A Different Perspective (Cara)

[Rose Hoff]

Rose stood before Eleanor for a moment after entering her stall, directly in front of the mare. She stroked her nose and just stood, thinking, for a minute, pleased with the way that Eleanor stood still and was completely at ease. Today Cara and she had planned to meet in Roscoe's Arena so that Rose could see how Eleanor was with someone else. She was more than a bit nervous for how it would turn out, but she trusted Cara's work with horses.

After brushing Eleanor, Rose got her tack from the tack room and tacked her up as well. Once ready, she grabbed her helmet, but kept it under her arm rather than putting it on. She also had her boots on, and was dressed to ride. Though she didn't intend on riding, she wanted to be ready in case she needed to get on. Besides, she planned on riding Vintage in a little while anyways. After pulling Eleanor's forelock out from under her brow band and looking her over to make sure she was impeccable, Rose collected the reins in her hand and led Eleanor out.

She was glad to find that Cara hadn't arrived yet, and that the arena was empty. She opened the gate and closed it behind her, leading Eleanor once around before stopping to weight in the center. She pet the warmblood's neck as they waited, talking to her so that Eleanor would keep her focus on Rose. Rose had been giving Eleanor the herbal remedies that Cara had suggested and was so far pleased by the results.

clothes

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara walked out of the gym, her shoulders felt stiff from gymnastics so she stretched her arms above her head, clasped her hands together and stretched her arms backwards until she heard both of her shoulders click. Yes, she knew that it wasn't a good thing to do, especially with how much pain her left shoulder was in on a good day, but this one way to give her relief - for a short time anyway. After she had showered in the studio changing rooms, she had dressed into riding clothes; even though she had no idea what Rose wanted her to do with the mare.

Heading across campus, she stopped in at the barn and collected a bottle of Rock Rose and Mimulas remedies, along with her helmet - just in case she needed it - and then walked out to Roscoe's Arena where she saw that Rose was already waiting for her with Eleanor. "I'm sorry if I kept you waiting." She said as she opened the gate, let herself in and crossed the arena to stand near them - but carefully keeping out of the mare's personal bubble. She took this time to study the mare, who looked more than a little stressed. "What would you like me to do with her?"

[Rose Hoff]

Rose spoke to Eleanor as they waited for Cara to arrive, trying to keep the mare relaxed with her words. She did this rather often with both Eleanor and Vintage, and there was no limit to what she talked about with her two mares. Today, as they waited, she spoke to Eleanor about working with Fly at the Equine Clinic, as well as how Vintage was doing. She eventually ended up telling her about what she'd done earlier that day and the day before, her mouth close to Eleanor's head, as if she were whispering secrets to the mare.

After a little while, she looked up to see a small figure approaching the arena. It was safe to assume that it was Cara, so Rose smiled and waited for her to arrive. "Hello. We haven't been waiting for long at all." she assured her, when the girl expressed an apology. She raised a hand and placed it on Eleanor's neck, feeling that the mare was more tense with Cara's presence, even if the girl kept a respectable distance.

In response to the neck question, Rose answered, "I was thinking that perhaps you could just do some flat work with her, if that sounds okay to you." She wanted to see how Eleanor moved when Cara rode her, and also how she reacted when she worked with her on the ground.

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara gave a ghost of a smile at Rose's words, pleased that she hadn't kept the other student, or her horse, waiting.

As she listened to the other girl, she watched the interaction between horse and human, noting that Rose always kept her hand on the mare. She thought about the last time the two of them had spoken about Eleanor, and wondered how long the mare had been allowed to remain with her dam as a foal and then how she had been weaned.

Cara nodded as she finally stepped forward and offered the back of her hand to the mare before the blew up the horse's nostrils - the way one horse would great another. "Before I get on a horse, I just like to do a little groundwork with them first. To give us a chance to get to know each other." She placed her hand gently on the mare's neck and waited for the horse to accept her touch and then began to run her hands down the mare's body, one hand starting where the other had finished - a little harder than normal with Eleanor wearing a saddle - her attention on what she was doing as well as being on the mare's ears and tail.

When she finished, she walked up to the mare's head and ran her hands over bay's face, making sure to also give her ears a good rub. "You are a sweet horse." She told the mare. "Where did everything go so wrong?" She scratched the mare under her chin and then walked around to the saddle. "I'm just going to tighten the girth." She pulled up the saddle flap and pulled the girth tight before lowering the flap and pulling the stirrups down. She then stepped up to the mare's head, lightly placed her fingers on the reins by the bit and clicked her tongue as she stepped forward and walked to the mounting block. She fingers were barely touching the reins as she walked with the mare, already showing the horse that she trusted and respected her.

At the mounting block, she asked the horse to stand as she stepped up onto the block. Not sure how the mare would be about her vaulting on, the girl placed her hands on the saddle and bounced a couple of times on the block, and once Eleanor seemed settled she vaulted onto the mare's back and slipped her feet into the stirrups. Taking up the reins, she mentally checked her posture; ears, shoulders, hips and heels lined up, and squeezed with her calf muscles, asking the mare to move forward.