Hoofbeats | Open

[SPOTLESS ™]

[Fill it up on broken worn out dreams]

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Hoof beats echoed down the path, their rhythm steady, a serene gait that carried the large chestnut easily down the path. His muscles gleamed slightly in the evening sunshine, and the sheer coppery color of his coat was amazing. His ears were twitting every which way, his eyes dark and alert. A bird moving up from the bushes with a slight rustling spooked him, and for a moment the steady rhythm of the gelding's gait was interrupted, replaced by the sound of a spook on dry leaves. The air was brisk, a hint of fall hanging lightly in it. This filled the chestnut with an irresistible urge to run, and the cold weather was invigorating, however well schooled he may be. This young gelding was Oden, and atop his back sat a slightly unnerved looking rider. Her hands were pulling back and fourth, back and fourth, gently on the reins, a slow swinging motion. Oden mouthed the bit, the satisfying sound of his teeth on the metal calming to his rider. Once again, Oden's hoof beats were calm, as he picked his way through the path with the delicacy of one much smaller than himself.

Now, this rider briefly mentioned before happened to be blonde pony tailed Jack Feldman, her pale brows knitted beneath the rim of her GPA. This expression was mostly owed to the fact that she was very much out of place, outside the comfort of the arena. Oden was not a trail horse, and as Jack thought this, glancing down at the gelding's enormous withers, she wondered why she had even brought him out on this trail of unknowns. Again, her hands moved back and forth, and Oden softened, his head lowering. He let out a heavy sigh, and the two visibly relaxed, which included Jack's white knuckles darkening back to her natural skin tone. Oden's ears flickered back towards the girl, and for just a moment, Oden was completely focused on his rider. But then, movement in the bushes nearby led Oden's attention astray, and it took a light tap with a crop for his ears, and in turn his attention, to return to their position slightly cocked back towards her.

Jack Feldman was clad in navy britches that hugged her thin legs tightly. Half chaps interupted the smooth line of the pant leg and beneath them scarred black barn boots were barely visible. They were scuffed, painted and the sole had actually come apart from the boot, but Jack would not let them go. On her upper half was a T-shirt, a light green polo shirt with a thin fleece vest covering most of it. The look was actually most, well, for lack of a better word, girly, in Jack's book. Even the breeches were an inordinate appearance, and Jack greatly preffered to ride in jeans and half chaps. Light blond hair was tucked into her helmet, a couple strands escaping and blowing about her attentive blue eyes. Her expression was eased slightly, but there was obviously tension in the deep tan lines of her face.

The trail opened up then, and Jack gave Oden a squeeze. With a toss of his head, the steady beat of his gait changed, and he trotted willingly. Jack grinned, and eased his head downward, until he rounded his back and brought his hindquarters beneath him. The obvious change in the easiness of the posting was immediate. He was less strung out, and his correct movement allowed him to push onward, powering himself forward with strong hind legs. His crest gleamed, short mane bouncing off it like little copper colored strands of yarn. His tail was held out, and it fanned behind him. It was only moved from this position briefly to swat at the flies that barely touched his flank before he rippled his skin. So, with this lovely trot going, Jack wondered whether this day would amount to anything more than a nice ride with the gelding. Either way, so far, she was happy. [/size]

[♥ sunshineKISSESx ™]

[[take me away]]

The young bay mare danced unhappily on the uneven terrain. Her small hooves stepped uncertainly on the thriving green vegetation beneath her. Jumping at her own shadow every time the evening sun flickered through the tree’s overhead, she, by a first glance, seemed to be a very flightily horse. This mare, who was lathered in a dark sweat from all her fidgeting, was called by the name of Cheeky, a young pony who was being broken in by the rider above. Even though she was very flightily, the rider sitting on top of her didn’t seem worried at all. In fact, she seem as though she was in a different world. It wasn’t as though she wasn’t concentrating on what she was doing, it came pretty naturally, but she had many other things on her mind. This was her last ride of the day, and usually she took one of her own horses out on the trail for a bit of a relaxing time. But today, the young pony she was riding needed worked, and the owners she was breaking her in for wouldn’t be very happy if they found out she hadn’t been ridden.

