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Post by skye on Sept 25, 2010 9:52:31 GMT -8
-------------------------------------------------------------------------Capri pulled the painted mare's head around to the western stirrup that hung from the barrel saddle strapped to the mare, aiming to better insure that she wouldn't take off when Capri tried to get on. The little buckskin snorted slightly in protest, but cranked her head around anyway and held it there while she stepped up and onto her back easily (it wasn't quite so much of a leap for the 5' 2" girl as it was for her on her other two horses), taking a couple seconds to settle into the lime green seat before releasing her head. Kona shook her head a bit and reared up about a foot off the ground before settling, causing Capri to roll her eyes and tighten the reins a bit.
Capri had been here since 5 a.m working her horses, and she was just now getting to Kona (her rodeo and gaming horse) at 10:00 a.m. That left her just enough time to get about an hours work in before the heat became absolutely unbearable to work in, and she would have to hose her mare down and let her in the pasture. But she was already exhausted. Her other two horses, Tate (4 year old Thoroughbred) and Nutter Butter (6 year old Paint horse) had also been a little contrary today. Now with Tate it hadn't been much of a surprise. She just had that attitude where if she didn't want to be ridden, she was going to make it as clear as possible, and then try and get you off. This morning in her warm-up around the track, Tate had done her best to be the worst horse that she knew how, and Capri had done her best to stay on. It had drained a lot out of both of them by the time it was over with, and Tate had been good as gold for the last half hour of her work out.
The one that had most surprised her was Nutter. He was Capri's dependable, sweet horse. Never had a bad day, as far as she was concerned. But this morning, he just wasn't wanting to cooperate with what Capri wanted to do. He was good through his warm-up, but when she asked him to do the more complicated moves of reining (things she knew he knew how to do perfectly well), he balked, and acted like a 3 year old through the whole thing. Like she was just teaching this to him and he didn't know how to do it.
So now she was exhausted, even as fit as she was, which was even more of reason to get their warm-up done quickly, and with as little trouble as possible from Kona. Kona had a reputation for being moody, making her fairly unpredictable. She was Capri's little bi-polar horse. Thankfully, this morning, she seemed to be in a pretty good, if not a little spirited, mood today.
Making sure she was relaxed and ready in the saddle anyways, just in case, Capri squeezed her legs and gave a soft smooch signaling the mare to move forward at a walk. She did, but it was high stepping, almost bordering on a trot, making it look like she was getting ready to take-off. Capri tightened the reins a bit more, and sat even deeper in the seat of her western saddle, asking her to slow it down, and relax. After taking about half the arena in that prancing, half trot, Kona relaxed down into her familiar, long strided walk. A few circles and figure eights at a flowing trot in the middle of the arena, after walking the outside for a bit, and one turn around the arena at a nice, collected lope, and they were ready to work. Capri was pleased with Kona this morning, especially after her other two. She was working like a dream after getting the initial bugs out.
Three barrels were set up in the middle of the arena in the familiar, clover leaf pattern they both knew so well. When Capri turned her around to face the first barrel at an angle, she could feel all of the mare's muscles tense in preparation for the take-off. Which was why she turned her in a few circles before starting off at a slow trot towards the barrels. They did the pattern a couple times at this speed before Capri felt Kona relax again, and start paying attention to her instead of having her mind set on the pattern. Capri always did this whenever she felt the mare tense up like she had because she'd made the mistake before of just letting her go instead of taking it slow a couple times once before. It had landed her hard in the dirt, with severe bruises covering her body, and an even more severely bruised pride. She wasn't going to make that mistake again.
Keeping a firm hand on the reins, she steered her back to the position they had been in before, angled to the left of the first barrel that was placed on the right. Making sure she was till paying attention, Capri took her in a few more circles, and then pointed her away from the barrels, her nose towards the fence with her rump still at the angle, how they always started the pattern. Kona's ears were trained backwards to Capri, and she became very still, muscles tensed for the cue, unlike how she'd been before, prancing, and tossing her head. Capri was just as still perched on top of the mare, her hands relaxed yet firm on the short roping reins, muscles loose and ready for the quick spin that would propel them off at lightening speed towards the barrel. They sat like this for who knows how long, suspended in time, frozen like a statue, both just barely breathing, before one slight movement from Capri broke their stillness.
