brantley || learning the ropes, or the reins

[fawncallister]

Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,

So little Ms. Fawn had asked a Mr. Brantley Samuel to help her out. She didn't know anything about reining and reading books didn't tell you if you were doing them right while riding. So she had to go with a trainer.

She saddled Kitty up with her old western saddle. She used the western for trail riding or what not because it was easier to keep her horses from stepping on the reins if she let them wander. She had on a neat little western bridle that she'd adjusted to fit Kitty's refined head.

The mare was young but she typically did as she was told. She walked Kitty into the outdoor arena. She felt the mare trot when Fawn asked for a bigger walk. "Bdrddrrr, just walk, good girl," she said, holding her on a loose rein, letting her stretch low to the ground. She pat her withers and cooed to her quietly, telling her how good she was and what a perfect little mover she is. Kitty's ears flicked back and listened intently. If the mare had had any ideas about darting off, she'd forgotten them now.

I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great and would suffice.

Word Count. IDK
Notes. lol I hope you can work with that
attire. maybe later I'm lazy ^^

[brantley]

well i'm starting to fall in love
• A N D I T ' S G E T T I N G T O O M U C H •

• it's not often that i slip up •
and it's just my luck !

Brantley mentally scolded himself for agreeing to teach some girl named Fawn to rein. Sure, he was an excellent rider and very capable of teaching an inexperienced person, but it was just the actual doing it that bugged him. Yeah, it brought in some extra cash every now and then, but the twenty year old hated dealing with people. They annoyed him greatly, especially when they didn't know what they were doing. He hoped that this Fawn girl knew at least something about horses. He wasn't even sure why he agreed to help her, but it probably had something to do with the fact that his horse hadn't been ridden in a while. He wasn't really worried about the the colt acting up at all, though. While the young buckskin wasn't the best roping horse, he knew his way around with reining.

He tacked up his Quarter Horse with ease and mounted in a fluid movement as he made his way to the outdoor arena. He could see another rider in there, a girl, and he assumed it was Fawn. She was simply walking around, and Brantley was momentarily angered by the fact that she hadn't warmed up yet. He shoved the thought aside as he entered through the gate and nodded in her general direction. "On the rail at a jog." Brantley let his reins drop a considerable amount as he pressed his leg into Shooter's side towards the railing. "Loosen your reins. Give your horse some slack to lower the head." He made a motion towards his own reins and demonstrated about how much slack he wanted her to have. He liked for his reining horses to be able to get their noses in the dirt. He pressed his spurs into his colt's sides, and he immediately lowered his head another couple of inches.

Brantley examined his student's horse. The mare was fit, and that was a good sign. She was a Thoroughbred, not your typical reiner, but it would do. The western saddle on the horse's back was not a reining saddle, but he doubted that the girl even knew what that was. Brantley sat deeper in his own saddle and asked Shooter for a jog. "Watch how I pick him up." He relaxed his legs and gently tapped them on the buckskin's sides. Shooter immediately began to jog slowly with his head almost touching the ground. Brantley was in complete control as they made their way around the arena. "I train all my reining horses in western pleasure before I even think about starting spins and stops. Fundamentals are key." He glanced at Fawn and studied her riding mechanics. She was an English rider, he could tell immediately. "Extend your legs. This isn't an English lesson. Sit up tall, but don't lock your back. Thrust your pelvis forward to maintain a balance equilibrium. Keep your toes pointed up. They should never be directed towards the ground." Brantley knew it was alot at once, but this would determine whether or not she could keep up with his teaching style. She needed to see the kind of trainer he was.

tag ! fawn ! word count ! who cares ! outfit ! coming later ! credit ! justlikefalling @ caution 2.0 ! lyrics ! just my luck , MCFLY ! notes ! he is rude xD just a warning !

[fawncallister]

Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,

She did notice the difference between her big bulky saddle to his reining saddle, she mentally made a check list in her head to save up money for a reining saddle. She let her horse have the reins, which she was somewhat wary about, considering the horse was young and a thoroughbred... that should be enough to make anyone worried. But reminded herself the mare was good and there wasn't much to be afraid of at the moment. She nodded and paid attention.

She did dressage, in dressage you always have your legs long, but she was getting nervous, and when she did that she hiked her legs up the horse, which annoyed her previous Dressage trainer to hell and back. She mentally giggled and did a palm to the face before she came back out of her thoughts and told herself to relax and let her legs long.