The blonde rider on top wasn’t an old rider; actually, she wasn’t even seventeen yet. That is probably why with her slight figure, and pronoun riding skills, she was asked to ride Cheeky. Lilly had been riding since before she could walk, and it was her all time favourite thing to do. If she was ever not at her dorm, her close friends knew they could find her out at the stable. Known as her second home to her, she had slept out at the stable before. That was back when Argon has been sick,, she tended to try not and think about that. Argon had been her young gelding, she had had since he was born, and orphaned as a foal. It hadn’t been an easy trip for either of them, but he had helped her through an extremely rough patch in her life just before she had moved to Lakeland. His sudden illness had come as a shock to many at the stable, and to this day, nobody knows why the stunning black beauty died. Letting go of the reins for a quick second, Lilly moved a hand up to her sparkling blue eye, which was brimming with tears. Some might say Argon was only a horse, but, he had been much more to her.

The young girls hand captured the reins once more, and, even though her vision was still slightly blurred, she squeezed the young mare into a trot. Cheeky was happy to oblige, she wasn’t one for standing around. Jittering slightly at birds flying from bushes beside, the rider sat naturally, as though nothing had happened. People had always commented on how Lilly has a lovely deep seat, and, it helped her quite often in riding horses like Cheeky. One of her first ponies, when she was younger, had taught her this, as he was also known as the bucking machine. Her hands squeezed slightly, moving slowly. Not to halt the pony, but to bring her head down. After she chomped the bit a bit more, the mare listened to the rider on top, and brought her head down. Lilly smiled. She had taught the bay this, and it always felt good when you taught someone something, and they listened.

A pair of beige jodhpurs clung miserably to Lilly’s stick thin legs. Although a bit on the big side, these were worn often when riding out at the barn. Brown half chaps followed down her legs, and a pair of short Jodhpur boots, scuffed all around the front, not to mention half broken, sat comfortably on her feet. These boots were her most commonly worn shoes, worn around the stable, when she was ridden, pretty much everywhere that had to do with horses, that wasn’t showing. A loose white slogan tee with ‘Bad Hair Day’ printed in bright orange writing sat on her top half, and the now cooling air began to bite at her arms. Lilly shivered slightly in the breeze.

A grassy area opened up, and Lilly gave Cheeky head, stopped posting to her trot, and gave her a slight squeeze. That’s all the bay needed. She set off into a deep, rocking canter. The wind began to blow harder as she got faster, and Lilly smiled as she felt her long blonde hair flying out behind her. Cheeky gave a small buck of enjoyment, and Lilly scolded her by slowing the small mare down. Cheeky protested, the gleam of the sweat darkened her body, her muscles rippled, she wanted to go. But, Lilly didn’t know what was beyond the corner. Giving in to her own wants of a gallop, she raised herself into a two point and urged the mare on. Cheeky snorted in happiness, and all thoughts left Lilly’s mind as the mare strode out. Both were enjoying themselves immensely, so when a chestnut appeared on the horizon, Lilly was extremely surprised. Cheeky had spotted him to, and wanted to catch up. But Lilly sat back, and as quickly as she could, slowed the mare. Kicking herself mentally as she was still approaching the horse at some speed, she tried to get the mare slowed down quicker. Hoping she didn’t spook the horse or rider, Lilly finally slowed the mare down. Waiting for the rider to turn or do something similar, Lilly watched, face apologetic, as her small mount come closer to the big chestnut.

[SPOTLESS ™]

[I got my old guitar and a brand new set of strings]

Jack could hear the soft thuds of muffled hoof beats against the field coming up, and she furrowed her brow asking for Oden's head with each tentative step. It was rude to be galloping toward a corner without knowing what other occupant may lie ahead. Though she could definitely be accused of doing the same thing a few times, so she kept quiet, keeping Oden steady despite the fact that he was now pumping his head up and down. "Don't buck," she growled in a low voice, but she was grinning. He began to rock forward and she pulled his head up, sending him into a brisk trot. Jack had hoped that she would meet no one else, as she did not know how the young gelding's behavior would be if she did, but now she was rather excited at the prospect of meeting another, perhaps with the same idea in mind as her. To get out of the arena, despite the fact that their horse was a less than satisfactory trail mount. Oden, for the most part, just wanted to run. And occasionally she let him, but here was not the time.

