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Post by soviet on Dec 5, 2010 10:16:47 GMT -8
The jeep rumbled up the drive to Crossfire Farms and promptly stopped in the designated parking area. It was mid-morning and Lottie had already been up at 6AM to feed the horses before driving home to sleep some more. Now she felt more refreshed she had gone up to muck them all out and exercise them for the day. She slammed the door of the second-hand Land Rover shut and walked round to the boot where Kari was whimpering to be let out. The pointer bounded out as soon as the door opened and the blonde grabbed hold of his vivid red collar before he got any ideas and clipped him onto the lead. The spotted dog stood up, his ears alert before he trotted along happily at his owner’s side as Lottie made her way to her horses. It had been her mother’s idea to get a dog for company. Although she would never admit it, she was starting to miss the family a little bit.
But not enough to go back.
Five equine faces poked their heads out of their stalls as she approached. Apart from Pip, who had a slight soreness on her hind foot, they would all need working. First attaching Kari’s lead to one of the stable rings she haltered the black mare and bought her out tentatively out of her stable. Lottie had owned Pip since she was a four year old and although it was just where one of the others had caught the Warmblood’s hock in a play-fight, she was still concerned about it. The mare stood still as the blonde edged nearer the leg in question and felt down the taut muscle. Still a bit heated. She tied Pip up, iced the hock quickly and then put the mare back in her stable where she eagerly stretched her elegant head towards the haynet. Another day’s rest should do the trick.
Scratching behind Kari’s ears she turned her attention to the others. She reached for Mina’s head collar, knowing the bay mare would have the mother of all tantrums if she wasn’t turned out first. She let herself into the leggy mare’s stable, throwing a turnout rug on the tall bay before leading her out to the paddock. She would work Mina last, they were still getting used to each other and the Swedish Warmblood took a lot of time to get to know someone. Unclipping the lead rope Lottie watched Mina amble casually towards the end of the field before going back for the other two; Indie and Girlie.
These two were more placid and could be led out together. She did the same as what she had done to Mina, putting a rug on the two horses before leading the chestnut and palomino out and towards the field. They went out easily, Girlie strolled over to the water trough when she was let off whilst Indie didn’t even bother to move, just stuck his chestnut head down and grazed where he was. With a smile Lottie ran her hand over his muscular shoulder before exiting the field. She got on better with her animals than anyone else.
Which left Roma.
Lottie bought the grey mare out of her stable and immediately set out brushing Roma and picking out her feet. Years of practise made her quick and thorough. The German Pointer sat back on his haunches, deciding that whining wasn’t getting him anywhere. The blonde glanced round at the cease of noise, and smiled, patting Kari on the head. She would take him for a walk on one of the trails with one of the other horses; but not Roma. Although she was fifteen years old the Warmblood would take one look at the trail and decide that it was high time for a gallop, which Lottie didn’t want. She wanted something constructive today.
After tacking the pale mare up she went into one of the empty stables, glanced at the water bucket to check it was full before throwing a stable rug on the floor and unclipped Kari. The pointer knew what to do, stalking into the stable and curled up on the rug, placing his brown head on his paws and looked up at Lottie with an expression that said ‘I hope you’re not going to be too long.’ The blonde then found her hat and unhaltered Roma, clicking the mare to walk on with her tongue. No whip needed for the grey. She knew exactly what she was doing, but by no means was a novice ride.
Leading Roma into the arena she set about adjusting her stirrups. The Swedish Warmblood jogged impatiently, chewing at her bridle. Nimbly the blonde mounted, picking up her reins quickly and found her stirrups. Roma was already walking briskly on the track and Lottie glanced round. Someone had left a jump up. Perfect.
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tag; charles
words; 812
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comments; =]
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Post by charles on Dec 6, 2010 13:16:05 GMT -8
[/IMG] ![]() i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/anditsvanessa/WM/WILLIAM04.png[/img] He had been told that the horse was broken in, and that was all the encouragement he needed. He knew nothing else about it, not it’s breeding, bloodlines, and education, even its name. What’s in a name, anyhow? He was least concerned with its name.
It had been 84 hours exactly since he had been on the back of a horse, and he needed his fix. The plane ride over had been agony, not being able to move like he usually did. He occupied himself with reading horse magazines, including some really old ones that had been discovered in the back of his dad’s wardrobe while packing their old house.
It seemed so close, although he knew that it would be a decent amount of time before he could tread either of the carefully carpeted double staircases again. He knew that he would not be able to ring the old servants bell or hide in the extensive wine cellar again. He knew that he would not have the choice of 10 different bedrooms to sleep in for a while.
