give me something to believe in -- jess

[Angela Giselle Eastman]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: f9f9f9; border: #312d50 solid 10px; width: 399px; padding: 5 5 5 5px;] let me help you fly because you won't have the time Angie liked high strung horses, but she had never really been a big fan of her sister’s black mare, but maybe that was just because she decided to be bat shit crazy even when she really had no reason to be. Then again, she probably wasn’t as bad as some of the horses that she had come across before… but still, the Thoroughbred was a pain in the ass to do anything with. This morning’s work had gone fairly well, for a work with Erin anyway, the black beast had fought her most of the way around the track, which was nothing unusual. They had left her work until last, when there weren’t as many other horses out on the track and they got Danny’s horses done and out of the way. She had been feeling particularly fresh that morning, apparently, and by the time that they had gotten through the warm up lap Angie almost felt like her arms were on the verge of falling out of their sockets from the amount of fight the mare put up the whole way, wanting to just run already, although it wasn’t like it wasn’t anything that she was already used to. She did this on a daily basis, after all, if she wasn’t used to it by now then she never would be, and she had accumulated enough muscle mass in her arms now that she didn’t find it overly difficult to hold the mare in check. The mare was a black blur around the track during her actual workout, Jo had only wanted her breezed but a moderate pace for the mare was still pretty speedy… if she was easier to handle and less stubborn, she would probably win more races than she lost. Half the time she got distracted by the other horses, or lost too much energy trying to get her own way. She just hoped that by the time Jo got to breeding her, her foals would turn out a lot better. She had the talent, she just seemed to lack the brains. It hadn’t felt like she’d just galloped her when she had pulled her back for her cool down, and again she’d had to fight the mare the whole time, having to make sure that she didn’t get her head away and hoon off like she was liable to do if you weren’t paying attention, and by the time that she had pulled her back around to the mounting yard she was glad to get off and be done for the morning. She had dismounted the mare, Jason had hung back to help them out with her, so he had taken the reins when she had come in, but she had been mid conversation with him, walking around to the mare’s other side, and had been removing her helmet, when the mare had suddenly snaked her head out, snapping at her forearm through her jacket, an unexpected gesture for the most part, since she had decided to stand mostly still once she had been brought in, but Angie guessed that she probably should have known better than to stand that close to the unruly horse’s teeth. Walking into the lounge a short while later, she peeled her jacket off, dropping it onto the couch in there, before taking off her safety vest, instantly feeling more comfortable, before inspecting the bite mark on her forearm… probably not as bad as it could have been if she hadn’t been wearing a jacket at the time, the fabric of it thick enough to take most of the bite, and thankfully strong enough that she hadn’t managed to tear it as well. “Well, that’ll teach me,” she sighed resignedly to herself, running a finger lightly around the edge of the bite mark, before dropping her arm back to her side. She probably ought to get ready for school at some point, but she still had a while until she had to go… if she even decided to go, it wasn’t exactly a place she wanted to go to lately. jeff | 680 | *rolls*

