Riding and Relaxation [open]

[danielle nielsen]

[style=font-family: times; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 1px; text-transform: lowercase; color: #989898; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;]547 WORDS FOR TAGGED oufit here - i guess this is okay for my first IC post on the site. can't believe it took me this long to play her. please note that this is not my usual post length; i'm usually more like 300-400. DREAM [/style]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,450,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: #6d6d6d;] [style=padding: 10px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 10px; height: 475px; overflow: auto; color: #1e1e1e;]"Gameboy, dear, want to go for a ride?" Dani murmured to the gelding, stroking his neck. She had ended her workout early on account of a very, very good ride and was now stuck with the decision of putting her horse back or going on a nice hack on the trails. At two o'clock on a Thursday, she didn't have anything else to do, and besides, Gameboy needed a mental break from arena work every day. Dani dismounted and let herself out of the outdoor arena, then climbed back on Gameboy's back and guided him up the road to the river trail. Dani hadn't been down this trail, but it wasn't too far and she could easily walk back if something went wrong. Gameboy stretched down and out on the short walk to the trail, tugging the reins through Dani's hands until she was just holding the buckle. This was good exercise for the juvenile Holsteiner. Dani spotted the trail where it crossed the main road and gathered her reins in preparation to turn Gameboy, but the gelding preempted her and wandered to the right until he was on the soft dirt path. She let the reins down again and used one hand to unbutton her polo shirt; the heat of the day, plus riding, was getting to her. Gameboy pricked his ears forward, apparently listening to some wildlife, while Dani considered taking her helmet off. A small spook from her horse made her decision for her; a little bit hot was better than dead from a bad fall. They passed the lake, where there were some people playing the water. Dani didn't much like swimming, especially when she had to wear a swimsuit, and so proceeded down the trail. It took a few minutes before they were comfortably out of hearing and sight of the lake. This was something Dani didn't like doing when people could see; it was childish and indulgent but god was it fun. Dani shortened her reins and cued for a canter, which Gameboy promptly gave her. She moved into a two-point and applied more leg, and it was only a moment before Gameboy got the point and went faster. Then faster. Then faster, until they were well beyond a hand gallop speed and closer to a really crappy racehorse. Dani's face was broken by a wide smile; it had been ages since she went this fast intentionally. It would have been all fine, really, except for the sharp corner coming up. Gameboy made the turn fine, of course, but Dani had forgotten that she couldn't see through trees and thus didn't check for oncoming traffic. The narrow trail was blocked by another rider, and Gameboy took it upon himself to shy to the right and continue on through the woods. Which was fine for the horse, but less fine for his rider. Dani was whipped in the face by branches in full summer foliage at full speed, and by the time she got Gameboy back on the trail and down to a walk, she was sure her face was bloodied. Kicking herself and in moderate pain, Dani turned Gameboy around and trotted back to the horse and rider they had just rushed by. "I'm so sorry - this is all my fault! Are you okay?" she called. [/style]

TABLE BY CALIFORNIA DREAMING @ CAUTION 2.0

[Isaac riley redwood]

Isaac walked Raven his 16.1 hand black arabian mare slowly through the woods tired from all the wild chaos of coming here to this new stables with his relatively new foster family the Redwoods. He smiled as he let himself relax and sway to the motion of Raven's walk which was fast enough that they were't moving like snails but not fast enough to easily get into the trot. He wasn't one for speed riding preferred to relax and take it slow which was exactly what he was doing at that very moment. He patted Raven on the shoulder and watched dozens of birds of all different sizes, shapes, species and colors fluttered by into the various trees around him.

Isaac was coming close to the road when he heard the distant sound of galloping hoofbeats he wondered who on earth would be galloping on such a peaceful path like this and why so close to a road and a sharp turn. While he daydreaming Raven took that moment to spook at a loudly honking car and scramble backwards almost crashing to the galloping horse and rider who spooked and sped off the path. Raven spooked further by the sudden;y approaching horse and rider reared sensing Isaac sailing from the saddle. He crash landed into a large pile of leaves he lay gasping for air for a moment before he sat up shook his head to clear it.

