;; don't scare her away (open)

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Deanna tickled the grey mare just behind her girth as she pulled the buckles tight. The mare was bloating in an attempt to stop the saddling process and go back to her stall and grain. Tugging the hot pink baby pad and sheepskin halfpad into the pommel of the saddle, Deanna quickly bridled Spider and flipped the reins over her head. Her shiny new field boots and spotless tan breeches stood out in the dusty wash area, and she felt like she must have a sign flashing over her head screaming 'Look at me! Rich! Money!'. Deanna hoped that the arena would be empty this early in the morning so that she could just have some bonding time with her feisty mare.

As she approached the arena gate, Spider decided to start pulling out her school pony tricks, stopped and raised her head high in the air so that her rider could get no leverage to make the much larger mare move. After a tap behind the girth with her crop and a few seconds of tugging, Deanna finally got Spider through the gates of the arena and lined up with mounting block. Hoping nobody had seen the newbie fiasco, she checked the girth and slid onto the glossy saddle. The saddle had a silver nameplate on the back of the cantle, custom made for her and her mount, and all of her tack was brand new and stiff. After quickly adjusting her stirrups and warming up, Deanna settled into a nicely paced canter and let herself zone out.

A movement out of the corner of her eye distracted Deanna, and as her weight shifted slightly, Spider put on the breaks. "WHOA! Hey!" screeched Deanna, and grabbing mane as she flew forwards she landed on her neck. Helmet pushed forward and her clothing a mess, she repositioned herself on the very pleased with herself mare and looked to see what had distracted her.

[Becca Walsh]

Having signed up for summer show, Becca's training sessions with Frye had been becoming even more rigorous. Most of it had been out on the cross country course, but today she'd decided to work on connecting him more, and going back to make sure the basics were perfect. The perfect place for this would be Roscoe's arena. The girl found her huge thoroughbred in his stall and grinned, seeing that for once he seemed to have kept himself clean. His bright chestnut coat was gleaming, and though he was still skinny, Becca could barely see the horse's ribs anymore. Frye was coming along nicely in comparison to when they'd first come to Blue Ridge.

Getting his tack and brushes from the tack room, she picked out his hooves and swept a soft brush over his coat, only managing to get a thin layer of dust off. She tacked him up with a white square pad and white fleece fitted pad with which wraps to match. Frye was in a terrible mood, and as she tightened his girth, her kept trying to snap at her. She used her normal close contact saddle, and threaded the girth through his running martingale, doing the same with his reins once she bridled him. Before she left, she made sure that her polo as tucked in and hair completely tucked under her GPA.

Once satisfied, Becca led Frye out to Roscoe's Arena, trying to hold him down as the thoroughbred tried to dance at the end of the lead. When they got closer, she could make out a girl trying to get her mare into the arena, which took a little while. She moved closer, and they were nearly at the gate when Frye stopped suddenly, his head shooting up abruptly, ears pricked towards the girl and her horse, who were now working nicely in the arena.

The next thing Becca knew, the girl's grey mare had skid to a stop, and Becca watched in horror as the girl opened her mouth. She knew before the girl made a sound that Frye wouldn't react well to whatever sound came from the girl's mouth, and lengthened the reins, hoping that the lack of tension would stop them from snapping if Frye decided to bolt. Her hand was already on her horse's neck by the time the noise came: a terrible screech. She watched as Frye shot backwards, scrabbling with his hind hooves. The flighty horse's eyes rolled, clearly trying to decided if he was to bolt away or if it was safe enough to stay. Becca sighed in relief as her thoroughbred settled, clearly deciding to trust Becca, who'd been talking to him softly. 

Patting Frye's neck as she gathered his reins back, Becca looked back to the girl who had settled back into her mare's saddle. What had she been thinking? Clearly the girl was new around horses, or she wouldn't have made such an exclamation. One of the first rules of being around horses was never to yell. This was especially important around nervous horses like Frye. They were extremely lucky that her gelding wasn't galloping around loose now, possibly causing harm to himself and others.