So with a grimace, she clucked and scent him forward into a brisk trot. Leaves crunched below his feet, and memories clouded Jack's head for a moment, as they always did the first trail ride of the fall. The brisk air seemed to push by her with brutal force, even at the steady beat they now moved to. She refused to be distracted by the sounds coming from up ahead, and once more moved her hands back and forth, watching him soften. Jack felt his back round, and all other thoughts disappeared. The fact that he was willing to bring his hind quarters underneath himself at a time like this, and not just be staring all over the place, almost made Jack sure that bringing him out was the right thing to do. He couldn't do a whole lot if his entire attention was focused on her. She sighed lightly, unable to keep a rather content grin off of her face. She was sincerely pleased with his progress. He was no longer the abused 3 year old she'd purchased a year ago, on his way to slaughter.

In this slight diversion into her own head, Jack had realized the a little bay had approached. This must've been the horse she'd heard earlier, and half minded to tell her rider off, she opened her mouth to speak. Upon seeing the heavily apologetic look on her face, she changed her mind and shut it abruptly. However, it would be just as rude to say nothing at all, simply walking by with an imperial look on her face. No, no, this would not do. So after a couple minutes of a silent argument, all taken place inside the walls of Jack's head, she spoke. "Nice day out, eh?" The weather. Groundbreaking. Jack shrugged inwardly, fingering Oden's wispy mane in chilled fingers. She'd forgotten gloves today, and her fingers were practically frozen onto the reins. Unfortunate as this was, she unstuck them, and grinned sheepishly. More at her bad people skills then anything. Wasn't there something better to talk about than the weather? Haha, of course. But the weather was a fine thing to chat about. How nice, or otherwise it was out. How gorgeous the... er... grayish sky is out today. Such interesting things like that. Yes, yes, how lovely.

[ohohsee: no muse =/]

[♥ sunshineKISSESx ™]

[[We were born for this]]

Lilly hated being in silence, but she could never start a conversation. She always seemed to stumble, or the words just got lost on the way out, even if she had planned what she was going to say. But after she was chatting away to the person, it come naturally. Sometimes known as a motor mouth for how much she talked, some people were happy to keep Lilly quiet for a while. Cheeky jittered in the calm hands of Lilly, and in the silent moment as she come up beside the blonde on the chestnut, she let one of her hands off her reins and lightly ran her crop over her half chap. As the blonde rider spoke, Lilly glanced up, biting her lip as she finally come up beside the rider. Returning her gloved hand to the rein, she wraped it carefully round, and averted her gaze to the sky, which was a deep shade of grey, before returning it to the rider.

”Ah, yes, well better than most at this time of year..”

She replied, a smile lighting up her pretty features. It was part of her sense of humor kicking in, but the other girl might not be the one to get that, as of yet. Taking in the face of the girl beside her, she tried to put a name to a face. But she didn’t believe she had seen this girl before, and even if she had, she didn’t know the name of her, or anything about her. At this moment as Lilly’s mind was full of thought of the rider sitting beside her, she forgot of the mount below. As her grip must of loosened on the reins, the young Cheeky decided it was time for a bucking fest. As she felt the mares back arching beneath her, it was to late and the silly pony almost had her off. Bent over, face touching the ebony black mane, she herself back bolt upright, and pulled the bay’s head up. Sitting to a few more bucks, she felt her face brighten slightly as she bought the young mare under control. After a few stern words, she turned to the girl beside her, and laughed.

”Well now you’ve seen my crap riding skills, I should probably introduce myself.”

She said, pausing slightly in-between as she slowly bought the mares head down, to keep her mind on the job. That was something that Lilly was bad for, in her own way, she could never keep her mind on the job at hand.

”I’m Lilly. And this little devil is Cheeky.”

She said, smiling. Lilly was definitely a people person, and she loved chatting to people who had similar interests to herself. And it looked as though this girl did.

