( . dance, baby )

[Cristie Stjerna]

The dusk was quiet. Part of the sun still peeked over the horizon, bathing the Kentucky farm in a warm, golden, late-summer glow. The farm was quiet. The horses were out in pasture or in their boxes for the evening, and the staff had cleaned up and were either in their rooms on the property or on the road home. Nothing much moved, except for a horse and his girl.

The two moved soundlessly up the path towards the training oval. The girl, average height and slender build, led the horse by his split reins, one hand in her pocket. The horse, roughly 15.3 hands, followed at her side, head low, body stretched out. He had an athletic build, lean and hard. His rough mane was fairly long. He was still in his summer coat, with its metallic sheen. The grulla sabino gelding gleamed in the evening sunlight. Dust raised by his hooves was caught in the shafts of the orange glow as the two walked on to the large, deserted oval and halted in the middle. The girl, in jeans with rips at the knees and a simple red tank top, flipped the reins one after the other over the horse's sleek neck.

"Hey babes, you ready?" The blonde murmured to her gelding in Swedish, gathering her reins and placing the toe of her boot into the wide stirrup, swinging up into the comfortable western saddle. The gelding snorted, chewing at his gentle bit. "'K, go on." This time, she spoke English. The gelding seemed comfortable hearing her speak either language, for he responded no matter which she chose. Now, he moved forward into a fluid jog, his lean muscles moving tamely beneath his hide. Head low, the two continued this way for some time, the girl holding the reins with one hand, sitting up and watching a flock of starlings making for the line of trees at the front of the property, where they always spent the night.

At another uttered command, the gelding seamlessly transitioned into a smooth lope, head raising, ears pricked. Clearly it hadn't rained for several days, as signalled by the dust clouds raised behind them, glowing orange in the fading sun. "Ready, mister?" At her words the gelding seemed to skip, switching leads. He knew what came next. Tierno seemed to enjoy, on the occasion, playing racehorse. He tended to look haughtily upon the thoroughbreds. Cristie liked to think he thought they were silly, spending their lives running in circles. She knew for sure though that her gelding was the real deal. She couldn't imagine a better horse, right down to his independent, sometimes grouchy nature. "Ok."

At her two syllables, the horse switched gear, accelerating with the horse equivalent of a racecar, pedal to the metal. The horse's muscles bunched and stretched. His flexible spine took a very watered down similarity to that of a running cheetah, bending slightly to allow him a lengthier stride. Even with the bulky western saddle, the mutt's speed was impressive, sending Cristie's hair whipping back in the wind. After a good two or three minutes the girl sat back, and he began to slow, easing into a lope that she allowed him to continue for half a lap before breaking into a trot. After a good lap of the easy pace, she allowed him to walk, leaving her split reins slack. He was fit, and the exercise didn't take a lot out of him, but it was still hot, despite the growing darkness, and the gelding was sweaty.

"Good job, T." She murmured affectionately, stroking the horse's damp neck. She looked up, searching for the pair of eyes she knew would surely be watching them. Cristie had left Vimy sleeping in the late afternoon sun outside the foaling barn when she'd gone down to the pastures. She picked out the pale form of the pit bull in the now dim light, padding up the path to the training ring and yawning. Clearly she'd had a lovely nap. The fawn and white dog trotted out on to the training ring, falling into step beside the horse. The two had an agreement. Vimy had no problem with horses and enjoyed the company of some. Tierno did not like much. Dogs were one. He tended to ignore them, but he had taken a snap at Vimy the first time she'd come too close. Now the two agreed to disagree. Vimy respected his personal bubble and he kept his teeth to himself.

After a good ten minutes of walking, the sun was gone. It was not totally dark yet though, there was still a purplish light from the west. The svelte trio angled her gelding towards the entrance and exit of the oval, looking forward to going back to her room and having a nice shower.

[Pixel]

Kilandria Waters slipped out of the modest, one story home and headed down toward the barn. She wore a jogging jacket and her usual breeches and knee high boots. Her hair was left down and was slightly still slightly damp from her shower. The jacket was probably unnecessary at the current moment, but she was sure she would probably want it later, by the time she made it back to the barn after working one of the fillies.

