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Post by ghost2 on Oct 18, 2010 18:29:01 GMT -8
Erin had just arrived at Cross Fire Farms about a week ago with her 5 horses and had not had time to explore the stables and surrounding area. So she decided she would check out the Indoor arena today to see how she liked it. Erin grabbed Joey's black jumping saddle and matching bridle outfitted with just a simple snaffle out of the tack room and walking briskly down the almost quiet aisle and set them down on the rack by each stall and slipped inside her best friends stall. His name was Smokey Joe, a beautiful Dark Dapple Grey color and was the friendliest horse anyone would ever meet. Joey gave her a big horsey hug and started to nibble on her loosely wavy hair, before she pulled away patting his nose in an attempt to scold him but she just ended up laughing. Slipping on his electric pink halter and lead rope led him outside into the aisle to get a quick grooming before heading on their way to the indoor arena.
After a quick brush down she put on his black bell boots and leg wraps, before tacking up. She made a mental note that she needed to trim his tail and pull his mane and give him a cut later on. Leading Joey to the gate of the indoor arena. Opening the gate she led him in and threw the reins over his finely sculpted head. Erin watched him for a second before noticing another couple of people down and the far side of the very large arena. Erin set the jumps up to 5'0'' and climbed aboard. Not until she was on top of her best friend did she notice a horse and rider by the entrance to the arena staring at her.
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Post by carson on Oct 19, 2010 16:35:11 GMT -8
 FIX THE PAIN THAT BLEEDS INSIDE OF ME. Beneath him, he felt Lion’s back muscles bunch up, and it was clear to Carson that his horse was enjoying the recent cold snap. This morning when he arrived, there had been a fine layer of frost on the ground, but now that the sun was out, it was burning away the cold. In an effort to keep Lion calm, he had quickly tacked the large grey up, knowing how the horse reacted to frigid temperatures. It was bad enough that he was hot under-saddle, he did not need a broken bone or broken horse; that would only make his life worse. Occasionally he thought of the US Olympic team and how much he missed teaching them, and sometimes he considered going back.
But Carson knew full well that it would be a long time before he seriously took the measures to return.
Carefully guiding his horse around the arena, he looked at the jumps and noticed they were woefully tiny, set at no higher than 3’. Frowning, he hopped off the grey gelding and began to set the jumps up to an acceptable 5’-5’9, with one random 6’ jump, though not showing Private Lion as much as he should be anymore, he still wanted to keep the horse in good condition. Not paying attention to what was going on, he began to warm him up, making sure he was loose in the jaw and responsive to his leg. Just as he was about ready to start jumping some lines, he noticed someone had lowered his jumps. Stopping at the end of the arena he glared at the girl as she noticed there was someone looking at her he said,
Did you lower my jumps?
o.285
notes;;
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Post by ghost2 on Oct 19, 2010 17:01:38 GMT -8
Erin turned Smokey Joey around to see the person who seemed angry at her. Erin got this prickly feeling that she knew him from somewhere. I am sorry Sir. I didn't know you where using the whole jump course. I Just needed to... She broke off there. Erin just realized who this man was. Mr. Valmonte! she said delightedly. Erin had recognized him as her old coach from the Olympics. How could she ever forget him he was one of the best coached she had ever had.
Remember... You coached me at the Olympics. I am Erin Andreas. If you cant remember me maybe my horse Smokey Joe or Phoenix. Erin couldn't believe her memories had been that rusty. Chuckling Erin apologized for lowering the jumps. Sorry Joey needed a few lower jumps before moving on to the higher 5'3'' and above fences. I am afraid that he has not had enough practice to start straight away on the high jumps. Erin knew she should have had him on a regular schedule to keep him fit. |
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Post by carson on Oct 19, 2010 18:07:56 GMT -8
FIX THE PAIN THAT BLEEDS INSIDE OF ME. As he studied the horse, he recognized the girl, and was amazed that yet another Olympian had gravitated to Crossfire, what was it with the place that seemed to attract riders from his past? She seemed to wonder whether or not he remembered her, most people wondered how he kept up with all of his students over the years, but he somehow managed to do it, keeping them all sharp and clear in his mind, as if he had met them yesterday; that’s just how his memory worked.
Discarding all animosity, he shot Erin a smile.
Halting Lion, he leaned forward onto his neck and propped an elbow up on the muscle, resting his chin in his hand he shook his head and laughed,
Erin, you give me little credit, of course I remember you and Joey. Don’t worry ‘bout the jumps, I can just set up a line.