Looking the girl up and down, Becca made a quick assessment. The girl obviously had money, judging by her new looking tack and clothing, which had probably previously been spotless. Becca couldn't judge by this though, as quite a lot of Blue Ridge students came from very wealthy backgrounds, including herself. Her tack was just as nice, just more broken in, and her Tailored Sportmans barely had dust marks. She tried to keep her temper even as she opened her mouth to address the girl, "Are you okay?" Becca had had a much rasher comment at the tip of her tongue, but she'd managed to keep it back. 

Hand still glued to Frye's neck, she rubbed him, trying to keep him calm. She still wanted to train, despite this little setback, though she didn't know how it would go with this girl and her horse."Do you mind if I ride with you?" Whatever the girl's answer was, she was going to, but she at least wanted to be somewhat polite.

clothes

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Deanna blushed a deep color of red as she realized that someone had seen her little catastrophe. A girl and her obviously very nervous horse stood at the gate, and Deanna noticed that the girl didn't look very pleased with her. Bringing Spider into the middle of the ring, she quickly tried to straighten her clothing and hair out when the girl started talking to her. "Uhm.. Yes, I'm fine, just learning all of her tricks still." The now calmer chestnut horse was huge and made Deanna a little bit nervous. The pair looked like they knew what they were doing and Deanna felt dinky on her small (for a thoroughbred) horse and novice riding skills. 

"No no, I don't mind at all, we're just working on some flatwork. I haven't jumped her yet.." She noticed that this girl looked to be from money as well, which made her feel slightly less awkward in her brand name gear. Deanna got the feeling that she hadn't made the best impression, so she bit her tongue and kept quiet as she waited for the two to enter arena. Spider stood calmly, watching the other horse carefully and stretching her long neck out on the loose rein. She definitely was not arguing with decision to take a quick break. 

A fly buzzed as Spider flicked her tail, and Deanna ran what had happened through her mind. She had lost her concentration, let her horse misbehave and scare her, handled the problem like a complete beginner and now looked like a lazy fool sitting in the middle. Pursing her lips, she decided that she might as well introduce herself and get her name out about how much of a loser she already seemed to be. "By the way, my name is Deanna and this is Spider. We're new here." Deanna knew that Spider was too much horse for her right now, and she missed her spunky little pony. They knew each other, and even though Deanna wasn't an amazing rider, they always made it work.

Spider sensed her rider's hesitation and flicked her ears back, blowing through her nose and relaxing. She knew people's weaknesses from years of being a schoolmaster, and knew how to make them either look really great.. or more commonly, very very bad.

[Becca Walsh]

Becca watched the girl try to straighten her clothing out for a second, and was a bit surprised at the girl's response. No rushed apology? She'd been completely expecting a string of sorrys, considering the danger the girl had put Becca and her horse in. Who did this girl think she was anyways? Was she blind? Frye was still shaken up, his nostrils flaring, and though he looked considerably better than when the girl had first screeched, Becca knew that this girl's little scare would have Frye nervous for the rest of their training session. Narrowing her eye, Becca spoke in a sharper tone now, "I'm glad to hear it." Her own hands were burning and red, and the skin was a bit torn, and though Becca would have responded that she was fine if the girl asked if she was okay, she was still ticked off that the girl made no such gesture. For goodness sake, Becca could have had her shoulder pulled out of its socket! No manner apparently. Perhaps she was just the stereotypical spoiled rich girl who made the rest of them look bad.

Becca nodded in response to the girl saying that she didn't mind them riding together, and opened the gate to carefully lead Frye in. She sighed at the way her horse pranced, clearly ready to spook at anything. He had already worked up a sweat from his nerves, and she knew that he was going to be absolutely wired by the time she got on. She could only pray that this girl wouldn't yell if her horse did something tiny again. Closing the gate behind her, Becca led Frye to the center of the ring where the girl was sitting on her mare and stretched her leg up to fit her foot in the stirrup, hopping up and down a couple times before she lifted herself onto her tall gelding. She was tightening her girth once more when the girl spoke up again, introducing herself.