His new house had only 8 bedrooms, which to someone coming from a house with 26 bedrooms and two hunting cottages was a positive hovel. The worst thing about it though, was not the lack of rooms or baths or a dumbwaiter, but the lack of land. The lack of horses. Agisting was not his personal preference, as it made it more difficult for him to ride straight before Uni, but it was better than having no horse. His father had said that having a house close to town was essential for his job. The family still wasn’t quite sure what his job was.
He undid both latches of the stable door, set his helmet down outside, and snuck in to meet his new horse. He let her sniff his hand, and then gently moved it to her face. The mare didn’t shy away, which was a good sign. He always liked a bold horse.
A lead rope that had been hanging over the stall door was clipped onto her halter, and tied her to a bit of bailing twine that seemed pretty securely attached in the stable. He jumped up and down next to her, and although her ears flicked towards him, she didn’t seem too nervous. He rested his hands on her back and pushed his weight down through them. She handled the weight on her back well, and Charles reasoned that she must be all right to ride. He could sit through almost any trick she would pull, and if not, he could always do a neat emergency dismount.
Of course, like any young horses from good breeders, she had not come with a saddle. He had chucked a bridle in the back of his car, and that was that. It was a full, naturally, he wouldn’t be caught dead on a pony.
He hadn’t remembered to bring brushes, but he would live. The horse’s shoes were relatively clean from being stabled. He adjusted the bridle so the horse had two curls of skin above the French snaffle and two fingers distance from the cheekbone. Pulling the reins from over the nameless mare’s head, he unbolted the door and buckled up his hat. The arena was fairly easy to find, but he was surprised to find someone already using it. He suddenly realised that he knew nothing of the rules here, and maybe riding bareback wasn’t allowed. Or maybe this arena was already booked.
“Pardon me,” he said, ever the polite one. “Can I share the arena with you, or do I will I need to make a booking in advance?”
He hoped that it would be possible for him to use this arena, as he was getting quite excited about trying out his new steed now.
[/size] been a long cold 639 words. lonely winter finished . feels like years tagged- Lottie. since its been clear outfit. slowly melting notes?. its alright REAL SLIM SHADY !? @ caution 2.0 [/color].[/blockquote][/size] [/center] |
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Post by soviet on Dec 7, 2010 12:16:42 GMT -8
She sat still, keeping her reins relatively lax as she indicated she wanted to circle. Any movement of her legs and Roma would shoot forwards, and picking up the reins got the mare excited; after discovering yesterday after the grey had cantered relentless circles a couple of weeks ago. Roma continued to power round her circle, allowing Lottie to reach gingerly down to hook two fingers in between the mare’s side and the girth to check. Finding it a little loose for her liking she slid her leg forwards, reaching down once more to adjust the girth before carefully bringing her leg back down. There was no point in asking the mare to stop, the blonde didn’t want to start a fight. If Roma had been a bit greener or younger she might have tried to teach the Warmblood to halt when asked, but there was no point. Fifteen years of show jumping and doing well at it meant Roma didn’t need anyone telling her what to do. She was the easiest ride from that perspective, as she needed guiding as opposed to telling what to do, but by no means was she a ride to sit back and relax on.
After a few more transitions on both reins Lottie decided it was time to trot. She shortened her reins, pressing her legs gently to the grey’s sides and Roma immediately sprang forwards into an impatient, choppy trot. The blonde grimaced and sat tight, gradually asking the Warmblood to loosen up and slow down. The mare resisted at first but reluctantly picked up her feet properly, her elegant head bobbing into an outline. She was a good looking mare, long backed and leggy like most Warmbloods which gave the illusion that Lottie was very small sat astride her. The Scandinavian wasn’t the tallest no, but she liked to think that she wasn’t weighing down these big powerful horses when jumping, but controlling them without being able to wrap her legs right round and manipulate them was a little tricky. Roma had a swinging, almost swaggering gait and it took some getting used to. She repeated what she had been doing in walk, asking the mare to circle, serpentine and practise figure of eights. The grey powered along the track, whilst Lottie sat motionless, her signals to the mare too small to be picked up.
Out of the new arrivals Roma was her favourite. Indie was a sweetheart, a true gentleman, but he never went anywhere quickly. He never spent too long in the air and could turn like a cow-horse but getting him geared up was hard work. Girlie again was honest, but very green and spent most of her time spooking or massively over-jumping any obstacle Lottie set her to. It was encouraging to see the six year old with such huge scope, but the palomino had no real control over her legs sometimes. Mina was a temperamental bitch but on a good day could be fabulous. Roma was the only consistent one. Of course none of them matched up to Pip, because the black Warmblood was her baby, but the grey mare she was currently riding wasn’t far behind.
