﹝ ─── the hard way ✦ ﹞ one x one

[bronc]

𝙊𝙁𝙏𝙀𝙉 𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀𝙎 𝙄 𝙋𝙍𝘼𝙔 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙔𝙊𝙐, 𝙊𝙁𝙏𝙀𝙉 𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀𝙎 𝙄 𝘿𝙊𝙉'𝙏

Forty-five minutes later, Cody's head swimming from the onslaught of new information, it was time for the work to begin. The tour of the property had turned out to be brief; Tyler, called back to his office by some important matter, had pointed Cody in the direction of the indoor arena, where the western manager, a short, serious mid-forties brunette by the name of Sarah waited. Her introduction had been short, to the point; a strong handshake followed by her name. Cody hadn't gotten much else out of her in the time since other than a few words here or there. This first task today in what Cody considered to be a trial phase; a test from the owners to see if he was all he said he was, had him in a pen cordoned off from the rest of the arena by metal panels. A temporary set up, but it would work perfectly for the task at hand, which was halter breaking a handful of the center's weanlings. Sarah stood out of the way outside of the pen, barely noticeable but constantly watching. Cody could barely catch her out of the corner of his eye, but he knew her eyes, nearly hidden under a dirt-streaked ball cap with the barn's name and logo stitched in bold white letters, were closely monitoring him, scrutinizing his every move. Despite this, he didn't squirm; they'd be getting their money's worth, that he was sure of. Cody, taught from childhood to always be modest, was never one to brag or boast about his knowledge or ability, he wouldn't necessarily call you out if he disagreed with your methods, but that didn't mean he underestimated or downplayed his success. He was good, and he knew it. It wasn't something management would hear directly from him, but they wouldn't need to. They would see it firsthand.

Still, the pressure was on. His whole life had been one big competition, his top competitor more often than not himself. Failure, well he'd had plenty of that over the years, only made him work harder, want it more. Mistakes were bound to happen, but were something to learn from, never to be repeated. Did he have his childhood to thank for this mentality? He could play the nurture card if he truly wanted; a lifetime of constantly having to prove his worth, to stand out amongst his four brothers, only to never be seen as good enough, never be offered a well done, but instead a lecture on what he could've done, should've done, well, maybe that played a part in it, but truth be told he didn't blame anybody. It had made him all the stronger, had molded him, shaped him into the trainer he was today, and at the end of the day, the only person he could truly satisfy was himself. Or at least that was what he tried to tell himself. Some days were easier than others.

𝙄𝙎 𝙄𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙂𝙊𝙊𝘿𝘽𝙔𝙀𝙎 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝙃𝘼𝙐𝙉𝙏 𝙔𝙊𝙐, 𝙊𝙍 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙁𝙀𝘼𝙍 𝙊𝙁 𝙉𝙀𝙒 𝙃𝙀𝙇𝙇𝙊𝙎?

In the pen with him now was a nice-looking smoky grullo spotted leopard. The center, he had been told, focused more on the stock type than any specific breed, which meant they owned quite a diverse herd; quarter horses, paint horses, appaloosas, with a few Morgans thrown in. This colt had shied away to the opposite side of the pen from Cody when he'd shut the gate behind him, where he stood eyeing this new man warily, but Cody could see it was more a sign of uncertainty about the whole situation, not outright fear. When Sarah had briefed him on their way to the arena, she'd mentioned that their foals were well handled from birth with a few short, simple sessions, meaning they weren't completely untouched, they’d been haltered before, making this particular task a lot easier for both the weanlings and Cody. This group was weaned a week ago, having been given the time to settle in before being brought back to continue their training. The work with them now would be brief; after these last few sessions, they'd be turned out until they turned one, when they'd be brought back in to begin groundwork. This was all part of the briefing he'd had, first with Tyler, then with Sarah. It was a lot to take it at once, Cody's worn out state didn't help, but he knew in a week or less he would have it all down, would fit in amongst all the others like he'd been there for years. He'd do his work, meet some people he would almost consider friends, people he would almost miss, and without a doubt, there would be one moment where the thought would cross his mind. It would come following a good show or a happy moment spent with these new people, but it always came; what about staying? It wouldn't stay long though, by the time he would weigh out his options, it'd be time to be moving on, leaving these people behind to scratch their heads, wondering what had happened? What went so wrong? How had they missed this? Maybe they'd think about him, maybe in those moments before they're fully awake or before they drift off, on the nights when sleep is hard to come by. Cody didn't think so, he was only another man traveling through town. He would never leave his mark anywhere, in a few years time no one would know he'd been through here at all. It always went this way, Cody figured it always would for the rest of his life.