Frankly, Becca was surprised that the girl was resting there after her horse had just stopped on her. The positive reinforcement would have been to make the mare move on, but instead the girl seemed to be reinforcing the bad behavior by letting the mare rest. Not that it was any of her business. In reply, Becca called back in an even tone, "Welcome. I'm Becca, and this is Frye." She gestured down to her horse, who was looking warily at the other mare and her rider who had scared him before.

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Deanna sensed that the girl, Rebecca, was still unhappy with her but she wasn't sure how to fix it. She didn't want enemies already, but that seemed to be where her awkwardness was taking her. She noticed that Rebecca's hands looked like they got burned when her horse had spooked, and she realized what had happened. "Are your hands okay...? I'm sorry if we frightened you two." Deanna bit her lip and looked away and gathered up her reins quietly. Spider's ears perked up at the movement and she snorted softly, twisted her head back and nibbling at Deanna's boot.

Deanna wasn't used to riding around other people except sometimes the exercise riders that would be cooling out after their practice runs on the family's racers. Clearly she had missed some sort of rule that everyone must know, so she just tried to play it cool and try to be friendly. "He's very beautiful. He's a thoroughbred, right?" She realized if she was wrong, she would look incredibly stupid. She watched as the chestnut horse pranced and snorted and nervously watched her and Spider. Trying to keep her distance, Deanna backed Spider up a few steps, who in return pinned her ears and kicked out with a hind foot. This horse was going to take some work to break her bad habits.

"Sorry if we get in the way, her and I.. don't exactly know each other very well." She smiled slightly, hoping that Spider didn't do anything completely embarrassing or naughty. Deanna desperately wanted to dismount and finish, but realized that leaving the ride on a bad note probably wouldn't be the greatest idea. Trying to redeem herself, Deanna turned to Rebecca. "Do you have any ideas about how I should handle her little... issues?" She figured that it was a safe bet that most people here would be better schooled in the finer arts of the equestrian type, and hoped she didn't come across as too much of a suck up after this whole thing.

[Becca Walsh]

Becca began to feel a bit of remorse when she saw that the other girl was getting to be uncomfortable. She was aware that she could be pretty ruthless, and though she'd never made any effort to change it, she didn't like to upset people. Her first impression with this girl told her that she may not get along with her in the future, but Deanna didn't seem as if she was becoming angry herself, only confused. When she got the question and apology she'd been looking for, she managed a tight smile, "They're fine, I should probably be wearing gloves with him anyways." Most of the time she worse gloves when riding Frye, as the gelding easily got out of hand and blisters were not uncommon, but today she had deemed it to be too hot. "And don't worry too much about it, he's easy to frighten." 

Becca took her time tightening her girth, knowing that Frye was likely to shoot off if she did it too quickly. When she was satisfied, she removed her foot from one of her stirrups and tried to pull the leather up a bit more, as she could feel that the buckle was a little lower than in should be under the skirt, and it would bother her leg if she left it. The girl's next comment made Becca narrow her eyes, wondering the girl's motive. "Yeah, he's a thoroughbred, and thanks." Frye's long legginess made his breed pretty evident, but she tolerated the question, telling herself that she couldn't just beat people up with her temper.

She watched as the girl backed her mare, wondering whether it was just to get her further from Frye, who was now glaring threateningly with his ears pinned, or as punishment. The mare's reaction didn't shock Becca much, as most horses didn't like backing at all, which was why many trainers used it as a form of punishment. If Deanna was using it as a punishment now, so late after the mare's misbehavior, it would make no difference, as the horse wouldn't connect two and two and learn from the experience.

Deanna's comment about her and her mare not knowing each other very well got a wry smile out of Becca, who gave a short chuckle and responded, "Don't worry, Frye and I are still learning about each other too even though we've been working together for a while now, so we may be causing some issues too. We don't always...see eye to eye." Deanna's asking for her advice resulted in a bemused laugh from Becca, "Well, I'm not sure if you want to get your ideas from me, as I've yet to solve this monster's problems," she patted Frye's neck, "but as far as the sudden stopping goes, carrying your crop is a good start, and I'm sure that just keeping constant impulsion is key. And for how she kicked when you backed her, it's probably just because she may see it as punishment, and the action is rather unpleasant for her if she doesn't do it often. I mean, that's all I've seen, and I don't really know how she is under saddle, so I can't be of much help, sorry." She felt rather uncomfortable giving people advice about their horses, especially when she'd barely seen the mare move.