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[Anthony James Lovasz]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: f9f9f9; border: #8b908a solid 10px; width: 450px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] i've been waking all my life tagged Ish/Angie words idek muse sleep deprivation notes notes credits template by irish! It was days like these that being in a good mood was more of a job than a hobby. He'd come off three times just this morning, twice off of Boy, and once off of Huck. This was one of many times that he seriously questioned his career choice as a jockey, even though deep down he knew he could never quit and never really wanted to. There was something about the thrill and the danger of it that had him hooked. Racing was a bit of an addiction for him, seeing as he'd been doing it since he was only 13 years old, although officially on decent tracks only since he was 17, before that it was only on the tracks in Mexico where there weren't any rules and people got hurt on a more regular basis than they did on the U.S tracks. For people who were unaware of the affect of falling off a racehorse, it was like being thrown out of a car at 45 miles per hours and doing your best to not land on your head and get yourself killed. Unfortunately for most jockeys, that meant landing on a shoulder… and for Anthony, it meant a hell of a lot of pain. Having started at such a young age where no one cared how old you were had a lot of benefits… like learning early and having more experience, being tougher than most, and being able to get out of just about any tough situation that was thrown your way on the track. However, it also had a lot of bad things to it as well, such as getting more injuries at an earlier age. For Anthony, that was what gave him the most trouble. His shoulder had been dislocated and separated many times too many and now landing on it was about as painful as breaking something. Luckily, he'd only landed on it once out of the three times he came off today, but even just once was bad enough. Of course, Anthony in a "bad mood" was really nothing more than him being incredibly exhausted and not quite as talkative as usual. So as he trudged up to the lounge in the main barn to get ice for his shoulder, a daily routine for him, there weren't nearly as many friendly greetings passed between him and the others. Just as he walked in, he heard a familiar voice, and glanced in the direction of Angie. "It should, but we all know it won't" He said with a smile. Jockeys always said they'd learn their lesson from getting hurt somehow... but none of them ever did. They were always getting kicked, bitten, thrown off, stomped on, and every other manner of getting themselves hurt by horses. It was just a part of their lives. Some people said they were crazy, and maybe they were, but they loved every minute of it.

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[Angela Giselle Eastman]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: f9f9f9; border: #312d50 solid 10px; width: 399px; padding: 5 5 5 5px;] let me help you fly because you won't have the time Angie’s parents were horse people, her dad had been involved in horse racing as a kid because his father before him had been a trainer as well, but when Jo and Angie had both decided that they wanted to be jockeys… well, obviously, they weren’t exactly thrilled about it, knowing full well how dangerous the sport could be. But they had supported them, instead of trying to convince them otherwise… okay, maybe occasionally pushing new riding horses towards them in an attempt to see if that would get them to decide they wanted to be eventers instead of jockeys, but it had never worked. Neither of them would give it up any time soon either, that was for sure. When she heard a familiar Spanish accent answering her out loud musings, she turned to look towards the door to the lounge, shooting an easy grin back at Anthony when she spotted him, laughing lightly at what he had said. It was very true… they all tended to be a little nuts, adrenaline junkies that took a lot to become even remotely scared, which is what they needed in this job, after all. And even when they said that they would stay off the crazy ones next time… it never ended up happening. “True, but Erin sure likes to make it tempting sometimes,” she answered, shaking her head at the thought of the mare… she had ridden stallions that were better behaved than the black mare. She didn’t even know what the mare’s problem was half the time… then again she had been Casey’s horse first and her ex brother in law did have a penchant for picking the crazy ones that matched his personality perfectly. “How did your morning go?” she asked, figuring that she may as well talk to him for a bit if he was up to it… she still had time to kill and he was one of the ones she liked talking to. It was nice to be around someone who was so… nice… when the majority of the time she found herself around complete assholes. jeff | 350 | *rolls*

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[Anthony James Lovasz]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: f9f9f9; border: #8b908a solid 10px; width: 450px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] i've been waking all my life tagged Ish/Angie words idek muse sleep deprivation notes notes credits template by irish! Anthony would be lying if he said that he didn't think about quitting every time he had a bad accident. Who wouldn't? There was always that uncertain fear that the next accident could be the one that killed him. When he got hurt, he had to simply suffer through it. There were no pain killers that he could take to help with the pain, and there were times that it got so agonizing that he seriously considered giving it up. He could probably make a go of it as a trainer. He'd had enough experience with the horses to know all the ins and outs of training, and it was certainly less dangerous. When it all came down to it though, he just couldn't quit. Every time he considered it, he realized that he would rather suffer through the pain of the injuries than be miserable sitting on the sidelines dictating training. He'd be riding until it either killed him or crippled him. "Nothing out of the ordinary, I'm afraid." He said cheerily in response to her question. For Anthony, anything that was out of the ordinary probably meant that the day had gone swimmingly and all of the horses had behaved exactly as they should have. Sometimes days that were "out of the ordinary" were nice, but for the most part, he loved the thrill of never knowing what the horse was going to throw at him next. They were so unpredictable it was fantastic. He was a bit of an adrenaline junkie, but that was what made jockeys good at what they did. A completely sane person wouldn't set foot in the stirrup of a racehorse. They all had just enough crazy to make them want to take on the challenge that racehorses posed. Normally, it was mostly men that were into racing, at least at the upper levels, but not at Addison. Male jockeys actually seemed to be rare around here... not that he was complaining about that. "I'd ask you the same, but judging by that, it's not hard to guess." he added as he stepped over to the freezer where the ice was kept. "Need anything for that?" Most people who didn't know horses had absolutely no idea how badly a horse bite could hurt. They had big teeth and strong jaws, and if they caught you just right they could really do some serious damage. A lot of times they didn't break the skin, but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt, and the bruise would be about as ugly as if someone had hit them with a car, and all too often not to be taken lightly. If a horse really wanted to, they could probably break a person's arm with a bite... and in the racing world, there could often be quite a few that would jump at the chance. They really could be just that ornery.

