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Post by Johanna India Eastman on Sept 25, 2010 22:09:57 GMT -8
 It was only very early morning, but the weather was already warming up, a light rainfall Jo had encountered on the way to the stable making the air feel somewhat humid. Though, she was glad for the rain, Arty tended to be more of a mudder, and with the rain, the track surface would be good, and the bit of moisture there would be just right for him...and Erin too, when she got to her session. She would rather ride the older stallion before she rode the mare, despite his gender, he was a well trained race veteran, bought as a two year old by her father as a sort of project horse for her on her eighteenth birthday. He’d had another jockey back home, but after she had left...she was left riding, as well as training, the two racers she had transported with her. Not that she minded, it felt good to get back up on Arty, and right now, she’d only trust herself riding Erin, the mare was so green and flighty, she could be a danger to any rider who didn’t know how to handle her properly, or anyone who wouldn’t listen to Johanna’s instructions, preferring to use their own knowledge to do what they thought was best.
Having readied the stallion in Crossfire’s racing barn – she hadn’t even found a place for herself to stay in yet, she was using the deluxe horse trailer she had bought, complete with cramped living quarters, to stay in until she found a place, though the first thing she had done was ensured her horses had a suitable place to stay. She had asked a friend to drive Arty, Mikka and Sharon all the way to Addison, and they had agreed, borrowing their car and smaller trailer to collect Erin in whilst Casey had been away, leaving the divorce papers sitting on what was once her kitchen bench for him to find when he arrived back from the race meet he had gone to. She led him out to the mounting yard, the Thoroughbred was fresh, she hadn’t been able to get a run in before she had crashed out on the tiny bunk in the trailer the day before, once she had arrived in Addison, so he had tonnes of energy to burn.
“Come on Arty, just a breeze today, pretty easy. Don’t disappoint me, hey?” she spoke to him as she made sure the girth for his light racing saddle was properly secured, adjusting her protective riding vest before a nearby hand helped her up onto the large stallion’s back. Aiming him towards the track, she kept him back at a walk, for now, feeling the pull in his reins that said he wanted to run, but she wanted to get her bearings on the new track before she let him go.
Tagged Capri
Words 474
Outfit Click
Muse My People - The Presets
Notes Here you go, hope I gave you something to work with.
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Post by skye on Sept 28, 2010 16:08:28 GMT -8
-------------------------------------------------------------------------Even though it was still pretty early in the morning, several people were out on the track, excersising their equine athletes. The track was a bit slippery and damp from the light rain that had fell earlier that morning, Capri could easily tell that just by watching the Thoroughbreds on the track that weren't neccessarily mudders struggle to keep their footing. Though, of course, others were having no trouble at all, in fact probably running better than they did on a dry track, but that was only a few from what she could see. Her own Thorughbred filly, Tate, who was dancing along beside her as they walked towards the track promising to be trouble today, wasn't much of a mudder herself. Not at all really. She ran best on turf, then loose dirt, and the very last, mud. A slippery surface to run on wasn't what Tate liked to do at all.
Plus, with the way the filly had been acting all morning, it wasn't promising a good work-out session. Tate had been skittish and hyper-active all morning, not wanting to corroperate with anything that her handlers and Capri had wanted to do with her. Now, on their way to the track, Tate had to have two handlers on one side, and Capri and another guy on the other just to lead her. Apparantly, she'd decided that rearing and trying to trample everyone in sight was her new favorite thing.
As they got closer to the track, it seemed like Tate was calming a little, no longer dragging all four of them towards wherever she decided to go. They made it right to the opening to get into the track, and they were preparing to boost Capri on, when she decided to give one last rear. Capri had been pushed back by one of the other handlers when it started and she was now watching, annoyed, as Tate dramatically pawed the air and whinnyed to the other horses on the track. Ridiculous... She thought.
As soon as Tate's feet touched back down on the ground, Capri was right back beside the guy who was going to boost her up, and grabbing fistfuls of mane to help pull herself up. Cupping her small boot in his hands, the guy boosted her up into the saddle, leaving a stadying hand on her calf for a moment, just in case Tate decided to do something else. Gathering up the reins, she nodded a thanks to the three guys who'd helped her get out here, and kissed to the filly, urging her though the opening and onto the muddy track.
