King of the Canyon (Con't)

[Brian Setliff]

Brian raised an eyebrow at the boy's repeated questioning, "He's fine, this time. You're lucky that he is, because your negligence could have lead to far worse consequences. As for the rest of your questions, I will explain once you've had a chance to rethink your attitude." Because that was really the main place where the boy had gone wrong.

Turning away from Julius, he reiterated, "I'll meet you at the barn office," before he nudged Donovan forward, holding Solo's reins easily in his free hand. All of the school mounts were trained to pony, so he hadn't expected any issues. And, indeed he didn't have any. The triad made it to the end of the trail without issues, and once back at the barn, Brian dismounted and led the two horses into the barn.

After finding a barn hand to help him untacking Donovan, Brian turned his attention to Solo, stripping the gelding of all of his tack and then carrying it to the tack room. He considered what to do with the lariat for a moment, then left it on the saddle horn, knowing Julius would probably have his own way of organizing the tack locker.

Once he had groomed Solo, he returned the gelding to his stall, and then made his way to the office, where he sat in one of Katherine's visitor chairs and waited, knowing that Julius would probably take longer to walk back. Simply by virtue of walking, and he couldn't blame the boy for that.

[Deleted]

Julius walked back to the barn, wondering what he had done that was negligent and what bad thing it could have led too and he couldn't figure it out.  Solo was tied securely and had access to water and the worst thing that he could come up with was that Solo may not have not been very comfortable, although Julius had bothered to loosen his girth strap.  The trails were not the place for comfort anyway, as that was for back at the barn, or the dorms.

When he got back, Julius wondered where Solo would be.  He would have put Solo in the paddock, but he didn't know if Mr. Setliff would.  He decided that he would check the barn first, since that would be faster and there he was, in his stall.  Julius gave him a pet.  It seemed a shame for a horse to be trapped in the barn on a nice day like this, but he didn't want to take him out for fear that he would get in trouble, or in more trouble then he already was.

He then went to check and see where Mr. Setliff had put his tack.  It was mostly all in place.  He organized it and then went to go and look for Mr. Setliff.  He hadn't seen him in the ails so he decided to check the office.  He glanced through the doorway and saw that he was there.  Julius made sure to knock before entering, remembering learning at the beginning of the year that he was supposed to.

[Brian Setliff]

Brian looked up as he heard the knock at the door and smiled at the boy, "Come on in, Julius." He gestured at the other empty chair that wasn't specifically Katherine's, since none of them were really behind the desk. He would have to clarify exactly what he wanted from the boy, it seemed, although perhaps that would prevent the 'tude from coming back. "Have a seat, and we'll talk." He waited for the boy to comply, or not, as he wanted, not really caring should the boy choose to stand. It would probably be a long discussion, though... So if he stood, he would most likely be wishing he hadn't at the end.

While he would have loved to stand, simply to prove himself the larger and have that subconscious advantage, Brian forced himself to remain seated, and at least visibly relaxed, "Okay, Julius. I could see that you were confused about my actions on the trails. While sitting here, I did realize that you perhaps learned that tying a horse by the neck is an appropriate way to tether them." He paused, "It is not. Horses are prey animals, and strong ones at that. If a halter has the chance of breaking their neck after spooking, imagine the damage that could be done if there was absolutely no distribution of force." He was quiet, letting the point sink in with the boy, "I know that there are a handful of emergency halters, which are very light and easy to slip into a saddle bag, are always around the tack room. If you would like, after we're done talking, I can show you where they are, and we can prevent that from being an issue again."

And that was enough of that, as long as the boy didn't have anything to bring up, "Now, the bigger problem I had with our interaction on the trails was your attitude when I went to correct what you had done. Not only were you defensive, but you were very obviously antagonistic at some points during that period." Especially the whole mounting thing, which had to be done out of blatant disrespect. "You will be learning that that is not an appropriate way to deal with being reprimanded." As much as he wished he could ban the boy from riding for a week or two, to teach him completely that such things weren't an option... The barn had enough horses to exercise as it was! "Before I ruin your summer, however, I will give you a chance to speak your mind."

[Deleted]

Julius sat down and faced him.  He was glad that Mr. Setliff was being somewhat nice to him now, but he was quite surprised by what he said.  He remember what he had been taught when learning how to tether horses with a lariat and even how to catch a horse by throwing the lasso around their neck.  "But, horses have strong necks," he said, in surprise.  When he mentioned the halters he said, in a slightly defensive tone, "I know how to use a halter sir, I just prefer the lariat on trails and I did not think that was a problem."

