simply fascinating to him. And he regretted how much the fact made him sound like a stalker.
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Post by Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω on Aug 3, 2010 2:48:44 GMT -6
As they passed shoulder to shoulder, Cara gave a respectful bow of the head toward the other rider. She recognized Seamus from when they had met in the barn the day that she had taken Phoenix out to the pasture, and the mare had given her a nice kick.
Being spoken to by another horse was all the distraction Arlette needed to stop listening to her rider and came to an abrupt halt on the track and return the greeting with one that wasn't so soft, nor subtle.
The young rider squeezed with her legs and when the skewbald pony dug her heels in, she squeezed harder still. When she felt the resistance once more before she could feel the mare tuck herself under, the girl dug her heels into the mare's sides and brought her inside hand to her knee, bringing the mare's head around with it. Unable to keep her balance and remain in the spot she had halted in, Arlette turned in a neat circle, and the girl used the momentum to keep the mare walking along the track in the opposite direction to the other horse and rider.
She kept the mare at a comfortable walk as they headed around the track, keeping her in check if Arlette decided that she wanted to dawdle. The human's mind was split, the majority of it concentrating on the mare she was riding, the rest working on what she needed to do with the pony to get her to the standard she needed to be. Firstly, the pony needed to lose weight - and it needed to happen before winter set in in case the mare lost condition during the colder months. Another thing that needed to happen was to have the pony's shoes removed, and that could be done sooner rather than later so the mare could get used to working without the metal between her feet and the ground. The last, was that her mane needed to grow out, especially the really bad bridle path - and she could feed the mare rosehips to help with the mane growth only the herb would also make her hooves grow too so she needed to have the shoes removed before she started the mare on herbal treatments.
A shiver ran down her spine as a dark shadow crossed the front of her mind. She new that the next session with Mr Andrews was speedily approaching, and she could easily admit that the thought of confessing her latest purchase to the man made her feel a little ill.
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Post by lorilie on Aug 3, 2010 2:58:00 GMT -6
Seamus nudged Loki's sides for a trot, and the gypsy seemed to hesitate slightly before picking up the movement. He posted with her gait and large stride perfectly, rising and falling into the saddle with the lift and drop of the ginat hooves below him.
Loki pricked her eyes at the approaching Arlette and straightened her neck slightly before the boy tapped the bit to bring her head back into the collection position of dressage.
Seamus was beginning to wonder about his stallion, Anubis. The Tennesee Walking Horse was of no use to him here, as he was a stallion. He was thinking of sending the horse back home to his family, so that they could do as they liked with him. Then, Seamus could work with Loki and improve her, or buy her the companionship of a nice gelding.
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Post by Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω on Aug 3, 2010 3:12:19 GMT -6
As the Loki and Seamus approached them, Cara could feel the mare tense up beneath her and she turned the mare toward the centre of the arena to keep her mind working so that she wouldn't think that it would be acceptable to once again come to a grinding halt and talk to the other horse. It wasn't that the mare had had poor training as she had a very nice outline when she was actually concentrating on what she was doing, it was just that she had been ridden by a child who didn't know to reprimand the pony when she misbehaved so Arlette had learned a few bad habits - fortunately habits that were easy to break.
"What are you riding?"
The voice of Tony Andrews sliced through the air and caused the girl's head to whip around to face the man before she dropped her eyes. Her normally perfect posture in the saddle instantly deteriorated as she fought through her emotions to remain in control of the situation. She clenched her hands into tight fists before releasing them again. Forcing herself to breath, she gently squeezed the mare forward with her legs.
"Dismount, now." The words cut the air like ice, the man's eyes challenging the girl to disobey.
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Post by lorilie on Aug 3, 2010 19:09:50 GMT -6
Seamus eyed the little mare with an amused glace. Such a perky little thing, so full of attitude and spunk. but he was sure that Cara would soon have her moving and jumping beautifully.
Loki was tapped into a canter, and although she picked up the wrong lead at first, she quickly corrected herself with a bit of prompting from Seamus. The mare made her away across the arena with a delicacy that seemed unfit for her Draft blood.
Suddenly Seamus heard a curt voice. He slowed his mare and turned to look in the direction of the rude vocal's owner with a stern, challenging glare, but the man standing at the arena's fence was staring at Cara. And she didn't look happy to see him.
Seamus bristled, and his growing annoyance made Loki toss her head and whinney unsurely. Seamus also dismount with Cara and walked over to her, leading the gypsy mare.
"Hey, would you like me to hold her?" He asked, his husky voice low as one of his eyes provided the man with a nasty sidelong gaze.
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Post by Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω on Aug 4, 2010 0:51:16 GMT -6
Cara toyed with the idea of disobeying the man, but - like the robot she was - she dropped her stirrups, swung her right leg over the mare's back and dropped to the ground. She gripped the side of the saddle to stop her knees from giving way.
She glanced over as Seamus appeared at her her side and offered to hold the mare. My knight on his white, and black, horse?
"Cara!" The word ripped through the air with enough force in it to knock the frail girl off her feet if she allowed it to.
Handing the reins over to the boy, she pressed her lips together, closed her eyes for no more than a heartbeat, jutted her chin out slightly and walked over to where the man stood. "Good morning, Mr Andrews." She said softly. She flinched when he shifted his arm, and through her eyelashes she caught the triumphant grin on his face.
"I don't like repeating myself, pet." He said in the normal smooth voice he used around other. "What were you riding?"
"Phoenix is not happy, Sir." She responded softly, the words seeming to pour from her lips. "I found a new horse I hope to turn into a competition prospect. She was trained for hunter under saddle so..." The words stopped and she blinked back the stars that were dancing in front of her eyes and only barley managed to stop her hand from lifting to her burning cheek.