He slid off and set up one larger line then hopped back on. Looking back over at Erin he picked up a trot and circled through the maze of jumps, setting up a path in his mind, he stored that away, but came to a walk and said,
It seems I’m running into lots of your old teammates here in Crossfire.
The influx of Olympians truly shocked him.
o.217
notes;;
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Post by ghost2 on Oct 20, 2010 14:04:12 GMT -8
I still don't get how you kept all of your students names in line. She smiled at him. Joey and I have not been keeping up with the practices as you had suggested we had after we had brought home the silver metal. I know I should have but a big wig sponsored me in all these shows with Phoenix so Nix is in great shape it's just Joey my one and only true love that I have neglected.
Oh yes I was also given one horse and I bought another as a Olympic hopeful. After we are done riding do you think that you could come and take a look at them to see if they make the mark? Joey was getting impatient so directing him at the line of fences that Mr. Valmonte had reset for her. Taking him around the arena twice at a canter she pointed him in the direction of the jump and then sat back for the ride. Joey cleared each one effortlessly and after a few goes she circled back to Private Lion and Mr. Valmonte.
Did we look okay? she asked him Erin really wanted to get back into the big leagues riding and she hoped he would help her. Mr.Valmonte I would really like if you could for a few times a week if it is possible for you to just coach me a little. My horses need some fine tuning and I would love to have to you coach me again. She listened to Carson speak and her eyes widened a little. Really? who else is here? I have not noticed anyone I have recognized... she trailed off. |
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Post by carson on Oct 20, 2010 16:38:52 GMT -8
FIX THE PAIN THAT BLEEDS INSIDE OF ME. It had been a long time since he had coached someone, but part of the reason he had even gotten back to riding was with the hopes that he’d be able to pick up his old job again, it was slowly killing him to not be consistently working, as he was a man who was a slave to the work, a workaholic. Back when he was still married and his daughter still alive, his wife had accused him of working way too much and not paying any attention to his wife and dying daughter.
Like a foolish man, he had brushed her off.
After Hailey’s death, he was reluctant to go back to work and sulked around for a year, worrying what would happen if he went back to work, terrified he’d forget his tragedy if he got back into the addictive swing of things. Over time, his depression slightly subsided and he turned to the bottle to keep him going, but now that he was back with the horses again, things began to feel as if they were slowly falling into place once more. He sat back in the saddle and listened to Erin speak, shrugging as she said she had neglected Joey,
I can’t really speak, I was pretty useless for a year or so, but I’ve got everyone back in top form, but you probably should have found time for him, shame for a nice horse to waste away.
He eyed the pair as they went around the arena in a canter then jumped one of the lines.
Like the coach he was, he clucked as he noticed the horse was coming to the first fence a little slow, then suddenly coming alive at the base of the jump and springing over it, but that was his last mistake has he flawlessly took the others. Not really paying attention to her question, he trotted Lion around before picking up a canter and aiming him at the lower set of jumps, getting him warmed up. The horses’ ears perked up the second he turned to the first oxer, his step reaching out and grabbing up ground, nostrils flared in excitement. Like clockwork, Carson predicted him jumping early, hitting a rail with his front legs, but not knocking it down, the next jump he rode him tighter, not asking him for the jump until they were almost at the base, this time he jumped better, but not perfect.
Landing, he turned back to Erin and Joey and eyed her.
He figured coaching her here and there would be a start back to what his ultimate goal was, and it wouldn’t hurt to brutally tell her whether or not her new horses were worth anything at all. Nodding he nonchalantly said,
Sure. Just remember to keep him on his toes that first jump, he seemed to be a little lazy and considered plowing into it, try to give him a kick at least one stride out on the first jump, the rest were just fine, not Olympic quality, but good enough.
At least he was honest. When she asked who was here he shrugged and said,
Oh, Carlee Peters from the dressage team, everyone’s favorite drop out Lonnie Lancaster, and you’d remember our two-time gold medalist Blaise Garcia for show jumping…or I’d hope you would.
o.555
notes;; yeaahh…I changed what Blaise did XDD
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Post by ghost2 on Oct 20, 2010 17:53:18 GMT -8
Erin laughed a little at his comments about him being lazy. Oh you are so right I felt him deciding weather or not to jump or crash. Erin sighed as he reminded her of the failure of her own will to keep Joey in shape. Her jaw dropped as se mentioned Blaise Garcia and Lonnie Lancaster. Erin knew that Carlee owned the stable so that wasn't a big surprise. Lonnie Lancaster... thanks for telling me that she is here. I will make sure to stay out of her way... and I know Blaise though I am using the word know very loosely here. I think I was in love with him, scratch that I think ever girl excluding Lonnie on the team thought he was very hot. Erin said there was a slight bitter edge to her voice when she talked about Lonnie though when Blaise came up her voice and face kind of turned rueful. Erin Watched Private Lion go over some jumps and admired how well the pair worked together. She smiled and thanked him for agreeing to look over her horses. Pointing Joey towards the line of higher jumps giving him some leg as they bore down on the first jump he responded by giving the little extra umph they where missing last time.
