Acquaintences

[susan]

The morning air was crisp, and Susan wished she'd put on another teeshirt over her singlet. Her jacket was quite thick and warm, but, somehow she still felt undressed. The sun was just starting to rise, the sky was mostly a pale blue, but over toward the east, the colour of the sun was slowly starting to break through the dawn sky.

She licked her lips as she watched the horse they had given her eat in the pasture.
He was sure beautiful, something she wasn't used to seeing up close. Part of her wanted to immediately be able to ride him, so she could ride away, but, much to her discontent, learning was a little less fun than she had imagined.

She was going alright, which was good, but, she wasn't quite used to the idea of caring for a horse, a person was different, you could converse with a person, find out what they wanted, a horse, well, you couldn't even cuddle a horse when you needed someone to comfort you after a nightmare.

She leaned against the fence and let go of a sigh. She'd been woken from a great sleep by a nightmare, it happened, more often than she'd like to admit. She hadn't wanted to try and go back to sleep, she didn't feel like facing those demons again, that demon.

She sniffed and ran a hand through her brown hair, most of it fell immediately back into place over her shoulders and beside her face, her fringe slipped a little slower into it's normal position.

"Colt..." She called quietly, trying to beckon the gelding to come to her from his food.

[quel]

Jamie patted the neck of his large chestnut stallion. The warmblood tossed his head, his long mane flying over both sides. The stallion had no manners what so ever. To ride he could be a dream, unless you lost your balance. He needed a rider that could balance him up because he wasn't balanced himself. He had a huge scopey jump and could easily win championships if he hadn't been abandoned. He was terribly claustraphobic now and could go lame very easily. He was well bred and had bloodlines in him, but it didn't count for much now. He was still a very handsome horse. He didn't bite any more, except when you tried to do his girth up. In the stable he might give you a nip, but otherwise he wasn't too bad out of the stable. He hated his stable and mostly Jamie tried to keep him out of it.

The long leadline that Jamie kept Calliq on was slung over his shoulder as he walked. He had his hands firmly in the pockets of his coat, keeping them warm. He did have his gloves in the back pocket of his jeans, but he hated wearing them. It made it so much harder to undo buttons and bolts. The eighteen year old Irishman led the stallion down the smoothed over path, his shod hooves clicking on the occasional stone in his way. His ears were constantly on the move, flicking up and down, swivvelling around. Jamie took hold of the leadline when Calliq's pace got faster. He knew when he was going to his feild, and it was about now. He broke into a quick beated trot, his stride short and collected. Showing off as usual. The gate was easy to open and Jamie pulled it open, unclipping the leadline. The chestnut stallion gave a wild buck and bolted, hooves thundering across the ground. Jamie rolled his eyes, slung the line over his shoulder and bolted the gate as the stallion settled down to a sedate trot.

He was just walking back, looking over at the other feild when a figure caught his eye. He'd seen her around the yard, but couldn't quite remember her name. He vaguely remembered her being shown Colt, their resident flashy arabian, by Jared when he was getting a check up and a groom by himself. So, what was the name on the card? Susan was it? Maybe. He veered in his course, making his way over to her and stopping by the gate. "He's a great horse. Probably the only one you can whistle for around here." He greeted cheerfully. He whistled, short and shrill. The handsome chestnut gelding started walking over and then put his head over the gate. "I'm Jamie by the way, and it looks like Colt could do with a good groom." He laughed softly, looking at the mud patches across the gelding's blood chestnut coat.

[susan]

Somewhere nearby, the sound of hooves galloping met her eyes, for a few moments, Susan was distracted and started to look around for the galloping horse.

A small smile reached her face when her blue eyes found the running horse. He was beautiful, but then, she found most of the horses here had a certain charm over her. Susan had never really been near horses, the closest she might have gotten would be a pony at a fair, but, anyone could see they were beautiful, graceful, and free.

Her heart ached a little and she jerked slightly at the sudden voice that sounded beside her.
She gave the man a small smile and looekd back over to the horse they had branded as hers.
She knew the man was one of the staff here, she'd seen him talking to the headmaster, and the other students.

She looked back towards Colt as the man whistled and the horse came to them. Her full lips parted slightly and she felt a little sheepish.
It was that easy?