"We will talk more this weekend." Tony said in a deathly quiet voice, as he turned on his heel and stalked off.
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Post by lorilie on Aug 4, 2010 1:10:47 GMT -6
Seamus' control over not interfering with Cara na dthe man snapped when the b@stard hit her and walked off. His hands dropped the reins of both horses and he sprinted toward the fence and leaped over, aiding himself with his slender, yet nimbly muscular hands.
He ran up behind the fellow, grabbed his shoulder and roughly spun him around. Then the sixteen year old promptly hit the man in the jaw with a hard fist, anger echoed in his eyes. Then he grabbed Andrews' shoulders and drove his knee into the man's stomach.
"You will NOT hit her while I'm around, or ever again! You will NOT be seeing her on the weekend! So she has a horse! Big deal!"
Seamus shoved the man away from him and made sure he didn't come back to hit him. His stance was protective and ready for a fight if it came.
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Post by Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω on Aug 4, 2010 1:26:26 GMT -6
Cara watched wide-eyed as Seamus ran after her social worker and kneed him in the stomach and gave him some sharp words. Shaking her head to remove the last of the stars that were still dancing in her vision.She looked over at the horses that had been left to their own devices and she quickly crossed the arena to take hold of Arlette's reins before the mare took advantage of the situation and decided that she'd bolt around the arena. She looked over as she heard the scrunch of tires, and she could picture the sleek silver Jaguar pulling off down the drive as though nothing had happened. She pressed her lips together as she rested her head against the mare's neck, knowing that this weekend's session had just got a whole lot worse.
Getting bored of just standing around, the skewbald mare side-stepped away from the girl who was leaning against her.
Bringing herself together, the girl who never cried gathered her reins, placed her left foot into the stirrup and swung into the saddle. She rubbed the mare's neck as the skewbald only shifted her weight. "Forward we go." She whispered as she squeezed the mare forward with soft legs and even softer hands.
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Post by lorilie on Aug 4, 2010 1:33:05 GMT -6
Seamus calmed himself as the man went off and he looked back at Cara. She was leaning against Arlette. He made his way back over, and by the time he got to her, she was mounted and cueing the mare forward. "Cara..." He started, looking at his boots, then up at her. "I won't let him hurt you again, ever. This weekend's... whatever it was.... Consider it cancelled."
He moved off, going to Loki who perked her ears at him and nickered before tosssing her head up. He grabbed her reins and patted her neck, murmuring words to her, calming down her heartbeat and breathing with his gentle, low voice.
Now Cara was sure to think he was a freak. His temper had gotten ahold of him, and as a result he'd beaten up a man with obvious power. Of course, Seamus wasn't worried about hsi safety... But what if he'd endangered Cara's?
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Post by Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω on Aug 4, 2010 1:44:39 GMT -6
Cara sat deep in the saddle and reined the mare in, her eyes were studying the mare's short cropped mane. "I thank you for your help. There is however no canceling this weekend's session. I am required, by law, to attend a weekly session with my social worker." She shrugged. "They tried to send me to psychologists, but they didn't see the point in spending the money when I wouldn't talk to them." She'd leave it to him to ask why law got involved in this.
Looking ahead again, she squeezed the mare forward. As Arlette walked forward, the girl gave the mare a long rein and allowed her to stretch out if she chose. The girl took this time to flex her jaw, knowing that one of these days the man was going to break something. She shivered slightly. She had brought the whole thing upon herself. Why hadn't she just humbly apologized for purchasing the mare and offer to sell her? Easily answered, because she couldn't lie, and saying that would have been a lie. She wasn't sorry that she had bought the mare, and she didn't want to have to sell her again until the mare needed a new rider.
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Post by lorilie on Aug 4, 2010 1:54:24 GMT -6
He cocked an eyebrow at her words. "The law calls tthat vile little spineless rat of a man a social worker? Then I'm a professional hockey player."
He watched her ride for a minute, then asked. "Can I at least look at your jaw for you, to see if there's any damage? I'm not a doctor, but I some things here and there."
His analytical mind was racing. There had to be a way for Cara to be safe from the monster she was forced to see. No wonder she was so scared of men... Could it be that she was afriad of him? Seamus would never hurt her, but, then again, she didn't know that. He looked at Lki who looked at him witha questioning gaze.
"Would you give me a minute to try and work something out? He growled, and the horse snorted and gave him an expression that clearly said she was rolling her eyes on the inside.
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Post by Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω on Aug 4, 2010 4:57:16 GMT -6
"The law calls tthat vile little spineless rat of a man a social worker? Then I'm a professional hockey player."
Cara raised an eyebrow. "But he is the embodiment of the perfect gentleman." She returned. They were the words that she had always heard when other people spoke of the evil man. She knew the truth though, as did the other girls that the man had under his belt.
"Can I at least look at your jaw for you, to see if there's any damage? I'm not a doctor, but I some things here and there."
At times like this, she hated herself. She hated the fact that she didn't have the inner-strength to be able to say No thanks, I'll be fine. She reined the mare in once more and once again swung out of the saddle. Like before she gripped the side of the saddle to keep herself on her feet - the last thing she needed now was to end up on her rear-end while being watched.
She knew that her jaw wasn't fractured or anything like that, Tony knew just how hard to strike her before he did serious damage, it just hurt - lots. Running the stirrups up, she lifted the reins over the mare's head and walked over to where Seamus stood with his Gypsy mare. "It's not broken." She couldn't lie and say that she was fine, so she just gave the bluntest of statements.
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