Through the trees ((open))

[freebird]

Outside the barn, a loud whinny resounded throughout the still air, followed by a girl's playful laughter. "Saying hi to new friends, huh Dan?!" Suddenly, a taller girl appeared at the barn entrance, leading a large chestnut gelding. The gelding was large and built well, not to skinny but also not too large. He easily towered over the girl, but she was no slouch at height either, especially for a girl. Averie lead him down the stable aisle, soon seeing his stall with his registered and barn names labeled on a golden plate. She smiled briefly, before turning the gelding around and clipping him to cross ties near his stall.

Dan, or Winsome Adante, stood peacefully in the cross ties, his ears flickering back and forth between pricked and back. Averie quickly ran her hand down his long face, and looked at him deeply. Years of riding and showing flashed through her head quickly, and she was glad she had decided to bring him along as well as her project horse. It sucked that they would be in two separate barns, but she would deal. Smiling then, she turned towards his stall and slid open the door, looking around at it.

The stall was large and clean, and Averie smiled, unclipping the water bucket from the wall to fill it. She carried the bucket down the aisle to the tack room, filling it to the brim with water and then carrying it back to his stall. She clipped it back in the stall, before turning back to Dan. He stood calmly in the cross ties, and Averie walked over, unclipped him and lead him into his new home. She slid the door behind him, and leaned against the door, watching for any new people to meet.

[jillaroo]

Samantha peered into one of the stalls nearest to the door, and let out a low whistle. She had the morning off from classes and she still had to swing by the library to drop off a few books she had out on loan. Even though she’d been here for a month or so now, she had been so busy catching up on homework, she hadn’t seen much outside her dorm room walls.

There were only a few horses left in their stalls, and Samantha went a little way in before she turned and headed back for the door. She faltered, noticing for the first time that there was someone else here. A frown crossed her face, but Samantha realised she didn’t recognise the girl. She tugged at her jeans and quickly wiped her face with the back of her hand.There wasn’t supposed to be anyone back here, and she bit her lip, hoping the other girl wouldn’t recognise her either.

Samantha ducked her head, embarrassed to be caught sneaking around. Hopefully, she wouldn’t get into trouble for having a quick look. She could always pretend she took a wrong turn and got lost. It wouldn’t really be stretching the truth all that much. This place was so big. She’d already been late for two of her classes after going to the wrong building. It had been awful. Everyone had gawked at her, and then after class, one of the teachers had given her a stern lecture on the importance of time management!

Her cheeks burned at the thought. Closer up, the girl looked around her own age, and Samantha felt some of the worry that gnawed at her ease. “Uh hi,” she blurted, and she self-consciously uncrossed her arms. “So, you new here? I don’t think I’ve seen you in any of my classes.” She pulled a face and offered the girl a lopsided grin. “Then again, I’m usually too busy standing outside an empty classroom in the wrong building. Even my dad wasn’t surprised when I flunked geography last summer.”

[freebird]

Averie was standing against her horse's stall, stroking his face softly and looking into the stall curiously. Winsome Adante, her Irish Sport Horse gelding, stood pressed up against the stall door and had his ears pricked forward, content with being stroked. Averie had not really met anyone just yet, and the place seemed definitely quiet. Suddenly, her gelding caught the scent of another person in the barn and picked his head up, looking at the person. Averie looked at him for a minute, confused, before looking in the direction he was gazing. Dan nickered, looking at the person and pressed himself further against the stall door.

When the girl approached and started to talk, Averie smirked warmly at her and then began to answer her fluidly. "Yeah I'm new here, just got here a few days ago. I'm Averie by the way.."

[jillaroo]

Samantha let her shoulders sag, and she brushed back her brown bangs. “I’m Samantha, but only dad calls me that,” she said quickly. She paused a moment and pursed her lips. “I’ve been here a couple of months now,” she added, “But I just can’t get over how darn big everything is...even the horses!” Samantha laughed, and then flushed, hoping the girl wouldn’t make fun of her.

She looked more closely at the big horse, and winced a little as she imagined how far it would be to fall. She’d have to stick herself to the saddle with glue before she got on.

Can you imagine what it’d be like to rope off a horse like that, she thought, and then she grinned. Probably the steer would just walk right under its belly. Samantha giggled to think of what old Billy Johnson, the surly-faced foreman of H Bar Ranch would say. ‘That there is a fancy lookin’ hoss, but it ain’t no good for usin’, no siree’ he would drawl, with a sorry shake of his head.