On a corner Lottie sat a little deeper in the saddle and asked the mare for a canter. Roma surged forwards in her active canter and the blonde gathered up her reins, keeping the mare slow and steady. For a Warmblood she had quite a rocking stride. It was at that point when Lottie heard someone’s voice, supposedly talking to her. She glanced up, catching sight of a boy who looked similar to herself in age standing by the gate with a bay horse. Gently squeezing at the grey’s reins she dropped down to a trot, deciding that was the pace she had most control over Roma. “Yeah, that’s fine. Come on in.” She called back, her accent bouncing off the walls of the arena as she turned the grey away from the gate to avoid any unfortunate collisions.
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tag; charles
words; 670
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comments; i keep rambling >.<
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Post by charles on Dec 7, 2010 22:23:21 GMT -8
[/img] 
“Yeah, that’s fine. Come on in.”
[/i] The girl’s accent was European, and Charles liked it. It was maybe Danish, German perhaps? He never had been the best on picking up on accents, but he knew that it wasn’t a local one. He was glad of this. It meant that she was an outsider, like him. He was a little bit afraid of the harshness of American accents. Every time one popped up a daunting image of a big mac and chips popped up in his mind, and it was hard to wave away. It was racist, sure, but he couldn’t really help it. It just thought of happened. She had brought her grey back from its forward canter, a pace that looked like it belonged to a horse more suited to jumping than to dressage, and was trotting around the arena. He looked at it with a critical eye, and surprisingly found no major outstanding faults. It was a horse of his ‘type,’ a sport horse, probably warmblood. It seemed forward and a little hard in the mouth, sure, but it could be young. It had a muscular rear, which suggested that it had built up jumping muscles. With a canter like its, he was willing to place money on the fact that it could jump, too. Not like finding the money to place on it was an issue. ”Thank you,” he said, still standing outside the gate. My name’s Charles Evans, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”He unlatched the gate, and swung it open. He had to ask his little mare to back up so she could fit through the gap it left between the wooden fence, but she did so obligingly. Obviously backing up was another one of the skills that they wouldn’t need to work on. Charles did the gate back up quickly, and, knowing arena etiquette, brought the bay into the centre to mount. Her ears were alert and flicking around the arena, but she did not seem particularly scared of anything. He gathered the reins in his left hand and jumped up and down next to her a few times once again, just to check she was going to be ok. He leapt off his left foot onto her back with the ease of one jumping onto a small pony. The mounted games which he had done when just a boy in England had taught him good skills such as vaulting and impeccable balance. It was not uncommon for the top riders to have had done games as young children, as it gave them bravery and fantastic seats. The still-unnamed mare stepped forward a few paces in alarm, yet stayed in a forward walk. He squeezed on his reins and it took her a few seconds to respond. Obviously her mouth wasn’t the most sensitive in the world, but he was sure that she could be taught. Once she had managed to stay still for a couple of seconds, he asked her to move forward into a walk. He held the contact with his outside rein, but his inside remained soft. A horse that had been well educated in coming round would have let its head drop on that command, but this mare didn’t. He put a little more pressure on with his legs, squeezed his inside rein quickly, and then his outside. He head lowered obligingly, and he felt her hindquarters come in underneath her. She had obviously been taught to soften, but it would take a little more time to get her completely responsive. Checking that her flexion was correct, Charles made sure that he was sitting straight and that his legs were hanging long before asking her to trot on. He maintained contact with the outside rein, and her head stayed soft. Her mouth was soft too, and it didn’t take much to get her trotting. He could tell that she’d been well started, and was really starting to warm to her. Staying on a circle in the middle of the arena without touching track, he asked for a slightly extended trot, and then a collected one. It was easy for her to let her legs go and snap out a little more, but more difficult for her to come back. He figured that it would all come together in time. And besides, he didn’t have a saddle on. Maybe she’d know more what to do if he was rising. [/blockquote][/size] been a long cold 739 words. lonely winter finished . feels like years tagged- Lottie. since its been clear outfit. slowly melting Unique New York- Jenn Grant <3. its alright REAL SLIM SHADY !? @ caution 2.0 [/color].[/blockquote][/size] [/center] |
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Post by soviet on Jan 1, 2011 13:23:57 GMT -8
LOTTiE WALLANDER
[/b][/i][/size]  AND IT WON'T MAKE SENSE RIGHT NOW
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She had to concentrate on getting Roma away from the gate, as the mare had slowed up her pace in the hope that they might be going out of it, in almost a riding school fashion. Lottie had to give it to the mare, she was extremely clever. The grey had softened as she had asked her to in the first place, dropping her head into a beautiful outline and restrained herself to the point where she was almost controllable, but dragged her heels in the sand in an obvious statement that if given the chance to get out the school she would. Like many horses the blonde was used to riding in the past, ponies in particular, if they weren’t doing their favourite exercise they didn’t want to know. Roma’s happened to be jumping, so she was deeply unimpressed with the idea they had to warm up via flatwork before any jumping began.