The colt had been handled well, Cody could tell. Turning his attention to the task at hand, he started slowly towards the spotted weanling. The colt took a single step forward, but stayed where he was, staring back at the man. Halter in his left hand, standing by the colt's shoulder, he placed his hand on his neck, petting him with soft, gentle movements, starting on his neck before tracing his hand down his back, onto his sides. The colt sniffed the halter in his off hand, curious but showing no outward sign of fear. Scratching the colt in the middle of his neck, he dropped his hand down the side of his neck, petting him there before slowly bringing the halter up over his nose, clipping the halter. He took a moment to pause. From where he stood, he could see to the set of outdoor arenas, where a handful of trainers were working with their horses. One had a show jumping course set up but the closest one was empty, intended for flatwork. He caught sight of a black mare being worked, cantering circles. It didn't take him long to remember she was the snorty mare that trainer was working with, the first man he'd met in the barn, whose name he couldn't quite place, the one with the bad wrist. Standing with him in the aisleway, he'd sensed the slightest bit of tension, chalking it up to him being a newcomer. There was always some tension when someone new came to a barn; the same as introducing a new horse to an established herd, Cody would find his place amongst them soon. Still, the other trainer would be one to keep an eye on. The smallest competition between trainers could still get out hand quickly. One last glance at the pair- Cody was pretty sure he couldn't see him from here, but if he could what would it matter, it was habit for trainers to watch other trainers, critiquing and nitpicking in their heads about how they would do things different, he turned his attention back to the colt to start leading him.

𝙒𝙊𝙉'𝙏 𝙎𝙏𝘼𝙔 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙇𝙊𝙉𝙂 '𝘾𝘼𝙐𝙎𝙀 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙒𝙊𝙉'𝙏 𝙎𝙏𝙊𝙋 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝙍𝙐𝙉𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙂
𝙒𝘼𝙄𝙏 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙏𝙊𝙈𝙊𝙍𝙍𝙊𝙒 '𝙏𝙄𝙇 𝙏𝙊𝙈𝙊𝙍𝙍𝙊𝙒'𝙎 𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙄𝙉𝙂

[Consulting_Angel]

Rafael Karim
"Nothing less than perfection"

It must have been nearly an hour since he started work with Destiny, and she was steadily picking up on each aid, each slight squeeze of a leg or gentle pull on the reins. Rafael was quite proud. But it wasn't enough, yet. There was still more that could be done, more posture and leg work to perfect. He was patient, though. He had to be, given Destiny's history. But that was okay.
Rafael beamed, as the mare responded immediately to his motion to halt her. Perfect. No slowing down or taking a few extra steps. An immediate halt. He leaned forward, rubbing her neck and praising her. This was the part he loved - the result of training. Sure, it might seem like a minor thing to anyone else, but this meant they were starting to get somewhere. Now that it happened once, Rafael knew he had to make sure it happened every time. Repositioning himself, he circled Destiny back around to the edge of the arena, to the centre of the short end, and they went again. Walk... reaching the centre... slight pull on the reins... halt. Rafael praised the Friesian once more.

Suddenly, he instinctively looked around, towards the indoor arena building. He didn't know why, he just felt a moment that he was being watched. Not that he minded, if someone could learn something by watching him, then that was good enough for him. Sometimes he'd watch some of the other trainers himself, to see what and how they were doing.
Rafael did figure it was maybe time to take a quick break, though, and settled for having Destiny walk around the perimeter of the arena again, head high, heels down, hands low. He hummed to himself, relaxing a little bit, despite his posture being upright and formal. He then moved to letting go of the reins, intending to work with the mare by only using leg aids rather than the reins, putting his hands on his thighs, so he wouldn't be too tempted to take the reins again.
Rafael decided that they'd spend another hour training, before going back and turning her out for the rest of the day, satisfied with the progress made so far. There was still a way to go, but he knew he couldn't do it all in one day, as much as he wanted to. Besides, he had Nightstorm to exercise as well, and he intended to work on the cross country course with his gelding.