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[Angela Giselle Eastman]

I've waited here my whole damn life [atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: 0b0b0b; width: 399px; padding: 5 5 5 5px; border-bottom: 12px solid #312d50; border-top: 12px solid #312d50;] And I've forgotten what I wanted As if being a jockey wasn’t enough, on top of it she competed English… jumpers and cross country was what she preferred, although she would ride dressage, but didn’t enjoy it nearly anywhere near as much, it was a little too slow for her liking; cross country was what she preferred, with jumpers coming in at a close second. She had Junior, but she had been considering investing in an eventer, but hadn’t made any firm plans for that yet, knowing that it could be a risky move… hurt herself eventing and she would end up not being able to race for however long. And seeing as though that was her living right there it was a problem. At least Jo had training to fall back on if she hurt herself riding, until she had recovered, but she didn’t have that luxury. “Sounds like a good kind of morning,” she answered, flashing him another smile. Well, it was a good morning if you weren’t dumped any more times than you usually were, and definitely good if you weren’t carried off on a stretcher by the end of the workouts, especially with some of the horses they rode… Anthony admittedly riding a lot more of the crazy ones than she did, but she still had her fair share. She nodded when he said that it was obvious what kind of morning she had, rolling her eyes a little at the thought of her sister’s mare again. “Erin was having one of her moments, she didn’t get a good hold on me though,” Angie explained. Not that she would really have to explain the mare too much to him, he’d ridden her before so it wasn’t like he didn’t know how she could be when she was in a particularly foul mood. “Some ice would be great actually, thanks,” she replied, figuring that she might as well take the offer while he was giving it, although she would have gone over to the fridge to get it out soon anyway. Trying to explain bruises away at school was slightly awkward at times, although thankfully a fair few of the teachers at the high school rode as well so they understood horse bites. It was worse when you were dating someone and got as bruised as much as she did, people tended to take it the wrong way. But she didn’t have that problem anymore, obviously. She pulled a slight face at the thought… apparently none of the Eastman girls were good judges when it came to boyfriends, or husbands, for that matter. “Finished for the day?” she asked, forcing herself to pull her thoughts away from the things that had been going on lately and back to Anthony. jess | 456 | sleepyyy.

