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 Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 4:42 pm
A normal day at the equistrian center. Ariel went back this week end to help her mother. It was the day of the month when new student were coming and so her mother need help to teach them how to ride a horse. Ariel had been riding horse since she was a child and she had her license to teach too.
She had bad luck with youma recently, she hoped everything will be alright.
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 4:06 pm
He had been to a stable a few times in his life. His grandfather, a military officer and lover of owning farmland had bought some horses for the status and the income. He had seen them on his visits as a child, but had never once ridden one. His mother, while having been a horse rider in the past, had been very against her own children partaking of the sport. Images of cracked skulls and shattered bones had been too strong to convince her otherwise, no matter how much he and his sister pleaded. Later in life, he once wandered to the tables of Crystal while his mother was held inside with some paperwork and he was waiting on her. This was a glance, and being more realistic, he saw the animals as large, quick, and somewhat dangerous. The temperamental natures, sensitivities to strangers, and hooves that could kick your skull in all made him stay at a distance.
So why now? Well, he needed to learn these things for business reasons, and entered the stables with that awkward step and lost look that plainly said he had no idea what he was doing and where to go. When he saw the girl walking by, he moved slowly to her. "Hello? Um. I was looking in taking some riding lessons. Where would I sign up for those?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 4:21 pm
Ariel was dressed with a jean and a t-shirt today. The weather was so nice; it will be good for the new students. She had a jacket in jeans too, because even if the sun was warm, they were still in November, it was no joke. Her hair tied up in pony tail like always.
She was walking around, looking if everything was ready when a boy talked to her. He looked not older than her. She smiled at him brightly. Every people she met who wanted to get close to horse were nice in general.
“You are at the right place.” She gave him a paper on a board and a pen. “You just need to write your name here. How many lessons do you want? Because if you take 5 lessons you pay for 4 and you have one free.” The prices were listed on the paper, it was not really expensive, the center was more for pleasure than making profit.
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 4:42 pm
Ladon didn't have to worry about money. When you went about stealing starseeds, you sometimes took the money from the wallet to make it look like a common mugging. He had accumulated a nice pile and between donating to several places, he decided just to keep his own reserve in case he ever needed it for emergencies – like bribing or medical help.
He also lied in telling his mother that he was still volunteering down at the YMCA and was instead doing these lessons behind her back. He just had to keep it all hush-hush and hope no one alerted her he was here.
Taking the paper, he went over his options and filled it in, looking it over. "I'd like 5 lessons, and more if I need it. I'll probably need more. I'm a complete novice. I've never ridden, and I don’t mind paying at all." It wasn't like it had been his money to begin with. Filled out, he held it out to her. "I've never been on a horse before, but I really want to be able to ride one. I'd like to come here as often as I can outside of school. Are you one of the tutors here?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 6:45 am
Ariel took back the paper and read it quickly.
"No problem, you can take as much lessons as you want until you feel at ease on horse. And yes I will be your tutor. I am Ariel, nice to meet you"
and she gave him an handshake.
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Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2010 2:43 pm
Ladon always appreciated the lighter touch of a lady's handshake. It wasn't like a man's, who always seemed set out to prove something and usually resulted in trying to crush his hand. He paid the favor back by keeping his grip light, but not too light. There was some importance he held in handshakes, and he released in time. "It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Ladon Shepard, but you probably already read that." What with the form in her hand. "I hope I'm not going to be a major pain for you. I'm ..a little worried about falling off." He already went to the hospital plenty of times, and going in for falling off a horse would just alert his mother to what he was doing behind her back which would only make her more protective. Probably distrusting as well.
"How long have you been riding?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 2:22 pm
((sorry for the wait didn't see your reply redface ))
She smiled at the handshake; it was a nice one, not too strong, not too light. Her father tended to tell her it was a really important part during a meeting; weak handshake meant someone with low confidence.
“Well, Mister Shepard” she called him by his last name because even if he looked like the same age at her he was still a customer she didn’t want to be rude. “Don’t worry, our horses are all really quiet ones, and we will go slowly to start.”
She started moving toward the box with the horses, waiting for him to follow. “I started when I was in age to do, I don’t really remember maybe 4 or 5. We will go see the horses, so you can pick the one you are going along the best with.”
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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 6:39 pm
Ladon had mixed feeling about riding a horse, but the idea of being near one, seeing one, petting one, was rather nice. He also liked the added reassurance that he would be riding some untamed beast of a horse that wanted nothing more than to throw him off it's back and trample him once he hit the ground.
"Wow. I never was around a horse that young." His mother would have flipped a lid if her child went near a massive animal - tame or not. "So all the horses are rather tame. I'm...a little nervous around such big animals. I don't want it to smell my fear or anything and freak out." In short, he wanted the oldest, tamest, gentlest animal around. Something that wanted nothing more than to take care of it's rider and didn't jerk around too much.
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Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 2:58 pm
While leading the way to the horses box she was listenning to the young man carefully, she needed to know how he was feeling, and she could say it by the tone in his voice. She had pretty good ears.