She made her way through the dusk, walking confidently down the trodden path, despite the wavering light. The stars were just beginning to prick the sky with little bursts of light. This was Kilandrai's favorite time of day, she had to say. Twilight or very early morning, when the night was just relinquishing it's hold over the earth and letting the day take her place. Kili smiled slightly as she glanced at the stars. She knew the path so well she hardly even needed to look. She really ought to name a horse after twilight. She would do that, and people could think it was after the Stephanie Meyer books if they wanted, but Kilandria would know better. She would have plenty of opportunity this spring. She had plenty of time. Only Summer had dropped her foal, and she had been early, at the very end of February. Still, the colt, whom everyone had dibbed Trouble, was doing fine, although he was a little small.

She stepped into the light of the barn, nodding with a slight smile to the grooms still out in the barn, enjoying the beautiful evening. She slipped into the tack room and grabbed her riding crop, slipping it into her boot where it wouldn't easily be seen and grabbing an apple from the little fridge. It was old, with a few bruises, but Quincy wouldn't mind.

Whistling a merry little tune and drawing smiles from the hands still about, she made her way down the aisle of the training barn, and to the very last stall. Within was a little gray mare. Well, little by racing standards, anyway. She was barely fifteen hands, with a pretty dappled gray coat. She seemed to have already settled in for the night, dozing softly with her ears flicked back, content. Kilandria smiled. This was how she had hoped to find the filly. She whistled softly and the filly's ears pricked. Hey there, Dawn Runner. How are you this lovely evening? Kili asked the filly, clucking softly, coaxing her over to the stall door. The filly turned, her nostrils flaring to catch the scent of the apple that Kilandria proffered over the door. She stepped forward, nibbling delicately at the green apple. Kili smiled. We're going to have a little bit of fun tonight, girl. Don't you worry your pretty little head She grabbed the halter that hung by the filly's stall. Slipping inside, she haltered the feeling, keeping her movements quiet. She wanted the filly to just stay chill.

With a smile, she flipped the nylon lead rope over the gray filly's neck and tied it on the halter ring. Clucking softly, she urged the filly toward the door and out into the barn aisle. With ease, she swung onto the filly's bare back. One of the hand s shook his head in amusement. Only Kilandria would have the guts to swing herself onto a green race horse with only a halter, as if the horse were an old school pony. Still, Kilandria wasn't overly cocky or prideful or anything. She was good. And she had always had a natural way with horses.

With a gentle cluck, the filly clattered out of the barn aisle and into the still night. At another cluck, she was into a long, swinging canter. Kilandria smiled slightly. This was bliss. Bareback was best. Although it was closely tied with true racing, blowing down the track with gobs of other horses pumping beside you, every horse and jockey giving it their all...It was exhilarating, to be certain. But there was something in the quiet companionship of a bareback ride...

The gray filly's quick stride soon brought them to the training oval, and Kili was slightly surprised to see another rider coming off the track. It was hard to see in the dim lighting, but as they drew closer, Kilandria recognized Cristie, her newest exercise rider. Tierno was the only paint horse in the barn.

Kilandria smiled in recognition, bringing the filly to a halt beside the gelding, keeping her well out of range of the other unruly horse's temper. "Hey" Kili greeted the other young woman lightly. Quincy was still quiet and content to drop her head and pluck at the blue grass that surrounded the track. Have a good workout? she asked with a knowing smile.

I was going to work with Quincy on her whole whip shy thing tonight Kilandria added, figuring she might as well explain why she was here despite the fact that it was almost dark. She looked meaningfully into her right boot where just the handle peeked out from the top. She gave a sly smile before she swung lightly down. Quincy lifted her head and snorted in surprise but otherwise had no reaction. Kilandria glanced up at Cristie again with one of her bright, open smiles.

((OOC: This was probably for Kyler, but I had a ridiculous amount of muse for Kilandria, so I decided to reply with her. Haha. Plus I don't have Kyler's bio up yet. xD))

[Cristie Stjerna]

{ooc: It was for Kyler, but no worries! x3}

Lifting her reins slightly, not even making contact with the spanish mutt's mouth, she signalled Tierno to halt, peering into the gloom. She could hear another horse coming towards them, quickly, and made out its shape in the darkness. There was a rider aboard, so she relaxed, quickly recognising her new employer. Cristie found herself at ease with the bubbly young woman, and smiled back at her broadly. Vimy, noting that there was likely to be a lot of chit chatting, padded over to the benches conveniently facing the oval and flopped down to watch.

