Over the River and Through the Trails <KOL>

[whirleybird86]

The birds sang their morning chorus and flew from tree to tree. The ground creatures scavenged under the leaves, and kept their peace. Things seemed to be peaceful on this sunny morning, but then the peace was disturbed when the sound of hooves came pounding down the dirt trail. The birds flew, and the ground critters ran for cover as the horse came closer. The young gelding stretched his legs out as he flew over a jump that was a fallen pine tree. The rider sat high in the saddle and grabbed some mane as she came over the jump. A smile came across her face as they landed, and she patted the young horse's neck. That was a pretty big jump, and she was glad that Shakespeare could tackle it. Has he ever jumped that high before? If he hasn't, then that was a first. " Good man," she said catching her breath and slowed him to a trot, then slowed him down to a walk to let him catch his breath. He wasn't sweating, but he was breathing pretty heavy from galloping a ways from the barn. Time to rest before doing more interval treks.

[KOL NATHANIAL CARTER]

Kol sat, back against a tree trunk, with his sketchbook in one hand and a 2H pencil in the other. Cinny, who was nearby napping, was his main focus. Each mark on the book's paper worked with the others to make the equine look more and more like the living one standing in front of him. He was glad to have time to draw, it was relaxing and it gave him time to think. For once he didn't have his ear buds in, he needed the relative quite of the forest. Although he wasn't entirely happy to be here, he was glad to be here, off the side of the trail with the ebony horse. After all he could have been sent somewhere with no horses, no forests, and no art book. Just white walls and locked doors.

He heard a sound he couldn't quite place, at first he hadn't even realized he had heard anything. Slowly, steadily the noise grew louder, or rather the producer drew nearer. He paused and lifted his head. Finally the sound clicked; it was hoof beats of coarse! The sound caused the forest life to flee and Cinny to lift his head. The said gelding turned his head toward the sound drowsily, letting out a soft nicker. Kol himself turned slightly as well, ocean gray eyes blinking blankly.

A rider, a female it seemed, had come blazing down the trail on her steed. The two had easily cleared a felled tree, though the horse was winded from the work out. He glanced at his own tied horse out of the corner of his eye, the creature's ears were pricked with curiosity. Don't you even think about jumping like that, he thought as if the horse could hear him, I'd like your feet to stay on the ground when I'm on your back, thank you very much. The dirty-blond turned back to the new arrival, "Hi," He spoke softly, hoping not to scare the rider or the mount.

[whirleybird86]

Hannah slowed Shakespeare after they cleared the jump together, and she let go of his mane. She always grabbed mane whenever she went over big jumps like this out of habit. If the horse's mane is braided, then she puts a leather strap around his neck to grab a hold of. Oh, speaking of mane, Shakespeare was due to have his mane pulled soon. It was getting a little too long for Hannah's liking. Come to think of it, so did Firefly. Ugh, Hannah been so slack since she went to the Hamptons last week with Markus. She had a somewhat normal visit with her family. They always drove her up the wall, but with Markus, she felt a little at ease to have someone to keep her grounded. She was so glad to have someone like Markus in her life.

Hannah patted Shakespeare's neck and rubbed the crest of his neck. He was a powerhouse when it came to jumping, and she was glad that she rescued him. She always had a soft spot for those in need of being rescued. Giving homes to animals gave her joy. Hannah stopped when she heard a voice, and Shakespeare jumped slightly and snorted. " Hey, you gave us a scare there for a minute," she said and loosened the reins and jumped off. She ran her stirrups up and gave her horse a chance to catch his breath. " I'm Hannah, this is Shakespeare. What are you drawing," she said and looked at his sketchpad.

[KOL NATHANIAL CARTER]

Kol wasn't much for jumping. It wasn't that he didn't like it, it was that he had never tried it before, and frankly, he was terrified of heights. The only time he didn't tense when looking down from someplace high was in an airplane, the feeling of flight pacified his fear. Of coarse he had heard jumping with horses being compared to flying, he was happy enough on the horse's back blazing across an open Field. One day he'd try jumping, but not anytime soon without a good enough reason.

Both the horse and rider had been startled by him, and it always seemed to happen in these situations. It seemed he was invisible unless he wanted to be invisible. He figured that it would be better for him to speak up than spot his horse, but not him. He was aware of the point of view from horseback, and when up there it's unusual to look as far sown as he was, when looking for a person at least. Sometimes it was easy to forget how much taller one was atop a horse.

"I'm Kol," he said in response to her introduction, "And that lazy boy is Cinny." Cinny wasn't lazy out in the pasture where he galloped from one end to the other, it was only when he was expected to work that he tried to take the easiest way out. He spent more energy trying to avoid working than actually doing what he was supposed to do. "Just sketching out Cin," he replied to her query. The page was filled with a sleeping horse in western tack, one leg propped slightly taking the weight off of it. Instead of one solid, clean line, each line was made up out of several smaller lines. It was a lazy style that he personally liked. Just like any other style it just had to be pulled off correctly.