Don't Waste The Pretty (Open)

[Étaín Epona Markey]

_{Dust it off, break it down
Get to what we're talkin about
Do what we're talkin about
Don't try to hide it now
Why keep on working it out?
You keep on working it out}

Horses shifting in stalls and the sweet scent of hay and grains where the sounds and smell of the barn right then. It was quiet and not a soul around it seemed like since most of the horses were out in the fields only ones who rider's had lessons soon or where awaiting a vet visit were in their stalls right then. It was a beautiful and bright day outside with a bit of a breeze while it stayed a bit on the cool side of the temperature but that was mostly due to the breeze. The smell of the barn mixing with the smell of the horses and any flowers where enough to seem like a peaceful place. But the silence was broken by the foot steps of a horse and human heading into the barn and entering it, the western teacher was there finally with her horse and was just getting her horse settled in.

The red hair girl walked next to a black mare that seemed a bit too wild for the small girl holding the lead rope. But a soft mummer from the girl and the mare settled down with her head resting level with the girl's shoulder as she placed a hand on the mare's neck. She opened the stall door for her horse and put her in, she knew her horse didn't want to be out in the fields just yet. Most likely because Midnight was picking up Epona's feelings about fitting in and being such a young teacher. She talked softly to her mare as she ran a brush from her pocket over her mare's body to help calm both of them down and help them adjust. It was odd that two could be in-tune with each other but then again Epona was around Midnight since before birth and thus they were connected in a way that nobody else seemed to understand.

She didn't take notice to what was around her as she took care of her horse, a habit that she had was to not notice anything aside from the horse she was working with. It may have seem weird but she figured it was the same with anyone who grew up working with horses as she did. Plus it was something that she loved to do and the only thing that could get her to come out of her shell of shyness. She slipped the brush back into the pocket on her pants, she would put it up in her track kit once back at her trailer if she didn't forget about it that is. Her hands ran along the mare's neck and she whispered "Be good Mid while I get the rest of your stuff in here." She smiled and slipped out of the stall after giving a handful of oats to her horse. She normally kept treats for her horse in her pockets since it had been something that she did from a very young age with the horses of her family ranch.

She made sure the stall door was closed before she headed out to her truck to get the track for her horse, she didn't get time to settle her mare in before she had to start being a teacher the day before so she was doing it now. True Mid had slept in the stall before but she didn't have any of her own comforts such as the blanket or the sounds of home. Which the sounds did help Mid handle being in a new place easier since she took a bit to get use to new places just because she was still mostly wild and was that way with anyone aside from her rider. It was one of the reasons why Epona had made sure that Mid was taken care of before her own needs was because she knew her horse too well. She set the grooming kit outside Mid's stall door since she was gonna take time to pamper her horse after getting the saddle in the track room.

Although she did pause to take in the beauty of the land and the other horses, she would have to take some photos later once she had found her camera. But right then she just took a few photos with her phone and sent them to her parents so they knew she was fine and everything, even though she talked to them each night while on the road and even once she reached the school. A small smile came to her face before she went back to gathering the saddle and bridal up in her arms and headed back inside the barn. Her arms being full she didn't really watch where she was going but she did listen well to the sounds around her to make sure nobody was walking towards her. She slipped into the track room after opening the door with her foot, a skill that she had picked up at home, and set her saddle on the rack that had Midnight Dance on it and hung the bridal up too.

As she left she looked at the other saddles and bridals along with the grooming kits before she shrugged and left the track room. Pausing in the walkway to greet one of the horses that were in a stall, lightly petting the horse's muzzle before she went back outside and brought in Mid's blankets and covers, they were a lovely shade of red and had 'Midnight Dance' in fancy lettering on the sides near the rear. She put the blanket and covers up on a shelf that was in the back of the stall along with the small tape player that had sounds of home on it. She then brought the grooming kit inside the stall and started to brush her mare's body after putting a few drops of a lavender oil to help Mid calm down on the brush.

_{'Cause I see how it's putting you down
I just can't be around
What you doing this for?
'Cause the light in you started to fade
Don't let it get away
Girl you're worth so much more}

[Ayesha McMillan]

Ayesha walked into the stables and paused for a second, both to look around and shift the weight of the large messenger bag that hung over her right shoulder. It never ceased to amaze her to how many horses Willow Brooke was home to, but today she had not come to admire the horses. But while she hadn't been there long - and hadn't seen all the horses yet - a newcomer was easy enough to spot.

The girl she saw brushing the Frisian was certainly young enough to be a student, but she had not been notified of someone new joining her class. And she trusted Mr. Chien to see to details like that, informing anyone of what they needed to know. But even he could make mistakes, so it was possible the girl was a new student.

