flying high [thea]

[Sarah Larson]

Sarah grinned as she walked into the tack room to get her tack. Her new mare, Hail Mary, also known as Maggie, was needing to jump today. She was hot, moreso than usual. Sarah was hoping to have her ready to show in the Thanksgiving Charity Show, but the deadline was fast approaching and she had only ridden Maggie a couple of times. Maggie took a strong rider that knew what they were doing, for sure.

She grabbed the tack and hurried over to Maggie's stall, which was on the other side of the stable. She would have to talk to Lena, or Ariel, the new trainer, about having her moved closer to Hero, to make things easier on everybody. As she walked over to Maggie's stall, she noticed that the new horse was being tacked up. She gave the woman a nod and set her stuff down next to Maggie's stall. The mare's ears pricked when seeing her new owner open the stall door. She grabbed Maggie's halter and led her to the pair of cross ties that was next to her stall. Maggie promptly started to paw. "Knock it off, Maggie. You know better." Maggie stopped for the time being as Sarah brushed her bay coat.

Sarah soon had the horse saddled and led her out of the barn and towards the south outdoor arena. Maggie snorted as birds flew past, flinging her head. Reaching their destination, Sarah mounted easily and started to warm up the mare. She was full of energy today, hardly walking at first. As time went by, though, she calmed down slightly and started to behave. As Sarah cued Maggie into a trot, Maggie's ears flicked back towards the gate. When she looked back, she saw the new horse and the woman who had been tacking him up walking into the arena. She nodded in their direction, then focused on her horse.

[Aspen Cross]

Aspen scratched behind Tyrants ears before pulling the forest green bridle over them. She verbally sighed when she saw another girl was training. Ty always wanted to show off, especially for the ladies. 

Not only was he going to be showy, he was restless from days of neglected training. Aspen could have hired a trainer, but, heh. If anyone other than herself laid hands on Ty, she would break their fingers.

With these thoughts discarded, she led him out into the corral, and mounted him with familiarity. Before she even properly adjusted herself in the saddle, he pranced off with her in tow. 

Aspen growled lowly and jerked hard on the reigns, tucking his head in. One might think Aspen was rough with him, but that was how they knew each other. Sort of like love bites; they hurt, but they have a whole new meaning.

Ty voiced his hello to the mare, and Aspen chose not to acknowledge her presence for the time being. Leading him to the left, she nicked him into a trot, then a gallop and he leaped over the rails with room to spare.

His landing was less graceful than she would have liked, but the stallion barley gave her time to register the thought before he was clearing another one, with flying colors. 

She reigned him back again, scowling at her lack of control. "Damned nag- You're like a seasoned bunny rabbit."

[Sarah Larson]

Sarah checked where the other horse was before asking Maggie to clear an easy vertical. There was plenty of room to spare and she landed pretty well. She kept Maggie going and the pair flew over a taller vertical. Sarah eased off on speed, giving the mare a pat. She kept going for a few strides before listening, wanting to jump the oxer that was next. She moved Maggie out of the way, trotting her around and watching the other horse and rider. The horse cleared the first one well, but then took off at the next. He didn't hit it, but Sarah could tell that his rider wasn't pleased.

She cued Maggie into a canter and the mare bolted forward. Sarah brought her in a circle, getting her to a good speed. Maggie was pointed at the first vertical and once again cleard it well, along with the second one. She sunk back a little approaching the oxer, Sarah pushing with her claves. Maggie cleared the jump, but hit one of the poles. They were lucky that it didn't bounce out. Sarah continued through the course, next going to a bright colored vertical that was the first in a double combination. Maggie cleared them both easily, although her landing on the second was slightly off. Sarah let Maggie speed up slightly on the long turn going towards the triple combination. She, once again, sucked back sightly, but Sarah didn't mess with her speed and Maggie got over the jumps fine. She steered the mare around the turn leading to the liverpool, trying to keep Maggie's speed as consistant as possible. She jumped a little higher than normal, seeing the sun hit the water. She guided the mare the short way to the final vertical rising into two-point just in time. They cleard the jump well and Sarah eased the mare back in a circle, staying out of the way of the other rider.

"What's your horse's name?" she called over, curious. She didn't care about the rider's name so much, she'd find out sometime, but she also wanted to see if she would be riding against this person.

[Aspen Cross]

Aspen was a tad bit annoyed with how well the other rider was landing on her jumps. It was clear Aspen would have to step up her game a bit. "What's your horses name?" 

Aspen looked at the girl with a strange face. Why would she want to know? She wasn't comfortable with other people calling Ty by her nickname. She was agitated, but gave the name begrudgingly. 

"His name is Tyrant." She clenched the reigns. She didn't know why, but the question took her off guard. Sure, other people had asked for his name before, but with little interest. 

It didn't matter to them, so why was Aspen getting to worked up over this girl? With renewed determination, she gave Tyrant free reign and he jumped a two pole set up. Again, with his clumsy landing. 

For some unknown reason, Aspen just couldn't let the rider know about Ty, and then not know about her own horse. Call it competitive instinct, keeping your enemies close. So, she looked over her shoulder while pausing in the course, "Yours?"

[Sarah Larson]

Sarah watched the other rider's face when she asked for the gelding's name. It was clear she didn't want to tell Sarah, but finally gave him name. Tyrant? It wasn't exactly what she was expecting, but asked, "Is there a story behind that name?" She fully expected the other person to snap back at her, since she seemed like that kind of person. After her last question, she kept her mouth shut. She figured that this person would be her competition, but it sure wouldn't be a friendly rivalry, from what Sarah could tell now. She couldn't stand people like this, that thought they were so much better. She was clearly annoyed that Maggie was landing better than Tyrant.

She kept Maggie jogging until the other woman started to head towards the jumps, when she eased the mare into a slow canter. She stopped when the other rider asked for Maggie's name. She couldn't help but bite back a grin. "Maggie," she replied quickly, without the pause the other person had given. Tyrant, Sarah could possibly get somewhere with. Maggie, not so much, since off her registered name you would think it would be Mary.