hate me today ;; [OPEN]

[Jasper [COWENS]]

The youth slipped his toe into the stirrup and swung himself lightly into the English saddle. He settled himself neatly in place, letting his reins drop to the dapple gray mare's neck as he adjusted his helmet. His mother had always been a stickler for the whole helmet thing, and while he hated the things, he did it, in a way, to honor his mother, or her memory or something. He wasn't exactly sure why he did it. But he did. And he did it for his mother, as twisted and weird as that might have sounded, considering his mother was dead.

He slowly gathered his reins, caught off guard by the memory of his mother. Odd that he had been so young when she died but he still wasn't really over her. Maybe it came from being around his father, who wasn't over her either. Whatever the case was, Rose recognized his lack of attention and flung her head up, beginning to prance and jitter. Jasper actually cracked a small smile. "Yes, yes. Just because you're a great horse, you think you must be the center of everyone's attention, yes?" he asked, with the slight lilt of a British accent. The mare snorted, bobbing her head, ears pricked forward, as if to say "Why, of course!"

Shaking his head, the boy clucked and nudged the mare gently with his heels. The big gray responded instantly, as she always did. With another nudge she was in a trot, and another, a flowing canter. "That's my girl" Jasper murmured. He sat lightly on the mare's back as he angled her toward the cross country course he'd seen earlier, letting the run to get there loosen the mare's muscles and warm her up.

They hit the course, and, grudgingly, the mare slowed, tossing her head and dancing impatiently. She was on the course! Why wouldn't he let her do her job? "Just let me get a look, girl" Jasper murmured, absently stroking the mare's neck as he took in the course. It wasn't anything the mare couldn't handle, but he wanted to be a little careful of her after the vacation she'd had, with moving and quarantine and such. He didn't want to push her.

He nodded, murmuring to himself as he made his last minute plans, then picked his reins up and clucked the mare into a canter. Of course, because she was Rosalia, she responded instantly and picked up her pace as asked when Jasper angled her for the first jump. With a snort, the mare snapped her legs up and launched herself over the obstacle. "That's my girl" Jasper murmured as he carefully judged the distance to the next jump.

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word count; 448
tag; none
notes; meh. not great. sorry, whoever replies. lol

[♪ ♫ ty KENNEDY]

SAM WAVER;;
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Sam felt a heavy thud of guilt, weighing her down as the mare gave a soft nicker, obviously pleased to see her mistress. The girl knew her beautiful Breezy should be angry that Sam hadn't come to see her for a couple days, but once again the gentle beast showed her kindess and bendable ways by not holding a grudge. "Come on beauty, lets go for a ride. How does a nice hack through the trails sound?" The girl kept up a steady chatter as she slipped the halther over the horse's head and led her into the aisle. Anyone would be surprised that such a tiny girl would choose the half percheron half thoroughbred that be tall next to anyone as her mount. In fact, the light gray mare towered over Sam and the red-head didn't seem to be aware of the horse's height and the almost draft-like build she had, even when she had to stand on her toes to reach her back and even then could barely brush the hairs up there.

Once she was done with the quick brushing, Sam retreaved her bridle and slipped on in the halter's place and led the large grey mare out of the barn. "I'll ride you bareback, pretty girl. This should be a relaxing ride - just don't buck me off Breezy." Sam laughed at her words, knowning full well that her gentle giant rarely bucked, or reared. She had a bit of trouble mounting but soon managed with the help of a nearby fence. Then the pair was off, in the direction of the forest spotted trails. After deciding the mare had had enough time to warm-up, Sam stirred her legs and Breezy bounded into a boucny trot. Though the pace was a bit hard to sit, Sam's face had broken out into a huge smile. She was obviously enjoying herself even though her knees were gripping the horse's barrel tightly and one of her hands had grasped Breezy's white mane.