Trotting back to Carson and Lion she asked him if they did any better. Mr. Valmonte I am going to check out my other horses so when you are done with private lion then come and see them if you don't mind. Dismounting Joey she pulled the stirrups up and loosened the girth and led Joey out of the ring. Untacking Joey and giving him a quick brush down and putting on a light blanket she just spent some time with Joey in his stall stroking him and talking to him. About 20 minutes later she left his stall and entered the medalist stall. Phoenix was her 2nd best friend. She spent a few minutes with him and then pulled her slaughter house chance horse out of his stall. He had filled out very nicely, and was progressing very rapidly.
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Post by carson on Oct 22, 2010 11:59:11 GMT -8
FIX THE PAIN THAT BLEEDS INSIDE OF ME. Carson had no trouble remembering Blaise. He was as eccentric as they came, while he was a little introverted when he was first put on the team, after his first gold win he grew unbearably cocky, and Carson often clashed heads with the head-strong Mexican, but they managed to get along well enough to function as a coach and student. He never liked him anyway, even though he brought a lot of good things to the US team. It was hard for him to even get the arrogant Mexican’s attention when most of the females were out training, he hated coaching the man, but eventually learned to deal with his contempt and force himself to treat him as ‘normal’ as possible.
It was no surprise when Erin said she practically loved Blaise.
He let out a laugh of understanding as she brazenly declared that most every being with ovaries and a working, available vagina found Blaise hot (including her), this information did not come to Carson as any big surprise he put on a crooked smile and raised an eyebrow,
Boy’s more trouble than he’s worth sometimes, I coulda put his face in the dirt multiple times with that attitude of his, it was impossible to get him to even think of riding without showing off it a woman was out riding too.
Erin took Joey over the jumps one more time and corrected their problem, she landed and asked how they did this go round, of course Carson was a perfectionist and could tell her it was crap compared to her silver medal ride, but decided to keep that to himself and shrug and dully reply,
First of, please just call me Carson, Mr. Valmonte’s a bit too formal for me, and I’ve seen better rides from you two, but I’m just getting picky, you at least fixed the mistake I’d pointed out, so…kudos to you.
Carson nodded to her as she excused herself.
Not ready to get off just yet, he warmed Lion up a bit more before getting off quickly to re-set the jumps to the appropriate and original height. Picking up a canter her rode through the course he had made up in the first place, pleased to feel Lion come alive beneath him the more jumps they sailed over. Landing the last jump, he sat up and brought him to a trot, then a walk and figured they were done for the day and hopped off and went to untack him. Taking him into the barn, he looked down the aisle to see Erin handling a strangely skinny horse, clipping Lion into the crossties he walked just a little closer to the two and put a look of strange disgust on his face,
What is that?
It was no secret that he was a snob when it came to horses, once again, at least he was honest.
o.482
notes;;
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Post by ghost2 on Oct 24, 2010 17:39:48 GMT -8
Erinwas so proud of her slaughter house chance horse, she was grooming his coat when she heard Carson's disgusted tone about her horse. Immediatly going on the defense for her horse she whipped around and told him quite matter of factly, "This Carson is Sunday Confessions. He is the most willing horse you will ever ride and i found him in the slaughter house and just couldn't let this beauty be slaughters. Not only that he is the sweetest horse you will ever meet that loves more than anything to jump! Sunday also has a stacked pedigree and is out of some of the top Olympic Jumping sires in the world." she huffed and continued to groom Sunday who was now looking at Carson with a curious eye and stretching his nose out to sniff Carson. "I am sorry... I didn't mean to be rude but so many people have come up and done the exact same thing that you just did. Underestimate him. I never thought that you Carson would look at a horse on the out side and judge his potential off of those observations, but even I can not blame you I did the same thing the first time I saw him then I looked past that. He is completely sound and he is big boned practically designed for jumping." She was sorry she snapped at him and the words she said to him where completely true. So many trainers had come up to her and sneered in her face about her rescue horse that she really couldn't take it that her coach for the Olympics did the same thing. Taking a moment to calm down she put Sunday away and led out a Snow White Stallion named Da'Vinci. "This horse I have big plans for" she chuckled and hooked him up the the cross ties. Though someone should really put down his ego because he seems to know how stunning he is. Laughing she groomed him a little but there was really no need because he was spotless as usual. Da'vinci really was one of a kind find. He was completely white not a trace of dapple grey anywhere on his body. Not only that he had tons of Scope over jumps and had very very good form tucking his leg neatly. So what do you think of Da'Vinci?
