\now i'm free, free falling/ [KYLER]

[Cristie Stjerna]

Cristie, dressed in her comfortable dark grey breeches and wearing a light jacket over top of a simple blue t-shirt, and of course her plain black helmet, arrived at the track a little early. She'd left Vimy in the apartment. She'd never brought her to the track during the morning exercising, and wasn't sure if she'd be welcome. She doubted Vimy would do anything to cause a disruption, but she might get in the way and Cristie couldn't control her easily if she was on the other side of the track, focusing on a rowdy thoroughbred.

She headed up to Mr. Waters, who tended to give her her mounts for the morning. "Morning!" She greeted him enthusiastically. "Hey, Cristie, I want you to start out with Harley this morning. She's fit as an ox right now so we wanna keep it like that. Trot one circuit, gallop for half, and breeze her for three furlongs. If you feel like she's got more in the tank though, go for it. She's getting good at keeping up a quick pace for longer distances. Jeff's got her over there."

Great. Cris smiled. Harley was probably her favourite of the young horses. Turning, she walked over to the middle-aged groom who held the chestnut's reins. The filly had the most adorable splashed legs, and her spunky temperament made her all the more likable. "Hey girl." She scratched the filly's withers once before Jeff gave her a boost up into the practically non-existant saddle. Cris toed her boots into the short stirrups. Harley had certainly had a good sleep and a nice helping of oats before, evidently. She pranced in high spirits, dashing sideways. Holding her back, Cris knew, would be a bad idea. The filly wanted to run. Gently, she gave a little on the reins, which was enough to send the young thoroughbred plunging into a choppy canter.

Murmuring softly, she brought Harley back to a trot, getting a disgruntled snort in return from the youngster. Gradually though, the chestnut settled, even offering Cristie a little flexion, tucking her chin down towards her chest, making any contact with the bit light and springy. After they had made a full circuit, Cristie sat, letting the horse pull away into a quick canter and crouching over her withers after just a few strides, sending Harley into an easy, controlled gallop.

After the half circuit, Cris checked over her should and steered the filly into the centre of the track. "C'mon girl! Gogo!" The filly snorted, surging forward with surprising strength, but from experience, Cris knew she wasn't giving it her all. She nudged the chestnut with her heels, pushing her forward a couple notches faster. She felt the filly beneath her skip a stride, switching to a favourable lead, and suddenly bolt forward even more quickly. She glanced up. Tom, one of the other exercise riders, was breezing Jett fifty yards ahead. Cris grinned, impressed by the filly's determination and competitive spirit. She was smaller and a few months younger than Jett, not to mention that fillies are generally slower than colts in any case. Grunting, the young horse was giving it her all, and to Cristie's delight, they were gaining on the black colt. Each stride drew them closer. They passed the three-furlong mark but Harley was clearly focused on her girl and Cristie had no intention of stopping her.

They were drawing closer to Jett. Harley's muzzle was in line with his tail, his rump, then Tom's knee. Cristie was prepared to let the filly slow down once they drew alongside since the filly seemed to be tiring. They drew up next to the colt and Cris grinned triumphantly, beginning to squeeze the reins to slow the filly. To her surprise, Harley defiantly pushed one last time, getting herself a nose ahead of Jett, seemingly just to prove that she could. Then she dropped back into a canter so quickly Cris lost her balance for a moment, grinning. She dropped Harley back to a trot, heading her around the track once more before letting her walk the last two furlongs to Mr. Waters. He had a broad smile on his face. "Great job. Looks like you're gonna do well for us, huh Harley? Thanks Cris, take her to one of the grooms and come back, you've got Sky next."

Flushing with the praise, Cristie dismounted, rubbing the sweaty filly's neck. Harley was still catching her breath, but was recovering quickly. She peered about for a nearby groom. They were all busy with other horses or tasks, so she walked the chestnut in a small circle to keep her moving, keeping an eye out for a free groom.

[Pixel]

Kyler followed Cristie out the door not long after she had left and made his way down to the barn. The two stallions greeted him with such excitement that he had to laugh a bit. "Crazy boys" he told them. "I'm really not that great" he said with a shake of his head, amused, for whatever reason.

The morning routine was simple. Both the stallions had a pretty basic schedule that wasn't terribly hard to keep. Kyler figured he could get the stallions fed and then head up to the training oval and see Cristie at work.

It didn't take long to get the stallion's fed and Kyler made his way up to the track, his hands deep in the pockets of his jeans. It wasn't a long walk, but it was uphill, and Kyler wasn't in any particular hurry. He knew Cristie would be there by the time he actually got there. Workouts lasted until well into the morning. He had plenty of time.

