The Freakshow Takes to the Road

[paigeturner]

Mules were never known to be graceful or willing. In fact, for most, the word graceful and willing is farthest from their mind when someone thinks of a mule. Normally stubborn, stupid, slow, and often just something to pull a cart comes to mind.

Most don't know much about mules, which is why they probably think that, mused Paige. She reached down and gave Freakshow a pat on his thick neck. People will learn eventually, she mumbled. After all... She reached up and tried to rub between his over-sized ears but he snorted and threw his head. Seeing is believing, right? The mule just snorted and this seemed to satisfy the girl's question. Freakshow has grown more then use to his owner's random blabbering. Often they seem to start from nothing and never hold a subject, unless you count the word 'it'. He never truly cared for what she was talking about and never fully understood a thing that came out of her.

Paige smiled and drew her reins, giving a light contact onto Freakshow's simple D-ring snaffle. Instantly, he began to lean a bit onto the bit, eager to stop with this little 'chat' and actually work. With a little wiggle of the right rein, he dropped his head a bit as asked. Paige's seat bone shifted and he turned slightly off the rail and on the diagonal. Another wiggle on the right and he dropped his head slightly again. There was a pause then Paige asked again, giving a large release of the reins as soon as he responded to try and make him stretch even more.

His pace slowed slightly to a dead walk as he lowered his head to the point one might think he was looking for grass to nibble on in the dirt arena. With a small push of her seat, his march returned in his walk but his head bobbed up again still unable to keep the stretch at a marching pace. Still, Paige was satisfied with this but asked for a bit more as she wiggled the left rein, changing the bend. There was a pause before he again dipped his head slightly.

A few laps passed where Paige asked nothing more then the free walk. This though, seemed to annoy Freakshow. He began to try and ignore the constant wiggle in the bit- course he eventually did it, knowing how Paige could be more stubborn when it came to riding then the stereotypical mules.

Eventually she got the hint. Alright, she said with a genuine laugh. She drew the reins a bit snugger and asked for the medium walk. Let's move on then, shall we? Her conversations with the beast often seemed random and crazy as she often spoke like Freakshow was a human and always seemed to be expecting a reply.

Course Paige could always be considered random and crazy. Not that she would take it as much of an insult or a compliment- more like an observation, really.

((XP Yes, very boring in the beginning but tis dressage! Plus warm up is never the most exciting thing in the world lol Especially dressage warm up))

[reid]

Reid walked of the barn with his 16 hand flashy appaloosa. The stallions head hung low and he followed Reid without any fight. He occasionally would look up in the direction of a mare or whinny but he simply obeyed Reid like a loyal puppy dog. Reid didn't even hold onto the reins as he walked the horse to the outdoor arena. No use in being cooped up when it was a beautiful day out. Maybe this evening they would go for a trail ride and scout out some of the land. As he approached the arena he could see someone else had beat him to it. Interesting enough, she was riding a mule and appeared to be doing some basic dressage. Reid was intrigued by the young ladies choice and stood by the gate quietly for a few moments just watching the pair. It was obvious they were use to one another and seemed to get along quite well.

Reid opened the gate and the stud followed him in turned and stopped all with Reid's rhythm. He mounted the flashy app and kept him to one side of the arena as to not distract the working pair. He noted the girls multi-color hair and was amused. He asked the stallion to do slow easy turns off the reins and trotted him in several medium circles both ways. He then took him in the direct center of the circle and gently placed the reins on his neck. The horse spun quickly to the right. Then they did the same to the left. Reid felt a little dizzy so he asked the horse to move out again in a trot. He barely put any pressure on his mount and tried to use his body language and shifting wait as much as possible.

He saw the girl on one side of the arena and stopped his horse to simply watch the pair move gracefully through the arena. He wanted to meet with this girl. She obviously had a little talent of her own. As he gazed at her Moon Dust began to get a little antsy saying dad it's time to work not play. Reid chuckled at the young horse taking charge and let him move out a bit. They cantered in several wide circles. He would then sit back in the saddle and the horse would slide stop underneath him, his butt almost dragging the ground. Reid would then apply the slightest pressure on the horses mouth and in reverse he went and rather quickly at that.

[paigeturner]

A simple little diddy hummed from her closed lips, very quiet and to herself. Though in truth, she wouldn't care if she had some microphone attached to her. It held nearly no rhythm and was rather childlike in tune. Every now and then it would change beat like changing songs on the radio. Some song she must have picked up in a past childhood memory and combined into one mixture. Somehow though, the song would move with Freakshow, slowly picking up a rhythm and giving her something to move them to.

His head tucked around the bit, pulling slightly and eager to work. With the mere thought of a trot crossing her mind, the mule's legs began to dance in twos. Each with the opposite diagonal. His head was tucked but too high for Paige's liking. Perhaps some of the judge would like his head held high to try and make this mule seem elegant and have some dignity but Paige rather his head be a little lower then usual (not like a western pleasure horse, mind you. Just his poll slightly higher then his withers). He worked his body better anyways and would showcase his large ears that were laid casually back. Freakshow's head went a bit to the right then to the left, as her hands tightened one at a time, before understanding and dropping a bit, still too high for Paige's liking but she let it go. Paige's hands were soft and quiet, giving him the right amount of encouragement to tell her this was correct and he kept his head there.

At this point, she finally began to realize she was no alone in the arena- of course this was only after the other horse and rider in front of slid to a stop and quickly accelerating backwards. Alarm flashed through her and she grabbed mane and held tight- knowing fully that Freakshow would take care of her. (Sure this was a bad habit, but she only did it with Freakshow.)

