Pleasures of Wealth

[Liana Mars]

Liana nodded at the suggestion of an Arabian, “I'd been considering it, but there weren't any quality ones around when I went to try horses out, and Dyrim fit what I was looking for, so I could finally stop riding the training ground's horses. They were decent beasts, but nothing like even him.” Horses needed to bond with their person, she thought, and riders needed to learn the basic personality of their beasts. It was hard to just start riding random horses after having one's own. “I'll keep it in mind for the next time I'm in the market, or if I come across a nice one. They do give us a run in the ring.”

When she had been given the information on Nasr's tack trunk, Liana nodded and left Dyrim standing where he'd been, walking further into the barn and finally finding the door that had a plaque reading 'Tack'. It wouldn't be too bad a walk, even carrying a saddle, and when Liana walked inside, she found it well-organized. Dyrim's things had been put away quite carefully, and she picked up the pink bucket that held his things before she started looking for a tack trunk with Arabic writing. Finally finding it, she opened it and pulled out the green bag, which she added to her collection and then closed the trunk again before she walked out of the tack room.

She returned to the cross-ties to find Dyrim asleep and Khalid there as well. After putting down her own bucket she handed over Nasr's bag to the boy, “You get to grab your own tack, though.” She smiled at the boy, hoping he would take the joke in spirit, then turned back and picked up a curry comb, figuring she would just put in a full brushing. It wouldn't hurt Dyrim, and it would get rid of all of the travel dust.

[Khalid Al-Kuwari]

Nasr stood quietly on the crossties while his rider plucked the biggest shavings out of his mane and tail by hand. The size difference between Nasr and Dyrim felt almost exaggerated with them standing side by side. He accepted his grooming bag graciously and gave her a wry smile.

"Is my saddle to heavy for you? Afraid you'll chip a fingernail?" He shot back in jest.

Khalid picked up the soft brush and dislodged the rest of the shavings and some newly settled dust. Nasr was fairly clean to begin with and hadn't just come off a trailer. A couple passes with a comb took care of the rest of the shavings in his mane and tail and restored the horse to his image of shining perfection. Khalid put the brush and comb back in their place in the bag. Everything was carefully labeled with black embroidery. He picked up the bag and walked down the aisle in search of the tack room. The plaque was easy enough to find and Khalid let out a sigh of relief to see everything neatly organized and clean.

He found his tack trunk and put the grooming bag back inside for later. He changed into a pair of Sergio Grasso boots and swapped out his Armani blazer for a maroon softshell jacket with the Qatari flag on the left sleeve. Green was Mohammad's favorite color, but Khalid felt more partial to maroon. Even with all the saddles and bridles, it was fairly easy to find the only set of tack with a nameplate written in Arabic. He hefted the saddle and pad off the rack and slung the bridle over one shoulder and headed back towards his horse.

"The tack looks to be in better condition than those scruffy mongrels people call horses around here. And whoever has a plastic tub for a tack trunk really needs to rethink their priorities. Always go with wood. You'd think they're trying to lower the standard beneath the floor."

[Liana Mars]

Liana chuckled at the boy's joke, shaking her head as she made her way back to Dyrim to start in on the gelding's coat, “Would you like me to say it is too heavy?” She leaned against Dyrim for a moment, taking on an affected voice, “Oh, Khalid, how heavy this tack is. Lift it and let me see your muscles.” She smirked and then went back to her grooming, hurrying so that she would be able to keep up with Khalid's work, although he had an easier time of it. His horse had just been in a stall, Dyrim had been on the road for the day.

After she had finished grooming, she dropped everything back into the gelding's grooming bucket and then made her way back to the tack room, digging through her trunk to find the extra set of breeches and an Ariat Furlough jacket, warm enough for the weather at the moment. After slipping into the ladies' room to change, Liana put her boots back on and then grabbed Dyrim's tack, already ready for Khalid's comment, until she found him to also have changed, to be more suited to riding. At least he wasn't quite that wasteful, even if he could probably buy a new suit for every day of the year if he so chose.

When she too had returned she heard Khalid's words and chuckled, “I had noticed the same thing myself. I get the whole 'inclusive quota' idea, but honestly, one would think that an 'elite' school would have at least some sort of standards. Especially for the amount they charge, that alone should keep out a lot of the riffraff, but plastic buckets?” Even Jessamine had a wooden tack trunk. A worn and old one, sure, but for all the girl was missing in class, at least she had some common decency.

After flipping Dyrim's saddle blanket over the gelding's back and then setting down the saddle, Liana made short work of tacking the gelding up, before she grabbed her own helmet and looked over to Khalid, “Ready to go?”

[Khalid Al-Kuwari]

He found it impossible not laugh. For once, there was someone to joke around with who wasn't going to feel insulted. In his own family, a sense of humor often went unappreciated. His father and older brothers were constantly chiding Khalid to take like seriously and to stop fooling around. Even his cousins acted like they had better things to do than indulge a boy in his pranks. Even though they had just met, and rich people didn't have friends, Khalid felt like friend was the only word to describe what he thought of Liana.

"Those people should go to a public school where they can be around people of their social standing and receive an education they can actually afford. Elite international boarding schools like this should be reserved for the people who can afford it. Without relying on handouts or government intervention. And a rider's skill may be important, but carefully bred and trained mounts like Dyrim and Nasr are just better than any school horse. And the better horse will win. Always. It's almost sad to see them try to beat people like us."

Khalid clipped the buckle on his helmet and pulled Nasr's reins over his head. He would definitely need to find a mounting block to get on Nasr. His Arabian schoolmaster at home was short enough to be mounted from the ground, but the warmblood was significantly bigger.

"Yes. Any preference as to which trail system you want to explore?"