A slight tap from Capri's left heel, and light tug from her right hand was all Kona needed to rock back on her heels, spin in a tight rollback, and take off towards the first barrel at a speed faster than most thought the little, 14.3 hand mare could go. Capri was leaned forward over Kona's neck, hands forward in encouragement, aimed for a spot about 3 feet off of the left side of the barrel, that standard pocket that Capri gave the mare to make their turns quicker. As they neared the barrel, she sat back in the saddle and pushed her legs forward, giving a light tug on the reins, signaling the horse to slow just enough to make the turn. Sticking her butt to the barrel, Kona spun her front end around digging with her front hooves. Capri had her inside rein pulled up towards her hip so Kona's shoulder wouldn't drop, which would cause them to fall into the barrel knocking it over, and was already looking to next one. Or rather, the invisible pocket off the right side of the next one.
They made it to the next barrel in just a few short strides, and made that turn in much the same fashion as the last one. Now they were speeding for the last barrel, and preparing already for the run back home. But this time, Capri didn't give them enough of a pocket, and they started to cut the turn to close. But rather than jerk Kona out and away from the barrel, like many others would have done, Capri just let it be, hoping that they weren't so close that they'd knock the barrel over. Hoping to get her to round out a little more in this turn to keep them farther away from the barrel, Capri put pressure on Kona with her inside leg. The mare responded immediately, rounded out just enough to keep them from hitting the barrel and knocking it over. But it wasn't quite enough to keep Capri's leg from grazing around the outside of the barrel on the last half of their turn, causing it to wobble. It teetered dangerously, causing Capri to curse herself in her head, before it amazingly settled back onto the ground without tipping over. Allowing herself a quick breath of relief, she quickly sat even deeper in her saddle than before.
Kona was already rocking back on her haunches, preparing to launch them forward in a speed that rivaled horses twice her size. The quick tap Kona got from Capri's heels was all she needed to go all out on this last run home. She took off, stretching flat out, Capri bent over her neck with her hands close to being just behind her ears. The paint's long mane whipped and stung Capri's face, but it didn't stop an earsplitting grin from breaking across her face at the sheer joy of going this fast, being this connected and at one with her horse. This was much the same feeling she got when riding Thoroughbreds on the track. Whether it was racing in an actual race, or just breezing them out on the track, nothing rivaled this feeling in her mind.
She pushed her through where the timers would be in an actual competition before sitting back in her seat, and lifting up on the left rein, turning Kona out in a wide circle in the lead she'd been in coming home. Her long, light brown ponytail swung like a helicopter as they turned in the circle, her cream colored skin flushed a light pink from the wind, and adrenaline. Her hazel eyes shone, tears still clinging to her lashes from the wind and Kona's mane whipping them from her eyes, and her body as breathless and gasping for air as her horse's.
As Kona slowed to a leisurely lope, then trot, to a walk, Capri couldn't help but laugh out loud for the pure joy of it. That had to have been a record breaking time. She thought happily. To bad I didn't have timers set up. But then again she didn't care either. She came to the conclusion that she would rather not know and not have her high ruined by thinking about times and what they could have done to make it faster. The grin stayed in place on her face as she reached down to rub Kona's damp neck, murmuring, "Good girl, Kona. Your such a good girl.", all while they were still walking in slow circles. The adrenaline rush she got from riding her horses was all the reason she ever needed to stay off drugs and that shit because she knew it could never even come close to comparing to the feeling she had now. Notes: Oh my God!! I wrote a friggin' novel!!  Jeez!! To whoever responds to this, it doesn't have to be this long!! Lol  Word Count: 1,831 Bio: Clicky!!Outfit: What she's a wearin! Horse (Kona): Clicky!!
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Post by jeremy on Sept 29, 2010 21:38:42 GMT -8
  did you dream that the world would know your name?
Addison, Texas was definitely not a place he had expected himself to be after all the years of living in Great Britain, let alone living in the United States itself. He never had planned to leave England, a place he had loved for a long time. It was the only way he thought he could escape his parents demanding wrath, wanting their son to be the champion eventer he once had been. Even though he had been plain honest, telling them that those dreams were gone the moment he watched his own horse be put down right before his own eyes as he was loaded in to a stretcher. That hadn't been in the plan, that never was in the picture of the dream. It had all died the moment she had taken her last breath before being taken off the course itself. He had been so close to the World Equestrian Games, it had been at the tips of his fingers at that very moment until one wrong step had lead to everything spiralling to a point of disaster. It wasn't supposed to turn out this way, even if it had been years he wished that he could change it.
