A long Time Coming (open!)

[sammiemoore]

Sammie Moore
And Risky Business

Finally after what seemed like forever being away from her horses she arrived at Firefly Fields academy. Hold up after hold up just had to happen as she was set to leave, she had to finish school out before the move and then her uncle went and through his back out after both her and her aunt said he should not be doing that kind of work. All the girl could do was shake her head and laugh at her uncle, sometimes he was quite stubborn and hard to get along with, him and Sammie had often clashed about stuff such as how to do something, he had his way she had her way. Now she was happy to be here and with her horses once again and nothing was stopping her this time, there was just no way.

The sleek black mustang came into view of the stable and school, her new home which was farther then she had ever been. Sammie had grown up in Kansas there was nothing to do in her town, it was small and mostly farms, which was how she developed her love of horses and animals. A sigh was let go as she neared the parking lot, she was a tad nervous having to make new friends and all. She parked the car and sat in the car for a moment before getting out and making her way into the stable. Classes for her would start tomorrow, it made sense seeing they were done for the day.

She sighed yet again as she entered the stables, the barn was quite large and it took her some time to find her horses. When she did find them she was quite happy to see them and happy to see they had settled in. glad to see that you both have settled in well. She smiled as Risky came up to his door, ya I know you want to stretch your legs. I walked to the tack room to grab his stuff. I walked back and saddle him up, we will be back soon Sierra and then we will maybe go work in the arena. I mounted Risky and we walked down the trail a ways and when I got to a good flat stretch, we galloped, even though he was not a racer he was still a fast horse. I slowed him, easy boy we don’t need you getting hurt now do we. I patted his neck as he came to a trot, I yawned and posted to his trot as we made our way down the trails.

[Luke Peters]

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giselle montgomery renard !
//everyone in this room, they've got troubles too//
//secret stories and lies that we never knew//

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Ay yi yi, I kind of figured taking Romeo out today was a bad idea.
Well, taking Romeo out was never a bad idea to me, but I probably should have lunged him before deciding to hop on. I mean, he was an exceptional horse, with lines you couldn’t shake a stick at, but his temperament often betrayed his true potential. An excellent jumper, Romeo could easily clear fences most horses would shy away at, but his thoroughbred blood made him a bit high-strung sometimes.

Okay, make that most of the time, but I loved him all the more for it.

As soon as I tacked him up, I knew there were going to be problems. Well, first thing first, he would not for the love of him allow me to put the bit in his mouth. At first I thought there might be some sort of problem regarding his teeth or gums, but after a while I realized it was just him being a brat. He was tossing his head and trying to outsmart the cross-ties, which wasn’t working too well for him. He wasn’t exactly the Einstein of his breed. “Oooh will you stop?” Only after about ten minutes was I able to coax him into letting me bridle him, and by that point I was thoroughly sweaty. Uh, ew.

That was the first warning.
The second was a little frank, so I’m surprised it escaped my notice. It was almost like the universe was trying to tell me something. Foreshadowing, maybe? As I led my darling Romeo out of the barn, the sharp call of a bird spooked him to bits, and he side-stepped, just nearly missing my boot. Since this kind of thing happened often, I was not at a loss for what to do. After the moment passed, however, I could not calm him down! He stayed there, rooted to the spot as if by some invisible force, breathing heavily, his ears cocked. To say the least, it was driving me mad. I was patient with him, and never showed my temper, but he refused to show any progress. So, okay, silly of me, I decided to hop on and try to cool him down that way. I figured he’d probably forget all about the event once I was throwing him signals.
Wrong, wrong wrong wrong.
I barely had my foot in the stirrup before he started moving again, so much that I had to get off to stop him. It seemed he could not calm down. “It’s just a bird, sweetie, just a little bird. It won’t hurt you.” I would have continued with my quiet soothing, but I was afraid that my irritation was showing through in my voice. By now, I was thoroughly disgruntled. Well, that’s what you get for having an edgy horse!

When I finally managed to mount and keep my seat, I found him more skittish than ever. He continued to sidestep and spook, and although I kept a tight rein on him, I was afraid of how this would bode for our impending ride. All I wanted was a nice little jaunt through the trails, not this horror-show he was giving me! Once we reached the trails, I was afraid to let him have his head like I normally would have. And—oh, was that another person? I groaned, and attempted to keep Romeo from spooking at every little thing. Still, although a little nervous about how this would impact the rest of our ride, I was never impolite. Lie. Shut up!
“Hey, I’m right behind you, so don’t make any sudden movements.”
Might as well announce my presence!