When he finally did make it up to the oval, Cristie was standing with a pretty little chestnut filly in tow. She seemed to be glancing around. Kyler wandered up behind her with a smirk on his lips. "Already pining for me?" he asked with a grin, poking her sides gently as he stood behind her. His eyes of course turned to the filly next. Had it been anyone but Cristie, he would have been sizing the horse up first. "She's pretty" he said matter of factly, offering the filly his hand to sniff before stroking her nose gently.

"You waiting for something?" he asked curiously.

((OOC: Meh. Sorry. This is awful.))

[Cristie Stjerna]

"Already pining for me?" Cris heard his voice moments before she felt his gentle prodding against her sides. She turned around with a grin already on her face, giving him a warm hug. Behind her, Harley complained with a toss of her head and a step away from the rustling jackets. Cris grinned, taking a step back from Kyler and giving the mare a pat on her shoulder. "Yeah, she's a looker. Good thing you're too fast for those boys to catch you on the track, huh girl?" She murmured affectionately, running her finger's through the red-chestnut's forelock.

"I just finished with her actually..." Cristie felt that familiar discomfort. It was the one part of her job she hated. When she was done with a horse she needed to hand its reins over to a groom and hop on the next one. Even if she chatted with the grooms for a couple minutes before, and thanked them profusely, she still felt demeaning when she did it. Not to mention the fact that she would have liked to cool the horses off and groom them herself. "I've got Sky next and I don't have time to take her down to her stall and cool her off." She confessed, watching as another one of the grooms led a bouncing Sky towards the oval. The big black colt looked full of beans and not particularly pleased at being contained. She really had to get to him as quickly as possible.

Fidgeting for a moment, she looked up at him imploringly. "Do you think you could take her for me?" Harley looked as though this was the most boring conversation she had ever heard. Snorting loudly, she tugged the reins, shuffling closer to Kyler as though she knew the routine and was fed up with the nonsense. She was looking forward to breakfast and a nice long morning in the paddocks with the other fillies, clearly.

{ooc: Sorry this is awful but once I assumed Kyler would take her it didn't leave much room to elaborate on anything else. Her next rides will finish up quickly and they can move on to something else. =D}

[Pixel]

He gazed down at her, pretending to frown at that adorable little imploring expression on her face. He lost his composure and laughed. "Of course" he said with a slight shake of his head, leaning down to kiss the top of her head before reaching over to take Harley's reins. He gently tugged the filly forward. He stroked her over the ears and down her neck, letting her get accustomed to him, even though she was used to lots of different people.

He started walking her around in little circles, watching Cristie march off to the prancing black colt that awaited her for his workout. He watched with admiration as she swung easily into the saddle and nudged the colt out onto the track. He had to say that she was one of the better riders he'd seen. He loved the way she handled her horses, quietly instead of trying to muscle them around. He hated when people did that. His father had been one of those "Show 'em who's boss" sorts, and he had hated it, had cringed every time a whip and touched an unsuspecting horse's rump.

He glanced up as a harried-looking groom came hurrying over, taking the filly's reins before hurrying off again. Kyler smiled in mild amusement. Poor thing. He looked stressed. Too much to do, apparently. He wandered over to the rail and rested his arms on the top, scanning the track until his eyes landed on the black colt. It was hard to recognize Cristie beneath all her gear, but once he spotted her, there was no mistaking who she was. A smile touched his features, softening his really ra ther hard face.

Gone was that sweet, innocent, boy-ish look that he'd worn way back at New Moon. He'd seen a lot since then, a lot more in the scant year than one might expect. Life hadn't been good to him, but things were certainly looking up. His smile broadened slightly.

[Cristie Stjerna]

Flashing Kyler a bright smile, she quickly hurried away, yelling a thank you over her shoulder and quickly getting a boost up on to the big colt. When Sky thought he hadn't had enough exercise, he could get fussy and become a bit of a handful, but most of the time, he reminded her of a big, excited puppy. Eager and sweet (and with a bit of a tendency to drool, to be honest), he was always a fun ride and ran his heart out.

With instructions from Mr. Waters, she began Sky's workout. He gave one or two excited bucks and took short, choppy strides, the kind that threatened he was only on the very brink of control. Quickly, though, Cris began to talk him down, giving him a little rein to let him move more freely, bit playing with the bit to get him to calm down and loosen up his spine. Quickly he became more supple and bent to her tough, but she could feel he was still waiting for the word to run.