Julius listen was Mr. Setliff complained of his attitude, some that he had always made trouble controlling despite the many complains that he had received about it throughout his entire life.  "Well sir," he started, trying not to sound as defensive as he felt.  "You did not correct what I had done as you did not tell me what you were upset about.  All I knew was that I was having a wonderful time exploring and then you ruined it.  I realize now that that was not your intention, but you lack of explanation at the time made it seem like it was."

[Brian Setliff]

"Basic anatomy would tell you that. However, basic physics would also tell you that force on a single point can do quite a bit of damage. Would you be willing to bet that a horse's neck is stronger than their flight instinct, in case of emergency?" Brian knew the answer to that from experience, and continued before the boy could speak, as he wasn't really expecting a response, "It's not."

Brian raised an eyebrow, "I ruined your exploration? I think you are mistaken. Your attitude did not invite further discussion when there were two horses to watch over, which prompted me to ask you back to the barn." It would probably have ended up being a longer conversation than he wanted to subject either horse to. And the office had a psychological advantage, which could never hurt with such people.

Deciding that there was no point to drawing out the proceedings any further, Brian folded his hands together, "I'm get the feeling that you understand." And if not, perhaps that would give him the hint that it was not up for debating. "You may not ride on the trails for one month, as well as helping with the barn chores in White Oak for the same month." He couldn't afford to ban the boy from riding outright, and he didn't want to bother enforcing a clinic ban. "And in the future, you will use a halter on the trails. Otherwise, I will hear about it, and you will find even less leniency."

[Deleted]

Julius crossed his arms and looked the man straight in the eye.  "Well, you've got a point sir but when I tie a horse up I expect them to stay.  In case of emergency we come and untie them because if there was a way for them to get themselves untied then badly behaved horses would run away." 

"Oh and you wouldn't have made me go back to the barn otherwise, because you certainly weren't giving me explanation there.  If you had then I wouldn't have gotten so upset."  He know that he was getting an attitude again, but the man was blaming him for everything when there had clearly been wrongs on both sides.  Why did adults always think that wrongs were worse when kids did them?  It was obliviously the other way around.  Adults even taught that the older kids should know better then the younger kids, but they acted as though that somehow stopped applying when you grew up.  Julius did not know why that was, but it had always just seemed wrong.

When Mr. Setliff told him his punishment, Julius was shocked and outraged. "An entire months. You can't ban me from the trails for an entire month just for that" he exclaimed.  This was insane.  It was such a small thing, and he knew to use a halter from now on.

[Brian Setliff]

Brian raised an eyebrow at the boy's comment, "When did I say anything about untying? I spoke of the possibility of a broken neck. In a halter, that same chance exists, and happens, although it is less likely due to simple physics." He paused, although he did note to himself that the boy hadn't even been listening, "You took quite some time to come down from where you were exploring. Had your horse been freaking out, you would have been in no position to untie him from anything." Another pause, "Unless you would like to explain why you took your sweet time after a direct order?" Either way, the boy had been asking for a trap with that comment.

And there the boy was, digging himself an even deeper hole, "No, I wouldn't. I would have continued on my way with Donovan, because I actually do have a job to do other than to babysit children who can't seem to control their attitude. Perhaps, had you come down with a 'What's the matter?' in a polite tone, without the attitude that your body language gave off, I would have been able to say 'Lariats should never be used to tie a horse. Please make sure it doesn't happen in the future,' and we would have each gone on our merry ways." He shrugged, "But you didn't, so I had the responsibility of making sure that the situation was handled safely. Your defensiveness could have escalated, and that would not have been safe where we met on the trails."

And again, the boy proved his point when Brian pronounced his punishment. Sighing slightly and leaning back in his chair, the man shrugged, "I can. You, however, are missing the point again. For the lariat thing? A week of barn chores, maybe a day or two of no trails. However, now you're just wasting my time trying to start an argument that I assure you you won't win, and I will make certain that the lesson sticks that attitude does not get you anywhere, at least at this school. I will make the equestrian staff aware, and believe me, you do not want to try and circumvent your punishment." He glanced at the clock, "Evening feeding starts at 5 PM sharp. You will meet the barn hands in the feed room."

[Deleted]

While Mr. Setliff did have a point about the lariat verses halter thing, Julius was beginning to wonder if the man knew what else he was talking about.  He may not have said anything about untying but he had kind of implied it.  "I was seeing if I could find an easier way down," he said.  "I don't come to direct orders, unless it's someone who actually has some authority over me."