Ready to begin, Becca let out her reins a bit and increased the pressure on Frye's sides a fraction, guiding him to the rail. She had to stop him from bursting into an uneven trot, and kept him at a walk. The thoroughbred's neck strained up against the martingale, and Becca worked on getting him to calm down and adopt a more even stride at the walk, smiling when he lowered his had and took on a more ambling gait.

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Deanna smiled and patted Spider on the neck. "I have to ride in gloves. It just feels so weird to not." Deanna hoped that Rebecca, if not completely liking her, didn't regret her decision to join them in the arena. If she was going to live in her upcoming summer classes and maybe shows, she would have to get used to be around other horses and riders and the things that may come along with that. She noticed that Rebecca looks slightly suspicious at the thoroughbred question, so she decided to explain herself. "I thought so, my family owns a few racers. Spider is one of the exracers." Deanna laughed at this because Spider was great at stopping, but never seemed to go very fast.

Nodding at Rebecca's comment about impulsion, she joined her on the opposite side of the rail, keeping her distance from Frye. "She's a little bit hard to get moving at a consistent pace.. and it makes me nervous to use my crop on her.." She shuddered at the thought of spurs on her, and didn't even mention the last time she tried spurs. Deanna watched as the girl handled the jittery horse and was impressed when he relaxed into an ambling walk. She hadn't gained Spider's trust enough to make things look easy.

As Deanna kicked Spider into a trot, Spider decided that would be a good time to start rooting with her nose, pulling the reins from her hands. Giving her a kick and regathering her reins, she tried to push Spider into a better, more efficient working trot but she stuck to her hesitant, lazy stride. Keeping her ahead of the leg was a tough thing to do, and Deanna could tell if she was going to try and impress Rebecca, or at least not embarrass herself, she was going to be sore tomorrow.

[Becca Walsh]

Becca nodded to the gloves comment, though she didn't really get it. She'd grown up riding without gloves unless it was cold, and she'd only begun to need them when she began riding Frye. Rabbit had always been pleasant enough and never ripped the reins from her hands, and she never needed them for shows since she hadn't shown before Frye except for a couple little ones with Rabbit. 

Becca hadn't had any experience with ex-racehorses even though both of the horses she'd ever owned were thoroughbreds. Both Rabbit and Frye were unraced and trained in other disciplines. The little issues that Spider was exhibiting weren't among the classic off the track thoroughbred quirks that Becca had heard complaints about, though they could have been for all she knew. "Have you been working with her right since she got off the track?" she asked, curious about the mare's history. If she had, this girl must have been through a lot with her already.

Becca was a bit too preoccupied to reply to Deanna's next comment, as Frye had decided that this would be a good time to break up the lovely walk she'd gotten him into and start jigging. He'd been distracted by another horse in one of the close rings, and was eyeing it nervously, turning his haunches into the center defensively. Deepening her seat, Becca pushed him off her leg, trying to avoid him breaking into the trot as she straightened him out and flexed him to the inside down the side of the ring, trying her best to get him in frame and back to the balanced walk she'd gotten him to.

When she finally got him walking like she wanted him to, she walked him once around the ring, happy with the way he stayed settled. Deanna had already started trotting, but Becca held off until she was happy with how they were doing. Spider looked as if she was a bit sluggish, and Becca smiled, knowing that she and Frye would have a different problem. When she was ready, she collected her reins the tiniest bit and pushed him gently into the trot.

Frye took off at a strong, wired trot, his head high and tail flagging. Becca fought to get his head down, pulling and releasing his reins and keeping her seat further back that she normally would when jumping a course or on a cross country course. She managed to get him a little more relaxed, and though his trot was still long and ground covering, it wasn't nearly as quick as he'd been when they start. She posted to it, trying to keep her calves solid against his sides despite his bouncy stride. Frye's suspension was huge, and each stride of his seemed to cover a mile. It was miserable to try to sit to.