She would have mentioned she did dressage, which was ten times better, in her opinion, than western pleasure. It was FEI stuff, which was why she was considering reining, she always had found it interesting.

"Sorry, I'm much better at this I'm just a little nervous I suppose," she said. She did as she was told, even though it was a few things she already knew and understood completely. She hadn't yet gotten the little mare used to extending her head forward down and out. She straightened her back, telling her to keep her shoulders back and relax her hips in the seat, rocking to the movement of the jog. She posted, always at first, it wasn't as hard on her horse's back. The came around to the end of the arena, where they always had some trouble. Kitty always hated this area down here. She pinned her ears and started to lean in and veer off quickly. Fawn grabbed the outside rein and stuck her inside leg on. The mare popped a buck and moved into a canter, sticking her head up to bolt. Fawn widened her hands and tried to soften her down to bend her. "Kitty! Knock it off!" she growled. The mare snorted and stopped when Fawn half halted hard to make her ho. She started to try and rear and Fawn moved her forward into a trot quickly. The trot was quick and choppy and she started to try and buck and take off again. Fawn growled and jerked the outside rein, "Knock it off," she said when the mare popped a buck and leap combo before trying to get squirrelly and run off. She suddenly noticed a white plastic chair, seeming to convince herself it was a monster before she veered off to buck. Fawn made her circle and then did walk trot transitions quickly. Fawn gave her trainer a wan smile, "I was hoping she'd be good today," she said, looking rather sheepish. Maybe she should have tried Tat today, he was always sort of willing, more willing than Kitty anyways. She could have always ridden Mack. She laughed inwardly at the thought of her on that little pony. Yeah right.

She calmed the mare down quickly with little coes and fed her the reins once more, sitting back and pushing her into the connection. The little bit of bucking she did had loosened her up. She pat her withers and waited for more instruction, now that they were focused and willing to participate, or at least Fawn was.

I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great and would suffice.

Word Count. IDK
Notes. lol Dressage is all about the seat and English pleasure is all about the horse. Just so you know, so far everything you've told her to do is dressage. haha or at least training level dressage, which I find interesting.
attire. maybe later I'm lazy ^^

[/quote]

[brantley]

well i'm starting to fall in love
• A N D I T ' S G E T T I N G T O O M U C H •

• it's not often that i slip up •
and it's just my luck !

Brantley watched as Fawn followed all of his instructions. Confusion swept across his features as she lifted a hand to her face and looked like she was mentally scolding herself. He shrugged his shoulders and focused his attention back on her riding skills. She extended her legs with a little difficulty, but she finally got to where Brantley wanted her. Brantley laughed at her comment about being nervous and shouted from the center of the arena, "Nervous riders don't belong in the arena." He shot her a stern look and immediately began critiquing again, "Do not post during this lesson. Western pleasure horses don't need to get used to you posting. You will never post on a horse that is meant to jog slow." So maybe he was being a little picky, but if she wanted to be good, she would take his advice.

Brantley sat deeper in his saddle and dropped his hand dangerously close to Shooter's neck. The colt flicked his ears back and he applied his spur on the outside and squeezed lightly. The buckskin moved into a lope within a stride and dropped his head. Brantley sat tall, and he gave a slight kiss and pressed his spurs into the colt's side. He immediately slowed his pace and it looked as if the horse was barely gaining any ground. Brantley's attention was torn away from his horse as he heard commotion from the other end of the arena. He watched in amusement as the horse and rider went flying around the arena letting out all sorts of jumps and movements. He slid Shooter to a stop and yelled out with an emotionless voice, "If she tries to buck again, you dig those spurs in and back her ass into the fence."

Shooter had a similar problem when his training first began. He was skittish of certain objects and his main forte was bucking. Brantley had fixed that problem real quick in about two training sessions. "I was hoping she'd be good today." Brantley shrugged lightly and spoke in a rough voice, "Clearly not." He knew he was borderline douchebag right now, but he didn't make friends with students. He was there to teach them, not to be their pal. He nodded towards the rail and told her to canter around the rail. He was going to treat her training like western pleasure. Once her horse mastered that, he would move on to the reining stuff.

tag ! fawn ! word count ! who cares ! outfit ! coming later ! credit ! justlikefalling @ caution 2.0 ! lyrics ! just my luck , MCFLY ! notes ! that's so weird! all of the stuff he is saying is western pleasure xD i bet after the initial seat it will differ greatly from dressage...western pleasure is about the horse, too, but the rider needs to at least sit correctly ^^ !

