Aim for the Top (Kevin)

[Demeter Carr]

Demeter ran a brush across her gelding's back back. Tau has come along in leaps and bounds since she had purchased him as a dejected three year old colt at the auctions a year ago. And the funny thing with that one, was that the auction had been a couple of towns over and if she hadn't have been asked if she could help a friend out by vetting the horses there, she would never have found the Fresian Sportshorse. She patted his black shoulder as she brought herself out of the memory and put away the brush she had been using and picked up a mane come. She ran the comb through the horse's white mane with black forelock and a handspan at the poll. She liked that fact that he didn't have too much white on him, making him look like someone had flicked white paint all over a black horse. Instead, the only white Tau had was the white that ran down his neck and onto his back, the stripe that curved over his tail, and his leg markings, a sock and three stockings.

She finished with the grooming and went into the tack room to collect the gelding's gear, wintec close contact saddle, bridle and royal blue saddle pad with yellow edging. She carried it back out and put it on him, before going back to his locker to bring out his tendon boots. Since the trails were going to be frosty she didn't want to chance the gelding slipping and injuring his precious tendons.

As soon as the gelding was ready, she placed her grey Troxel helmet onto her head, pulled her winter riding gloves on, removed the cross-ties and led the horse out of the barn. Even though this wasn't her mother's barn, where she knew that she would be shot if she mounted up before she was outside, she still led the gelding out before she pulled the stirrups down, tightened the girth and swung up into the saddle.

Just letting the horse stand there for a moment while she organised herself, she patted him on the neck, took up the reins in her right hand and squeezed the gelding forward. She used her seat and legs to guide the young horse down the paths to the trails and then onto the Green Hill trail. She would normally take her other horse Yoda out on the Rocky trails, but as Tau was still green and inexperienced, she picked the easier trail where he could gain the experience, but wasn't likely to encounter any problems that would put him out of his depth.

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Having finally gotten time to see his horse after getting settled in, he smiled as he got her groomed so her coat was nice and shiny before he saddled her up. Prancing in place from excitement the mare stilled under her owners hands has he put on the western saddle, the only saddle the mare has ever known. Taking in a bit of air she stood there while the saddle was fasten and set up, feeling a poke in her stomach she released the air that got the saddle a bit tighter. Standing still she waited until her rider was on her before she started to leave the barn.

Kevin chucked softly at his mare's wanting to be out of the barn, he knew it was the mustang blood in her that caused her to be a bit on edge in barns. But he let her walk until he pulled her to a stop and adjusted how he sat and pulled on gloves before adjusting his hat. Despite it being a riding school he grew up never wearing a helmet and with a helmet he wasn't that good of a rider, it put him off balance, thus he only used his normal cowboy hat.

Turning his mare towards the trails he told her to walk and picked the easy trail to go on, although he had no doubt that his mare could handle one of the harder trails he didn't feel like going on them just yet. At least not alone, if he was riding with someone else who could handle the trails he'd do them but by himself he didn't want to risk Scar Lit's legs as he needed her. With a click of his tongue he took her up to a trot as he got closer to the trail, he'd have to let her run at some point but for now he knew she'd be happy with a trot. Although he didn't pay much attention to his horse, trusting her to know how to get past anything, he did pay attention to the surrounds.

Once he found an good spot he touched his foot to Scar Lit's side with his hand touching her shoulder and chuckled as the mare went into a full gallop. He let her have her head as she ran and knew that she was enjoying herself. Although when he saw someone ahead of him he tugged gently on the reins to have her slow down and brought her down to a walk as he drew nearer. "Slow down Scar Lit." He said talking to his horse, knowing that she was already slowed down but his voice was loud enough to let the other rider know he was there.

[Demeter Carr]

Demeter allowed Tau to have his head as they made their way down the trails, she laughed as he shied a couple of times as the melting snow fell from the branches of the trees above them and caused the bushes to rustle as it fell through them and onto the ground. The gelding easily lifted his feet over the few broken branches on the ground - obviously brought down by the snow that had built up on them and had become too heavy for the damp rotting wood.

