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With Scout approaching her now, and a second trainee joining them. She wasn't surprised the horse was being a bit willful. From her pouch at her side she procuded a small sugar cube and gave the creature a gentle pet on her nose bridge. "Now, you need to behave my dear. You're rider needs to learn." Ervette eye'd Farvardin, giving her a considering look. "When you go to jump, remember you have to coax your horse into the motion. Make sure you are lifting up as you do, does that make sense?" She didn't seem bothered by the stream of in coming questions and gave the younger her attention for the now. She released her hold on Scout giving the horse a stern look as if trying to will the beast into behaving.

"Come on then Farvardin. Keep it up, I have faith you'll get it down. Riding takes a lot of effort I have to admit. I fell off the first time i rode." she admitted sheepishly.

She hurt, everywhere. Her muscles rebelled with every movement that she took, but she did not care. She was proud of herself for lasting the week; of gaining more skill in hand to hand combat. Hazel was still not as skilled or strong as the others, but slowly she was getting there. Already her muscles felt stronger and less likely to break if they held a heavy load. Happy with herself and the accomplishments she had made in just a short amount of time, she practically skipped to the arena, only to come to a skidding halt when she laid eyes upon one of the largest loveliest creatures she had ever seen. They were to ride those? She had heard of horses and seen some of the solders ride them, but never had she dared to get close. Evrette each gave them a horse, Hazel stared at the beauty before her; the horse was a dappled grey horse. Her coloration reminded Hazel of snow upon a dark night or snow mixing with soot. Hazel liked the first vision better. Slowly the young woman approached the horse, but Vivi did not look particularly interested in the happenings around her or that Hazel stared at her with a kind of awe inspired reverence.

Not yet trusting herself to be able to ride the magnificent creature, Hazel began to brush the mare, whispering words of praise, “You are a lovely horse Vivi. You will be nice to me right? You won’t throw me off?” Reaching into her pocket Hazel pulled out a sugar cube. Vivi’s eyes seemed to widen and then in seconds the sugar cube was gone and the horse went back to ignoring the existence of the human next to her. With a slight smile Hazel prepared to mount her new friend (albeit a one sided friendship), and ride for the first time. It was an exhilarating and terrifying thought.

Carefully she mounted the mare, it was an awkward movement and lacked grace. Once on top of the horse, Hazel sat stiffly and tried to lead the mare to the course. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the reins, she squeezed the horse with her thighs and made the clicking noise to make Vivi go forward. Oh gosh, this was probably going to end badly.

Hazel released a sigh of relief when she reached the field and then gasped in shock. They did not expect her to master that in a week did they? With one more look at the course, she sent a prayer up to any god that was listening for luck and readied herself to begin.

{4,8 No modifier}

With a deep breath and another prayer, Hazel encouraged Vivi to begin. The horse gave the human a bored look, not caring if she remained where she was or raced along the track, “Vivi… if you go, I promise I will give you another sugar cube.” The horse’s ears flicked back at the young woman’s words, and then a dark chocolate colored eye stared at her as if trying to determine the truth of the words. Then with a snort, Vivi was off. It was like riding upon the wind. The woman tried to turn the horse, to make her go in the direction of the flat ground to just do a lap, but Vivi seemed to have other ideas. Hazel bounced in the saddle as Vivi raced around the course, jumping over hurdles. Hazel saw her life flash before her eyes when the horse left the earth for the first time to soar over the wooden hurdle. Her heart was beating rapidly within her chest, this was insane, but she kind of liked the adrenaline rush. In no time Vivi finished the course. The horse stopped, panting slightly at the exertion and then turned her gaze to the woman on her back. Hazel laughed and fished out another sugar cube from her pocket. As she took the snack, the horse continued to ignore the rider. When Hazel did not get off the back of the mare, Vivi turned to look at her, appearing incredibly bored with life, “hey girl, are you up for one more run?” Hazel knew that she would run out of sugar cubes soon enough and that bribing the horse was not going to get her anywhere for very long, but it was all she had. Vivi neighed and then gazed at the pocket that held the remaining sugar cubes, “Yes, yes, if you take me around the course again you will get another treat.”