Maybe she had been approaching Colt all wrong, maybe, if she got him used to her first, if they got used to each other, then, he would come to her, like they were friends.
She was sure she could trust a horse.

"Thanks." She managed the word quietly. She gently reached out a hand to the horse and looked at his dirty coat.
"I'm... I'm not quite sure how..." She admitted. She knew it was the students job to look after their horses, but, she had not really seen other students tending to the horses, she was a watch and learn person, or, a person who learnt from being shown. She couldn't just read a book, or a webpage and know how to do something, not about animals, music, she found easier, but, animals had temperments, like people.

[quel]

Jamie gave Colt a pat on the neck. The gelding nudged his hand expectantly. "Sorry mate, I'm all out." He muttered softly, scratching the gelding between the ears. Colt's ears swivvelled back and forth. He was a lovely horse, really easy to learn on. When he hadn't had a student, Jamie had been taking him on excersise rides and such. He was very mellow and calm. He liked a good kick about in the feild, but when riding he was a dream. He'd obviously been with a riding school or some such before. Almost completely bombproof and really didn't care much for anything that could frighten him. Colt pricked up his ears and whickered softly as Dot padded up. She was a lovely little mare as well. Very playful, but otherwise perfect for anyone.

Jamie smiled. "You're welcome, and that's fine. C'mon I'll show you." He climbed over the gate. Dot didn't move from where she was, Colt took one step back, but nothing more. He opened the gate from the inside and unslung the leadline. All the horses usually kept their leather headcollars on to make things easier. He clipped the line onto Colt's headcollar. "Here, just walk him out, he'll follow you wherever you go." He said offering the leadline to the student. He was pretty sure she was called Susan. He took Dot's headcollar, not really needing a leadline for the docile mare. He walked Dot out of the gate, holding it open for Susan to walk Colt out. "Haven't been around horses much then?" He surmised, stroking the small appaloosa mare on the muzzle as he gave Susan a warm smile.

[susan]

Susan tilted her head and watched as Jamie talked to the horses. She felt so out of place next to him as the horses seemed to flock to him. She swallowed and looked at Colt, she wasn't sure she'd ever get used to calling him hers.

She stepped back as he climbed up over the gate and bit her lip. She was obviously uncertain about it, but tenderly, she took a small step forward and tried to look at what Jamie was doing to attach the lead to Colt's headgear.
She couldn't remember the names of all the things the horses wore, she had gotten confused looking at the books, she decided though, she would try again later.

Susan reached out slowly and gently took the lead from Jamie. She looked at Colt, put her other hand to his nose and smiled a little as she stroked him. She took a few steps after Jamie and the horse followed.
She felt a little relieved and she smiled nervously at Jamie when they got out of the field.

She shook her head at his question. "No. I'm not sure I've ever been near a horse." She admitted with a nervous sort of chuckle.

[quel]

Dot walked beside Jamie as he led the small mare in a circle. He didn't ride Dot much, even though she didn't have a student to look after her. She was a bit small for his six foot one as it was. He'd ridden her once or twice, but not for long. He prefered to take her on a lead rein when he took Calliq out. It calmed the stallion down and it gave Dot some excersise. She wasn't old, only five, and she needed to keep her fittness level quite high for all the students. All the horses were in very good condition, thanks to the good work from the staff and usually the students. He bolted the gate closed, Gazel looked up from where the horse was grazing before returning to the grass. He didn't particually like riding Gazel much, too much of a bad attitude for him. Not that Calliq couldn't be an arse when he wanted to, Gazel just wasn't his type.

He turned Dot back onto the path and caught up with Susan, walking the horses back up to the yard. "There's a first time for everything, otherwise there wouldn't be any time at all." He replied with a grin. The stable yard was almost empty. He knew that there were two students out on a ride. Bruce was in the feild with Calliq and Shadow was as well. The foals were all out, and really that only left the brrod mares, and they were all out. Berry was probably out with Jared as it was. He grabbed a leadline from a hanger, reaching inside of the tack room to get at it. He clipped it to Dot's headcollar and proceeded to tie her up to a piece of bailing twine in the wall, just an easy quick release knot. "Just tie Colt up there, it's really easy. Slip the rope through the piece of string on the metal hoop. Tie it in any knot really, for Colt it doesn't really matter. It's safer to tie horses to string, since they break. If you tied a horse to a metal hoop and it scared itself some how, you'd had a catastrophe on your hands." He said with a smile. The grooming boxes were easily found just inside the tack room door. Each horse had its own box, Dot's was green, Colt's happened to be burgandy. He brought both the boxes out, setting them down out of reach of the horses hooves. "Right, grooming's dead easy." He said, pulling out a body brush, all things were colour coded to make things easier. This one was blue. "Blue brush, body brush. Quite soft really, so kinda useless for getting off mud. What you want, is a green one. It's called a Dandy brush and it's much better." Dot wasn't too dirty, but since Colt had obviously just rolled in a mud bath he held out the green dandy brush for Susan.