The mule, pinned his ears and turned quickly away. Paige could feel his wanting to kick out when he slightly felt the other horse brush slightly against his hind quarters as he got away. Sorry about that dude! She said, pulling Freakshow up by just adjusting the reins. She turned her head to look at the other rider and Freakshow followed her movements, turning to face the other. She offered a bashful smile to the man while Freakshow pinned his ears fiercely at the spotted stallion- though it was both Paige's and Freakshow's fault, the mule would never admit he's in the wrong.

[reid]

Reid was embarrassed. He shouldn't have allowed his young stud to get so close for him to react. Reid took off his cowboy hat and dipped his head to the young lady. "I do apologize miss...I'm Reid and this is Moon Dust." A smile drew across his features. His face had stubble from not shaving for a few days and his hair was starting to grow out a bit as well. His hands were calloused from a hard life's work. However all that working also kept him a nice figure. His arms and chest were muscular and his abbe's were toned. His eyebrow furrowed with some sweat he wiped it away and placed the hat back on his head. He backed Dusty up a few more steps from the mule not wanting to agitate it any further. He had worked with mules before himself. Mostly for packing or farm work but he had ridden a couple in his day and even broke one or two for some past clients so he was somewhat familiar with the animals temperament.

"Are you okay miss?" With one swift movement he dismounted the stud and took a few cautious steps towards her. The appaloosa simply dropped his head and stood where Reid had left him as though he knew perfectly well what was expected of him and when. Reid was kind of a different kind of cowboy. When he walked you didn't her the chink of spurs because he saw no need in something so harsh. When he was a boy one of his first ponies was bomb proof and was really hard to get into a gallop and being such a good rider so quickly at that age that was all Reid was concerned about. One day he had spurred the pony so hard their were several tiny puncture wounds. From that day on Reid swore to never treat an animal like that. He then convinced his father to let the pony retire and get him a new one.

He didn't just see this mule standing in front of him like most people would. He saw every twitching muscle, every swish of the tail, and the placement of the ears. He saw an intelligent creature willing to please his owner at all cost. Reid still wore his smile and now the sun was coming out you could see his deep features. At that point he heard Dusty stirring behind him. Some riding a mare past had caught his attention. He was not leisurely walking towards the gait nickering for the mares attention.

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[paigeturner]

The girl twitched her head to the side with a puzzled look on her face. She held this for a moment, looking only owlish before she seemed to recover. No, no, she said quickly shaking her head. All my fault, I believe. I never look where I'm going. Well, really... she paused, thinking up a good explanation. I saw you, I just didn't really notice you. She gave a small laugh at that.

The guy was handsome, Paige would give him that, but she was never one for relationships. Friendships were difficult enough for her to keep. (You forget their name after a few months and they get mad about it, or something along those lines. Paige never really cared much about it.) I'm fine. She reached down and gave Freakshow a small rub on his shoulder, though he didn't seem to notice or care. Freakshow always gets us out of my troubles, she gave another small laugh with that.

The mule, unlike his owner, was not the happiest creature after getting interrupted from his work, even if it was partly his fault. When the man stepped closer he lashed his narrow tail and pinned his large ears, turning his head slightly and pondering if he could get away with walking away without Paige's notice. Probably so, but the mule was too stubborn to move just yet. (Sure, not all mules are stubborn, but Freakshow is mostly stubborn against people on the ground when he already has a rider on his back. Paige would joke that he didn't want two people giving directions to him- and sadly, that probably was true. But either way, you can guess how that first lead line class went.)

Freakshow's ears pinned even more at the stallion's stirring behind the man. Though Paige barely seemed to notice. Course that's no surprise, she doesn't really notice the obvious stuff just the small details.

[reid]

Reid dipped his head at the young women and watched the mules reaction. He obviously wasn't much interested in Reid and there was no need for him to intervene. He looked back at his horse and whistled. Like a dog the stallion turned back towards his owner and hesitantly walked back. Reid could tell the mule was a little annoyed and was just interested in getting back to work. Reid wasn't interested in ruining there work but he couldn't just let it be left at that. As his horse returned he grabbed the reins and mounted up. He looked at her with a smile in his eyes.

"At least let me buy you dinner. How about we meet at Giannas & Giovanni's at eight."

He turned his horse and rode toward the gate trying to avoid giving her an opportunity to turn him down. He parallel parked the horse next to the gate waved his hat goodbye and pushed the gate open. The horse exited and turned right back towards the gate and allowed his rider to push it shut. He was pleased with himself but only she could decide if she wanted to show up. He quickly un-tacked the appaloosa and cleaned his stall before feeding him. He couldn't lie, he was anxious, nervous, but you never know unless you try.

ooc-sorry its icth my muse petered out towards the end:( if u dont choose to write a reply here at least pm to let me know shes standing him up lol

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[paigeturner]

The words echoed in the girl's brain for a small while, not really having any meaning for a moment. She watched the man return to his horse and remount and begin to ride out of the arena. Freakshow began to grow less annoyed and in general, content. He began to pull a little on the reins, willing to work.

Then the words hit her.

Oh! She spun around in the saddle to stop the guy, but he was already heading back up to the stables. Her mouth kept running though. No, I got plans already. But I mean.. Ok... Yea... Sorry, dude! She felt generally bad about it. But her mother's rule stood about not going to places with strangers. Sure, the guy didn't seem like a creep or anything, but it wouldn't feel right to go against her mother- no matter how different the two were.

Plus, she didn't want to take the guy's money when it was her fault anyways. She sighed and let Freakshow move forwards and soon her mind wandered and she had nearly forgotten about the whole situation as the mule picked up the trot.
Oh, how ignorance is bliss.

((^.^ Sorry about that! It just would be out of character for Paige to go- if she remembered by then XP))