[bronc]

𝙊𝙁𝙏𝙀𝙉 𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀𝙎 𝙄 𝙋𝙍𝘼𝙔 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙔𝙊𝙐, 𝙊𝙁𝙏𝙀𝙉 𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀𝙎 𝙄 𝘿𝙊𝙉'𝙏

Out of all the stages of a horse's training, Cody considered the time between weaning to the first ride to have the most important impact on a horse. What he was doing now was laying the solid foundation to be built upon later, to set this colt up for success, no matter the direction it was decided he would go in. Any cracks or pitfalls, the training would come crumbling down, leading to a slew of problems for both the colt and the trainer in the future. It was a precarious first task to be throwing a newcomer into, a trainer who had lied about their knowledge or wasn't as confident as they claimed to be could easily set a colt back, but Cody figured it showed the owner's trust of him, a decision he quite respected. Now, he didn't plan to let Tyler down.

Cody turned his attention back to focus on the task at hand. With the lead rope in hand, he took a step out towards the spotted colt's hip, gently pulling on the lead, before letting it go slack as soon as the colt took a step in his direction. Timing was crucial, the only way this colt would learn was through the release of pressure when he did what was asked of him. Taking a moment to stroke the colt between his ears with his off hand, he then stepped the other way, doing the same as before. Almost immediately, the colt took a step. "Thatta boy," he murmured, glancing over to where Sarah stood, but her look gave nothing away, he wouldn't be getting anything out of her now, so he went back to what he was doing. Not that he thought he would get anything out of her, anyway.

𝙄𝙎 𝙄𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙂𝙊𝙊𝘿𝘽𝙔𝙀𝙎 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝙃𝘼𝙐𝙉𝙏 𝙔𝙊𝙐, 𝙊𝙍 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙁𝙀𝘼𝙍 𝙊𝙁 𝙉𝙀𝙒 𝙃𝙀𝙇𝙇𝙊𝙎?

The colt was smart, confident but not over-confident, willing to please, all traits he looked for in a performance prospect. It all went back to his breeding in addition to the handling he had gotten since hitting the ground, which had been enough to have created the gentled, willing colt he was now, but not too much to overwhelm him. He took a moment to scratch the colt's neck. The appaloosa gave Cody a curious sniff, before nibbling the man's shirt. He gently nudged the colt's nose away. Outstretching his arm, adding a bit of pressure with the tail of the rope when the colt pulled back, taking a step back instead of forward. "Good," he praised when the colt did what he was supposed to, immediately letting the rope go slack. He did the same again, this time the colt picking up what he was supposed to do. "There he goes." he murmured. The session today would be short, so as to not overload his brain and to keep with his short attention span. These things took time, patience was a trainer's best friend next to consistency, Cody knew. He stroked between the spotted colt's ears, satisfied with his progress for today. Who knew, maybe he'd stay long enough to see the colt's first ride, but he figured that probably wasn't the case. He'd be reluctant to leave this one behind. He had always liked working with the younger horses, liked watching them grow and mature, seeing the hard work and dedication make it all worth it in the end.

𝙒𝙊𝙉'𝙏 𝙎𝙏𝘼𝙔 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙇𝙊𝙉𝙂 '𝘾𝘼𝙐𝙎𝙀 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙒𝙊𝙉'𝙏 𝙎𝙏𝙊𝙋 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝙍𝙐𝙉𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙂
𝙒𝘼𝙄𝙏 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙏𝙊𝙈𝙊𝙍𝙍𝙊𝙒 '𝙏𝙄𝙇 𝙏𝙊𝙈𝙊𝙍𝙍𝙊𝙒'𝙎 𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙄𝙉𝙂

[Consulting_Angel]

Rafael Karim
"Nothing less than perfection"

About another hour later, the second hour that Rafael had decided that he'd continue training with Destiny for, he decided to call it there for the time being with the mare. She was starting to get a little fed up, he felt, though she was still listening to his aids and putting in the work. He didn't quite want to push her to the point of being thrown off again. Besides, there had been a lot of progress made, more than he'd expected. He was already planning the next lesson, deciding that he'd lay out some poles on the ground so he could work on Destiny's stride. Maybe even push into starting to teach her passage and piaffe, which were more advanced Dressage moves this early, but he though she could handle it.

Anyway, Rafael dismounted, took hold of the reins again and led Destiny out of the arena. He patted the side of her face as they walked, quietly praising her for the good work she'd done today. He made sure to pass by the stall to pick up the headcollar and lead rope again, and proceeded to the tacking up area. The sheltered area was empty this time, so he took the Friesian to the first bay, and started with taking off the bridle, replacing it with the headcollar and tied the rope up to the metal ring. Then, he took off her saddle, and quickly took the tack back to the tack room. He returned within a few minutes. Rafael moved onto brushing down Destiny again, and to dry off the sweat - though there wasn't much - before untying the lead rope and leading Destiny out to the pastures. It was just one cluster out of several that were around the centre, essentially a giant field that was split by the typical wooden post and fence, and a path down the center that split off so each pasture could be accessed.