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Post by carson on Oct 27, 2010 5:54:27 GMT -8
FIX THE PAIN THAT BLEEDS INSIDE OF ME. There were people in the world who believed that any horse of any breed could be just as successful as a warmblood in dressage, or jumping, and generally they’d be right…up to a certain level. Sure, he was all for seeing quarter horses and arabs in grand prix, but there was a point where someone had to sit down and say ‘is my horse really built for this?’ most of the time, the answer was no. All horses were bred for a certain purpose. Friesians for carriage pulling, quarter horses for ranch and farm work, arabs to cart their masters dutifully across the desert without dying, and warmbloods for the prestige of showing.
It was not below Carson to simply laugh at someone for being so foolish to think that their mutt could make it to the level at which he trained and coached.
However, in his defense, most people that brought him half-breeds and mutts brought him animals that were so out of proportion and terribly built he didn’t even think they could do the job they were originally bred for. He’d seen many successful arabs and appendix quarter horses pass through barns he was at, but never world class competitors. Therefore, Carson brought upon himself the job of breaking their dreams and hopes and reminding them that they were in a world where money, ability, and conformation talked, not courage and hard work.
He eyed the horse as Erin went off on him.
Not interested in what the preacher was preaching, he simply lifted a bored eyebrow and crossed his arms, his eyes traveling across the horse’s body. It was clear the horse had been abused, and he had assumed that the second he looked at the horse, but he couldn’t help but stare at his hocks, there just wasn’t something right about them, and he doubted the horse had the sanity to make it, regardless of breeding or attitude on the ground. He gazed at Erin with a bored expression as she apologized for ranting when he didn’t even listen, he narrowed his eyes as she scolded him for judging a horse by his looks, he snarled back at her, his expression dark,
You asked me to evaluate your horses, so that’s what I’m doing. Don’t ask me to do something then scold me like a three year old for doing it. It doesn’t matter if he’s sweet. He’s an abuse case, abuse cases are neurotic, and they don’t make it in the upper echelon of jumping. I train horses and riders to get to the Olympics, Erin. If I think there’s a potential for failure, I’m going to tell someone they don’t belong. Big bones and breeding and temper mean nothing when the horse doesn’t have the brain or the heart, if you don’t like being told the truth you can just walk away.
One of the quicker ways to irritate Carson was to scold him about something he did for a living.
Erin retreated and put her horse away then pulled out another one, however he continued to glare at her, no longer pleased with the young woman and wanting nothing more than to leave, but he was bound by his agreement to brutalize her horses. She started to groom her spotless white horse and laughed to herself at a comment he still wasn’t particularly listening for, he was busy staring at the horse.
Don’t break his confidence or you’ll spend the rest of your life with a broken foot in your ass, lots of people would kill for true confidence in their horse without having to bolster them up for a class, and I can’t really give you solid opinions without watching them work, but this one is much nicer than that other waste of space.
He narrowed his eyes and looked at her, wondering how irritated she’d get next with his recent nasty comment.
o.651
notes;; My oh my, someone’s in a mood.
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Post by ghost2 on Nov 28, 2010 8:49:02 GMT -8
Erin listened to Carson's lecture, Erin kept her temper in check never once showing anything on her blank face. As she groomed the already stunning white Da'Vinci. "I am sorry I was in the wrong, thank you for evaluating him, I may not agree but you came on my behalf and I blew sorry for my behavior." She was quiet for a minute before speaking again. "That is true though I was only joking around he is a great horse. Though he needs a little bit more training, I am getting back into the groove of things and I just finished a work schedule to get the horses back in shape for the coming year." She wan't to mend the rift she had created with her snappy attitude.
"I would love if you would just watch me real quick jump him. Though if you would not like to it is fine too..." She cursed her self she wanted Carson to want to help her and her horses not think of it as a task. She started tacking him up and stiffened when his final comment hit her. "Carson I know what you think of my other horse, please refrain from insulting him also, I have heard your opinion." mounting she walked Da'Vinci into the ring and after a quick warm up they started jumping. This time no little warm up jumps just the big bad boys.
Vinny's white ears perked as they approached the first jump, Collecting him self he leaped over the huge fence, legs snapped up into position, and using his back to soar over it they land smoothly and went around the jump course. Finishing she cooled him down just a little before taking a few more jumps. Seeing Carson by the fence she hoped that he had forgiven her somewhat.
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