She kept the gelding at a walk so that he would have more chance of keeping his feet should the ground be slippery and there was a less likely chance of spooking other riders that they could encounter. While she was thinking about other riders, her piebald gelding threw his head into the air and snorted anxiously as he bounced on his front legs. It was then that the young equine veterinarian caught the sound of pounding hooves.

By the time she had turned her gelding around to face his "pursuer", the other horse had slowed down to a walk. Demeter barely noticed the man on the back of the horse, her heart was racing. "Do you have any idea how stupid your actions were?" She demanded, and went on without giving him a chance to reply. "Not only did you risk the life of your horse by galloping like that on wet slippery ground, but you may have also endangered the lives of any novice riders who were using this trail! Or even experienced riders with novice horses!" She hadn't raised her voice once, but it had been layered with enough heat to have scorched the man on the spot, that is if her eyes didn't fry him to a crisp first.

Demeter was normally fun-loving without an unkind word toward anyone, but you risk a horse's health and there was hell to pay.

[Deleted]

Kevin hadn't even noticed who was in front of him, as he was patting his mare's neck when she tossed her head and came to a stop. Hearing the first sentience he looked up and raised an eyebrow as he looked at the female. A bit shocked that he was getting scolded by someone he didn't know. Truthfully he wasn't one who was use to being scolded, as his family never found out about his actions that would case him to get scolded. His eyes on her horse before he took his eyes back to the female rider, listening to her words. Now he did realize that it was stupid but he didn't really think anyone would be out on the trails right then. When she was done scolding him, he replied "I'm sorry, I didn't think anyone else would be out on the trails. At least none that would be novice or have novice horses."

A light blush on his face from his embarrassment at both being scolded and for not thinking. "But with all due respect, Ma'am, the pace was set by my horse and I believe she has good instincts to know how to navigate a trail like this. She's been in a trailer for a while and then a stall since I got here, this is her first time to stretch her legs." He added as he gave Scar Lit another pat on the neck as she shifted and slightly tugged at the reins, trying to stretch her neck out towards the other horse. He wasn't gonna say that to Scar Lit the weather was spring like for her or that she was use to harder trails.

Tipping his hat a little with a slight bow of his head, he said "Again, I'm sorry for any trouble I have caused you or your horse." Glancing up at her, he loosen his hold on Scar Lit's reins so she could sniff at a snow covered branch that was near her feet. He knew if he had done anything that would cause injury to his mare that he'd never hear the end of it from his sister and probably whoever the vet was. So he was feeling a little stupid for letting Scar Lit set the pace without knowing if anyone else was on the trail or not, or with him not even in a clear meadow.

[Demeter Carr]

Demeter rolled her eyes at his first words. "Ah, a greenhorn who hasn't read the handbook." She said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes - the greenhorn comment about him being new to the area, not new to riding as that part he obviously wasn't. "The Green Hill trail if for the novice riders and their horses, or for more experienced riders and green horses - much like mine." She held back from rolling her eyes a second time. "If you want to go gallivanting around, you could at least hold your horse back until you get to the meadow where there aren't too many sharp bends and a less likely chance of your mare slipping on mulch and breaking her leg and your neck."

Her eyebrows arched about the pace being set by the horse. "That would be your second mistake." She informed him as she took on a lecturing tone. "What instincts does she have about these trails? You just said yourself it's the first time she's been out since she left the trailer. How is she supposed to navigate her way around trails that are as known to her as they are you? And that's regardless to what kind of terrain she is used to. If this had have been one of the Rocky Ridge Trails, turning a corner could find her face to face with a log."

She bowed her head in return to his own. "It wasn't my mount that I was concerned about, but thank you." She said as she rubbed Tau's neck. She gave him a small smile. "With all of that aside, would you care for some company. Well, other than that of your mare?"

