Bound Spirit (Open)

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The red hair girl walked next to a black mare that seemed a bit too wild for the small girl holding the lead rope. But a soft mummer from the girl and the mare settled down with her head resting level with the girl's shoulder as she placed a hand on the mare's neck. She opened the stall door for her horse and put her in, she knew her horse didn't want to be out in the fields just yet. Most likely because Midnight was picking up Epona's feelings about fitting in and being such a young teacher. She talked softly to her mare as she ran a brush from her pocket over her mare's body to help calm both of them down and help them adjust. It was odd that two could be in-tune with each other but then again Epona was around Midnight since before birth and thus they were connected in a way that nobody else seemed to understand.

She didn't take notice to what was around her as she took care of her horse, a habit that she had was to not notice anything aside from the horse she was working with. It may have seem weird but she figured it was the same with anyone who grew up working with horses as she did. Plus it was something that she loved to do and the only thing that could get her to come out of her shell of shyness. She slipped the brush back into the pocket on her pants, she would put it up in her track kit once back at her trailer if she didn't forget about it that is. Her hands ran along the mare's neck and she whispered "Be good Mid while I get the rest of your stuff in here." She smiled and slipped out of the stall after giving a handful of oats to her horse. She normally kept treats for her horse in her pockets since it had been something that she did from a very young age with the horses of her family ranch.

She made sure the stall door was closed before she headed out to her truck to get the track for her horse, she wanted to get her horse settled in before herself. True Mid had slept in the stall before but she didn't have any of her own comforts such as the blanket or the smells of home. Which the smells did help Mid handle being in a new place easier since she took a bit to get use to new places just because she was still mostly wild and was that way with anyone aside from her owner's family. It was one of the reasons why Epona had made sure that Mid was taken care of before her own needs was because she knew her horse too well. She set the grooming kit outside Mid's stall door since she was gonna take time to pamper her horse after getting the saddle in the track room.

Although she did pause to take in the beauty of the land and the other horses, she would have to take some photos later once she had found her camera. But right then she just took a few photos with her phone and sent them to her parents so they knew she was fine and everything, even though she talked to them each night while on the road and even once she reached the school. A small smile came to her face before she went back to gathering the saddle and bridal up in her arms and headed back inside the barn. Her arms being full she didn't really watch where she was going but she did listen well to the sounds around her to make sure nobody was walking towards her. She slipped into the track room after opening the door with her foot, a skill that she had picked up at home, and set her saddle on the rack that had Midnight Dance on it and hung the bridal up too.

As she left she looked at the other saddles and bridals along with the grooming kits before she shrugged and left the track room. Pausing in the walkway to greet one of the horses that were in a stall, lightly petting the horse's muzzle before she went back outside and brought in Mid's blankets and covers, they were a lovely shade of red and had 'Midnight Dance' in fancy lettering on the sides near the rear. She put the blanket and covers up on a shelf that was in the back of the stall along with a small bunch of lavender. She then brought the grooming kit inside the stall and started to brush her mare's body after putting a few drops of a lavender oil to help Mid calm down on the brush.

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Tags: anyone

Notes: This is a starter and the only reason why it is so long. normal posts are around 200 if muse is low or 300 to 400 words long if muse is working. Most of this was copy and pasted from the very first time I used Epona as a character.

[Andie Simone]

Andie clucked her tongue as she led her tall gelding back into the barn. She took her helmet off and shook her brown hair loose of the confinements of the hairnet that she had used to keep it out of the way while she was riding.

As she walked the bay Tobiano toward the grooming stalls a scent caught her nose. "If it isn't bad enough that I have to share the barn with her."juju She muttered as she walked the gelding forward. She wanted to give the girl, she was sure she knew exactly who it was that would be polluting the air with that stench, but right now, her horse cam first.

Leading her horse into the grooming stall, she smoothly replaced the gelding's bridle for his forest green nylon halter and clipped the cross-ties onto the sides of the halter and set about removing the gelding's saddle. "Good boy, Quill." She said, kissing his nose as she walked passed him to take the saddle and blanket to the tack room. She hadn't worked him too hard in the arena, and the barn was nice and warm, so there was no chance of him catching a chill. She came back out with his stable blanket - during her time as a working student, the gelding had been used to being rugged all the time - and after she had groomed him, she slipped the blanket over the gelding's brown and white back and removing the cross-ties, she took him back to his stall.

She she walked the gelding back done the barn, that scent hit her nostrils. There had been an amount of animosity between her and the girl she thought she was approaching, so she didn't hold back as she got to the stall for. "For pete's sake!" She snapped. "Don't you ever think of anyone but your..." Her words broke off when she realised that the girl she was talking to wasn't at all who she thought it was. "Oh, gee, I'm sorry." She said with a nervous laugh.

