`let's fly [open]

[reagan fitzgerald !]

reagan

fitzgerald

life was slow, but she enjoyed it as her car rumbled down the drive to autumn hills equestrian center. her hands loosely gripped the steering wheel of a black Saturn Vue. yes, it wasn't the fanciest or best car in the world, but it was new and could pull a two-horse pretty well. she eased left with the turn of the drive, and practically smiled just at the sight of the barn and the horses outside of it. pressing the brakes, she parked in a convenient location where the lot was and opened the door up to get a rush of cool fall air. with a smile, she pulled her fleece pull-over up to her chin and walked to the paddock where her gelding was currently grazing alone.

the kind-hearted irish horse looked up as he heard the fallen leaves crunching outside his paddock. "hey sweetie," the young woman called to her gelding. his light blanket was rather lopsided, probably due to a good roll in the dirt corner of his paddock. she picked up his leather halter and turquoise cotton lead rope and entered, swinging the black wooden gate shut behind her. the gelding, fondly called "tom", walked to her and was rewarded with a small baby carrot and a kiss on the nose. slipping the halter over his head, reagan clipped the throat latch onto the ring by the buckle and led him into the warm barn.

they arrived, and after tom was secure in the cross ties and his blanket was off, the female went to the staff tack room. she was an instructor, after all. the young woman chose a full-cheek flash noseband bridle, a turquoise baby pad, a few accessories, and some brushes before returning to her horse. because of his blanket, only the gelding's hocks, knees, and neck were dirty. vigorously she worked the grit off and swept it up into a muck bucket. she proceeded to put black bell boots and black, closed-front jumping boots on his legs, the bell boots only in front. tom knew they would be jumping once those pieces of equipment were put on. reagan proceeded to place the pad and saddle on his back, slide the running martingale's loop over the girth, and pull it tight. she then bridled him, adjusting the chin strap and threading the reins through the rings on the matingale. reagan placed her helmet and short spurs on, then walked the gelding to the arena.

"all right, bud, let's get on with this," she said. by the time she was mounted and they were warming up, it was around 6:30 p.m. after a lap of walking out of frame, the blonde tickled him down and they picked up a trot. tom sneezed to clear his nostrils but proceeded as they performed tear-drops, serpentines, and extensions across the diagnal. it didn't work very well considering the large stadium course that was set up. they walked for a while before picking up a canter. "ick," reagan muttered and pulled her irish cross down to a walk again. "let's try this again," she said, and cued the gelding for a canter. this time it was much smoother and cleaner, so the horse received a word of praise.

the gelding was fully warmed up, so taking advantage of the empty ring, reagan jumped off and lowered one jump to a cross rail for warm-up. the rest ranged from 2'9 to 3'6", and everything from oxers and verticals to a liverpool and a brush box. tom loved jumping, and was fairly brave. if something looked too weird, as in out of the oridnary, he would refuse, but otherwise he would do anything he was physically able to. mounting back up, reagan nudged the gelding into a canter and pointed him towards the cross rails. the gelding went sluggishly towards it, so in her two-point reagan gave him a kick. nudging him at the take-off spot, he had already figured it out so she focused on an automatic release. it didn't work well, but she refrained from tugging at his mouth. "that's my boy," she said and circled him around to take it again.

[Delany [HAMPTON]]

The girl wandered back into the barn. The chestnut behind her was well lathered after a good hard ride, but both of them looked content. The black gelding that stared over his stall door with accusing eyes did not look so happy, though. The brunette laughed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, just a minute, Jupe" she told the simply massive black gelding. He snorted and stomped a hoof, as if to prove his point. The girl rolled her eyes as she slipped the chestnut mare's bridel off and tugged her halter on, snapping her in the cross-ties with smooth efficiency. The mare was unsaddled in a few moments, the saddle set on her stall door. The girl made her way down the aisle and returned a few moments later with a cooling sheet in her arms. SHe still hadn't unloaded everything from the trailer, but she'd get to that eventually. Horses first.

She quickly brushed the mare out then tossed the sheet on her. THe mare whuffled softly as the girl unclipped her and began to stroll up and down the aisle until the mare wasn't so damp. She turned her loose in her stall with a pat. She hung the halter then grabbed the black gelding, who couldn't stand still as the girl brushed her out and saddled him. The bridle was a chore, as the gelding had too much pent up energy to really put his head down so the short girl could get it on his head, which stood 18 hands high. She shook her head slightly when she finally got it on him.

She looped the reins over her arms and led him up to the arena. She slipped the door open and peered in, realizing someone else was there. "Oh" she said softly, slightly surprised. It hadn't looked like many people were here yet, so she hadn't expected the arena to be in use. She waited until the girl was done jumping, not wanting to startle her or the horse or anything. "Um, do you mind if we join you guys?" She asked. Jupiter stood behind her, tossing his head and nearly bowling her over through the doorway. "Hey, knock it off" she said, smacking his chest until he stepped back, snorting disdainfully and still tossing his head with impatience.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

word count; 384
tag; reagan fitzgerald
notes; gah, sorry, this sucks. :/