[fawncallister]

Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,

She was nervous because of Brantley not her horse, but either way Kitty could feel the nerves. She sighed mentally. She would never, EVER dig her spurs into her horse, NOT because she was afraid or thought it was 'cruel' but because the mare was so sensitive it took just a little touch and she went off and flying into gallop. She didn't say that. But just as she moved her into a nice rocking horse canter she began to ease into the saddle, her elbows bent nicely and she gave with the reins. Kitty moved her head lower to the ground, almost touching it, but Fawn gave her a little tug, bringing her head up, mostly because she'd been about to die on her, and secondly she liked to fall on her forehand too much. The mare obliged and lifted her head just slightly, but not so her head was above the vertical.

She cantered, erm, loped her around the arena and let her relax. They neared the corner, the spooky corner. "Bdrrrddrrr, shhh, it's oka-" The mare took off with a buck and a little fart. Fawn grabbed her reins. She did as she was told though, knowing she was going to pay dearly. But she always did as her trainers told, she had to remind herself they knew what they were doing. She dug her spurs in and pulled her back to the fence. The mare's head shot up, her eyes went wide and she spun jerking Fawn loose. Fawn tried to jerk her the otherway but the mare flipped out, rearing off balance before smashing to the ground, Fawn underneath her. Fawn let out a little squeak, but just managed to loosen her feet out of the stirrups, the horn digging into her gut and knocking the wind out of her. Her horse quickly got up and took off with a vicious scream, bucking and twisting and jerking. She was running too fast, even Fawn, as dizzy as she was on the ground knew she was going to crash into the fence if she didn't suddenly sprout wings and fly. The mare made a wobbly attempt at a jump, clipping the gate and running out into the open.

"Get... Her!" she managed to yell. Hobbling up weakly. Her legs like jello and she slowly checked herself out, letting her breath slowly come back. She could still hear her mare's thundering hooves and blaring thoroughbred screech, Other horses nearby snorting and their tails going up as they trotted along the fence lines.

Fawn groaned, lifting her shirt a little to see her bruise belly, one of her ribs definitely felt broken. An older man walked over, holding the reins of a wide-eyed Kitty. "You want a leg-"

"I got it," Fawn said testily. She was grumpy and she ached now, but she was getting back on her horse so help her. She grabbed the horn, stuck a foot in the stirrup and the mare started to dance in a circle, snorting. Fawn stopped, grabbed the reins and jerked three times hard. "KNOCK IT OFF!" She yelled viciously, the horse seemed to teeter away from her and her ears swiveled everywhere, as if trying to determine if it had in fact been Fawn who had just yelled at her. She grabbed the reins and the saddle horn, sticking her leg in the stirrup and weakly pulling herself into the saddle. Her face pale. Shit. Not how she wanted to learn reining, she thought. But Kitty was a baby and Fawn had taken worse spills than that with her other baby, god, he'd been crazy and she was surprised anyone even had wanted to buy him, though he was gorgeous and had perfect movement. Fawn looked at her Trainer. "So, canter around the arena right?" she asked shakily. Still getting her wits about her.

She moved Kitty into a canter from a stand still. She popped a buck and fawn grit her teeth. She jerked the reins hard. "NO! KNOCK IT OFF!" she growled, the mare pinned her ears and then went quietly into work. Fawn just barely touched her flanks with her spurs on accident and the mare started to gallop, head up and eyes wild, Fawn could see it in the mirror. "Bdrrdrrr, calm down." Fawn's heart was beating irregularly and she knew she was talking more to herself than the horse. The mare veered in the corner and Fawn began to wonder if she should give up, get off, and go see her doctor. But she payed for a lesson and she wasn't going to waist the money like her mom did so flippantly.

I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great and would suffice.

Word Count. IDK
Notes. LOL spurs on a thoroughbred MARE, not a good idea. Spurs on some thoroughbred Geldings... ok but still not a good idea. I learned that one the hard way... canter canter spur, buck buck big big buck, smack on the ground. Ouch.
attire. maybe later I'm lazy ^^

[/quote][/quote]

[brantley]

well i'm starting to fall in love
• A N D I T ' S G E T T I N G T O O M U C H •

• it's not often that i slip up •
and it's just my luck !