They continued the workout and she began to breeze him, right behind another rider on one of the other youngsters, she wasn't watching who, just focusing on her ride. Sky was performing beautifully. He had an unbelievably massive stride and Cris got the feeling this might be one of his best runs yet.

In fact, she was feeling absolutely higher than heaven, charging along on this amazing animal, cutting through the air like a knife. They were going like a bullet. They sped past the colt ahead. Out of corner of her eye, Cris noted the smooth grey coat of Stormy. Up ahead was the muscly bay rump of Arrow. She felt Sky pause for a second, almost like a car, then surge forward in a higher gear, speeding after the bay's fluttering tail.

Then something went wrong. Everything was far too fast for Cristie to comprehend. Her eyes knew what happened but her brain couldn't keep up. There was a sudden click and a strange object came hurtling towards them. Cris didn't recognize it as a small rock until it clocked Sky above one eye and he flung his head up. Far to quickly for her to even attempt to correct the situation, the colt was staggering sideways, but he was going far to quickly to accomodate for this manoeuvre. In a tangle of limbs and reins, Cris noticed the ground was getting very close very quickly.

She felt a dull, crushing impact. Hot, sleek fur touched her face and she felt an incredible pressure on her head and chest, hearing a rather distinctive crunch. Vaguely she realised that she and Sky had switched places. She was aware that the horse was rolling on top of her, pressing her body into the ground, her lips into her teeth. She could taste blood.

Suddenly Sky was gone. She couldn't see him, couldn't know that the colt, flung by his own momentum, had rolled back on to his stomach. Rather dazed, he paused for a moment, flinging his head up and forelimbs out in front of him, scrambling to his hooves with some difficulty.

With an impossibly sharp jerk, Cris found herself yanked to the side, feeling every vertebra in her spine click with the sudden displacement. She was hoisted upside down, her arms trailing against the dirt of the track. She was extremely aware that she was in a dangerous position, but calmly she awaited the colt to start running. Cris was in a state of shock. It seemed entirely natural to her that there was nothing she could do about her fate now. She was going to be dragged to death by a thoroughbred now.

Sky of course, was confused. What had just happened? He had gotten an awful knock to the head and a nasty fall that had disoriented him. His rider was gone and a terrifying object was hanging from his back. Sky's primitive instincts took over, informing him that a cougar had leapt on to his back and was trying to kill him. He squealed with terror, tearing off away from the predator and bucking madly, ignoring a searing pain in two of his legs.

Ow. That's all Cris was really thinking as she was flung about like a ragdoll as the thoroughbred picked up speed again. One of his bucks, she couldn't possibly say which one, finally dislodged her ankle from the stirrup. She was aware of being in the air for what seemed like a very long time but which was, in reality, only a fraction of a second. The ground came back again, and her body lay twisted where it fell. Cris had a lovely close-up of the smooth dirt of the track. The last thing she remembered was that it was the exact same smooth brown as her first pony. Then things went very, very dark.

{ooc: -cackle- I thought this would be just your cup of tyrannical tea! >D Sky can probably get away with a pulled tendon and a sprained fetlock. Cris I'm thinking cracked ribs, broken collarbone, hyperextended knee? I'm loving how tragic we make their lives. x3}

[Pixel]

(OOC: So. I'm thinking a quickie little reply here and then a new thread at the hospital. tehe)

Kyler watched with a slight smile as Cristie flew along the track on the back of the big lanky Thoroughbred colt. It was good to see her looking happy. And she was. She was completely in her element here. IT was good to see her that way, although Kyler couldn't help feeling a slight twinge. When would he find his place in life? He was pretty sure he knew it, part of it, anyway. To be with Cris, to do whatever she needed him to do. But what about for him?

He frowned as he saw the colt skitter to the side, too fast for comfort and then..."Oh, God" he whispered as the colt went down. It all happened in painfully slow motion, but he stood, rooted to the spot, feeling bile rise in his throat. "Oh, God" he mumbled again, a strangled, choking sound.

And then he was ducking under the rail, flying along, watching in horror as the colt bucked and Cristie's ankle finally came free of the stirrup. The damn stirrup, he thought to himself, feeling tears blur in his vision.

He knelt over her, careful not to touch her, in case something was broken. "Oh, God, oh God," he whispered, almost a prayer, although he wasn't really a religious person. He was vaguely aware of someone yelling to call an ambulance...No, he thought rebelliously to himself. He couldn't possibly lose her, no after he'd only just found her again...