[sammiemoore]

It was truly enjoyable to be in the saddle again. Alright so maybe not, there were a few tiny kinks that were leading to an un enjoyable ride, shall we review from the gallop? First things first he’s a high strung boy, always wanting to go go go, there was no stopping him, he was also a powerful horse and he jumped jumps with easy but any way back to my point, sometimes he was just an imposter and a pester to handle. So head tossing so he can get his head and run away with me hanging on to him for dear life, not going to happen today but he was trying and let me say this in my own defense this was my frist time riding him sense I sent him and Sierra here. Finally we got that taken care of so now the ride was becoming relaxing again. This is how she liked it, quickly she patted the horses neck and murmured good boy.

I pushed im into a canter, he took the right lead in an instant and he arched his neck like we were back in the dressage arena at home but we were not we were here in are new home, were none of my at home fame and beyond or state mattered but we had been one of the best riders in Kansas along with four others. I decided it would be best to slow him back down to a trot, seeing he was starting up again and I really did not want to take that risk. Easy now, easy. He only ever did this if there was a storm coming or if something had just darted out in front of us, I checked the sky, it was blue with no clouds in the sky, boy there’s nothing, no storms, nothing has come out in front of us, what is your issue.

That’s when I herd the girl behind me, Riskys ears flicked back and forth, I will try not to I called back. So I went back to trying to figure out what was wrong with him, that’s when there was a clearing and I could see the dark clouds up ahead, damn it, I murmured and pulled him to a stop, as a flash of lighting happened, easy its fine, oh but it so was not, he backed right off the trail, I jumped off. It happened to quite step and he lost his footing and fell. I walked down and helped him stand again, I could not check him for injuries down here I needed to get him back on the trail, I clucked and we worked our way slowly back to the trail, I hoped that did not count as a sudden movement. I ran my hands down his legs, but nothing series just a scratch or two. I looked back she seemed to still be on her horse, so my sudden off the trail did do much but who knows.

I decided to let him cool off before I got back on him, I walked him in a circle a couple of times, looking at the storm it was still a good ways away, so we could finish the trail and get back. I decided I would wait for the girl also, so maybe we could ride together and maybe it help if she was next to me so I would not scare her horse, or do anything to sudden. Horses were just silly, each one had there own personality and quirks that made them more special, like Risky was scared of storms and Sierra was scared of whips and things that happened to bang, so in the stable she is often in the back of her stall cringing because of hearing some loud bang but I was working on each horse so it was easier for them to live through there fears.

[Luke Peters]

Quite selfishly, I had to admit to being so involved in my own dilemmas that I hardly noticed the girl’s. Hardly.
Romeo was being a real fruitcake, spooking at everything and anything that moved or made any sound. I had to keep him extremely reined for fear of him leaving me horseless at the chirp of a bird. I’m not sure what bug had implanted itself into his little brain, but it didn’t seem to be leaving anytime soon. It probably wasn’t the best that we’d run into the other horse and rider on the trail, but not much I could do now but keep him in check, and keep an eye on the others. I could tell my legs were going to burn tomorrow by how hard I was holding on to his sides, attempting to keep him from flying off into the trees. With the approaching storm coming, it probably wasn’t the best idea that I was continuing to head that way, but I wasn’t always a big thinker, especially not when trying to control an enormously massive animal. So I guess this was the excuse I made for not noticing really when the girl stopped and dismounted. In any other circumstance, I would have stopped to help her, but today was just not very good for that sort of thing. I felt bad about it afterwards, but I’d look for a chance to apologize later, when I caught up to her.

Oh yes, didn’t notice? Yeah, she stopped, I guess to wait for me, otherwise she saw something bad. I hoped it was the former of the two, otherwise I’d really regret coming out. Clinging to Romeo’s side and whispering sweet nothings to calm him down, I walked him – if you could classify it as a walk, gee-wiz, more like mach 5 – over to where the girl and her horse were. I forced a smile as commanded him to stop, which he did after a while of snorting and looking around frantically. “Sorry, he’s just a little… scared. I’m Giselle, and I’d shake your hand or something, but I’m afraid that I’ll fall off if I do.” I laughed nervously as he jolted and I was forced to the side. “Will you stop!?” I hissed through my teeth. God, he was being utterly annoying today, and showing bad habits in front of company. The last thing I needed was for the girl’s horse to start mimicking his behavior, that would really make this trail-ride fun.

Not.