Brantley watched in horror as the Thoroughbred flipped backwards onto Fawn when she spurred her. She landed on the girl with a thud, but luckily Fawn got her feet out of the stirrups and managed to only get the saddle horn in the gut before the mare took off across the arena. Brantley picked Shooter's head up and quickly loped to where Fawn now stood, waiting for a man to bring the horse back. She looked like she was in pain, so Brantley hopped off the colt in one fluid movement and grabbed her shoulder to steady her. "Are you okay? Does anything hurt?" He looked over her momentarily before turning around to notice that the Thoroughbred was back next to them. The horse was skittish, and Brantley patted her neck softly. "Easy, mare." He looked back to Fawn as she mounted the horse. She had guts, he'd give her that. She seemed intent on riding, so he gave her a curt nod and mounted once more.

Brantley watched as the pair loped around the arena, the horse giving off a couple of testy bucks. Fawn yelled at the horse and used a firm hand to try and settle her. Brantley shook his head and was almost to the point of asking if he could get on. He didn't take shit from horses that tried to take advantage of their riders. Shooter had learned very young that he was not going to put up with anything. The colt had his days, but he never acted out like Fawn's horse. As if Shooter could read his thoughts, the colt jolted forward after the girls and let out a whinny Brantley pulled the reins back and pressed his spurs into his sides, causing the bucksin to tuck his head and back quickly. Brantley relaxed in the saddle and returned his attention back to his student.

"Alright, apparently she didn't like the spurs. I want you to take them off. Some horses do better without them." It was a strategy. He grew up with a horse that wouldn't work for him unless he took his spurs off. Even if he didn't use them, the horse still freaked whenever he heard the all too familiar clang if them. Brantley waited for her to take them off and spoke in a loud voice, "Trot around the arena. I want you to extend her, but do not post. Use your legs to drive her forward, but keep your seat and posture." The mare needed schooling, so that was exactly what he intended for her to do.

tag ! fawn ! word count ! who cares ! outfit ! coming later ! credit ! justlikefalling @ caution 2.0 ! lyrics ! just my luck , MCFLY ! notes ! he is rude xD just a warning !

[fawncallister]

Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,

She nodded but said, "If I don't have them on she won't go forward and then she'll take off bucking, she does it every time," Fawn said. "Plus I don't have my whip so she's really only going slightly less forward than usual because she knows it's gone," Fawn said. That and she didn't know if she could ben over and take them off. She was shivering in the saddle with the pain, but she wasn't about to say anything.

She would tough it out like she always did. She noticed her little brothers walking inside. Making noise with a little stick as they jumped on the bleachers, making a metalic noise. Kitty threw her head up immediately, snorting. Fawn grabbed the reins and widened her hands. "Woah, woah. Bdrrddrr..."

"James, Arthur! Knock it off!" Fawn called angrily. They immediately shut up and sat down. Knowing better than to not abide by Fawn's rules. The mare was trying to lift her front end to pop a buck or rear. Fawn softened her down and then she started to back up and started spinning. "I think we've got the spinning movement down," Fawn said with a wobbly smile when she finally turned the mare around in a figure eight. "I think she's in season as well...," Fawn said with a wan little face. "She's being too bitchy to just be herself, and she isn't even calming down, she's just starting to make excuses. Before today she never used to start freaking out with the twins making noises," Fawn said. Kitty planted herself stock still and started pawing vigorously into the arena. "Man maybe the saddle doesn't fit right?" Fawn said, noticing the mare was just being too crazy to it to have just been the spurs to the belly.

I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great and would suffice.

Word Count. IDK
Notes. So far I don';t have a clue what's wrong with my thoroughbred, lol I'm thinking Kitty is either not liking western, the saddle may not fit right, or maybe the feed. LOL I'm just going to see how it pans out in my devious mind, sometimes I just don't question my mind plots lol.

[brantley]

well i'm starting to fall in love
• A N D I T ' S G E T T I N G T O O M U C H •

• it's not often that i slip up •
and it's just my luck !

Brantley sighed out of frustration as Fawn tried desperately to justify her horse freaking out. He was seriously beginnning to question whether or not the horse had any basic training. She for sure wasn't acting like it. The Thoroughbred was crazy, and Brantley was growing tired of her antics. "Next time she acts out...Dig your spurs in her side and make her run until her nose is in the ground from exhaustion. That horse is gonna learn how to have some manners." Brantley shook his head at the comment about her being in heat. "I don't care if she's in season. And your saddle is fine. The horse just has no training." He didn't really care if he sounded rude, he knew he was right. He knew how to train horses, and whoever had trained this one clearly didn't have any skill in the area.