"Yeah, it as great, thanks. I haven't been able to work him properly so we just had a bit of a run." Tierno did look rather out of place at the racing farm. At first Cristie had been apprehensive about asking if she would be permitted to board him. He was hardly comparable to the sleek, blue-blooded, million dollar thoroughbreds, which (and Cristie could understand this) were a far higher priority. Why should the farm spend money and space on a horse that would never race? Fortunately, however, her scruffy little Argentinian mutt had been granted a paddock to live in. He was certainly hardy enough to live outdoors year round, especially with the run-in shed he was provided with.

"Thanks again for having him. It would've been tedious to board him somewhere else and drive to visit him all the time!" He would quickly settle down and let down his 'grumpy old man' front. It certainly didn't suit him, considering he had barely turned nine. Cristie knew the gelding would warm up to any pasture mates he was given. He'd proved himself before to be excellent at teaching young horses to mind their manners. He didn't suffer fools gladly, but he wasn't cruel. Perhaps he could be used as company for the weanlings, later in the year. Having just been hired the week before, though, Cristie did not feel she was yet in a position to put this suggestion forward.

The gelding had his ears pinned against his head, but did not otherwise react to the young filly. He cocked a hind leg and seemed contented to ignore her as Cristie opened her mouth again. "Oh right. I saw her dump Gordie the other day, actually. Someone accidentally waved a crop near her face in the morning workouts..." She watched the highly strung animal, marvelling at her beauty. The dappled coat and gentle features held a slight similarity with another grey mare she'd known, back at the academy. Cristie spent barely a few seconds thinking about Shimmer, quickly pushing the noble mare to the back of her mind. This was certainly no time to be reminiscing about that poor old girl.

"Do you need any help? I know Tierno can be a bit of a crankypants, but he won't bat an eye at anything. Or if you wanna hold her and I just tap the whip against my boot, or whatever." She swung down from the sabino gelding, keeping one hand on her reins. "I don't have anything else to do tonight, so I'm happy to help. Want me to turn the floodlights on?" Cristie for one, preferred to ride in the dark, but dealing with a flighty, frightened horse, it might be smart to be able to read every 'word' of her body language.

The swede ran one hand through her hair, mussed from the quick ride, and looked over at the only slightly older woman, before offering the back of her hand to the filly. "Hey, gorgeous. Life goin' good?" Poor thing was probably going to have a bit of an upsetting night, but Cris certainly hoped she would eventually be able to get over her fear of whips. If she didn't, her racing career sure wouldn't last long. Out on the track, there would be whips flying in every direction, and even if one was never used on her, she would need to be able to keep her focus and not panic.

[Pixel]

Kilandria looked up at Cristie, watching her swing lightly down off the sabino gelding. She listened to the girl thank her for letting her keep the little gelding on the place. Kilandria shook her head. "It's no trouble at all. It would have been ridiculous to have you going off all the time to see him." She shrugged. "It's simpler for everyone to just have you here all the time" She laughed slightly. "That sounds so possessive, but you know what I meant" She flashed a grin that glinted, even in the dark of the fast-approaching evening. "Plus, I'm sure we'll find a use for the old boy" she said, eying the gelding. He might be good when she started taking some of the colts out on the trails to build stamina, good to pony off of...Provided he didn't kick anyone.

She laughed slightly as the girl commented on the gelding being a cranky pants. "Well, she doesn't know him very well, but just to have anyone else who's nice and calm about everything might be useful" she responded. She tipped her head to the side, reaching her hand out to the gelding even as Cristie reached over to Quincy. "You going to help us out tonight, boy?" she asked the little paint.

She glanced up at the lights that surrounded the track. "Umm, the floodlights might be useful. Just the ones over here, though. The ones on the backside don't need to come on" she said. "If you want me to take T I'll just give his rope a couple wraps around the fence and he can stand there and be all cool and chill for me, huh boy?" By the end of the sentence she was talking to the little paint, but she knew Cristie wouldn't mind. Anyone who was around horses for any length of time would understand that habit of talking to horses as if they could understand.