I was planning on studding Romeo in the fall, but unless he improved his attitude, I didn’t see how anyone would want offspring off of him. I could see the add now: stallion with extremely obnoxious personality, likes to spook, shy, and just run away at anything that moves or makes noises. Can’t be sure, but foal will probably inherit at least two of these characteristics. Oh, he’s a great jumper too! That would be a riot, seeing who applied for that. It was times like these where I wondered about his parents, but I was assuming by his personality that one of his predecessors was high-strung like this. Or maybe one of his little genes mutated into something horrendous. I don’t know, probably not.
He yanked my body to the side at the flight of a bird, causing me to be almost whiplashed. Ha-ha, the irony.
Or, you know, maybe.

[Janelle/ Spencer Mantegna]

Janelle 'JJ' Mantegna

Setting her white Morgan to a canter, Janelle gave the horse a pat. "Hey, good girl, Juliet." After the trouble with her first day, young JJ had desired a good ride, and she had got it. Sitting on her horse White Winter Sonnet, casually known as Juliet, JJ felt as if she was home again.

Sighing, the freshman wondered when her dad was going to send in the new saddle. Juliet ourgrew her old one, so JJ eas riding bareback that day. She wasn't a very big fan of bareback riding, but a Morgan needed the right sized saddles, which the tack room and stables didn't have. Plus, Juliet was only fourteen point two hands high, and each saddle's buckles were too big.

Sometimes, JJ wished she wasn't so short. Maybe if she were taller, she could ride a horse that was taller, and that their apparatus could be of free size. As her horse cantered on, JJ faintly made out two figures out on the path, one a blond the othet a brunette. She rode onwards, suddenly feeling like having company.

"Hi." she said, as she reached the two girls.

[Luke Peters]

ooc// i guess i'll just reply until sammie gets back? i don't want to leave the thread hangin'
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I was tired, sore, and I craved a smoothie.
I kind of wished now that I had just taken Romeo for a round of jumps in the ring and had done with it. Romeo loved to jump; even the scariest things/noises couldn’t have frightened him when he was in the arena. I loved it too, not only because it felt like I was flying, but because he knew exactly what he was doing, so I hardly had to participate in steering him at all. I just hated two-point, but I’d gotten much better at it over the years, and now I could pretty much do it without stirrups, my legs were so toned.

Not to brag, or anything.

So you’d kinda think that because I could jump like a rock star I wouldn’t be so easily distressed by Romeo’s antics, right? Oh, so sadly wrong. Keeping control of him was absolutely exhausting.
Not only did I have to be on high alert all the time, I had to pair that with a really strong hand, verbal marks, and legs which seemed to be super-glued to his sides. It was a lot of work, and it didn’t really seem to be paying off that well. I loved working with Romeo, but only when I saw results. A ride like today’s was the kind where he would act like this until the end, and all my hard work would go up in smoke once I hosed him off and put him back in his stall. Romeo, although being the object of my eye, was not a very bright animal, and so you really had to make an imprint on him for him to remember it. Today, I knew that everything I was doing was not going to make an imprint. Dang!

Oh, and the other horse? Not exactly calming him down, but not really riling him up. He was really no better than he was, but also no worse. I should be lucky that the other pair didn’t make him crazy, but I had to admit I was disappointed that he wasn’t more tranquil. Oh well.
Yeah, and then hell broke loose.
I should have seen it coming, because I kind of sensed someone behind us, but apparently, Romeo did not. As soon as the simple greeting left the other person’s lips, it was like slow motion when Romeo spooked. I could have sworn he jumped in the air a few feet, but whatever happened after that was not good. The only thing I did remember was flying to the side, almost like a cowboy in a movie, dismounting quickly and grabbing his head. I tried to calm him down, or at least lead him away from the others and their horses lest he start causing some serious damage. That’s when I felt him falter.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to keep my cool. This was an absolute nightmare, and I could have cried if I knew it was going to do any good. So where did this leave me? Out on the trail with an approaching storm, a hurt horse, and a crushed motive. Lovely.

After a little while, I managed to calm Romeo down. I think that he’d been worn out from all the stress of being a brat, because now he was as obedient as a seeing-eye dog. I kept a death grip on the reins though, and a hand on his sweaty neck, slowly lulling him into submission. His breathing was hard, and he was frothing at the mouth. Although what had happened was really his fault, I still pitied him. Of course I did, he was my horse! Turning to the girls, hoping to apologize for my sudden skedaddle – oh and the fact that Romeo had just put on a horrible show – I flashed them a weak smile.
“ Hey, listen, I think he’s hurt from that whole… incident back there, sorry about that by the way. I’m going to turn back. I think that he’ll be okay if we walk really slowly. Sorry to interrupt your ride, sorry!”
I realized that I had repeated my apology like, 57,000 times, but I was a little out of it. Turning back towards the barn, I thanked my lucky stars that we had not gone too far. Urging Romeo on, I managed to get him to walk slowly beside me.
I knew we should have jumped.