Something Rotten In Denmark

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Alistair dropped his head against Shay's shoulder and shoved upward. Shay had to take a quick step with one foot to retain her balance. Yeah, it was a bad habit to let Alistair rub on her, especially since he would do it when she wasn't looking, but she let him anyway. She couldn't blame him for having an itchy forehead, and she'd rather have him rub on her than wood and metal.

She rubbed his forehead with her hand then left the stall to go to the tack room. Once there, she grabbed the orange saddle pad, all-purpose English saddle, and his bridle. As if was becoming customary, Shay squeezed the bit while she walked back to the stall to warm it up for the horse. It wasn't bitter cold out, but she wouldn't like cold metal in her mouth either.

Reaching up, Shay put one hand on the top of Alistair's head , and the other hand prepared the bridle and reins. Alistair dropped his head as asked, but his ears pinned back and as soon as the bit came close to his mouth, he jerked his head upward. Shay rubbed his neck, and got his head back down and tried again. This time, Alistair backed up into the wall of his stall to get away. As his rump hit it, the whole barn seemed to shake. Shailie sighed and looked at her horse. His head was up as high as it could go, he was backed into a corner and the whites of his eyes were clearly visible. Something was definitely rotten in Denmark.

[Adonya van Rutherford]

Blythe grinned as she led Kodak in from the pastures. Her little freshman had been doing her job well. Sure, Blythe might wish that she'd been able to find the girl to have her tack up Kodak now, since she was planning on doing some reining patterns with him, but she would survive. The gelding's stall was clean, he was rugged, and his mane and tail were braided, so obviously, her instructions were being followed.

After she'd led Kodak into his stall and tied his lead-rope to the bars, she took off the gelding's blanket and then headed towards the tack room. She had never managed to get into the habit of cross-ties, so the gelding's stall would do. Less chance of her garroting herself. As she was returning to her gelding's stall, she heard a commotion in the stall next door, and paused long enough to look at the horse inside, and his handler. As she continued to watch, the gelding backed up against the side of his stall, obviously fearful.

Scoffing, Blythe was about to walk on, when she spotted the girl who was trying to get his bridle onto him. People she could always make fun of. Approaching the stall, she spoke, her voice contemptuous, “Next time, you should try to get a horse that you can actually handle. What'd you have to do to be able to ride him when you bought him, drug him?” Shaking her head, she let herself into Kodak's stall and began running a curry brush along the gelding's coat, listening to the pair the next stall down.

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Shay backed up to give her gelding room, but his head only dropped a little bit. He didn't react negatively when Shay reached out and stroked his neck, but when she raised her hand close to his face, he jerked it back again. Finally, Shailie lowered her hands and waited for him to come to her. Right when she was hoping he would move a little closer to Shay, a voice crawled up from behind her.

"Exactly," she sneered at the feminine voice but there was a sting growing behind her eyes. Seeing her horse like this was truely terrifying and that girl wasn't helping her mental stability at all. The fact that this was becoming part of her daily routine made her feel like she was a terrible owner. Her cheeks began to flush red and her entire body seemed to be running on high. All of a sudden, winter felt like the dead of summer.

Once the girl walked away with her horse in hand, Shay turned back to Alistair with glossy eyes. She cooed softly, trying to calm him down, but every now and then she let a profanity slip out, directed at the girl who walked up to Alistair's stall, wondering if she was close enough to hear them.

[Adonya van Rutherford]

Blythe smirked as she saw the red creeping onto the girl's cheeks. Sure, she could try to be snide about it, but the cheerleader knew that her remark had hit home. That was all she really needed, and she turned away. No point in being at the scene when the horse eventually killed his incompetent owner, right?

As she began brushing Kodak, she could hear the girl's voice on the other side of the stall wall. Or, maybe not through the wall. More likely, through the barns that separated their respective horses from the aisle. Who cared about the acoustics, anyway? Blythe brushed away at the dirt easily, getting the odd straw of hay away from her gelding's gleaming coat, then left his stall again with the grooming box, heading to retrieve his saddle and other tack.

However, as she passed the large thoroughbred's stall, she couldn't help stopping by, “Thank you for the lovely compliments. Maybe, if you wanted a horse that was more your speed, you should see the barn manager. I heard they have a couple of old nags they can set you up with. Might be safer for the entire barn, I don't want Kodak's stall contaminated with blood.”

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Shailie gave up on her continuous attempt to go to Alistair. Instead, she dropped back towards the stall door and leaned against it, hoping he would come to her. The bridle slid down her wrist, almost to the ground with the reins dangling by her ankles. Alistair gave her a quick glance but stayed where he was, dropping his head only slightly now that he had more room. With her free hand, Shay swirled his grain around in his bucket, tempting him to step towards her.

After a few minutes of waiting, Alistair stepped towards her again, and Shay held out her hand for him. As per usual, he pressed his forehead in her hand and rubbed on it. Her heartbeat slowed down again and she smiled, happy that he still had trust in her. The smile didn't last long though, because as soon as she reached up to cup his face with both hands, he pulled away again. His long neck held his head high above her, but he wasn't backed into the corner as he was before.

"Thanks, is that where you got your nag?" Shay asked, still avoiding eye contact with the girl with the annoyingly pretentious voice. As soon as she gave in and looked at her, she would be totally defenseless. Her facial expression alone would prove that she had absolutely no strength behind her words. She was getting red faced with frustration again, which brought on the bloodshot eyeballs that made her want to cry.

[Adonya van Rutherford]

Blythe chuckled as she heard the girl's comeback, "There's a lot of people who'd wish so, but no." Of course, judging by the fact that the blonde was fighting with a thoroughbred, Blythe doubted she would compete in reining. Not that she would be much competition, but still. The leggy things usually didn't do quite as well.

As Kodak dropped his head, apparently ready to stand around for a while, Blythe shook her head, then twitched the reins. After the gelding had raised his head again, Blythe stepped away, but she couldn't resist a parting sally, "Your horse gives a whole new meaning to the phrase mouthing off. Maybe you should learn from him." Eh. That had sounded much better when she'd thought about it, not so much when she'd actually spoken.

Before the girl had a chance to reply, or worse yet, point out the nonsense of that statement, Blythe began walking away, leading Kodak towards the outdoors reining arena. Sure, it was cold, but Kodak was fuzzy enough, and she wouldn't get too cold either. There was no real reason to not train today. However, her thoughts turned back to the grey hotblood. He hadn't seemed like just some untrained horse, but the girl? She still thought the girl was clueless.

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Shay took a few deep breaths as she reached out to stroke Alistair's muscled shoulder. Her comeback had given her a little bit of relief, but the other girl was quick with words. She said nothing in response, lacking the quickness the other girl had, and stuck her tongue in her cheek in defeat. Alistair needed her full attention and bickering was not improving the situation whatsoever.

A light chuckle slipped through Shay's lips after she heard what was supposed to be an insult. Very little of what the girl said made sense to Shay, but before she could call the girl out on it, she was walking away. The flustered teen sighed and leaned into her horse's shoulder. This was not how she planned on building her life at the academy, but there was little she could do to stop it, other than take it on the chin.

Several tears trickled down her cheeks and onto the soft coat of her gelding. Under her fingers, cords of muscle in his stretched as he lowered his head to pick up the little stalks of hay that had fallen on the ground. Shay pulled away to wipe her tears, and try to get her horse bridled once again. Whether he wanted to or not, they were going to get a ride in that day.