Keeping on Going [open]

[Joe Corder]

I pulled up outside the stables in my sleek black sports car. I was ready to get riding and I wanted to go. From what I had heard, the cross-country course here was great and that was what I was here to check out. My horse, Ulysses, loved jumping. He especially loved cross-country, so I could see myself spending a lot of time out on the course. Turning off the engine, I reached around to grab my riding hat and gloves off of the back seat. I was dressed simply in just a white t-shirt and navy jodhpurs, but riding without gloves wasn’t an option for me as Ulysses could pull like a train when he got going and I had learnt the hard way that bare hands meant getting my hands rubbed raw - a painful experience that I didn’t care to repeat.

I got out of the car and making sure that I locked it first, strolled towards the barn. I went through the double doors and sighed in relief. I loved being in the barn. That sounded odd coming from the mind of a man with drinking and drugs problems, but it was true. When my parents had gone through a messy divorce, the barn had been my best escape. When I had told my mother that I was leaving, she had for a reason only known to herself, bought me a horse. I had assumed that it was a parting gift. After all, she didn’t know when she would see me again. Now every time that I looked at Ulysses, I was reminded of her. Talking of Ulysses, it was time to go and see how he was.

Easily finding the stallion’s stall, I let myself in and patted him on the neck. Hey there boy! You alright? Yeah, I talked to my horse. So what? A lot of people did it. I took a brush from the grooming kit on the door and started to work it over his glossy bay and white coat. When he was clean, I went to get the tack from the tack room. Throwing the bridle over his jumping saddle, I headed back to the stall. I wanted to get on with riding as soon as possible, so I was glad that Ulysses didn’t play up when it came to getting the bit in his mouth. Seeing as he was 16.3hh, if he didn’t want the bit in his mouth then I had trouble getting it in. Putting the saddle on his back, I did up the girth before leading him out of the stable. I took my hat off of the peg where I had hung it and pushed it onto my head, making sure to do up the harness.

Outside of the stable I swung gently and easily into the saddle, pushing my feet into the stirrups and taking up the reins at the same time. I pulled Ulysses and started to walk in the direction of the cross-country course. It took me a little while to get there and I used that time to warm up, taking Ulysses through his paces. Finally I reached the course and turning Ulysses towards the first fence, a simple log, I let him go a bit and got ready for the course. My beautiful stallion took the first jump easily and without even breaking stride. Smiling to myself, I let him flow towards the next jump. Hopefully this next one would be just as good as the first.

Word Count: 587
Character: Jake Scott
Status: Complete
Reserved For: Nobody
Notes: No comment.

[katherine rhodes;;]

kate;;

xx___ kate walked down the barn aisle, hands tucked inside the pockets of her light gray pull-over sweatshirt. her faded blue jeans went over her old brown riding boots and she wore her wavy brown hair down. her green eyes fleetingly scanned over the name-tags on the stall doors as she walked passed, though the names didn't really stick in kate's mind. like any devoted horse owner, she made a bee-line straight to the stalls that housed her beloved beauties. she was quite proud to say that she owned four gorgeous horses, all of them were tennessee walkers. katherine considered herself lucky that she somehow was able to squeeze time with them all, especially considering she was practically fresh out of college and thus busy trying to get a well paying job. she managed though.

the first stall she came to held her lean buckskin paint, her humorous four year old nicknamed hugo who was quite the typical youngster with his spunky ways. next was shadow dancer, the oddly colored paint who was the foal of kate's beloved mare. kate paused to pat the golden head of champ, the senior of her horses, before stopping in front of the black paint's stall. saturday's heartbreak, or demi as she was more well known, was kate's most prized horse - if she absolutely had to pick a favorite, demi would be it. spending a few minutes to stroke the mare's soft muzzle and murmur a few cooing words under her breath, kate rushed to grab her english take and proceeded to tack up her beloved paint mare. like the obedient self she was, demi was motionless except for the swishing of her tail and swiveling of her ears - tacking up demi could be quite relaxing since kate's other three horses were very fidgety.

not long after, kate was swinging herself into the shortest of her horses, gripping the reins loosely in her hands as demi stepped out, eager as always to get going - patient and still while be tacked up, demi liked to go on as soon as kate touched the saddle. yearning for a trail ride, kate steered her paint mare toward the meadow and forest area where all the trails and the cross country course were located. as expected, demi tried to break into the running walk and kate let her, relaxing into the gait the tennessee walkers were famous for. so much smoother than other horses trot, demi's running walk really did have a floating feel to it.

kate shifted her legs slightly, barely touching demi's sides since a nudge was all she would need. without protest, the paint moved into the canter. now, a gaited horse's canter wasn't exactly the same as a normally gaited horse; it was much smoother. kate felt as though she was riding a rocking horse and she smiled, her green eyes very light. in the path before them was a small log and demi saw it the same time kate did. she pricked her ears and lengthened her stride eagerly, pulling lightly at the reins in a pleading way. the brunette's smile grew - say what you like, she knew walking horses weren't the traditional jumpers but demi loved it, as did she. kate leaned forward into the jumpers point and demi leaped without urging. since neither kate nor demi were experienced jumpers, their form wasn't perfect, but it wasn't bad either.

good girl. kate said as she slowed her mare until they halted. looking around, the girl found that she was at the edge of a section of the cross-country course. her green eyes caught movement and she turned her head to see a mounted horse, the rider was male she saw, jumping over one of the jumps. demi nickered at the sight of another horse but kate didn't move or say anything as she didn't want to distract the other horse and rider pair from their workout. though she did notice with envy that they were much better jumpers than she and her paint mare.
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[ w o r d c o u n t ] 672
[ c o m m e n t s ] sorry - wasn't very good.
[ s t a t u s ] finished