[susan]

Susan watched Jamie walk the horse he had in a circle. Her lips parted slightly and she frowned a little. Was she supposed to do that with Colt?
Apparently not.

They walked towards the stable, and Susan was secretly relieved at how easily the horse was adjusting, it was no kitten who would sleep with her by her pillow, but, she was sure with the propper time spent, they could be close like she hoped.
She imagined that horses could get clsoely attached to their owners.

The yard was quite empty, and that made her feel better, at least if she did anything too foolish, no one would be around to see it.
She watched Jamie tie his horse up to a piece of string and frowned slightly, She started to tie Colt's lead to another piece of string, and it came to her why it would be safer, if the horse bucked or anything, the string would probably break, instead of the metal ring binding the horse and hurting it.

She smiled a little, somewhat proud of her assumption.

She looked at the box Jamie pulled and nodded as he explained about the brushes. Blue for Body, b and b, that would bge easy to remember.
She chuckled a little as he said it was useless for mud and then took the green brush from him and nodded again.
"Right. Dandy brush for mud, dandy being the green one..." She repeated looking at the brush in her hand. "So, is there a certain way to brush it off?" She asked, looking back up to Jamie and biting the corner of her lip.

[quel]

Dot shifted her weight into a more comfortable, relaxed position. She had a long black mane and tail with a grey and black speckled coat. It was easier to clean than a white or grey horse, but she wasn't really one for getting too muddy. Calliq wasn't either, he was a very clean horse as they went. Race was a master of mud. He'd roll around in it for the fun, he loved to be groomed as much as he loved a good gallop. Racing Race was something Calliq loved to do. Race was built more for speed than Calliq, but the big chestnut could turn corners like a hairpin. It made it very useful in show jumping jump offs when time was of the esscence. Dot's ears were pricked, listening to the conversation. She also loved a good groom, most horses did. Calliq was an exception because he hated being tied up, no matter what was happening.

Jamie gave Susan his heartwarming smile. "Fast learner." He complimented, ducking under Colt's lead rope to come around the same side as Susan, Dot watched with interest. He had Dot's dandy brush in his hand. "There isn't really a special way to do it, but the horses tend to prefer it if you follow the lines of their coat." He ran a hand down Colt's side, the hairs followed a smooth pattern. The horse had been clipped recently, so his coat was quite short. "If the mud is really not coming off you can either backbrush their coat, but most horses don't really like it. Another way is using a curry comb. I personally prefer rubber curry combs to get off really stubborn mud."

He reached across into Colt's grooming box, pulling out the black rubber curry comb. He slipped the strap of the curry comb over his palm. "I've found curry combs work best in circles." He replied, brushing the large mud patch in a circular direction, the caked mud coming off in patches. "It doesn't really matter how hard to brush, it's just like a massage for the horses. It's a good thing to do when you're angry, since the harder to brush, the more they tend to like it." He knew it was one way to get Calliq in a good mood.

[susan]

Susan made a small doubtful noise as he said she was a fast learner. She looked at the brush in her hand and then back to him as he moved around to the same side as her.
She started to feel a little nervous.

Her heart was getting a little faster, and she was trying hard to keep it from showing. She swallowed a lump and watched as he ran his hand over Colt's fur. She nodded slowly and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.
Like trying to stroke a cat, they didn't really like it if you rubbed the opposite way of their fur, in fact, some got qutie angry. She wondered whether horses got angry if you rubbed them the wrong way. She wouldn't like to be the one on the wrong end of that stick.

When he mentioned backbrushing, she slowly shook her head, she'd already decided she wasn't going to test Colt by brushing him in the wrong direction.
She frowned slightly when he mentioned a Curry comb and tilted her head a little.