Sam leaned back a bit and allowed her mare to sped up into a smooth canter, a gait that was much easier to sit. The horse seemed to be enjoying herself as well since she had arched her neck and was moving in a graceful, bounding strides. They came to a small log in the path, and though Sam knew it probably wasn't a good idea to jump bareback (something she hadn't done before) she quickly convinced herself she should both because it was a small jump and she was a daring person. She grabbed hold of the reins and Breezy's mane in both hands and leaned forward at the take off point. Breezy neatly lifted her legs and hopped over the log, easy and without a fuse. Sam slid a little and laughed as she was thrust a bit forward when they landed. She knew it was bad posture, but didn't really care, though she did slow Breezy down to a walk as they went on.

Before long they came to the cross-country course. Sam looked at the set up with an expression that might be described as awe, though she knew she wouldn't try most of these jumps bareback. It was then that she noticed another rider on the course, a male it looked like, on a dappled gray horse. Sam turned Breezy, making sure they were completely out of the way as the rider made his way over the jumps. Sam studied the pair with bright green eyes, sure she had never seen the rider before. Of course, she only knew one or two people at the stables anyway. She made sure to stay quiet until the rider had finished the course, not wanting to distract him or the horse. When he did finish, Sam dropped her reins on Breezy's neck and clapped. "That was great - your horse is a wonderful jumper. I'm Samantha Waver, call me Sam though. I hope I'm not intrupting your training. I'm new to the stable, so I thought I would introduce myself." Her voice was light and filled with friendly energy, no sign of hesitation. Sam loved meeting new people and didn't mind talking to them at all.

status: finished
comments: ugh, really bad. sorries
tag: Jasper

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[Jasper [COWENS]]

Jasper slowly brought the mare down to a walk. She fought it, eager to keep going. She was one of those horses that seemed to have endless amounts of energy, and no matter how much or how hard you worked her, it was never enough. She was a little like the child who was never ready to be done playing, until they simply keeled over from exhaustion. Rosalie probably would have run herself to death if given the opportunity. Jasper shook his head, keeping his seat and hands quiet as he encouraged the mare to slow down. She snorted, tossing her head. "Easy, big sister" Jasper breathed. "Ease up now, hmm?" he asked. The mare snorted, tossing her head then lowering it in a light buck. Jasper shook his head. He glanced up as the girl spoke a long string of words. He caught her eye, nodding a bit to tell her he'd heard, but his hands were a bit full. He shook his head as the mare snorted, lowering her head in another little buck. "Hey now, quit" Jasper said. He knew he was beginning to lose patience with the mare. Granted she hadn't been worked in ages, but still, it wasn't much excuse for her behavior. "Just quit" Jasper told the mare. She snorted and shook her head, mane settling on both sides of her neck.

Finally Jasper glanced up at the girl who had spoken. How long had it been? A minute? Five? Ten? He wasn't sure. He tended to lose track of time when he as on horseback. He nudged Rosalia into a trot toward the girl, nodding politely. "Sorry. Rose here decided she was going to be a brat about quitting" he chuckled a little, shaking his head. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Sam. I'm Jasper Cowens, and this is Rosalia" he shook his head with a slight smile as he patted the mare's neck. His voice held the slight lilt of a British accent and he was almost formal in the way he introduced himself and his horse.

The boy's eyes fell to the girl's horse almost before they fell to the girl as he took in the big mare's appearance. "She's a fine looking animal" he said, nodding at the horse. He looked up, meeting the girl's green eyes with a slightly sheepish look. "Sorry. Automatic reaction to examine animals before people" he said with a slightly uncomfortable laugh.

Jasper had never been a terribly outgoing person. Sure, he could carry on a conversation well enough, but he was actually a bit shy, and he wasn't good around new people. Rosie snorted, tossing her head and beginning to back up. "Oh, would you just stand here a minute?" Jasper asked, shaking his head. The mare snorted. "Rose, knock it off" the boy said. "Jiminy, my girl. What's with the sudden attitude?" he asked, leaning down to pat the mare's neck. "She's not usually this dinky, but I guess with the move and quarantine and what not she's a little high strung." He shook his head. "Hmm, can we stand quiet, my girl?" Jasper asked. The mare snorted, then heaved a huge sigh, as if finally admitting defeat. "That's it" Jasper murmured quietly, nudging the mare closer to the girl.