Brantley rolled his eyes as he heard commotion coming from the bleachers. Two little boys were reeking havoc and Brantley shot Fawn a glare. He did not want the little boys there during this lesson. The horse was already beginning to freak out by all the noise. "They need to leave before Kitty has a heart attack." He nudged Shooter towards the boys and shot them a scowl. He spoke in a harsh voice, ignoring the fact that the boys were young, "You need to either leave or settle down and be quiet." With that said, he spun his Quarter Horse around and trotted to Fawn's side. He ran a hand through his hair and pointed to the rail. "Take her to the rail, and remember what I said before. If you don't want to do it, then I'd be glad to teach that horse a lesson." Brantley didn't think his method of training was harmful to the horse. He didn't want to treat them badly, but if the highstrung Thoroughbred wanted to go...then by all means, they would go.

Shooter tossed his head as Brantley spun a circle on him and halted. The colt pawed the ground, getting bored by just standing around. Brantley was pleased that the young horse was doing so well, but he knew he needed to work him soon. He looked to Fawn and spoke in a deep voice, "You get on the rail, and I'm taking the middle. I'll be watching so don't screw this up."

tag ! fawn ! word count ! who cares ! outfit ! coming later ! credit ! justlikefalling @ caution 2.0 ! lyrics ! just my luck , MCFLY ! notes ! he is rude xD just a warning !

[fawncallister]

Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,

Fawn felt her temper rise and she stopped Kitty, who halted PERFECTLY, for once, had she not been so furious she would have praised the mare. "EXCUSE ME?! NO TRAINING!" Fawn's mouth did a fish-breathing move. "I have taught her dressage, basics yes, but she has training, and she has heart, this is not the normal horse. And by the way, your last suggestion didn't turn out so great, genius! I probably have broken ribs because of that stupid ass move, which, yes I totally could have not listened to you so that is partially my fault. I will NOT run my mare into exhaustion if she's being bad, she needs to learn that no matter what shit she throws at me she's going to get punished but she still has to focus on me. If I run her, she will blank me out, or anyone for that matter, and probably start on a chain of bucking, which she has done with me before." She glared daggers at Brantley, "And fuck you for acting so cruelly to your horse, I feel sorry that any horse has had to run till their exhausted, that's faulty and lame," Fawn spit out turning her mare and trotting her out, grimacing at the pain. Fuck training, she'd have to learn on her own, she thought, in a brewing storm of furiosity. "Arthur, James, lets go," she said softly to her little brothers.

When she reached the barn she made sure no one was looking before she unsaddled Kitty quickly, Kitty was clicking away as she chomped on the bit in her mouth. She left Kitty unhooked to the tie racks and dropped the saddle before she ran to the bathroom to throw up what little bits of food she'd eaten. She grimaced, tears rolling down her face. She cradled her stomach before she lifted the shirt too look at it. Her heart beating wildly.

"Fawn?!" Arthur said, rushing to her side in the bathroom. "Fawnie, are you ok?" he asked, his little hand gripping hers. She nodded and forced herself up.

"Yes, can you help me get Kitty untacked?" she asked, shaking a little. She found out she didn't have the strength to lift the saddle again and had to leave that to Arthur and James. She got Kitty's bridle off quickly and exchanged it for the halter. She then asked one of the other women in the barn if she could borrow their cell phone before calling her doctor. She stood in kitty's stall now, trembling. "Coultrain..." she said feebly. "I think I might have broken a couple of my ribs. My fault, I jerked on Kitty's reins and she flipped over on me, the saddle horn smashed me pretty good," she said, fighting tears by biting her lip, which also helped some for the pain. "I figured. Ya but my heart... it's really... erratic. Yes. I'm on all my normal pills." she whispered. "I'm on all my normal pills," she repeated when he said she needed to speak up.

"My head? It's.. ok. I'm just really shook up. Is it ok to drive?" she asked, as she ran the brush over Kitty with shaky hands. Kitty was staring at Fawn, she had a weird expression, one akin to sorrow and grief. "It's ok Kitty, that was my bad, I was being stupid, I'm so sorry," She whispered to the little mare, moving the cell phone away from the receiver so her doctor couldn't hear.

I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great and would suffice.

Word Count. IDK
Notes. So far I don';t have a clue what's wrong with my thoroughbred, lol I'm thinking Kitty is either not liking western, the saddle may not fit right, or maybe the feed. LOL I'm just going to see how it pans out in my devious mind, sometimes I just don't question my mind plots lol.