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Epona didn't even notice that someone had entered the barn, she was too lost in thought as she went on auto-pilot to groom her mare. Hearing someone talk when Midnight tensed a bit she looked up and took note of the girl. "Oh no please keep going.. at some point the person you want to snap at will come in. I'm assuming that is." She said with a slight smirk on her lips and a touch of sarcasm on her voice. A natural defense in her was sarcasm and it tended to come out when she didn't really know what else to say or how to act.


But she turned her attention back to her mare as she switched to the comb to comb out her mares naturally wavy mane. Her eyes staying on her hands as she worked out the knots that seem to magically pop up just from walking from her trailer to the barn. As she worked on a knot she said "Don't worry about it, Ma'am, happens all the time only normally it's directed at thin air because nobody cares how the horse manged to get the person upset." Of course it hadn't happen nearly as much with her brother gone but she wasn't about to say that.

After the knot was worked out, she stuck the comb in her shirt pocket and started to braid the part she had just got tangle free. "I'm Epona, by the way, Ma'am." She introduced herself as her hands worked on her horses mane. Her mind not even paying attention to what her hands where doing, even if she appeared to watch them. Dark brown eyes glanced at the other girl and asked "Are you a student here?"

[Andie Simone]

Andie had the decency to duck her head that the other girl's first words and she hoped that the person her words had really been directed at would remain as far away from the barn as possible while she was in here. She rubbed Quill's nose as the gelding gave her a gentle nudge.

She shuddered as the girl called her Ma'am. "Believe me, it was no horse that upset me." She replied. She watched as the girl worked with her black horse. "It's nice to meet you, Epona." She said with a friendly smile. "I'm Andie. I used to be a student here, last year. I've come back to help coach the cheer squad." She looked the red-head up and down. "I'm taking a stab at the dark here, but I'm guessing you're not a student either." She grinned as her horse stuck his head over the door and blew a greeting toward the mare in the stall.

She kept a tight hold on the gelding. Due to him being gelded as a five year old, he still seemed to portray all of the antics of a stallion - which meant he was good at letting people know when their mares' were in season. She patted his two-toned neck as be pulled his head out of the stall, clearly bored that they were standing still and he wasn't in his stall yet.

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Epona looked at her work as she finished combing the mane and went to braid it as she listened to the other girl, although at the other name she gave a nod. "Nice to meet you Andie, and yeah I'm the western riding teacher. Well at least for now.. Midnight here may change that depending on how she acts." She said, knowing that her horse had a mind of her own and tended to do stuff without Epona's wanting just yet. A soft giggle came from her when she saw the other horse stick it's head over the stall door and as Midnight blew a greeting back but didn't move as she knew her owner didn't like it when she moved while grooming her.

Epona gave a soft smile and said "This is Midnight Dance, my mare. Ignore her if she acts up, she is still unsettled from the ride here as I haven't taken her out on any trails yet." She gave her mare a light pat on the shoulder before she went back to braiding the black long wavy hair that was her mares mane. Her fingers working quickly as she did, "How are the students here with young teachers?" She asked wondering what to expect a little.

[Andie Simone]

Andie grinned. "It's nice to meet you too. Western riding, huh?" She mused. "Please don't think of me as a snob, but I've never done western riding." She laughed about the mare possibly being the deciding factor about the young woman's job. "Hey, if she's having an off day, have a word with Katherine - the manager for this barn - and see if you can use one of the academy's western trained horses."[/color] She shrugged. "I know that a few of them need a bit of TLC."

She smiled as the mare was introduced. "She's very beautiful. This dork here is Demonic Patchwork, or Quill, as he is known around the barn." She tussled the gelding's forelock affectionately. "When I first joined the Academy as a student, most of the teachers were pretty young. I actually think the young teachers have the advantage as the students don't look at us and think we're old and grumpy." She flashed a guilty look toward the door of Katherine's office.

She put her hand against Quill's neck as he pawed his foot on the ground. "Again, it was really nice to meet you, but I'd better get this guy put away before he needs a new set of shoes." She flashed the other instructor a grin before she led the gelding away from Midnight's stall and down to Quill's own where she led him into the

[Deleted]

Epona gave a smile and replied "Nothing snobbish about never done western riding, I've never rode English and it isn't something I want to learn either." She gave a shrug to the academy's horses suggestion knowing that she could always use her brother's horse but she didn't say that. "I might do that even if it isn't for a class, if I can." She said since sometimes she didn't want to ride Midnight since things often seem too predictable. Normally when she got that mood she simply chose to ride a different horse that her family had, which was why she hoped it would be alright for her to ride some of the academy western trained horses.

"Thanks, she is my pride and joy. He's pretty handsome himself." She said with a nod towards Quill. At the bit about young teachers she was glad to hear, she didn't want to deal with people who didn't give her a bit of respect just because she was young. She knew she had the skill to do her job, as her life pretty much depended on her skill in western riding. With a nod she said "It was nice to meet you too." She then went back to finish up with Midnight's mane and then on to grooming her neck and sides. Her focus going back completely to her horse to care for her, she knew a trail ride would be done the next day if she didn't do her class but right then she just wanted to take care of her mare.