"Look, I'm not saying that I don't have an attitude because I know that I do, but your were obviously mad at me for something and that only served to make me more upset.  If you had just explained it to me then I would have clamed down and then I would have fixed it and you could have been on your way."

Julius crossed his arms.  "I take care of Solo, but there's no way that I'm taking care of anyone else's horse.  My parents pay good money for me to go here."  He hoped that he would find a way to get out of this.  He considered calling his sister and asking her if she could bump up the road trip that they were going on next month to this month, even though he knew that if he explained this situation to her then she would find it hilarious and make fun of him.

[Katherine Carr]

There wasn't a lot that went on in her barn that Katherine wasn't privy of. And the fact that her head of staff had returned from a trail ride with not only the horse he had taken out, but the assigned horse of another student, she wanted the full story as soon as she had heard about it.

Hearing that Brian had arranged with the student to meet in her office, she had enough respect for the man not to butt into the man's conversation, and standing outside the office she had the opportunity to listen to both sides of the conversation without also reading body language.

Her hackles went up at the first sign of attitude that can out of Julius' mouth. There again though, when did the student open his mouth without attitude coming out? But she steeled herself and remained outside the door as she listened to Brian as the man spoke to the boy about his attitude.

The barn manager was pleased with how it was going; the boy had been told exactly where he'd gone wrong - though Katherine was sure that if he'd used the brain that she was sure he used for something other than his skill as a dancer and to mouth off he could have seen where he'd gone wrong - and she agreed with the punishment that was handed out to the boy. In fact, she was about to head on her way, and then Julius just had to have the last word.

"As the head of my staff, Mr Setliff has full authority over you when it comes to horses." She stated as she strode into her office. "Even more so since you ride one of my horses." She looked the boy up and down, raised an eyebrow as she challenged him to contradict her. "And unless you want me to have you working in my barn for the rest of your free time, and having this conversation with Ms Hart, you will apologise to Mr Setliff for your lack of respect toward an adult, and between us that alone gives him authority over you, and then you will remove yourself from my barn until it is time to return for evening duties." She hadn't once raised her voice, but her words had been firm and left no room whatsoever for them to be misunderstood.

[Deleted]

Julius flinched when Ms. Carr suddenly came in and started yelling at him.  He hoped that they didn't notice, but he knew that they probably had and he mentally scolded himself for it.  He tried never to show any signs of weakness, as he believed that any sign of weakness was bad but in a situation like this it was especially bad.

He squeezed his hands on his crossed arms, nervously, and then looked at Ms. Carr and exclaimed, with obvious irritation in his voice, "he started off disrespecting me.  Obviously I'm going to show him disrespect back."  Julius respected other people, or at least he tried too, but not people who disrespected him because he believed that people who disrespect others do not deserve respect, especially from the people who they disrespect.  He thought this especially true for adults because they should certainly know better and Ms. Carr and Mr. Setliff were certainly not any better then him, but they thought that they were, as most adults believed themselves to be better then kids.  He had had a few nannies who treated him and his sister like they were more important then themselves, but pretty much all of the teachers that he had ever had and his own parents believed themselves to be more important then kids.  This led him think about how he often told himself that he was more important then other people but often had trouble believing this and he wondered if that was because it was not true.

[Katherine Carr]

OOC: I'm jumping in again with Katherine because you skipped Brian in the posting order so if Kat posts again now it will keep things in order. And on another note, "yelling" requires raising one's voice and Katherine didn't raise hers once.

Katherine raised an eyebrow and shook her head slightly toward the petulant child. If it had been Dylan she was dealing with at this age, she would have handled it with sarcasm - something she could get away with for her own children but wouldn't do it with another person's child. However, she still wasn't going to let him get away with acting like a toddler - all he needed to have done to top it off was stomp is foot.

"I am still struggling to see how he disrespected you." She said evenly. "From what I heard, he was looking out for the safety of a horse you are borrowing. A horse that I will need to ask Dr Carr to come and have a look at to make sure that he hasn't suffered from being tethered in a way in which he is not accustomed." She needed him to see how thoughtless his actions had been. "Respect is something you earn, Master Treven. Just like with horses, where you work to earn their respect, people are the same. You need to earn it to get it." She pressed her lips together and raised her eyebrows, letting her words sink in.

