One Step Forward, Two Back

[Mikala Palakiko]

Mika was beginning to hate his horse! He had been thrilled when his parents called over Christmas to say that the horse was on the way - the main reason why the teen wasn't able to return home for the short break. However, when Butch arrived, it seemed that everything he did just annoyed the horse.

"Come on!" He grumped as he led the horse into the arena. The bay Dutch Warmblood was ready to be ridding, but Mika had decided that it was best to err on the side of caution, and he started any work with the horse with some basic natural horsemanship; after all he was taking the class, so may as well put the things he'd learned to use. That, and to catch the gelding up with what they had been working on in the class up until that point.

Walking into the arena, which was blessedly empty, for now, he latched the gate behind them and after tying the reins so the gelding had his head and wouldn't chance tripping over them, he gave the horse some of the horsemanship lead and sent him out on a circle around him.

OOC: A horsemanship lead (savvy string) is 6 feet long, not to confuse it with a lunge line.

[Amaya Mae Byron]

Amaya truly loved her mare. She couldn't think of a better horse for her. She led her towards the arena, hoping she could work on their pole bending. They were great with the barrels, but they definitely needed some work with the poles. Tinkerbell had the speed, but they weren't quite turning on the dime like they used to. Probably just out of practice. Amaya couldn't believe she had slacked off so much in practicing. Usually her competitiveness drove her to practice quite frequently. But she had been trail riding more, and she even did a jumping competition with the mare. Her barrel racing class kept her in shape there, but she didn't have a class for pole bending.

Upon arriving to the arena, she realized there was a boy with his horse in there. They probably wouldn't be too thrilled if she decided to head out there. She stayed on the sidelines and watched the boy spin the horse in circles. It wasn't quite lunging, but it looked almost the same. The line was a lot shorter, though. "He's gorgeous," she said, not realizing she was speaking out loud.

[Mikala Palakiko]

Mika knew they had company as soon as Butch began to bob his head up and down, not annoying, but the teen was still trying to work out what the gelding's quirks meant, and he hoped his one wasn't a territorial one. The horse hadn't even broken a sweat, though he had only been trotting around for a short time.

He smiled at the words, his attention finally straying from the gelding, before he gave the Dutch Warmblood the cue he was waiting for, one that told him he could stop and enter his space. "Thanks." He replied, giving the girl at the gate a quick smile. "You're more than welcome to join us, I just like to make it clear that I'm the one in charge from the ground before I mount up."

[Amaya Mae Byron]

Amaya smiled back at the boy. "Anytime," she said, her voice a bit flirty. "You're in charge of him, or everyone?" she asked,
raising her eyebrow. She looked into her saddle bag, and pulled out the lunge line from it. She figured it wouldn't hurt the mare to be lunged a bit either. She clipped the line over the mare's nose, and onto either side of the halter. She led the paint into the arena, following the boy's suit.
"I'm Amaya," she introduced herself, but keeping her space. She didn't know how the other horse was going to react, and didn't need either herself or Tinkerbell to get hurt. "This is Tinkerbell," she said, smiling at the boy.

[Mikala Palakiko]

Mika laughed and gave a self-assured nod. Of him." He replied with a shrug. "There aren't many people who are fool enough to think I'm not in charge." He arched an eyebrow as she too took out a lungeline - honestly, who carries one of them around in their saddle bag? - though didn't comment. "Mika, and this is Butch." He gave his own introductions as he removed the savvy string, which he clipped around his waist, and fixed the gelding's reins before making sure the saddle was snug, pulled the stirrups down and wasted no time in mounting up. "Uh!" He growled when Butch walk already halfway across the arena.

"What you and your fairy do?"

[Amaya Mae Byron]

Amaya smirked at his comment. "Oh yeah?" she asked, teasingly. She wasn't exactly sure what he meant by that, but she was curious to find out.

She had packed the lunge line in her saddle bag before she had come to the arena, just in case. When she saw him lunging his horse, she figured it probably wouldn't hurt Tinkerbell to be lunged a bit before being ridden. It was always good for a horse to warm-up anyhow. "Nice to meet you," she said. She figured he was a student here, but she didn't recognize him. She halfway hoped he was in one of her classes though. She watched the boy mount his horse and walk across the arena. She looked up at him as he spoke. "Western riding. Barrel racing and pole bending, mostly. I prefer the speed," she said, happily. Adrenaline had always been her thing. "You?" she asked.

[Mikala Palakiko]

He shrugged."Yeah." He replied, his tone still carrying that same self-confidence.

He nodded, the saddle gave away the western riding bit, and gave a snort of laughter. "You don't now speed until you've done cross country." He told her. "I'm told that Butch here is trained in eventing, which is what I do, though the jury is still out on that." He'd ridden enough horses in the past to know they didn't always do what the owners wanted to boast that they did.