A quick peek under, told her it was a gelding, and Samantha held out her hand for the horse to sniff. It still seemed funny to her that most of the students here made such a fuss of their horses. She glanced curiously over at Averie, and then looked away before the girl caught her staring. “I don’t know how you’d get on a horse so big,” she said jokingly, as she dug at a splinter of wood with her nail. “I’d have to carry a ladder around with me just to get one foot up!”

[freebird]

"Yeah this place is definitely huge! I can't get over how big this place is either." Averie allowed herself to laugh quickly, then ran a hand through her dark brown hair and let her hand rest on the stall door. She watched as Sam held out a hand towards the gelding, and Dan sniffed her hand and nickered softly. Averie looked over at the gelding again, and ran a hand down his chestnut face again. Dan nudged her hand softly, and then turned around to walk towards the back of his stall, swishing his tail.

Averie looked back towards the girl and and listened to her as she talked about the gelding. Smiling again, she began to answer the girl and kept smiling warmly at the girl. "Yeah he is pretty big, but my other gelding is even bigger! It took me a long time getting used to getting up on both of them, but I love that they are so big."

[jillaroo]

Samantha’s brows rose and she chuckled. “Any bigger and you’re gonna need a parachute. That or invest in a coupla airbags.” Samantha shook her head and stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, and her mind wandered.

It had never been like this back in Nevada, and she cringed at some memory of her stammering out an answer to one of the other girls’ snide remarks. They’d picked on her all through grade school, and Samantha was ashamed at how easily she let them.

“So, you up for a ride together sometime or something?” she asked suddenly, doing her best to sound casual. Samantha chewed on the inside of her cheek, her palms sweaty as she quickly wiped them on her jeans. She remembered that girl from the library, the one in the blue jacket who made her feel like she was back in Nevada, and she frowned at the thought.

“I mean if you’re busy with homework or anything that’s okay...but I thought maybe you’d...” she trailed off hopefully, and then blushed. Samantha picked at her nails, one hand behind her back with fingers crossed, as she waited for an answer.

[freebird]

Smiling at her, she chuckled softly when the girl mentioned that she would need to invest in a parachute and/or airbags if they got any bigger. "You're right, I should probably invest in both of those items. It is a long way to fall.. although I've kind of figured out how to fall. When I was a kid.. well.. I fell alot."

Averie watched as the girl seemed to be thinking about something and quickly wondered about what she was thinking, before quickly pushing that thought to the back of her mind. She looked very nervous and Averie was unsure why. When Sam brought up going out on a ride, she smiled again and quickly responded to her question. "I'm completely free, so we can definitely go out for a ride. I'm just gonna get him ready, and then we can meet out at the trails?"

She quickly thought it over in her mind, and decided to take Dan out rather than Comet. Dan would be calmer than Comet & Comet would need more work before she took him out casually. Averie slid open the stall door, and walked in to grab the gelding's halter, clucking to him softly. "Come'on buddy" She smiled and led out the big, chestnut Irish Sport Horse, clipping him to crossties quickly. Once he was settled in the ties, she hurried to the tack room, grabbing his tack she had brought along from home.

She placed the saddle and saddle pads onto his sturdy back, tightening the girth as much as she could for now. She slid the reins over his neck, and undid his halter, hanging it on his hook quickly. Dan took up the bit when she offered it to him, and she quickly did up his bridle. Averie drew the reins over his head again, grabbed her helmet, and led him out towards the trails.

Notes- You want to start a thread there & I'll join you?

[jillaroo]

Samantha straightened. She pushed her brown ponytail over her shoulder and shot the girl a lopsided grin. That was easy enough, she thought wryly. Samantha watched as Averie bustled about, tacking up Dan for their ride. The thought snapped her out of her daydreaming, and she realised she needed to get her own horse ready.

Samantha was looking forward to getting out for a ride. Why couldn’t her homework be more interesting than an essay on some important historical figure? Like maybe an essay on famous American Thoroughbreds, or the history of the Quarter Horse. Lately, it seemed that every minute she spent at school was a minute away from horses. This year was the last step, and then she’d graduate and would be that much closer to her dream of a career in the industry. She only hoped the thought could get her through the next two semesters.

It was hot outside, and Samantha stopped and shrugged out of her jacket. Waving to some people she knew, she dashed past on her way to the barn. She was smiling already, humming tunelessly as she stopped by the tack room to pick up Lightning’s saddle. Just one more year, she told herself, one more year.

OOC: Moved to the trails