Almost reluctantly, his eyes lifted to her face, taking in the lively green eyes and fiery orange and red hair. She was a cute thing, and, had Jasper been forced to describe her, the first word to come to mind probably would have been "pixie." Maybe a "rebel pixie" had he been allowed two, with the nearly blinding orange hair. He liked the looks of her, for some reason, maybe because she seemed the free spirited sort that he had never been. Jasper had always been one of those rule book people. He liked rules and boundaries. He did most everything by the book, unless he was just really, really opposed to it. Then he made his own rules. And stuck by that. Rules were good! He really couldn't understand why everyone felt the need to break them! Although he supposed that it must be something along the lines of: he believed rules were meant to be followed; perhaps others thought they were meant to be broken. Ridiculous as that sounded to him, it was really the only explanation he could think of. What else could it be?

He heaved a small, pretty much inaudible sigh. He hated having to meet new people. I mean, he knew that it was a required step (reverting back to his rule book) but it was his least favorite. But after all, he would never get past this stage unless he went out on a limb a little. "Um, care to hit the trails with me?" he asked, scrambling for something to latch onto. He glanced down at Rose and relaxed a little. "Obviously a certain someone isn't ready to be done just yet" he said with a shake of his head, patting the mare's neck affectionately.

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word count; 836
tag; Samantha
notes; none

[♪ ♫ ty KENNEDY]

SAM WAVER;;
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Sam smiled as both triangular ears flicked back to capture her words and Breezy's head dipped as if agreeing. She patted the silver/gray laced white neck, rubbing a place along her withers that Breezy loved - it was one of those places that horses groom each other at. Her smile grew as Breezy groan, and she imagined the mare's large, gentle eyes would slid to the half-closed position. She moved her hand to run through Breezy's mane and encountered a few knots - she'll have to take care of that back at the barn.

The Percheron / Thoroughberd cross lifted her head as the other gray and her rider approuched. The other horse was pretty tall, she and Breezy might be the same height. Though Sam's mare was heavier, showing her draft blood lines. Sam smiled, brushing off his apology. She was probably the one who should be saying sorry. She couldn't tell if she had made him stop early, or if he was already done. He didn't seem mad though, and he was very polite. She laughed softly at his comment about looking at horses before the people. "Don't worry - I do that too sometimes. Nice to meet you too." She assured him, running her hand through her hair to push her bangs out of her green eyes. Then thanked him for his compliment on her horse. "Thanks, your horse is a beauty. This is Breeze of the West, but I just call her Breezy. Her show name is a bit of a mouthful." She gave her large gray mare an affection rub as she spoke about her. She couldn't ask for a better horse, the mare was being really good about not fidgeting.

Breezy was curious about the other horse and strechted her neck out, trying to be friendly. The big mare loved meeting new horses as much as her owner like meeting new people, but the problem was that other horses weren't always friendly back. Sam couldn't count how many times her poor horse had been kicked at or biten for trying to make friends, so when she tried to reach her nose out to Rose, Sam picked up her reins and back her gray mare. "Breezy, girl, I know how much you like making friends, but Rose probably doesn't want you sticking your face in hers." Sam noticed that Jasper also talked to his horse, then he switched and starting talking to her. "If she had to stay in quarantine, you must not be from around here..." Sam said, leaving it open-ended so Jasper could say where he was from or not if he didn't want to. Most people weren't as comfortable with meeting new people as she was.

Sam was quiet, letting Jasper talk when he wanted. Sometimes people got uncomfortable with her odd amount of chatter with people she didn't know, espeically shy people. And Sam couldn't tell if Jasper was shy or not. She thought he might be as he looked at Rose while he talked, and she gave an encouraging smile and nodded in agreement to his question. "Sure, I'd love to. But, um, I hope I didn't cause you to end your training early." She looked at him with slight questioning in her eyes, feeling a bit guilty. She gathered her reins in her hands, ready to go, and nodding for him to lead the way. She had no idea which way to go - this was her first time riding at this stable.

status: finished
comments: eh, bad.
tag: Jasper

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[Jasper [COWENS]]

(OOC: Reply coming soon, I promise. Things have been crazy. Gah. Sorry for the wait.)