[Amaya Mae Byron]

"Cross country? I don't know about all that," she said, smiling. She hadn't ever done any sort of English style riding, so she truly wouldn't know. But she loved the adrenaline rush of her speed shows. And they were called speed shows for a reason. Racing against the clock to beat others, spinning around the barrels, or swerving through the poles...that was her life. She loved it. And Tinkerbell did, too. They made a great team.

"Haven't owned him long, then?" she guessed. Most owners knew what their horse was mostly capable of after a certain amount of time riding. However, there was still the possibility of change. They were creatures with a mind of their own.

[Mikala Palakiko]

He arched an eyebrow. "You ever ridden cross country? Then you really can't comment." He held up a hand before she could argue. "Pole bending and barrels, did them in pony club gymkhanas as a kid, they aren't just a western thing." Though his need for speed on horses was interrupted by modelling shoots, so he kind of outgrew gymkhanas before he really got into them.

"Parents sent him here just as the new year hit." He replied as he finally got the gelding to settle into a floating trot. "So far, the most that I know is that he hates me, he doesn't like standing still for mounting, and, no matter how gently I'm working him, he likes other people to think he's unfit and out of breath." The gelding already seemed to be taking laboured breaths. "Hopefully though, he'll get over all that as we get to know each other."

[Amaya Mae Byron]

Amaya raised her eyebrow at him, questioning why he seemed so aggressive. "No need to get so defensive," she said. "I'm happy with what I do, so if you're happy with what you do, it's all good." She shrugged. She loved what she did, and felt no urge to learn any English style riding, no matter how fast cross-country was. The adrenaline of her western riding was enough for her.

Amaya smiled at the boy. "Sounds like a pain," she said. "But probably just as stubborn as you seem to be." She about smacked her face for saying that out loud. She was good at blurting her thoughts out. "My bad," she said, her face flushing a bit. "But yeah, hopefully he'll be able to get over it," she said, trying to recover.

[Mikala Palakiko]

He smirked. "Not defensive, just stating facts." He replied.

He pulled a face and nodded, the gelding currently was a pain, but at least he was his pain, and not a borrowed one. He chuckled at the thought, he'd finally got his parents to buy him a horse, when they vowed that they never would. "Hey! I resemble that comment!" He frowned as though he was thinking deeply about it. "Well, actually no I don't. I'm not stubborn, just always right. It's such a burden to carry." And now he was being a prick, for no reason other than 'cause he could; and the fact that he may as well carry this out how it had started.

[Amaya Mae Byron]

Amaya laughed at his first comment. And then rolled her eyes at the second. Assuming you're always right usually meant you're pretty stubborn."Always right, eh?" she raised her eyebrow. "How does that work?" She was trying to stay civil with the boy. She had started out flirty, and now she was just annoyed with him. She wondered if that was a normal thing for him. Annoying everyone with his asshole-ishness. She didn't want to flat out ask, so she was biting her tongue. But it didn't work. "Do you always act like this?" she asked, trying her best not to be a jerk about it.

[Mikala Palakiko]

Mika shrugged. "It was a curse I was born with." And not with a silver spoon, like so many seemed to think.

It wasn't hard to see that he was ticking her off, her change in demeanor gave that away without the tone. "Act like what?" He asked, now all wide-eyed innocence as he used his legs to really get Butch to work from behind, instead of repeatedly falling on the forehand. "Charming? Chivalrous?" Sure, he wasn't being either, but if she was already annoyed with him he didn't see the point in trying to charm her now. After all, this was so much more fun.

[Amaya Mae Byron]

Amaya rolled her eyes. She wasn't a fan of people who had everything handed to them. Her parents had been wealthy, but they made her work for everything she wanted. And she worked hard. She busted her butt doing everything to be able to afford what she wanted. Especially when it came to riding and her horses. As long as she kept working, her parents would reward her with what she earned, instead of paying her a wage. It usually worked out in Amaya's favor.

"More like an asshole, but yah know. Charming works, too," her sarcastic tone rolled over her tongue. At this point, she really didn't care what he thought of her. A little bit of drama in her life wouldn't hurt.

[Mikala Palakiko]

Mika patted Butch's neck as the gelding finally stopped fighting what was being asked and his gait began to float and it was almost as though he was floating around the arena. He knew that the gelding was a late birthday present, but he needed to phone his mom and find of they why, especially when they had always been adamant that he would be happy to ride borrowed ponies - his father's exact words.

His eyebrows shot up at her words. "Hey! I think my parents would take offence to that!" He protested, hand against his chest as though he had been physically wounded. "Thank you for agreeing that I am charming though." He gave her a bright smile before his attention returned to the bay he was riding.