Lost Tains of thought {Jude}

[Annalie Kokot-Louw]

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Annalie felt his a small tugged at the reins. The gelding was getting impatient. Dressage was far from his favorite workout. Annalie sponged the reins, asking for him to drop his head again. He twisted his neck slightly, opening his mouth, ignoring her command completely. She asked him again, squeezing with her legs slightly. Reluctantly he dropped his head. The difference was huge. His gait become smoother and rounder. A satisfied smile touched her lips.
“Good boy,” her voice was soft, running over him like an affectionate pat. Trot, trot, trot, trot. She checked his rhythm. He was a little asleep. She squeezed with her legs, still sponging with her fingers. She knew, any chance he got, he'd be off the bit! He snorted, flicked his tail and stepped up the pace a bit. He completed the twenty metre circle she was doing then went the large arena. She tugged at the reins a bit, leaning on her. She gently lifted him up, trying to crush a wave of irritation.

Today was not their dressage day alright. Redondo began to high step with his back legs. It was his little prelude to a buck. Oh so dramatic! She clucked him forward. She gently bent him around her inside leg, asking him for a flextion. He suppled up amazingly enough and forgot all about the buck he had been planning. Distractions of a life time! She sat deep in the saddle, pushing her heels further down. At the corner, she gently asked him for a canter, barely touching her heels to his side. She could never kick this horse. He had very sensitive sides and at the slightest command went faster. Leg sensitive and mouth dead. What a combo! He jumped smoothly into a forward canter, leading neatly with his inside leg. His head lifted. Lee sighed. This was getting very frustrating. She sponged him down again. Cantering was always harder with him. She completed a round before giving up. She wasn't in the mood and neither was he. He did some work. Time to hit the trails.

She slowed him to a walk and gave him the reins. Grabbing the bit he quickly pulled down, stretching his aching neck muscles. A small smile formed on Lee's lips. She headed for the exit of the arena. Being new to Autumn Hills, she had absolutely no idea where she was going, but adventure was always worth the small price of getting lost. Autumn seemed to have reached everywhere. The leaves where topped with a vivid orange coat. Redondo snorted as he entered a new world. There last stable yard weren't beg on trails. Lee collected her reins. There was a nice open stretch before her and Donny was already warmed up! Perfect! She gently squeezed him into a canter. He snorted, high stepping a bit.
“Come boy,” she crooned softly. She didn't particularly like the idea of being bucked off on a trail and then trying to find her crazy horse in his frolic around. He settled amazingly. The gelding held his head high, with his ears pricked taking in the world around him.

Annalie drifted into her own world as the gelding took massive strides in his own. This was an interesting place but was so different from what Lee was used to. The world here was, strange. She shrugged the thoughts off. Everything took time. She slowed her gelding to a trot. He resisted for a moment, the fell back to a trot then to a walk.

[[! caleb holm ]]

A young man entered the stables, his brown hair wind blown and shaggy looking. He was dressed plainly, a t-shirt and jeans, not something you would expect a dressage instructor to wear. Well, Jude wasn't actually an instructor here yet, but he had taught classes at his former stable along with his mother. A slight smile tugged at his lips as he thought of his mother, the woman who had been his prime riding teacher throughout his life. Of course she was less than pleased when she heard he was changing stables - even less so when she heard a couple of the students were following his lead. Emily Hemmingway was completely devoted to Cheny Falls, the stable she had been working at since she was Jude's age. He wasn't surprised she saw it as disloyal to simply move, but something about Autumn Hill's appealed to him - the scenery was much better as well.

After taking his first steps through the stable isle, Jude simply couldn't resist pausing to look at a few of the horses. They were beautiful, but he though any horse looked gorgeous. He couldn't help smiling when he passed another appaloosa, leapord spotted like his own beloved mount. Speaking of which, it wasn't long before he came to the stalls that belonged to his two horses. A spotted head and a bay face instantly reached out to greet him. Jude simply adored his two mares, both of which he was training for dressage, his perfered riding style, and eventing in Tempest's case. But today the thought of a relaxing trail ride sounded much better than training, which is why Jude pointed his appaloosa mare to the autumn spotted hills surrounding the stables after tacking her up.

Mel arched her neck and pricked her ears, power coiling in her legs. Though his mare, which was nicknamed Mel since calling her Eight Days a Week was a mouthful, enjoyed dressage and jumping, she was young and a trail ride excited her as much as it did her owner. Jude kept his hands firm, yet not pulling at her mouth, as he used the walk as a warm-up. Soon, however, Jude let up on the reins and Mel jumped at the chance to move quicker. Sitting tall, her rider kept control over her speed, not letting her go faster than a canter, but it was clear he was enjoying the ride as well. It was when Mel snorted that Jude noticed a rider up ahead and he gently pulled his appaloosa up, returning to a walk so his faster pace wouldn't spook the other horse. As he got closer to the other rider he noticed it was a girl, about his age maybe younger, and he smiled as he gave a kind greeting. "Hey there, I'm Jude. Jude Hemmingway. I can see I'm not the only one who thought it was a perfect day for a trail ride." He paused, giving the girl a chance to reply, introduce herself if she wanted, but also prepared to leave if she wanted to be alone.

[Annalie Kokot-Louw]

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Redondo heard the horse and rider behind them long before Lee did. His ears flicked back and he tensed up, waiting for the horse to try and pass him. A silly ex racehorse thing. The chestnut pranced on the spot, trying to catch the bit in his teeth. Annalie played with the reins, trying to distract him. He stopped completely then turned his head towards the approaching pair. A nicker rippled through his body as he greeted the other horse. Lee turned in the saddle to see who was coming up -- not that she would really know, being new and all. She caught sight of a appaloosa and a man quite close. He was simply dressed which put her somewhat at ease. Like in every sport, one always got snobs and they were not fun to deal with. He seemed down to earth. Hopefully he was.

Redondo soon lost interest and quickly pulled down to grab a bite of grass. Food was always on his mind. A small smile touched her lips as she observed the rider. A distant dreamy smile. Bad habits die hard. Most of the time people assumed she wasn't interested in what they had to say. The smile kinda said that she was too far away in her own world to be interested in theirs. Unfortunately, it meant nothing of the sort. She frowned at herself.
"Jude," she absently let his name roll over her tongue. The smile returned.

"I'm Annalie. Annalie Kokot-Louw," her South Africa accent was still apparent even though she had lived here for five years already. "You can call me whatever you like."
Did I just say that? She smiled sheepishly.
"For me, it's a better day for a trail than hard work with an ADD horse," she smiled down at her horse who had now decided he wanted to greet Jude's horse. His ears were pricked. She gently pulled him away. He had a bad habit of getting bitten even though he never showed any indication of of biting the other horse.
"Since we're going the same way, and getting lost alone isn't nearly as fun as getting lost with someone, would you like to join me?" Wow, what a mouthful! She gently nudge Donny into a walk.