Just as she'd assumed, as soon as Tate set foot on the track she'd become all business, calming, and tipping her ears back towards Capri. She let her walk out for a bit, and then clicked to her, signaling her for a smooth trot. Tate moved out effortlessly under Capri, collecting herself without having to be asked, muscles flexing and rolling under the silky jet black coat. Things were going fairly smooth, but when they got closer to a blonde girl on a big chestnut, the black mare flattened her ears back against her head and snaked her head out towards the chestnut's shoulder before Capri yanked her head back around.
Tate tried lengthening her stride to get ahead of the horse, her competitive streak showing true. Capri sat deeper in the small saddle, and tightened her reins to keep her even with the girl beside them. Heat flooded her face in embarrassment at the way Tate had acted, and she turned towards the girl sitting on top of the chestnut. "I'm sooo sorry about that. Tate's a bit competitive, even just during a simple work-out." A little grin twitched at the corners of her lips as she patted her filly's sleek neck, even as the apologetic look in her hazel eyes never faded. She hoped the girl wouldn't be to mad at her. She hated when people were mad at her.
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Post by Johanna India Eastman on Sept 29, 2010 5:32:23 GMT -8
It was only a matter of time before Casey began looking for her. Johanna knew that though it might take him a while, he’d figure it out. She’d given her solicitor the information as to what town she was moving to, promising to supply him an address when she got one so he could send the right paperwork to her, and knowing her husband...he would get it out of him, somehow. He would probably pay him off, actually. She gritted her teeth, adjusting the position of her hands on the reins, she was going to have to fight to keep Erin with her when that happened...if he didn’t have her charged for theft, anyways. Not that he had even wanted the black Thoroughbred mare, he was making plans to sell her off to a slaughter house because he didn’t see her worth, and he’d only be doing it to spite her since she found out about his affairs and filed for divorce, without telling him.
Arty’s trot felt smooth, for a trot, beneath her – she’d often joked that if he wasn’t a decent racer, he’d make an excellent dressage horse. She had picked up a love of eventing from her mother, and the racing side from her father, and could never seem to be able to separate herself from one world to focus solely on the other. Maybe when he retired, and if she didn’t want to stud him out straight away, she’d retrain him in eventing...but that was going to be a while yet, he still had a good few years left in him. Her crop even dangled uselessly from one wrist, he didn’t need it right now, nor did she use it much, or with as much force as other jockeys she knew did – perhaps letting him know that she did still have it and would use it if he misbehaved too much, or for a small piece of encouragement in the backstretch, but she’d always found that a horse ran better when it wanted to run, not when it was bullied or hurt into doing it.
There was the sound of incoming hoof beats just behind them, and the sound of another horse’s heavy breaths, and another young woman riding a black filly pulled closer to them, catching sight of them out of the corner of her eye. The next thing she knew, the filly was snapping at Arty’s shoulder, the older stallion reacting with the start of a shoulder barge towards her, picking up a bossy and dominant attitude, he never took crap from other horses on the field. She applied pressure to the reins, pulling him back to one side a little, he was bigger than the filly and she knew that one good knock could leave another horse injured, if he used enough force. She was thankful he acted less like a stallion on track, all business, though off, he’d be just as flirty as any stallion kept at Crossfire.
The other woman pulled her horse level with them, looking embarrassed, and apologetic. "I'm sooo sorry about that. Tate's a bit competitive, even just during a simple work-out," she said, and Jo let out a laugh, flashing a grin at her. “Don’t worry about it,” she said, shortening Arty’s stride a little so he wouldn’t pull away from them. “He needs something to keep him on his toes, else he’s going to get lazy,” she continued, patting the chestnut firmly on the neck. She was lucky she hadn’t been riding Erin when that happened, the mare would have gone ballistic, and with Jo’s luck she would’ve ended up through a fence and with a broken neck to boot.
“She’s nice,” Jo commented, nodding at Tate. “Yours, or are you just her rider?”
Tagged Capri
Words 628
Outfit Click
Muse Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F) - Katy Perry
Notes I think I just had a muse overload  And it's fine, I'm not worried, lol.