Losing the only thing he ever loved was something that he'd never let go, and he'd hold on to it until the day he died with clenched fists. Coming here was the only thing he could really do, his parents constant after him that all of his horses were wasting away in the world of show jumping when they belonged to be challenged on the cross country course. He strongly believed now that no horse belonged there, risking their lives with every step and every jump. There had been one time where he had stared at the long course of solid obstacles after that day, sitting astride the powerful bay gelding that he had ever since he had been young. After the first two jumps, he came to an almost identical bank that had ended everything, pulling up his horse he shook his head and walked off of the course, ignoring the disproving murmurs that spread through the spectators. He had been known for his rebellious and fearless talent on the cross country courses, the raw power and ability to keep the energetic horses to collect so tightly, but then let them go and turn tight with full control across the stadium jumps. Now he was known as the one who had fallen from almost world class ranks, sitting now on the shelf being covered in dust.
The person who had always wanted to be someone, to be known and famous allowed himself to shrink back, not really caring anymore. Those around him hadn't wanted that, especially his parents after his brother had pretty much held up his middle finger and left. Now he had been the one to be pressured back in to the eventing business like he was supposed to be. But like his brother, he was tired of the constant pleas and irritating comments sent in his direction and he finally left. Now just the town, but the country completely. Walking in to the familiar aisle way of Crossfire Farms, he narrowed his eyes slightly as he made his way around. The place was still new to him, but he had caught on quickly to where everything was. It wasn't hard to find the tack room, and the cross-ties, the only two real places of importance for him in the barn itself. He found himself getting in to a routine of riding maybe one horse a day right now, just flatting them while they adjusted to the different climate and a complete new place. It wasn't that they'd really ever be worked hard, his normal competitive drive had seemed to suddenly disappear in to thin air one day, like sand running through his fingers suddenly it had just ran out.
Sliding open the bay mare's stall, he studied her for a moment as she stood quite content munching on the remains of her hay from breakfast. She made her way over to him, soft brown eyes alert and attentive, ears flickering back and forth at every sound. Sliding the halter over her head and clipping it on, he lead her in to the cross-ties and disappeared in to the tack room to return minutes later with his tack and brushes balanced in his arms. It didn't take him long to brush and tack up the young mare, who stood there loving every minute of attention that she could get. Unlike her siblings and parents, she seemed to be the odd one of the bunch and adored the small amounts of attention that she got. He was just waiting for the day that the mare would decide to turn around and try to bite him. An ideal situation for her would have been someone who would have returned the affection and love that she gave, but that was something he'd never do. Using her like all the other horses, it was his job to make her go a certain way no matter what she wanted to do or how long it took to get there.
Leading her off outside and swinging on from the large mounting block, he sat effortlessly in the saddle letting her walk forward with soft hands. Feeling the familiar lofty gaits underneath him, he pushed her in to a longer walk, wanting this hack to be quick and easy before the heat really started to kick up a notch. Running his fingers through his brown hair, he hadn't even bothered trying to find his helmet out of the many boxes that were in his house, not that he ever really used one unless he was jumping. Resting his hand on his hip, he looked up as the mare suddenly lifted her head and got a bit more bounce in to her step.
Of course, there was someone in the outdoor. Making a face as he got closer, he couldn't decide what disgusted him more, the fact she was running around barrels, or the fact the seat of her saddle was lime green. Western was another thing he disliked, for no particular reason unlike cross country. Gathering the reins in both of his hands, he made the mare connect and come round as he walked in to the ring, trying his best not to take any attention to himself as the girl leaned down and rubbed her mare's neck affectionately. But Mirro seemed to have a different train of thought than her owner, letting out a loud whinny toward the other mare she watched her brightly with her nostrils quivering in excitement.
character; Devin King (and Haunted Mirror; aka Mirro)
words; 1118  '
notes; ermm, this sucks and is rambly and long D: im surprised i poped it out in twenty five minutes and it being my first post with him... lol. sorry for the wait!
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Post by skye on Oct 2, 2010 21:39:49 GMT -8
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Since she was so focused on her horse, and still trying to get her brain back in working order after the adrenaline rush she'd just gotten, Capri didn't notice when another rider entered the arena. But Kona did. Her ears flicked towards the area where the horse and rider were, but Capri didn't pay any attention until the other mare nickered eagerly at them. Kona's head jerked around, ears tuned towards the new pair, and she whinnied back after a second, head held high and legs braced in anticipation. Capri was a little less quick to react as she sat back in her saddle slowly, and gathered her reins.
Glancing over at the new rider, she saw it was a guy astride a huge bay mare. Before she could study the pair more, Kona decided now was the time to start acting up. Of course, she thought, she picks now to act like an idiot and embarass me. Tossing her head, the little mare picked up her feet to start prancing in place, straining against the bit, wanting to go towards the new horse. Used to these little theatrics, Capri sat deep, and kept a steady pressure on the reins, careful not to give Kona anymore slack than absolutely neccessary.