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Kevin chewed on his lip at the words about Scar Lit's instincts, he knew that she easily adapted to trails and often knew how a trail was soon. But he gave a polite smile, one that he always used when teaching anyone or horses, said "What I meant was that in this weather I didn't think any inexperienced riders would be out, at least not alone. Novice horses, however, should probably be exposed to another horse, or any animal, running by them at some point in their training, in whatever type of environment." At least any horse that he trained got use to having anything run by it at an early age, but he wasn't going to say that. He wasn't one to tell someone how to train their horse unless they where doing it completely wrong or causing the horse harm.

His smile seemed to turn to into a proud smile as he added "All horses have instincts despite what trail they are on even if they are on it for the first time. As the mustang blood on my mare is strong, she often knows the best route for her despite this being her first time out here. She is smarter than me on that part." He patted Scar Lit's neck and said "Besides she is too impatient when she is kept in too long and tends to act up if I don't let her do as she wants." Scar Lit snorted and tossed her head growing impatient and took a few steps forward, she turned her head back to look at her rider as if saying 'can we go yet?'

In which Kevin just chuckled softly at his mare's actions and said "Company would be appreciated if it's still offered. Scar Lit isn't that good of company when she wants to be in control." Scar Lit sensing that her rider seemed to be ready to move again and took a few steps forward.

[Demeter Carr]

Demeter couldn't help herself as she rolled her eyes again. "The weather's not that bad." She replied. "But you might have point there, but I don't take back my scolding. They are teenagers, and teens aren't known for using common-sense at the best of times. I was one not too long ago." She bit her lip, knowing that she could set off an avalanche if she said any more about how stupid she had been as a teen.

At his next answer she arched her eyebrows at the male on his horse. "Do you have an answer for absolutely everything?" There was no bite in her words and she laughed, patting Tau's neck, as the gelding stretched his neck out as he reached up toward the branches above their heads where some gave the evidence of spring with new leaves forming.

Demeter grinned when her offer for company was accepted and she nudged the two-toned gelding forward as she turned him around and walk forward to follow the mare. "Before you call me Ma'am again and I push you off your beautiful mare. I'm Demeter and this is Taunting Passion, or Tau as I like to call him as it's not so much of a mouthful." She knew that her name wasn't common, but she did hope that without supplying her last name as well the man may not connect her first name with the Academy vet. After all, gee wouldn't that just open a whole new kettle of fish? Although, with him knowing that she was the vet, would explain why she had ripped into him the way she had about careless riding.

"If we keep following this trail and go right when it forks, it will lead to an empty field where you can really open her up if you want to." She offered, knowing that Tau would love the chance to really let loose. She also knew that the field, during the warmer months, was also pretty bare so even with the pathetic amount of snow they got here in Kentucky, the field was safe to gallop over no matter the season. The lack of rabbits also made it safe to gallop on.

[Deleted]

Kevin hid a smile when she talked about the teenagers and the weather as he knew it was true, he sure never did show that he had any common sense when he was a teen. At the words 'I was one not too long ago.', he looked at her and at the question before he could respond Scar Lit tossed her head and took to start walking forward. In which he had to duck to avoid getting hit in the face with a few low hanging young twig branches.

He looked at her and replied, with a tip of his head and hat, "Alright Ma'am, I'm Kevin. Nice to meet you Demeter and Taunting Passion." He had only called her ma'am to tease her a little but he gave a grin to show he was teasing. As he did tease anyone even if he did just meet them, mostly he kept the complete joking side of himself to only friends since he could pull off a few good jokes with making them seem not like a joke.

"That'll be good, she needs a nice stretch of her legs. I won't get much of a choice on if she cuts loose or not." He said knowing that Scar Lit never gave him much of a choice when it came to her wanting to gallop or not in a clear area.

Any of the female in his family could get her to behave right but with him Scar Lit always decided on what to do. But it wasn't like he minded much as he knew her antics and could often predict when they would happen and knew how to bribe her into behaving for him. Scar Lit happy to be moving again snorted and held her head up high as her ears turned forward to catch the sound of the trail ahead.