But for the moment it didn't matter terribly much. Ayesha had decided to finally take Dance out onto the cross country trail this afternoon, and that was what mattered to her at the moment. So she just offered a brief "Hi" to the girl, as she made her way to the tack room.

Dropping her bag near the door, she entered the tack room and returned a minute later laden with her jumping saddle and the rest of Dance's tack. She dropped most of the gear rather unceremoniously and heaved the saddle onto one of the ties, placing it down much more gently and carefully. After giving Dance all the attention she could over the last few days, it was now time to pay a little attention to her tack too, and especially the shiny black jumping saddle that had cost her a small fortune to be fitted perfectly to both Dance and herself. That had been too large an investment to let it fall into disrepair.

Ayesha dug into her bag and got out all the cleaning and polishing products she needed and arrayed them on a shelf in the order they would be needed, before she started to work on the saddle. The tack room had a saddle rack, but doing this work while surrounded by horses increased the anticipation, turned her thoughts to the ride she had planned for this afternoon.

Once finished with the soap she got the conditioner from the rack where she had placed it earlier, and when she turned back to her saddle her eyes fell on the red-headed girl and her horse again. There was a closeness there she could see - or rather sense - after a moment, something that reminded her of her own love for her mare. It was something she had never expected to see between a new arrival and one of Willow Brooke's horses, so perhaps that was not what either of them was, but there was only one way to find out.

"If you are a student here, you are already pretty late for your first class," she remarked with a casualness that would leave her soon enough if it turned out that the girl was a student and if she didn't show up for her English class.

[Étaín Epona Markey]

_{Don't waste the pretty on him
Don't waste the pretty on pain
When it gets too much to take, don't give it away}

Epona glanced up at the hi and gave a soft hi back as she figured the woman was busy with cleaning the saddle, but she didn't really care since she was taking her time on brushing her horse. At times she did glance over to the woman at any loud noise just to see what caused it. When her mare tensed she looked up at and blushed at being thought of as a student, sure she was young but she didn't think she would get mistaken for a student so soon.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, you must be mistaken, I'm the new western riding instructor... I just got in late last night so I didn't have time to get introduced or anything." She said in a shy voice as she concertinaed on her grooming rather than watching the other woman. Her brush moved slowly but gently as she worked out a few clumps of dirt that had gathered on Midnight from the trip up there.

She glanced up and said "I just happen to be young for my job, but probably more experienced than some twice my age with horses. I mean no offense either." Of course she only meant that as an excuse for her being hired there while being so young and didn't really think that it was true, unless it was someone who didn't spend their whole life around horses. But it wasn't something she considered talk worthy and thus didn't try to explain.

As she finished brushing her mare she set to cleaning her mare's feet carefully, having to often back off when Midnight gave a snort of disdain. After all the mare was still adjusting to the new place it made her more nervous and flighty than normal. But since Epona had practically raised the mare she knew signs of when to back off and when to push for what she wanted, which she knew the bruise from a bite mark on her upper arm showed due to the tank top that she wore. Her jeans slightly clung to her as she bent back down to clean at the mare's feet and switching to another one.

_{Don't waste the pretty on life
Soon it's gonna fly on by
Whatever way you gotta see it
Don't waste the pretty, yeah}

[Ayesha McMillan]

"It's fine, dear. I suspected you weren't a student, but I wanted to make certain," Ayesha told her in a reassuring tone. As a riding instructor, the young woman would have to lose that shy voice, as some of the students were quite a handful and enjoyed creating trouble - especially for teachers.

"No offence taken." Ayesha began to pack her cleaning supplies away and cast an occasional look at the red-head and her horse. "I expect Jared Martins to hire only the best instructors, and I admit, it's not terribly difficult to be a better rider than me, especially when it comes to western riding."

She heaved the English saddle from the bar and carried it back into the tack room, to its usual place. There were classes to teach, before she could finally get the ride she had wanted for days now.

Returning from the tack room she looked at her watch and discovered she had a few more minutes, so she leaned on the bar her saddle had sat on before and watched the dark mare with interest. A bit nervous, a little jittery, she thought of her behaviour after a moment, but it took time to get used to a new place. Dance had taken the change of place better than she would have thought possible, but she suspected that it was only because they could spend more time together here at Willow Brooke. That must have helped, and while not always comfortable around strangers, Dance was easy enough, once she got used to something. Perhaps the new horse just needed a little time to settle in.

"I am Ayesha McMillan, by the way. English teacher. The language that is, not the riding."