Rolling her eyes, and sighing heavily, Capri quickly shortened her left rein and pulled her mare's head around to her toe, hand held steady up by her hip. Sending an apologetic glance towards the rider at the arena's edge, she mouthed a quick "Sorry." for what was about to come.
Kona relaxed after a bit, and let ears tune back into the person that was on her back. Just like Capri knew she would. But when Capri released her head, the mare immediatly tensed, threw her head in the air, and reared high in the air. Just like Capri knew she would. The rear wasn't something aiming to get her rider off, it was more of a little act, a little show for the newcomers. Grabbing the saddle horn, Capri leaned into her mare's neck, waiting for the drop back down to earth. When Kona did, she came down hard, throwing Capri forward into the cantle and saddle horn. Wincing just a bit, Capri immediatly jerked Kona's head around to her knee, and held it there for awhile.
When it became apparant that Kona's antics were over for now, she released her head, and neck-reined her mare over towards the guy on the mare. Making sure to keep a safe distance from the strange pair, Capri looked up at the guy and gave him a small grin. "Sorry about that. Kona's all about the theatrics. You have a nice mare." She added, running an practiced eye over the horse.
Notes: That's alright. This isn't the best post either, but I got it up. Sorry it's so short.  Word Count: 477 Tagged: Devin |
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Post by jeremy on Oct 2, 2010 23:25:17 GMT -8
did you dream that the world would know your name?
He could feel the mare's attention wandering to the other horse in the arena, and he knew it was going to take him a long time to regain it now that her focus was off. Closing his leg, he walked her in a small circle, keeping her bent around his inside leg and coming forward through the turn. Quietly working her on a small figure eight, making her work by bending around his leg. Every fibre of the mare wanted to turn around and try and visit, and as the other mare began to dance in spot, he knew this was a battle he wasn't going to win. Not wanting to fight with her, he halted her and rested a hand on his hip as she just watched the paint. Without much given indication the other horse reared up, nothing huge to a point where he thought she was going over. Shaking his head, he watched her pull the mare around.
Unacceptable, if that were one of his horses he'd make them think twice before trying to do that. Mirro let a deep nicker broke the silence between them. Standing at 16.3, she wasn't small, but she wasn't exactly huge either. She was very, very well behaved for her age as she stood there like Devin expected her too. Keeping a light contact on her lips, he let the mare chew on the bit, wanting to creep closer. As the other girl began to approach, he felt the mare tense up completely. As sweet as could be with people, he knew she wouldn't put a foot wrong on the ground. Horses were a bit of a different story, he looked down at the mares ears, waiting to see if she pinned them back to her head. The mare was an odd one for her breeding, almost every single sibling she had was completely nasty.
Looking up at the girl, his expression almost bored as she grinned and apologized for her horses actions. “Uh huh,” he said, nothing exciting or unusual for him. He never quite understood why people did that, shrugging he glanced down at Mirro once more as she commented on her. “I know.” The mare wasn't exactly his definition of truly nice, but he was picky- she was a bit too upright in her conformation. Everyone around him seemed to have a different opinion, they loved her and wanted to take her home- with her sweet temperament, good work ethic and cute appearance there wasn't more you could really ask for.
Almost grimacing disapprovingly as he stared at the other horse, raising an eyebrow at her. “You... barrel race?”
[/b] It was more of a statement than a question, as he looked down at the lime green seat of her saddle it made everything quite obvious.
character; Devin King (and Haunted Mirror; aka Mirro) words; idkk, 450? notes; oh devin. xD he's... kinda trying to talk?[/blockquote][/size][/color][/blockquote]
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Post by skye on Oct 3, 2010 18:59:10 GMT -8
------------------------------------------------------------------------- Her gaze became sharper as she glanced back up at the guy, noting the almsot condecending tone in his voice as he said "barrel race." Put together with the disdainful look in his eye as he looked over her horse and saddle she knew he was one of those riders. The ones that thought english was the only way to ride, and those that just disliked western for absolutely now reason. Most probably hadn't ever sat in a western saddle. She could smell a person like that a mile away. Let's just say, she didn't love them. And almost every time she met one, she immediatly became determined to either get them in a western saddle and prove to them that it was just as challenging as english, if not more so, or die trying. This situation was no different for her.