Hazel had no clue why she was talking to the horse like one would talk to another human, but it felt right and it reminded her of her relationship with Smokey. “Okay Girl, let’s run like the wind!”

Ervette turned her attention onto the newest face asking for her. The green haired woman urged her mare a little closer so they could have a chat and she could adjust her positioning. "So far you are playing it smart by letting the horse lead. But, you too are part of the equation. When you're balancing and lifting up you are urging your horse into action. Always give yourself some distance and speed." She mused considering-like.

"You may be new, but if you apply yourself you can improve yourself. To change direction you lean with your body, and apply pressure with your thighs. The reigns are also your guide." She applied pressure on her lower back making Hazel sit up. "There, now Hazel, give it a try this time make sure you lift yourself as you make the jump." She gave Vivi a gentle pat, trying to get the horses attention and have her focus up.

When Farvardin thanked her the older woman chuckled giving the girl a thumbs up glad to see her advice was put to practical use. It did her heart good to know most of these kids would be at least some what competent on a horse. Even if they missed hurdles just the fact fears had been faced and over come in order to at least make a stand at the task. From horse back she gave the tall red and black haired girl a smart salute before going back to making her rounds about the field should anyone else need input advice.

Ervette looked up as another younger girl greeted her, noting how the horse chomped away and shook her head slightly The older woman leaned down, giving Vivi a gentle pat before speaking. "When you ride, look straight forward and keep your back straight. About a third of your boot should be in the stirrup, and keep your heels pointing down. Don't let your leg go too far forward as if you're sitting in a chair—this is called the "chair seat" and is incorrect. Your shoulder, hip, and heel should all be aligned." She explained, leaning closer to adjust the girls posture slightly.

"Now then, Zinnia.To make your horse move forward, squeeze with your calves. Horses that do not move forward after a gentle squeeze may need your squeeze to have more energy in it. Sometimes horses respond to clucks. Alternative for stopping you'll pull back lightly on t he reigns, and call for a woah." She waited to see if that had all sunk in, a brow arched from the green haired woman as she spoke with the blue haired girl.

+3 modifier || 2 completed laps and 4 hurdles cleared

"Halfway there!" Jeong-jae reached down to pat Toby's side, appreciating the horse's willingness to follow orders. It was a good feeling to be doing so well when he'd expected to have trouble learning to control the animal. They approached the fifth hurdle with ease, clearing it beautifully. Larisa was on his tail so he knew he had to keep up his momentum or she'd pass him now that Scout had accepted the blonde. Hwan's voice called out from back near the start and Jeong-jae hoped his brother would have just as much luck as he was. Alec looked to have passed him by now so it was going to take some work to catch up!

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KitsuneAura

Thanks for waiting for me when you didn't have to! Let's see how this plays out!

leon_a_darkangel

I got confused which hurdle Alec is on so if I got that wrong, my bad. I think he is in the lead though

[+4 mod, 1 lap and 4 hurdles down!]

Maybe she'd let her grip on the reins slip a little or maybe she'd let her attention stray to the others and her posture hadn't just right, but Scout suddenly seemed much less enthused about hurdle number five. Larisa had been glancing back to see how close Hwan-jae was getting after he'd yelled, but when she turned back forward, she'd been alarmed to find that this jump would not be going as well as the others had. Fingers tightening around the reigns, she leaned forward in the saddle and urged her horse onward anyway. "Come on, girl, you can do this!"

It was a very near miss, but they made it over cleanly. Larisa let out a breath and reached forward to pat Scout approvingly. So no more looking back, then. She'd focus on what was ahead instead, which right now meant Jeong-jae. Alec somehow had gotten so much of a lead she wasn't sure she could reach him, but second wasn't so bad. If she played this next part right, it looked like she just might claim the spot over hurdle six!

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Didn't actually talk to anyone, but here's quotes for the race, haha.

Doutei

Yamashii

leon_a_darkangel