"And as far as helping. Um. I think it might be easiest to just have one person around, although it'd be great if you want to stick around and watch, you know, to bail me out if I try and get myself killed or anything." She grinned and reached over to take Tierno's reins. "You are a pretty good boy, huh, kiddo?" She asked the gelding pleasantly, giving his forehead a smooth rub before she started off to the oval. She slipped inside and did as she had said, giving Tierno's reins a couple wraps around the fence. She reached down and tugged her ridding crop further out of her boot before she began to walk away.

The filly snorted curiously at the object, but hardly reacted otherwise, not recognizing it from where it was within her boot. Kilandria led her away from Tierno a ways, into the middle of the track. She quietly rubbed the filly all over, even down her legs. As she crouched, running her hands down the filly's delicate limbs, she tugged out her crop, slipping it in her hand and continuing to rub the filly as if nothing had changed. She continued rubbing with the crop in her hand and the filly didn't even seem to notice. After a while, Kilandria let the crop begin to rub against the filly with her hand. Suddenly nervous the filly lifted her head and pranced away from Kilandria's touch. "Shh, easy now, friend" the young woman murmured. "Steady now" The filly was having none of it and now she was rearing, the rope slipping through Kilandria's hands. Quincy spun and ripped off down the track, the lead rope flying. Kilandria watched the horse fly away into the night, her hands perched on her hips. She glanced over at Cristie and laughed slightly. "Wanna go play wrangler?" she asked with a slight laugh. That definitely hadn't gone as well as Kili might have hoped...

[Cristie Stjerna]

{This sucks, sorry. =(}

Cris grinned a laughed along with her new boss. She liked Kilandria, with her happy-go-lucky manner and ease with other people. A use for cranky Tierno? He may be a party pooper, but the gelding was no slacker when he came to work. He'd take any job he was given with the seriousness of a pro, even if it was just being babysitter or a lead-pony. As if to remark at the audacity of the idea that he wouldn't be indespensably useful, the sabino snorted, tossing his messy forelock. As the brunette extended her hand to him, he sniffed it, nudged it once, then showed no further interest, watching the filly and the two humans with an all-suffering patience.

"Yeah, no problem, I'll go switch 'em on." Cris nodded, letting Kilandria take the gelding's reins. She knew he'd behave for her. The gelding respected people who knew what they were doing, even if he didn't always like them. She, meanwhile, hurried over to the box by the gate of the training ring and flipped open the front. She squinted in the darkness, then flicked one of the switches. With a loud click, the floodlights on the front stretch of the burned into action, bathing the track in white light. She leaned against the fence near her horse, watching her employer try to associate the whip with happy, friendly actions.

Dawn Runner, however, was not to be fooled. She began to act up quickly, and Cris watched, not particularly surprised, as the young horse broke away. After all, she weighed some 900 pounds or so. That's a lot of weight for a tiny woman to hold on a delicate rope. With a grin, she rolled her shoulders. "I think she's got other things in mind tonight." Giggling, she regarded Kilandria. "Don't joke to me about wrangling, because I'll do it." Cris grinned. "Come on, I'm the little girl who ran around on her pony chasing sheep."

She wasn't kidding, either. Chasing the mare around on foot would take all night. She moved towards her little gelding and saw a lunge line hanging by the gate. Just in case, she picked it up. She wasn't an awesome roper and the lunge wasn't an ideal rope, but she could always just slip it over the mare's head if she had to. Unwrapping Tierno's reins and hopping aboard, she rode him back on to the track, closing the gate behind her. "All right, I'll do my best not to scare her any more than she is." The blonde squinted. She could just see the mare, moving at a nervous trot around the other end of the oval.

She turned Tierno in the opposite direction of the filly to meet her head on. That way, she wouldn't feel like she was being chased. Besides, she and Tierno had never met before. Hopefully she'd be curious about the gelding and come say hello. Then, it'd just be a matter of grasping her lead rope or flipping the lunge over her head. At that thought, while Tierno was jogging calmly around the curve of the track, Cris made a loop out of the soft cotton lunge and held it on her lap at the ready.