Capri was as stubborn as a mule and so persistant people were pushed to get a restraining order on her. It was just how she operated, especially when it came to something she believed in. "Yeah, I barrel race. It's one of my favorite things to do. I'm also a jockey. What do you do?" She made sure not to let one little ounce of defensivness seep into her voice and she kept a pleasantly interested look to her face as she held his gaze. It was a bit odd for her to look into his eyes. There was just something... weird, about them. It wasn't just the almost disgusted look they held as they'd studied her mare and tack, it was the fact that they were kind of... Empty. No real emotion or warmth there. They were kind of cold.
Even though they chilled her to look into them, she held his gaze unwaveringly. Feeling Kona shift beneath her and start straining against the bit to sniff the other horse, she adjusted her hands to hold her nose away from the other mare, just in case the two decided they didn't like each other after all. The sun was really starting to amp up the heat, one small degree at a time, and it beat down on Capri's bare shoulders and the top of her dark head. Not that she minded, it was just that she'd like to start cooling Kona off and then get her to the wash racks for a quick rinse before the heat became unbearable to work in. She also had to put the barrels away as well. But she couldn't seem to make herself say what she needed to say so she could get on with her ruitine without seemed rude. There was just something that intrigued her about him.
"I'm Capri, by the way." She blurted out, out of the blue. Almost immediatly she flushed a light pink in embarrassment at her blundering speech. Hoping he would think it was just because of the heat that was now steadily rising, she gave him another one of her easy, friendly grins that came so easy to her, hoping to get him to loosen up a bit.Notes: I'm having to send my computer in tomorrow to get everything updated on it and I don't know when I'll be getting it back so my reply might be a little later than usual. Just so you know!  Word Count: 526 Tagged: Devin |
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Post by jeremy on Oct 7, 2010 20:04:48 GMT -8
did you dream that the world would know your name?
There once had been a young boy that would have walked around telling the world that he out of all people had qualified for the World Equestrian Games at a young age of sixteen- something that he had been told that would never been possible. Those days he had wore nothing but pride brimming around the edges of everything he did, whether it had just been walking around, or riding his horses. The burning fire of pride had just been too much, apparently karma had been against him and decided to put it out the only way it knew how. To smother the flames right from the source and take out the fire faster than it had started.
That was exactly what it had done, taking the source of the arrogance and pride from under him.
Now he was stumped, sitting easily astride the mare. It would be easy for him to just say eventing, but it wasn't true. He didn't want to be deemed with the title of an eventer anymore, but it was something that would follow him for the rest of his life. That's what he was known for- that and the tragic loss two weeks before the prestigious WEG was supposed to occur. Pulling on her mouth lightly as she tried to walk closer to the horse that was inching her head in that direction, he knew how it would end if the two were to get close enough to even consider touching noses. Knowing Mirro, she would pin her ears, squeal and try and spin and kick out.
And quite frankly, he really didn't want to deal with that. That would probably end in a law suit, and vet bills for both of the horses.
She mentioned that she was a jockey, a look of pure amusement and disbelief spread across his face. So what was this? She galloped horses around tin barrels, spurred them to run full out on a small pattern- and it got even better now. If it wasn't enough to make them do that, she sat on thoroughbreds and ran them in to the ground around a circle track. Another aspect of the horse world that he hated, the death rate lingered shockingly high.
This girl just happened to do two of the sports he disliked the most.
“Show jumping... and dressage,” he finally said after a moment of silence between them. The only real sound was the noises coming from the horses. Empty brown eyes watched her as she stared at him, trying to figure out what he was going to do next. Walking the lanky mare in a circle, he pulled her up to a halt again, trying to keep her somewhat distracted so she didn't try and make friends with the other horse. He tried to ignore the fact she was looking at him, and the almost paranoia began to chew from inside of him. Did she know who he was- or more so what he was known from? Falling from world class to having his horse die from a simple mistake on a forgiving cross country course. His brother never let him forget that it was his fault, that it was his mistake.
He had destroyed the only thing he had ever loved. Or rather, the closest thing he had felt to love.
When she blurted out an introduction, he watched her for a moment; almost stunned by her actions. In all honesty, he didn't quite care who she was. She was just another person at the barn. Raising an eyebrow, he stiffened his posture slightly as he knew he probably should return the introduction. That is if he were to be polite and courteous, like most normal people. Noting the slight pink that touched her cheeks, he lowered his glance to her horse once more. “And this is important to me how?” He finally said.
Manners as a lesson that he hadn't quite learned as a child.
“Devin,” he said simply. Deep voice was clear and easy, his tone smooth and effortless as he said the word.
character; Devin King (and Haunted Mirror; aka Mirro)
words; 658
notes; that's fine! sorry this took so long. xD
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Jeez!! To whoever responds to this, it doesn't have to be this long!! Lol 
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