[Étaín Epona Markey]

_{Sit back and breathe it in
Look at how lucky we are
Look at how lucky we are
This life we're living in
You've gotta follow your heart
You know I'm never too far}

Epona nodded and blushed some from the first words before she laughed softly and said "I'm not that good at english riding just due to the fact that on a ranch its more practical to ride western." She finished taking care of her horse and took a piece of apple out and let Mid eat it. "I probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my dad, this job was his birthday gift to me, a great one at that." She said with a soft laugh since most people would think a job for a birthday gift was lame but since it was with horses she loved it. Plus it gave her a chance to live on her own and learn more about horses and different styles of riding. It was pretty much her dream job in a place that she loved the surrounding areas.

"Epona Markey is my name.... and this is Midnight Dance well if I ever am in a rodeo that is. Normally she is called Midnight, and aside from my mom I'm the only other person she lets ride her." She said with a smile at her horse and after giving the velvet nose a kiss she picked up the grooming tools and moved out of the stall closing the door. She sat down on a hay-bell and started to clean the grooming tools she had used, it wasn't something that everyone did but it was something she was taught by her mom to keep a horse looking its best for a show. Not that she was gonna be in a show but it was more of a habit to clean the items after each use. She had basically forgotten anyone was there aside from the horses and her work, a bad habit she had.

She packed the items up and closed the box that they were in before she stood up and blushed softly. "Sorry... I tend to forget that I'm talking to someone when I'm working with horses." She said a bit bashfully as she looked at the older woman before she looked back to check on Midnight and make sure she wasn't trying to figure out how to escape just yet. A soft laugh left her lips as she noticed her mare watching her and she walked over and rubbed the small white dot in the center of the horses eyes. "No more treats for you, I spoil you enough as it is." She whispered before she moved back. "Oh I'm sorry if I'm stopping you from going to your class, not that I think the students would care much if their teacher didn't show up." She said with a kind smile, slightly teasing about the last bit but knew it was probably true.

_{Away from the pain in your eyes
I can see your disguise
But it's not too late
'Cause I know you can turn this around
Don't be scared, work it out
Listen when I say}

[Ayesha McMillan]

Ayesha's brows furrowed as she thought about some of what Epona had said. How could a job be a birthday present? Giving out jobs was for the employer to do, but perhaps Epona's dad knew Jared and had convinced him that the girl should work at Willow Brooke. But as far as she could be a judge of it, Jared would not be easily swayed even by a friend asking for a favor, unless he thought it in the best of interest of Willow Brooke, so the girl really had to know what she was doing.

But while the question aroused Ayesha's curiosity, it wasn't terribly important, and easily pushed aside as she watched the girl and her horse together. If she could deal with even half the horses in such an affectionate and close way, she would soon enough feel right at home at Willow Brooke, Ayesha surmised.

"Oh, I have a little time left," she told Epona, aware of the teasing, but not acting on it. That teachers were not held in the highest esteem by students was a fact of life she had learned to live with early in her career. It was something she could just shrug off, something that didn't distract her from her work.

"And no need to apologize. I see nothing wrong in you concentrating on your work fully." Ayesha smiled and gave her what she hoped would come across as the encouraging nod it was meant to be.

She took a step towards Midnight's box, then, after a second another step, eyeing the horse carefully to gauge its reaction to the approaching stranger. "Good thing you call her Midnight," she casually remarked and looked at Epona from the corner of her eyes, not quite taking her complete attention off the black mare. "My own companion is Wind Dancer, but usually she goes by Dance. I guess things could get a bit confusing here if we both walked into the stable, or the pastures, and called out for 'Dance'."

[Étaín Epona Markey]

_{Don't waste the pretty on him
Don't waste the pretty on pain
When it gets too much to take, don't give it away
Don't waste the pretty on life
Soon it's gonna fly on by
Whatever way you gotta say it
Don't waste the pretty, yeah}

Epona nodded and watched carefully as the woman moved towards Midnight since she knew her horse didn't take well to others, she wasn't trained to. "Be careful, Midnight is still pretty wild and loves to bite those who get too close to her on purpose or if she senses the person not being an expert around horses. At least she'll be that way until she is use to here and even then she'll just bite those who try to hurt her." She gave a shy smile before she finished up her work completely and went to put the grooming kit away and then came back.

"Yeah that would be a bit odd but she hasn't answered to Dance since she was seven weeks old... when she told us her name. So I don't even think she knows her name is anything but Midnight." She said with a soft and loving smile to her mare as her eyes watched her horse. Midnight shifted some and watched Ayesha closely before she snorted and went into her stall to eat some hay that was in there. Epona laughed softly and said "Thats a good sign... she doesn't seem to mind you all that much or at least she figures you'll have enough horse sense to not try to pet her if she doesn't want petted. But carrots work good on getting her use to a place."