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Post by skye on Oct 3, 2010 7:55:45 GMT -8
-------------------------------------------------------------------------Capri's own grin widened in response to the other woman's, and she relaxed, seeing that she wasn't mad at her. Even though that could have been a huge mess, probably ending with both horses hurt, and most likely both riders as well. Glancing down at Tate's ears real quick to see if she was giving any signs of doing anything else, Capri made sure she had a good grip on the reins. It didn't look like she was going to try to be mean again, actually she was straining against the bit, ears perked forwards towards the stallion like she was going to try and make friends now that she'd shown him she wasn't going to be a pushover. Come to think of it, it reminded Capri of a lot of girls she'd known back home. The thought made her giggle a little, thinking of how much her mare and those girls at home were alike.
Looking back to the other rider, she realized she'd commented on Tate and asked her a question. Flashing her another quick smile, all of Capri's pride in her Thoroughbred shone in her eyes as she answered, "Thanks! She is mine, I would normally have an excersise rider on her, but I decided I wanted to be back up on her to at least excersise her since I can't really ride her in races. I never get to ride her anymore now that's she's racing."
She wasn't just saying that either. She really did miss getting to ride her mare every morning, and sometimes at night too, working on the track. Being a jockey and excersise rider, she still got to ride horses on the track, breezing them, feeling the power and speed that came from the Thoroughbreds. But it just wasn't the same as riding her own horse on the track, the horse she was most familiar with, the horse she knew the best, and knew how to get the most out of easily. With all the new horses she rode, they were always different, always had different personalites and running styles that she had to learn quickly and figure out how to get the most out of them. Not that she minded, she loved her job, loved the challenge of a new horse. But she loved her horses best.
I've got to just start taking her out for trail rides... She vowed to herself. Sending an appraising, practiced eye over her horse again, she noted how easily he moved out under her and how at home he seemed on the track. "You have a nice horse, too. Do you own him?" She paused, waiting for an answer, but she suddenly remembered that she hadn't ever introduced herself yet. "Oh! Sorry. I'm Capri Decker. I would offer to shake your hand but I'm afraid to take one off the reins."[/b] She laughed and grinned over at the woman opposite her, waiting for an answer to her jumbled, forgetful words.Notes: Just so you know, I have to send my computer in to get it updated tomorrow, so I don't know when I'll get it back. Just so you know!  Word Count: 516 Tagged: Jo
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Post by Johanna India Eastman on Oct 3, 2010 22:05:16 GMT -8
At least the other woman had apologised, a lot of other riders wouldn’t. She’d often been on the receiving end of abuse from other jockeys, mainly at meets; god, the males were the worst for it. If she hadn’t apologised for it, Jo probably wouldn’t have brushed it off so easily, last time something like that had happened, she’d ended up with a dislocated pelvis. And the ass who had caused it, Jo had the feeling it had been deliberate, had almost laughed it off, saying she needed to handle her horse better. She knew there were more male jockeys than female, but that didn’t necessarily make it a male sport. And not all of them were like that either, just a select few...but she did tend to find herself gravitating towards friendships with the other female jockeys, sometimes safety in numbers was best, and it was a tip her father had given her when she had first said she wanted to get her jockey license.
Johanna nodded. “I understand, I prefer exercising them myself...plus, I’ve only just moved here, haven’t had a chance to find my two jockeys yet,” she answered. She knew she was going to have to give up exercising them half the time when she did find a jockey, they’d have to get used to Arty and Erin somehow...but she still had reservations about putting anyone on Erin until she was sure the mare wasn’t going to kill someone. She appreciated the proud look in Capri’s eyes when she spoke about the filly, it was good to see someone who truly was proud of their horse, not just seeing them as another money making investment. Sometimes it was hard to find an owner who actually loved their horse, in the racing industry anyways, it was usually just all money to them.
“Yeah, Arty’s mine. I’ve had him for four years now; my father gave him to me when I was eighteen,” she replied, grinning down at the horse underneath her. Possibly the best present she’d ever received, he was one of the horses she’d owned she was most proud of, she even did everything for him, not bothering to hire a groom to care for him at meets or at the barn, like a lot of owners did. Her father had helped her with his training, though she might need to find another trainer to help out while she was here...they would be under a lot of scrutiny when she was hiring though, as whoever his prospective jockey might be, she’d be picky about how worked with the stallion. “I have another as well, Erin, but she’s still really green,” she said. Maybe that was an understatement.
She laughed. “Johanna Eastman, but just call me Jo. It’s good to meet you,” she said.
Tagged Capri
Words 467
Outfit Click
Muse If It's Love - Train
Notes Another muse explosion...I love Jo xD And that's fine ^.^
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And it's fine, I'm not worried, lol.