Raven being the smart horse she was stood near by grazing off of a small path of grass as if nothing had happened. The galloping horse and rider came back with the poor rider looking like they'd run through every sharp branch in the forest. They started aplogizing the moment they saw him. Isaac hauled himself to his feet wincing at the usual stiffness that came from having a hard fall and said, "It's alright I wasn't paying attention enough I heard you coming I should have moved out of your way and yeah i'm she just spooked at a car then got startled to suddenly see you and your horse ploughing us down i'll be ok besides you look like you made it out this worse then I did"

He hobbled his way over to Raven and ran his hands over her legs to check them he was pleased to find no heat or scratches on her legs or any where else on her body. He lead her closer to the wall and carefully got up on the wall and used the wall as mounting block so he could easily get into the saddle. He swung himself back into the saddle and once he was settled and his feet was in the stirrups and he had his reins he turned to face the other rider and horse.

Word Count: 467
Notes: Woot! a long post! I usually write 200-300 words my lowest being 188 because I had to reply to a bad post and couldn't find a good enough way to reply to it but I'll try and keep my posts as long as possible for you

[danielle nielsen]

[style=font-family: times; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 1px; text-transform: lowercase; color: #989898; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;]291 WORDS FOR ISAAC this is a better indication of my normal style. isaac's adorable :] DREAM [/style]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,450,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: #6d6d6d;] [style=padding: 10px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 10px; height: 475px; overflow: auto; color: #1e1e1e;]Dani blinked against the sweat dripping in her eyes - or was it blood? She swiped a hand across her face to find out. She was bleeding, and most of the scratches seemed to be across her cheeks and nose. Nothing a little antibiotic gel wouldn't fix, and she'd have an interesting story for a week or so. But how could she be so stupid? Dani realized that the other rider, a boy who had to be half her age, was on the ground and his black mare was grazing on the side of the path. She frowned and almost told him to stay on the ground, but he was already up and about, moving stiffly but moving all the same. "No kidding. Are you sure you're okay? You can move all your fingers and toes and everything?" Dani replied. He caught his horse easily, and although Dani was more skilled in detecting horse lameness than human lameness, he seemed like he was walking fine. Dani switched her attention to the mare (Arabian? the corners of her mouth turned down) who also seemed fine. Gameboy snorted loudly, which of course switched Dani's attention back to the gelding. He was sweaty and felt a little nervous, and although he didn't have a mean bone in his body, Dani took extra care to sink her weight down in her stirrups. One bad thing in a day only opened the door to more. The boy was back on his horse, thank God. "Can I walk you back to the barn? I feel terrible," she asked. The relaxing hack around the property was officially over. Time for serious business. [/style]

TABLE BY CALIFORNIA DREAMING @ CAUTION 2.0

[Isaac riley redwood]

Isaac gave her a nervous smile and said, "definitely i'm alright really...i've had worse then that, that there was nothing really I wasn't paying attention I should have moved so me and Raven weren't taking up the whole trail for ourselves besides she got spooked by a car and got startled have another horse and rider coming around corner we'll be alright seriously" he rolled his shoulders back hoping to get the tightness out of his shoulders to no avail it seemed.

The girl really seemed horrified that she'd caused Raven to spook and me fall off Isaac really wasn't that upset about it he actually found falling off quite entertaining at times it gave him an excuse to complain not that he liked to complain but whenever he'd fallen off Raven before he always told his old gym teacher who took pity on him and let him sit out of class.

He patted Raven's shoulder and started walking her around a little bit to make sure she was moving calmly and he looked up at the girl slightly surprised as she offered to walk with him back to the barn. He'd never had anyone offer to go with him back to stables before then again he hadn't ever really gone a trail ride with anyone else before. He shrugged and said, "Sure I think we should go back anyways it looks like its going to rain in a little bit an you really don't have to feel bad we're fine seriously rou look worse off then I do and besides I find falling off quite entertaining"

Word Count: 268
Notes: you'll find that my posts are really low when i'm tired or when i'm bored of typing lol

[danielle nielsen]