"I started with a foal, or a poney, not a big one, the only time I was on a big one was with my mother" she said laughing.
She walked around the boxes, Ladon, as she called him for herself looked anxious, she went directly toward the sweetest one in the center. A black and white stallion, with short black hair and tail and gray eyes.
"This is Anshu, our sweet boy. He is 3 years old. We use him a lot for beginner. He is really calm and never play... well little trick to customers."
Next to the stallion was a cream colored mare with long and curly hair, her tail was a light brown braid with purple ribbons. On the box the name Fallon was written. She looked quite easy too; she looked at them with her green eyes.
And then on the right of Anshu, a white mare with black spot, she looked like an owl; she had long white hair with some braids and feathers attached on. She looked the oldest in the box, with her clear blue eyes and her mature stature.
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Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 11:22 am
It was a sad, sad fact that Ladon secretly loved ribbons, and in addition, he seemed to like the color green. While riding a stallion sounded very dashing and macho, he looked away from the offer to ride Anshu and inwardly melted at the sight of Fallon. She was a beautiful mare, with soft creme colors and what could only be described as a sweet temperament. While all three horses seemed eager to please, it was the purple-ribboned Fallon that he kept eyeing.
"Is it okay...if I can ride her? Fallon?" While he wanted to move in and see if she would not become frightened by him, he kept close to his instructor. He didn't know anything about horses and didn't want to do anything that might upset the horse.
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Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 12:25 pm
Anshu was the safe way, but compatibility with the horse was the most important things. So if Ladon was attracted by Fallon, it was the best.
“Sure, Fallon is a nice choice too. She is really calm, and she is the most used to saddle.”
She took the young man hand and put it on the noise of the horse.
“Here softly, just make her judge you, without fear” she winked.
Ariel could understand people were afraid by horse, they were big and if they kicked you they could hurt. But the horse at the stable were born here and raised here, they were all used to people.
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Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 5:18 pm
He tried to remain calm and kept telling himself that a horse was not going to bite off his fingers or jump out of her stable and trample him to death. He kept assuring himself that nothing bad would happen, and that if he didn't calm down, the horse would know and then somehow hate him and never want him around. What he wanted was the horse to like him, espeically one that was decorated so nicely with purple ribbons and looked nothing but tender, soft, and kind.
Good horse. Gooood horse. He thought to himself.
"O-Okay." He said, inching closer to the horse as she took his hand and set it on the horse's brow. Fallon seemed content with him, and he slowly moved his hand. Seeing as her ears didn't go back, he felt he was only making a good impression, and actually breathed a little bit calmer than before. She was soft, and he felt a bubble of giddiness in his throat at actually doing so well. "Heh...she doesn't seem to hate me at least. ....It...must be nice to pet horses all the time." For a boy who never had a pet, not even a hamster, petting a horse was a big deal.
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Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 4:45 pm
Ariel looked at the scene quietly; she knew Fallon will not do anything bad. They all grew up alongside her, so she knew them the best.
When Ladon finally get accustomed to her she applauded.
“You did pretty well. She likes you for sure. She is a sweetheart.” She said while petting her at the back of the ears. “Yeh it is a pretty nice feeling. Actually my father is veterinary, so I see a lot of different animals here, his clinic is on the other side of the house.”
She opened the box and took Fallon saddle. “Ok now, let go take a walk.” She said with a smile. She put all the saddle on Fallon and gave the harness to Ladon.
“Mister Shepard, if you agree to walk on her side, to the lesson field.”
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Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 7:44 pm
"Wow. I never had any pets before. Well, I had a fish. It must be nice to know and see so many animals." It had been something he greatly missed out on. Having pets you could pet and who could follow you around was something he couldn't have. What with his mother's distaste for most animals and his allergies to cats. A fish really was a poor substitute in the end.
Even though he felt he didn't do anything, he was glad Fallon liked him. "I'm glad she likes me." Softly, he stroked her brow again, and then was given the harness. Confused, he held it before she told him to lead the horse, and he looked at her. "Really? You think...I'd be okay doing that?" She seemed to think he was. Slowly, he held the harness and started to move the horse along, walking beside her.
The large horse slowly started to move out of her stable and beside them. Her hooves clacked along, and Ladon watched with great fascination as seeing the horse move beside them.
He started to make his way to the field.
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Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2010 3:21 pm
“Yes it is pretty nice, I got to see a lot of different animal you don’t usually see”
Ariel took the lead; the field was close from their place so they will be soon in place.
“Yes you will be ok, don’t worry. It is my way of doing things; I think it is better for the animal and the student to start together, like this they can connect more easily.
They arrived at the field for beginner. It was a round shape track, they were alone today, majority of student were already trained so they went on ride with her mother. Ariel was in charge of beginners.
“Ok Mister Shepard, I will ask you first to walk around this circle with Fallon. Slowly. At your own pace. Talk with her if you can, it is a warming up exercise.
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