Susan took a small step back as Jamie took the black rubber comb from the box and showed her how to brush the mud off. She looked from his hands to his head and then back to the horse.

She tried to retain the information, curry combs in circles for tough mud. She felt a little too close to him though.
She was sure he was safe, after all, he wasn't that old, and he was staff, but, then, Mr. Pacific had been a parent, a boss.

She made a small noise and tensed a little. Authrotity figures were dangerous, people were dangerous.
But he just paid attention to the horses, he had no mind for her. Surely she had to take that into consideration.

She closed her eyes for a few seconds and looked back at the comb and the mud.

Susan didn't often get angry, no, she got scared, nervous, shakey, she could feel the shakes comnig on now, just because he was on the same side of the horse as her.
It was hard to compress them, but, she was so far managing to keep them from making her quiver.
"Ok." She said quietly.

[quel]

Jamie slid the comb off and tossed it back in the box. He ducked back under Colt's lead rope. Susan had seemed slightly too tense, and the usual culprit for that was being too close. "Have a go, I'm just gunna check on the work rota, I never know what I'm supposed to be doing." He flashed her a smile, most of the time he was smiling, but you know it always helped to flash. "I'll just be in the tack room." He gave Dot a quick pat. She nudged him meaningfully, most of the horse knew where you kept the treats, so if you nudged them in the side, that's usually where a pocket was. Jamie rolled his eyes, pushing Dot's muzzle away from his pocket. "I haven't forgotten you, but I haven't got anything for you either." He murmered softly, scratching Dot's right ear before moving around into the tack room.

He did actually have to check the rota, since there were more students. It was usually just to find out which horses needed a bit of excersise or which student was going to need a hand. Actually students just tended to come up at any time or he'd come over unwarrented. It was all good, he didn't mind. It was harder usually to help out the vet with her rounds because it involved a lot of use of his shoulder. About a year and a half before he'd been kicked by a horse and had it badly dislocated, but he didn't have any way to pay for his upkeep, so he'd had to keep working. Now it tended to play up from time to time. Thank the heavans for painkillers. He pushed open the door of the tackroom with his shoulder and pulled the work rota off the blue tac it was tacked to. So, today he didn't really have anything on. He had to groom both Dot and Shadow. He could, he supposed also take Sebastien or Dakota down the trails. Or he could give Marbles a ride. He was rubbish at decision. Now another thing to look at.

He pulled out another file, this one in a pale beige folder. On the side was printed Seas, Susan. He flipped it open, scanning the first page, riding history, or lack there of. He turned a page, scanning down the infomation that had been given when Susan was sent here. Right, this made sense. Jamie liked to keep up with the students, it helped to know if they were likely to attack you or not. He stored the folder away, locked the filing cabinate with the key he kept in his pocket and closed the door of the tack room behind him. Dot whickered softly, turning her head towards him. "Was there any specific way of riding you wanted to learn, or just really to learn." He asked, picking up a body brush from Dot's kit and starting to brush down her grey speckled coat. Right, less praise, really less attention, no contact and leave her alone. That could be interesting if he was going to teach her, but he'd had worse...he thought so anyway.

[susan]

Susan watched the an slide the comb off, she waited til he moved and then knelt down and put it onto her own hand, the rubber strap over the palm like he'd had it. She looked at Colt and then started to brush him like Jamie had been.
She waited for the horse to protest, but he didn't. She put her other hand on top of the horse's back and started to stroke it gently, along it's furline, as she brushed.

She started to feel a little more comfortable with the horse. It made a small noise and she looked from the mud flaking off to Colt's head, trying to figure if it was a good noise or a bad one, a small smile came to her face and she looked back to the mud. it was a good sound it seemed.

"There, not so bad Susan." She muttered quietly to herself. Maybe this place would help her feel better somehow after all.

She heard the door close from the room Jamie had gone into and looked up as he spoke. She hadn't really wanted to learn, this had been the suggestion of one of the therapists. She licked her lips and shrugged.

"Just learn I guess." She said quietly. She thought about movies where they rode horses, into battles, into sunsets, she'd prefer to avoid anymore battles. She'd done well to keep quiet and protect the ones who'd needed it from battles, unfortunately, in protecting them, she'd protected him too.