Forcing the pale mare forwards with her legs, Lottie took the spare moment to reflect on the newcomer a little more. Firstly, he hadn’t been American, British by the sound of it. A lot of Brits and Irish rode on the Scandinavian circuits, it was easy to pick up the accent. Keeping Roma balanced with her legs, she curved the mare round onto a circle, icy eyes flashing up to the guy as he spoke again. Was she supposed to introduce herself now? It wasn’t like she could ignore him now she’d made eye contact. “Yeah, you too I guess. Name’s Lottie.” She left off the last name, that sort of thing was a bit stuffy for her. Plus the whole point of moving here was that no one would know who she was, but there seemed to be an annoying amount of Europeans living in Addison.
She kept Roma on the outside track, the mare going back to her energetic pace once she had worked out they were continuing and watched the boy lead his mare into the middle. Roma eyed the bay sceptically, flattening her ears as if the mild looking bay was her ultimate competition. Lottie considered asking the mare to canter again, but after seeing the other horse spurt forwards into a startled walk, decided out of politeness to work out where he would be working before having Roma gallop round like the old battle-axe she was.
Charles then asked his horse to trot and stayed on the inside circle. Lottie sat down and allowed Roma to bounce into her canter again, keeping her on a tight circle just in front of the bars they were going to jump. The grey snorted, deliberately speeding up for the jump even though she knew she wasn’t jumping it, pale foam beginning to collect round her bit. She kept this up before changing the other rein to do the same, before putting the grey on her preferred rein; the left.
Slowing the Warmblood right down to a soft canter, Lottie angled the mare towards the jump, sitting tall and deep in the saddle. Roma immediately dropped her head onto her knees, no matter how tight the reins were and her powerful hindquarters bunched beneath her as she sprung up to the jump. Glancing to her right to make sure the guy and his horse were as far away from them on their circle she felt Roma gather herself and take off. The mare stretched over the hurdle easily, landing in a perfect textbook manner, although couldn’t help but flick her heels up in a buck as if to say; ’I’m above this’.
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Post by charles on Jan 20, 2011 18:47:35 GMT -8
[/IMG] ![]() i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/anditsvanessa/WM/WILLIAM04.png[/img] Charles kept contact with the outside rein, whilst letting it run through his fingers a notch. T he little mare immediately threw her head up in the air like a giraffe, but Charles hardened his contact with her mouth, and her neck stretched out towards the floor. After a couple of twenty-meter circles like this, he picked up the contact again, sat deep onto the mares back, and asked for a canter. She rushed into it, her quickened pace leaving Charles slightly unseated. Still he kept his legs on, and without too much of a hassle the little lady slid into the canter. Her movement was the ocean on a lazy day, rolling gently. She was a dove, floating on updrafts. Basically, her canter was unbelievably smooth. He pushed her up into his hands, so her canter became more forward and better for show jumping. It was good too. She felt like she could really power over the jumps, but her strides were still small enough for her to be able to do sharp turns.
He brought his new mare to a trot, then changed rein across the centre of the circle. Her bend and flex changed in the middle almost automatically. He brought her back to a walk, then a halt, and, after waiting for four seconds squarely, asked the young mare to trot on. She got a little confused, and cantered for a few strides. As she’d moved forward, Charles let her canter before bring her back to a trot, then a walk, then a halt. He tried again for the halt to trot transition, and this time she got it. She was obviously a quick learner, if not impeccably schooled.
“Yeah, you too I guess. Name’s Lottie,” the girl replied rather abruptly after a short break.
He looked over to the girl, who by now was popping the little vertical set up on one side of the arena nicely. Her features were elf-like, with almond eyes and high cheekbones. Only a few tufts of light blonde hair stuck out from under her helmet, and strangely, she looked a little familiar.
He looked at her horse again, watched it jump, and realised that it must be competitive. It wouldn’t have a rear-end like that if it wasn’t?.
“ “Where are you from?” he asked, as he didn’t want to embrace her with the “Do I know you?” question yet. It would be rather awkward if he didn’t.
The jump sitting on one side of the arena was just about getting too tempting now. He asked for another canter, circled once and then made a straight line to it. The horse wiggled a little bit towards it, but three strides out seemed to get into the zone and focused. During the takeoff Charles came too far forward in his jumping position, as he was used to jumping obstacles much bigger than this. The combination landed alright though, and the horse was forward in her getaway, so Charles was happy. He had realised that the mare had talent, and therefore he liked here.
[/size] been a long cold 511words :S. lonely winter finished . feels like years tagged- Lottie. since its been clear outfit. slowly melting I actually can write. Just not today. I need to get back into it.. its alright REAL SLIM SHADY !? @ caution 2.0 [/color].[/blockquote][/size] [/center] |
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