[[ ahhm sorry not such a good post. =( ]][/size]

[SPOTLESS ™]

[you said I wouldn't get to far with a tank of gas and an empty heart]

Jack had to agree with the other girls first comment. As winter approached and the weather threatened snow, it was rare the air was actually this warm. She sighed, tucking a piece of hair back into her helmet, and gazing at the foliage around her. The very last trees to drop their leaves were doing so, and the entire field was covered in a light layer of mist this early in the morning. Frost soaked the graying blades of grass, and the trees, mostly stripped down to their bear wooden limbs, we're not so forlorn in the golden light that shown through spots in the clouds. Perhaps it would finally snow that day. Jack loved snow. Although the winter seemed to be coming early, snow would be lovely. But now she was distracted again, and was startled out of her snowy thoughts when the little bay just beside her put down his head and bucked pointedly. And again. Jack couldn't help laughing. The rider atop her back was having no trouble sitting to the bucks, so it was no particular danger. She smiled.

"No, no. Those little devil ponies. That's why I've got this guy,"

[/b] she said reaching downward to pat Oden's neck. He promptly threw his head down, and started snatching grass. With a sound deep in her throat, Jack pulled his head up, looking sheepishly away. Well, this was awkward. Oden wasn't really misbehaving as far as she was concerned, but oh, what a brilliant time to decide to put his head down and begin feasting on the precious browning stalks of grass layered with frost droplets. Oden stamped his foot impatiently, and with a small smile Jack sighed gently, scratching his withers. Both horses wanted to get moving, this much was apparent. The large chestnut's muscles quivered slightly under his glowing copper coat, and he pumped his head up and down, wispy mane flying. Jack grinned at the other girl's next comment, and upon learning the name of her and her less than well behaved mount, she decided it was high time to introduce herself as well.

"Hello Lily, I'm Jack. This is Oden. And I don't know about you, but I think that both Oden and Cheeky are eager to do a tad bit more running." Jack grinned, blue eyes sparkling. Oden pranced slightly, mouthing the bit, and switching his ears back and forth. "Patience is a virtue," she muttered to Oden, as she gently massaged his mouth again with the bit, and he steadied himself slightly. She gazed over the field before her eyes. It wasn't very muddy, and the footing was relatively stable. Oden was surely less than sure footed, but he'd been on trail rides before, and had been just fine. Jack decided to make more conversation. "So, what brings you here so early in the morning?" she asked cheerfully.

[ohohsee: ahhh... come back my muse, come back!]
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[♥ sunshineKISSESx ™]

[Nothing compares to a quiet evening alone]
[Just the one two of us is counting on]


After her first intimidation of the girl on the chestnut horse, she smiled. Who knew, maybe these two might come out friends? So far Lilly seemed to like this girl, and she and her obviously has the same interests, in horses of course.

”This little devil isn’t even mine. I have just been breaking her in for a guy I know.”

she stated, smiling as she ruffled the thick black mane on the neck of the bay. The bay began to dance on her feet impatiently, and Lilly smiled, knowing the small mare wanted to go for a good gallop. But she wasn’t going to thunder off now and leave this girl here alone now, was she? Glancing over at the girl, she noticed that herself and Lilly had similar features. Both were blonde, blue eyed, and rather pretty. Not that Lilly was the lesbian type, she just knew someone pretty from someone, well, not so much.

”I was just going to say something similar! And nice to meet you, Jack.”

[/b]

Lilly replied to the other girls comment, crystal blue eyes shimmering. Her and Jack obviously both knew quite a bit about horses, and knew how they were feeling. Even though the young blonde atop the chestnut wasn’t huge on him, she still seemed to have extreme control over him. She obviously was a very capable rider. Looking ahead at the field beyond the two riders, she glanced at the footing. It seemed to be okay, and Cheeky wasn’t the pony that would usually stumble. Her footing was rather sure, and even though she wasn’t the best trail pony, she was pretty good, at this age anyway. Turning her head back to the rider beside her as she spoke, Lilly raised a hand to brush a stray blonde bit of hair from her face.

”Um, probably because I have to ride my two horses too, and Cheeky needed the work. Just more a relaxing ride, really. Yourself?”[/color]

She replied, her tone just as cheerful. She was rather beginning to like Jack, and finally, she might have someone she could meet up with at the stables or here on the trails, and ride with.

[dddude. this post sucks. man i like have no muse. If you can't reply, I'll edit it tomorrow. xD][/size][/center]