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[Anthony James Lovasz]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: f9f9f9; border: #8b908a solid 10px; width: 450px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] i've been waking all my life tagged Ish/Angie words idek muse sleep deprivation notes notes credits template by irish! Considering where Anthony had gotten his start and the young age at which he had done so, it wasn't so hard to tell why he had such an affinity for horses that most people wouldn't come within 10 feet of. The horses he had essentially grown up on had the worst attitudes of any horse he had ridden up here. In any given day, the chance of a horse going over on you before it even got to the track was so high that many times the jockeys wouldn't even get on the horse until they were onto the track. Even then you weren't safe. The starting gate was the most dangerous part of the whole thing. Horses and jockeys alike tended to try to get into fights through the panels that separated them. Sometimes bits of the frame were broken and protruding and could just about take an eye out if you weren't careful. It was noisy and the amount of adrenaline in everyone before the race made it feel like that gate would just explode at any second. Truth be told, it was a miracle he'd not been killed on that track. "She can be a bit of a witch, that one." He said in reference to Erin. He'd ridden her for Jo on several occasions and he knew just how awful the horse could be. She wasn't quite like your average racehorse though. One moment she seemed sweet and almost docile, the next she was ripping a chunk of flesh out of your body. There was very little that was predictable about that horse. She didn't ever give warning signs either. She was fast, though, and that was mostly all you needed to be a racehorse. Anthony pulled open the freezer door and removed two ice packs, handing one to her as she asked if he was done with riding for the day. "I finish most early. You know how Danny is about sharing the track." He said with a smile in response. "Casey actually showed up this morning, but he said something about a date with Jasmine and left again." Anthony added after a moment, "You know how he is." It wasn't much of a secret that Casey rarely did his own work. Most of the time Ash just trained Casey's horses for him, which Anthony didn't mind. Ash was much more agreeable than Casey was anyway. He was quite a bit easier to get along with and was usually more focused on the task at hand. Casey was almost always preoccupied with women or annoying Danny. "You have school today?" he asked. Anthony really didn't know how schools here worked... though he didn't really know how schools in Mexico worked either, considering he'd not made it past third grade before actually finding things to do for money became a better use of his time than school.

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[Angela Giselle Eastman]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: 101010; border: #262626 solid 10px; width: 515px; padding: 5 5 5 5px;] “That’s probably a bit of an understatement,” Angie answered, grinning at him. Erin was one of the worst tempered horses she had ever ridden, and she had ridden a lot of them. She was even worse than half the stallions she had ridden before, and most of them were hyperactive, hormonal things, but they were all predictable, or at least as predictable as a giant animal with a mind of its own could be when you were sitting on a tiny piece of leather strapped onto their back, with another tiny piece of leather connecting your hands to their mouth for some control, but it was easier to tell exactly what would set them off. Being in the same vicinity of mares, for instance, especially ones on heat, or just being around other stallions, or the ones you rode who you knew liked to be the most dominant horse around. That was a safer kind of predictability, really, but with Erin you never knew what you were going to get. She just nodded and grinned again when he mentioned Danny… she knew what the man was like, she had been riding for him since she had first moved to Addison to live with Jo, and while he could be a little uptight sometimes she liked working for him, he was a good trainer and it was nice not to have to deal with all of the dramatic crap you could get with some of them. “Thanks,” she said, as he handed her the icepack, pressing it carefully against her arm where she had been bitten, using the fabric of her shirt to stop the frozen thing touching her skin directly, the last thing she needed was ice burn on top of it or something. She did look surprised, however, when he mentioned her ex brother in law, stopping for a moment to look at him. “Oh, he’s seeing someone?” she asked, just to make sure that she had heard right… and wondering whether she ought to mention it to Jo or not. Had he even told whoever he was seeing that he was still married? Knowing Casey, that fact had probably slipped his mind. Not that he and Jo were even actually together, but it wasn’t something you generally kept from someone when you started dating them. “Unfortunately, yes… not that I really want to go, but I really have nothing else to do for the rest of the day so,” she replied. School wasn’t exactly her thing… not to say she wasn’t bright, because she was, she just didn’t like it. The only reason she was finishing was because her parents wanted her to, just in case she decided one day she didn’t want to jockey anymore or something, but she doubted that would happen. Thankfully she was almost done with school, however, and then she was free to do what she wanted. - - - - - - - - - - i'm living with a busted heart that i will have until i find the strength i know it's somewhere in my bones, to pull the curtain up again and get on with this show, at least you know that I care enough to write, bottoms up tonight i drink to you and i, 'cause with the morning comes the rest of my life

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jeff | 484 | outfit | *rolls*

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