A snort. Cris eased Tierno to a walk. Dawn Runner had stopped, watching them, head high, nostrils flaring to catch the gelding's scent. "Hey girly. Did that whip scare you? Honey, it's just a bit of stick, you could trample it to pieces if you wanted to." Speaking soothingly to the filly, she allowed the gelding to walk steadily closer. Soon they were about a horse length from the young thoroughbred. "Wanna come meet Tierno, babe? He's not really as grouchy as everyone says. I promise he won't nip." She drew the gelding to a halt, watching as the filly extended her neck and risked a couple steps closer. Her lead rope was dangling from her halter, trailing on the ground. Could she bend down to reach it?

Tierno nudged the filly's face, first her nose, then cheek. Those first few breaths that horses always exchange were blowy and tentative. That moment where horses could make friends, or squeal and strike out with a hoof. Tierno continued to sniff the filly, moving to her cheek, then her neck. Yes! If he continued to her shoulder, like most horses do, and she obliged, then it would be easy peasy to just wrap her hands around the lead rope. Her gelding took another step, muzzle nosing at the filly's withers. All right, her horse was officially a superstar. Smoothly, slowly, Cris leaned down, rubbing the filly's nose with the backs of her fingers and then reaching under her chin to grasp the rope.

{ooc: If Dawn Runner flips out and doesn't let herself be caught, just ignore the rest of the post.}

"Good girl." She soothed, straightening up and wrapping the lead rope a couple times around the saddle horn, just to be safe. She hadn't needed the makeshift lunge lasso after all. "Good for you too, buddy." She praised her gelding, who flicked his ears back. Yeah, yeah, it was nothing. Turning the horse and giving a gentle pull on the lead rope to get Dawn Runner following before Tierno's moving weight tugged her forward sharply, Cris moved off at a walk, nudging the horse into a brisk jog as soon as the filly was moving nicely beside her.

Riding back up to Kilandria, she grinned, unwrapping the lead rope and offering it to her superior. "For a runaway she's pretty sweet." She joked, dismounting and moving her horse far out of the way, to the edge of the oval, and waiting with him at the rail. "Does she get scared when it's used on other horses, or if she even just sees it? Or is it only when it touches her?"

[Pixel]

Kilandria watched the young woman swing lightly into the Western saddle, making a slight face. She wasn't a Western person herself, but she knew it had it's uses. She laughed when Cristie made the comment about herding sheep, watching the blond ride off with confidence. She certainly knew her way around the horse.

She breathed a relieved sigh when Quincy did nothing more than toss her head at Cristie's initial reach for her rope, and then she followed along behind. She ought to have been used to that. She had done nothing without a pace horse the entire time she had been here. Not to say that that was a particularly long time, but, you know, still.

She quietly walked over to the filly and took her lead rope. She reached up to stroke the little gray's face soothingly. "Take it easy precious, hmm?" She murmured, brushing Quincy's forelock aside.

"Does she get scared when it's used on other horses, or if she even just sees it? Or is it only when it touches her?" Kilandria shook her head slightly. "From the way she spooked with that rider yesterday, I'm thinking it's anytime she sees one, including on another horse. It wouldn't be much of a problem if it was just that she didn't like it touching her. In close quarters sometimes it can happen, but when she can't even look at them, she'll never stand a race. She'll just fall apart." Kilandria was shaking her head, considering her options. "What am I going to do with you, hmm my girl?" Kilandria asked softly. Quincy whuffled her lips softly, blowing Kili's still damp hair away from her face. The young woman laughed slightly. "Well, it's lovely to hear that, but it still doesn't answer my question" she informed the horse, as if she could understand.

She clucked her tongue lightly. "What to do, what to do" she said thoughtfully. She cast a sideways glance at Cristie. "Any suggestions?" she asked curiously. She wasn't really sure what to do with the filly. For the most part, they had only had their own horses, so she had never worked with one who was whip shy. Or at least, not to the extent that Dawn Runner was. Kilandria nibbled her lip slightly. "We might just trot around and have you hold it at your side?" she suggested. She had always felt more in control in the saddle, for whatever reason, and movement seemed to help horses settle, to. Whenever you got a horse out of a trailer at a strange place, you walked around with it until it quieted down a bit. Maybe there was some connection from hooves to brain, but it was sounding like their best option at the moment...Well, Kilandria couldn't come up with anything better, at any rate.