[style=font-family: times; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 1px; text-transform: lowercase; color: #989898; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;]293 WORDS FOR ISAAC no worries :] dani is SO AWKWARD. DREAM [/style]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,450,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: #6d6d6d;] [style=padding: 10px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 10px; height: 475px; overflow: auto; color: #1e1e1e;]Dani forced herself to smile, although it didn't reach her eyes. This could get her in trouble, whether Isaac was hurt or not. "Oh, come on, it's not your fault. I practically ran you over. You fell off," she said, her voice a somewhat pained imitation of sarcasm. You fell off and it's my fault, she completed silently. Car horn or not, paying attention or not, Dani still felt awful. Gameboy shifted sideways and started pawing. His heart, obviously, was not beating as quickly as his rider's. Dani picked up her reins and gave the gelding something to do: sidepass back and forth slowly. If he was going to go sideways, it would be Dani's idea. Gameboy tossed his head slightly, prompting a soft growl from Dani, but moved off easily enough. She made a quick mental note to work more on his lateral movements. She watched the black mare carefully for any sign of soreness or stiffness. A fright like that could send any horse into a panic in the woods - and if the mare was an Arab like Dani thought, then it could be worse. Thankfully, everybody seemed fine. Dani, apparently, had the worst visible injuries, which she was reminded of by the sting of sweat in her cuts. "I might look worse, but you can't see concussions," Dani replied. Why in the world would he find falling entertaining? Dani had had bad falls in her past, and although telling the stories was funny now, they certainly weren't entertaining in the five minutes after she hit the ground. "I'm Dani, and this is Gameboy - in case you... were wondering." In case you wanted to sue me. Dani winced slightly and fell in behind the boy on the trail back to the barn. [/style]

TABLE BY CALIFORNIA DREAMING @ CAUTION 2.0

[Isaac riley redwood]

I gave her a soft smile and shifted in the saddle so I could look at her Raven was smart enough to take me back to the stables without wandering off in a strange direction. I shrugged then said, "If you see it that way go ahead I won't argue but i'm not gonna sue or anything that would be stupid we were both in the wrong me for not paying attention, you for galloping a walking trail in the end we'd have to sue each other to get anything out of it" I smirked and twisted around I was now sitting completely backwards in the saddle and held onto the seat.

I shook my head and said, "I don't have a concussion i've had plenty of concussion's before I'd be all dizzy and I wouldn't be able to see properly if I had concussion and Nice too meet you Dani and you too Gameboy i'm Isaac and this is raven" I patted Raven's rump as I said her name. Raven being the practically bomb-proof horse she was didn't even bat an eye at me. I smiled and let myself settle into swaying with motion of Raven's movement.

Word Count: 201

[danielle nielsen]

[style=font-family: times; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 1px; text-transform: lowercase; color: #989898; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;]236 WORDS FOR ISAAC sorry about the delay - i had mock trial yesterday and i was dead by the time i got home. DREAM [/style]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,450,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: #6d6d6d;] [style=padding: 10px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 10px; height: 475px; overflow: auto; color: #1e1e1e;]Dani's good sense was rather offended when Isaac turned around in the saddle. No matter how good his horse was, he shouldn't have been so careless with his safety. Unconsciously, she adjusted her own position in the saddle and made sure Gameboy was on the aids. Gameboy shortened his stride and brought his neck up and his head closer to the verticle. Dani's lip quivered upwards. A little more finesse and he could be an eq horse; maybe there was some kid around here who needed a leg up. She gave the gelding back his freedom of motion, but kept a light contact, ready to act at a moment's notice. "Okay, well, I'm glad we have that sorted." How old was this kid, anyways? And why was he here? Dani was glad she wouldn't have to do a settlement - that would be an interesting conversation with her father - but now a new curiosity had lodged itself in her mind. She knew Saving Grace had a foster program, but she wasn't familiar with it. Her conclusion was reinforced by Isaac's mention of past concussions; he didn't seem like a football playing type, and so of course Dani jumped to conclusions. Whether they were right, she didn't know, but the thought twisted her heart uncomfortably. "What kind of riding do you do?" she asked. It was an innocent enough question, and Dani hoped her face didn't betray her emotions. [/style]

TABLE BY CALIFORNIA DREAMING @ CAUTION 2.0

[Isaac riley redwood]

I gave her a small smile as I watched the scenery around us I instinctively held tighter onto Raven's addle the smaller the path got. I figured it came from being a mild to severe Claustrophobic I glanced around behind me willing the path way to grow wider already I tapped nervously onto Raven's saddle seat the pathway hadn't seemed so small when we were coming through here but now on the way back it kept getting smaller and smaller it seemed.

I looked up sharply giving myself a bit of a deer in headlights look i'd almost forgotten that Dani was in front of me i'd been so worried about the path way that I hadn't noticed her presence. I shrugged and said, "English mainly jumping Dressage is too confusing and boring for me it makes my head hurt" I ran and hand through my hair as I was once again made aware of the pathway getting smaller.

[Isaac riley redwood]

(I posted)