The Stables

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Welcome to the stables. You can practice the noble art of horseback riding here and get trained in the use of weapons from horseback.
Please make an appointment with the stable-master Amaya (Cinerea) if you want to borrow a horse for training.
Samurai are also welcome to bring their own steeds. There are several stalls available for a small fee of 500 Yen per month.

Horses currently borrowed:
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Horses currently stabled:
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Staff:

Amaya, stable master:


(played by Cinerea)

Yuriko, stable hand: (played by: PrincessRyoko)

XXXX, stable hand: (played by: XXXX) open pos.

Courses taught (requires appointments):

Kyudo (Archery):

Bakyu-jutsu (japanese horseback-archery, practiced with the Yumi, a very long bow (2.3 m in length))
Mangudai-style (Mongolian archery, practiced with the short or long bow)

Jousting and Spear-fighting:

Fighting on horseback with the Yari (japanese spear, focus on slashing, sweeping motions)
Jousting with the medieval european jousting lance (focus on thrusting in full gallop to unseat the opponent)
Mostly target practice, no duels due to high risk of injury.

Other:

Vaulting (Doing exercises/acrobatics on a horse running in circles on the longe)


Horses:

Toto:

(Black friesian stallion, Stands at 16 hh (hands height), docile and well-behaved, great stamina, good for practicing the Bakyu-jutsu and vaulting)

Gigi:

(Sorrel red achal-tekh mare, 13 1/2 hh, soft and well-defined gait but mean-tempered, only for seasoned riders, excellent hurdle-jumper)

Raku:

(Dun norwegian gelding, 11 hh (small framed), spirited and agile, best used in practicing with the Yari or the lance)

Some pictures, further reading:

Japanese Shogun on horseback:
http://www.shipstoregalleries.com/fineart/artists/hostallero/

Weapons on horseback:
http://www.nagtrader.co.uk/nagtrader-horse-pony-articles/nagtrader-horse-pony-features/furusiya-weapons-on-horseback.asp

Friesian warhorses:
http://www.wolfsongfriesians.com/images/knight.gif
http://andalusiansdemythos.com/conquistador/

Avery nice pic by Luis Rojo:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v217/aneko85/Dollies and piccies gaia/3139767-luis_royo_seven_brothers-em.jpg  

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Amaya the stable master put her left foot on the lowest bar of the fence and rested her elbows on top of the highest bar, watching the horses on the meadow in the early morning light.
Two of them, a dun gelding and a sorrel red mare, were nibbling at the yellowish autumn grass while the other one, a huge black stallion, was pulling apart the fresh pile of rice-straw Amaya had just put into the hayrack. He had decorated his broad chest with the blades in the process and threw about more of the straw with his massive head. Amaya smirked and focused her attention on the much smaller gray gelding.
"Raku! Hey, Raku, c'mere, boy!" the stable master called.
All three horses raised their heads. Outwardly reluctant they all drew nearer, but from their pricked up ears and lashing tails it was clear that they were agitated. When Toto, the black stallion, came close to the mare Gigi, she flattened her ears and viciously snapped at him, bad tempered as always. The docile stallion recoiled, an almost comical shocked expression on his long face.
Raku the gelding however was the first to reach Amaya, and got his forelock ruffled affectionately. The stable-master ducked under the fence and retrieved a hackamore from her belt, putting it on Raku, then opened the gate and led him through, after pushing Gigi away, who had tried to pass through the fence, too.
"Later tonight, my girl, later!"
After she had brushed her mount down and removed the dirt from underneath his hooves, Amaya wound white bandages around the cannons of the front legs to protect the sensitive fetlocks, then retrieved the tack from the saddlechamber and put it on the gelding, who was waiting patiently with his head hanging low. Finally she selected a short, round-tipped Yari from the weaponrack and mounted, resting the spear on the stirrup and taking the bridles in the left hand.
Half an hour she warmed up her horse in pace and slow trot, crossing the meadows and slowly following the field paths into the forest, then halted for final readjustment of the
saddle-strap -because Raku had the bad habit of blowing himself up to loosen it. After that she spurred him to a slow amble, then a canter, then a gallop, following the winding paths of the leaf-less autumn forest. Archery targets stuck to the trees once in a while, and soon a clearing came into sight. Two lines of poles stuck in the ground there, the line on the right with the poles about a horses length apart, the other with half the space inbetween.
The poles bore hoops that were dangling suspended from horizontal bars at the top, one on each arm. Amaya brandished her Yari and passed by the poles on the right in a slow gallop, effortlessly collecting every second hoop with the blunt tip. She made a narrow volte-face, beautifully executed by agile Raku, then did a slalom around the poles at the same pace, collecting every second hoop on the other side and the rest of the ones she left at the first go... only once she missed. Another volte-face, another slalom at the same steady pace and all the hoops but the one missed were finally dangling from her spear.
Rising in the stirrpus, she slowly put them all back one by one, patted Raku on the neck and repeated the exercise at a faster pace, this time collecting them all. Another short break to hang them up, another pat on the neck, another try at a faster pace... again, one hoop missed. Amaya shrugged, put the hoops back again and proceeded to the narrow spaced line for a finishing exercise, setting a slower pace again. This time, Raku twisted and bent his short, flexible body around Amaya's leg at each turn of the slalom. He nimbly weaved through the narrow spacing, never touching a single pole... Amaya collected all hoops again. Humming contently, she put them back and spurred Raku into a slow, relaxing canter, riding homewards.
"Good my boy, very good... I think I owe you a large, juicy carrot... okay, make that two carrots!"