She stretched and asked "Can you tell me a bit more about this place? All I really know is that its a school for kids who need help or something if I remember right." She was warming up to Ayesha and thus was being a bit more talkative and not so shy. Epona was very much like Midnight in the sense of having to get use to a place and warming up to people but Epona warmed up a bit faster than her horse. It would seem odd to anyone who didn't know that she was so much like a wild horse, which was probably why she rode bareback most of the time unless she needed a saddle. Plus not having a saddle gave her a sense of freedom that she didn't get anyplace else, it was something that anyone who trusted their horse could get if they rode bareback and without reins could get but she figured not many would try that unless they owned their horse.

_{And just in case you need reminding
Girl you're beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
And there ain't no use in you hiding
'Cuz you're beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, yeah}

[Ayesha McMillan]

Ayesha joined Epona's laughter. "Oh, I just like horses, so I try to respect their wishes whenever I can. Perhaps she's sensing that I am not trying to be the boss here and lord it over her."

Her laughter lasted just till the question about Willow Brooke, and she gave the young riding instructor a questioning look, but she sounded quite honestly curious. Had she really that little idea of what she was getting into?

"Kids who need help," she softly repeated. "Yes, you could say that. All the kids... the students here have problems a regular school might be ill-equipped to deal with. The basic idea behind Willow Brooke is that working with the horses teaches them self-confidence, or responsibility, or breaks them out of their shell. It all depends a bit on the individual student." Ayesha was hesitant to call them kids, as Epona had done. Several of them were almost as old as the new instructor, or perhaps just as old. Calling them kids didn't seem quite right to her.

Ayesha took a deep breath and began to toy with a strand of her hair while she thought about the students and the different problems they had. "Some students are depressive, a few to the point that they started to harm themselves. One or two even attempted suicide. For others it was the choice between juvenile detention and Willow Brooke, be it for doing drugs, theft, violent behavior... For those Willow Brooke is more or less their last chance, but Jared - that's the owner, Mr. Martins - usually manages to bring them around.

"Some of them might give you a hard time, be it because they don't want to be here, or because they can't stand teachers of any kind, or because they are just obstinate."

She stopped toying with her hair and offered Epona what she hoped was an encouraging smile. She had wanted to prepare the redhead for some of the worst that might happen, but she didn't want to discourage her.

"But should you ever run into trouble with a student, everyone will be glad to help you. The staff here is quite helpful, and some of them have years of experience. So if you need someone to knock some sense into a rebellious student - or help you knock some sense into one - don't hesitate to ask."

[Étaín Epona Markey]

Epona smiled and nodded as she listened about the students while she thought over the info, she had known a little of that but it seemed she didn't know the full story. Her eyes traveled to the other horses in her view and shook her head before she said "True, after all horses can sense things that humans can't... well that is my view on it and what I learned growing up. So who knows what a horse knows, most are just going with their instincts that they were born with... at least I know that is what Midnight does."

She smiled before she looked back at her mare and then at Ayesha and said "Bribery works great with Midnight if you ever want to pet her, her favorite treat is carrots." Right then Midnight snorted and looked at the two before she walked over and nipped Epona's shoulder, it was a gentle nip like a mother would give a foal for nurseing too hard. Epona flicked Midnight's nose and shook her head at her mare, which Mid ignored and went back to eating. She knew her mare acted a lot like a child but she knew that her mare also knew a lot more then she let on, which was one of the reasons why she trusted her horse more than any other living thing aside from her parents.

"If you think about it the students are kids in a way, which yea I'm a kid too but there is a difference in the meanings. At least I think there are... but I think the students all have good and want to change even if they don't show it." She said softly before she blushed and shook her head before she added "I also say that about wild horses or horses who have proven to be unworkable by all other trainers. So I guess it applies to the students too." She smiled at the woman before she looked to her mare and watched her some.

A soft laugh came from her at the thought of the teachers fighting back and gave a small grin before she said "I’ll let the horses knock sense into the students... after all, to me, nature is the best teacher. Plus I doubt any of them are worst than a heard of wild horses getting trained to be cattle horses or a fully wild five year old stallion... they can be down right evil in the wrong hands. Well not the stallion he would just be a stubborn and un-trusting and not a story for now." Of course it was just falling off or getting bucked off or nipped that she was talking about when she said the horses could knock sense into the student. True the nipping wasn't a good thing to encourage but it would be one way of teaching a student not to do something that the horse didn't like. She just hoped that the students weren't too dense to not know the meaning of why the horse was nipping them.