"Apologise and leave." Her words were now commanding as she nodded toward Brian and then pointed at the door. Forget dealing with her son when he was this age, dealing with Julius was like dealing with Demeter - just this boy was a spoiled brat, whereas Dem thought she could use logic to get out of things

[Brian Setliff]

Brian wasn't particularly surprised to realize that Katherine knew exactly what was going on. The woman probably had bugs everywhere, the way she knew even the slightest hint of a problem before it escalated... But this problem had definitely escalated, and he wasn't in the slightest peeved that she had stepped in. He was paid to work with the horses, not deal with bratty teenagers... Especially ones who would not shut up and realize they were digging themselves into an even greater hole.

He listened to Katherine's tirade, making notes for himself in the future. He could send people to her, he knew, but being reassured that he had not acted out of place was always a good thing to hear. And, perhaps in the future, he would actually take the road of threatening a talk with the principal... It tended to be a bad thing for students, especially with principals who weren't too soft, to where that threat was laughable. No, soft Ms. Hart was not.

His jaw almost dropped in astonishment and disbelief as he heard Julius not only refusing, but talking back to Katherine again. The boy really didn't learn, did he? Only secondarily did he realize what had been said, and could feel his temper flaring up, although he remained seated, relaxed visibly in his chair. He had been disrespectful to the boy? Someone obviously had issues with words, or was just trying to weasel his way out of punishment... More likely the latter, Brian thought.

He remained silent as Katherine repeated pretty much what he had been trying to get through the boy's skull, figuring that the woman had it well in hand. However, when the boy was told, for the second time, to apologize, the man actually straightened up in his chair, bringing his arms forward and folding them as he waited for the boy's reaction.

[Deleted]

Julius sighed, realizing that he was getting nowhere with these single minded adults, paused, looked down at the floor for a few seconds and then back up at Ms. Carr and Mr. Setliff.  There had been many times in his life that Julius had gotten himself out of trouble with his attitude and many times in which his attitude had gotten him into even more trouble.  He had tried reasoning with them but it hadn't worked because they refused to even attempt to see things from his side, but he wondered if maybe a lot of that was his fault since he had his attitude and his angery tone.  Ever since he was a little kid he had always responded a lot better to a nice tone then an anger one.  He turned his eyes towards Mr. Setliff and said, in the gentlest tone that he could muster, "look, I know that I handled that badly but so did you so I am really not sure if I should apologize or not."  He knew that what he said still had attitude in it, but at least the way that he said it didn't this time, unless they took it the wrong way.

[Katherine Carr]

Katherine drew a breath in through her nose as Julius spoke again. Forget about putting one's foot in their mouth, this child just opened his mouth and exchanged feet. She'd dealt with his type enough in the past, and at least, in credit to him, he did do his own work when it came to the horse he was assigned.

She gave a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "As you seem to have so much trouble following instructions and accepting punishment with dignity, let's see if this one catches your attention. As well as all of your spare time being spent in here mucking out, grooming, feeding and running errands, which will be on top of caring for Solo, you are forthwith banned from riding, unless you are already riding in any of the clinics. I will be speaking with the staff who are running the clinics so I will know if you are not, and you will not sign up for any others." She arched her eyebrows hoping it was sinking in. "This means no trail rides, no schooling in the arena, no mucking around in the saddle."

She waved her hand to dismiss him from her office. "We will be repeating this conversation at the convenience of Ms Hart. You can leave now." This was his last chance to offer Brain and apology, either way, he had been dismissed and she turned toward her coffee machine as though he was no longer in the room. "Can I interest you in a drink, Brian?"

[Brian Setliff]

Brian was starting to just feel sorry for the kid. All he was doing now was effectively digging his colloqial grave. But then again, eventually he would learn. Talking back, even if the boy though it was justified, would never get him anywhere. What did he think would happen, that the adults would back off and say 'sure, you can endanger your horse and have all the attitude you'd like'? Even if the boy had been in the right, which he most certainly wasn't in this case, that wasn't going to happen... But the boy just kept at it.

As Katherine pretty much completely placed the boy under barn arrest, Brian wasn't surprised. Julius had been given a number of chances to get out of the building already, but now... Now he was being introduced to the fact that Katherine didn't joke around. He sincerely hoped the boy would take this last chance to excuse himself from the room, because after a point, if punishments didn't work, there was always the fact that the principal could wield far more clout if need be. As Katherine offered him a drink, Brian turned his attention from the boy, "I wouldn't say no to some coffee, if you're offering."