{OOC: Ugh. Sorry. This isn't very good...}

[Cristie Stjerna]

Cristie stood at Tierno's shoulder, thinking carefully as she listened to Kilandria's words. "All I can think of is to just make the whip start to mean nothing to her." She thought back carefully to the things her father had done when horses were actually scared of something. Not being difficult, or just wary, but terrified. "What if we give her the option to run away? Obviously that's what she does best, and it's her main defense method..."

She tilted her head slightly, as she often did when thinking. "Tonight, if we got her tacked up and tried your idea, it's a good start, but if we're thinking long term... What if we put her in the indoor ring and let her loose. Probably after she's been worked, so she's tired. Say tomorrow morning after the morning gallops. Then we could just start by holding the whip and stroking her, and then trying to stroke her with the whip like you did tonight. Except when it got to be too much, she'd have the option of running away."

In her mind, it made sense. The horse would be more willing to return to the centre of the ring with them if she was allowed to leave at any time. It would be easier going if they were moving at her pace, and giving her the option to run away meant no fighting. If she learned that a whip on the ground meant no harm, then they could progress using Tierno as a lead pony, riding alongside her. They could progress until she was comfortable with whips flying about while she was running in a pack. It could take time, and she doubted they would ever be able to smack her with a whip without ensuing consequences, but judging by the filly's lightning quick speed, it probably wouldn't ever be necessary either.

Absently, she scratched her gelding's withers. "That might work in the long run, but as for tonight... want me to run and get her tack?" Even if they had meters between them and the whip was on the side farthest from the filly, it could be a start.

[Pixel]

Kilandria nodded thoughtfully as Cristie made her suggestions, nibbling lightly on her thumbnail. "It might work" she said thoughtfully, in response to Cristie's idea about the letting her run thing. "I'd have to get her to join up, first, though, or we'd never get a thing done."

Inwardly, she smiled a bit when Cristie offered to go get Quincy's tack. "Naw, that's alright" she replied, and laughed slightly. "Call me crazy, but I prefer bareback anyway" she responded. She shook her head a bit as she looped Quincy's lead rope over her neck, stepped by the filly's shoulder, gave her a rub, and swung nimbly aboard.

Some probably did call her crazy. After all, she was piling onto a green broke, high strung Thoroughbred filly in nothing but a halter. But bareback wasn't any harder than riding in a racing saddle. There was nothing to the racing saddles, anyway, so why not just ride bareback? It made sense in Kilandria's mind, anyway.

"Oh, I tossed the crop down over there. Want to grab it? Kilandria asked. Quincy was snorting and prancing nervously beneath her, her stabled, night time calm completely lost now. And she was on the track. Shouldn't she have been running? Kilandria kept a tight hold on the gray's "reins," not really wanting to try and deal with a runaway. Wouldn't that be just fantastic? she thought sarcastically. Get herself piled in front of her newest staff member. The girl had hardly been there a week! And doing something most would consider foolish to boot. She knew that everyone fell off once in a while. It was part of riding. Still, it was especially hard on Kilandria's pride to get piled. She glanced over at Cristie, seeing if the other young woman was ready.

[Cristie Stjerna]

Cris nodded. Join-up, she knew, was a great way of bonding with a horse. She didn't see it absolutely necessary, but if it helped Kilandria, then all the better for her. Besides, it might be useful with Quincy.

Nodding, Cris took a few long strides and stooped to pick up the whip, keeping it more or less out of the filly's range of view so as not to startle her. She kept it in her far hand as she returned to Tierno's side and swung quickly into the saddle. She would have taken it off if she'd had the time, but didn't want to make Kili wait. Grinning, she headed the sabino gelding towards them at a sedate walk. "You're crazy." She joked, the whip still in her far hand, invisible behind the gelding's body. Slowly, she raised it so that it rested across her thigh. The filly would be able to see it there if she was watching closely, so Cristie kept her hands and body still so that the whip wouldn't jiggle around.

"Want to start at a nice slow trot?" She offered, nudging her horse forward into a gentle jog. It was true that horses tended to work better when moving. It gave them something else to focus on besides their numbing terror. A trot was a calming pace, in any case. It wasn't slow enough to frustrate them and cause them to pull, but it wasn't a panicky, full out run. "Good job, Quincy girl." She soothed, still keeping the whip low, not moving it, and making sure to keep several yards between herself and Kilandria's mount. "Just tell me if you want me to start moving it or switch sides so it's closer to her."

{LAME. =( Sorry!}