He stopped at a gate, opening it and leading Destiny into it. Rafael then slipped off her headcollar, and patted her to let her know she could wander off through the pasture. He checked the water trough, making sure it was mostly clean and the system that kept it filled was still working.
This pasture was not empty. A gelding, Nightstorm, was also there, having been turned out after he'd had his morning feed. Rafael hung up Destiny's headcollar, to pick up Nightstorm's.
The gelding, spotting Rafael was there, and had his headcollar, came trotting over. Rafael, though, knew that he would not come quite directly over. Indeed, the gelding got close, before veering off to one side to circle away, and as he got closer to the trainer, changed legs and circled off the other way. After this, though, he did finally approach Rafael, to let him put the headcollar on.
Now it was time to make the walk back to the yard.

[bronc]

𝙊𝙁𝙏𝙀𝙉 𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀𝙎 𝙄 𝙋𝙍𝘼𝙔 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙔𝙊𝙐, 𝙊𝙁𝙏𝙀𝙉 𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀𝙎 𝙄 𝘿𝙊𝙉'𝙏

Only a mere ten minutes after calling it a day with the weanlings, under Sarah's sharp scrutiny, Cody found himself where he'd started when he first came into the barn not two hours ago, though this time he was the one cross-ties, currently brushing a lilac roan. While he'd been finishing with the youngstock in the indoor, a man who was later introduced as Trail, one of the few other western trainers- it seemed to Cody that Iron Spring was dominated by the English discipline- had pulled Sarah aside, speaking to her briefly, before she beckoned Cody over. There, after being introduced to the other man, Trail had told him that a truckload of consigned heifers were on their way, which is where Cody came in. The plan was to have him saddle one of the horses he would be working with during his time at Iron Spring, a cow horse named Parker, to help Trail in sorting and settling the heifers. After that, Trail would give the rest of the tour of the property horseback, since it had been cut short by Tyler. Call it a win-win.

While Trail had gone to catch his own horse, Cody had been left in the bay to tend to Parker. The seven-year-old working cow horse was one of the horses Tyler had pointed out would be in Cody's string. The nearly-finished gelding was cutting-bred, out of a High Brow Cat son, had potential as a show horse with a few outings under his belt, but like a few others, had fallen by the wayside due to the lack of time and trainers. He was in need of some fine-tuning and maintenance, which really came down to him needing more miles, more wet saddle pads, but overall was a solid horse with a good mind and a good foundation. It would be Cody's job to get him back into shape and in the show pen, after which he would hopefully be sold. That was something that was brought up when Cody had taken the job and once again during Tyler's briefing; Cody would get a commission on each horse sold under his training. Speaking of shows, soon before Tyler had been pulled back into his office, he'd mentioned an upcoming cutting show they were planning to haul Parker to, with the owner wanting him in turn back, to get him accustomed to the show pen and working cattle.

𝙄𝙎 𝙄𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙂𝙊𝙊𝘿𝘽𝙔𝙀𝙎 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝙃𝘼𝙐𝙉𝙏 𝙔𝙊𝙐, 𝙊𝙍 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙁𝙀𝘼𝙍 𝙊𝙁 𝙉𝙀𝙒 𝙃𝙀𝙇𝙇𝙊𝙎?

Parker's lip drooped while Cody flicked the dandy brush over his side. While he worked, quickly but thoroughly, he thought back over the past two hours. Between the short but tense meeting between Cody and the other trainer- the one with the bad wrist, he remembered- followed by the tour cut short, the work with the weanlings, and now this, the day had been long, and wasn't quite halfway done, according to his watch. Coupled with how the past two days had transpired, Cody was, at his best, worn out, would've quite liked to unpack what little belongings he brought with him into his new cabin, catch up on some sleep, but all things considered it had been a good first two hours. He liked the owner, Tyler, not only that but he had grown fond of Sarah, who had slightly warmed up to him, offering him a half smile- he'd take it, it was something- not to mention the other English trainer he'd first crossed paths with would, at the least, offer some entertainment while he was here. He could spend all day debating with the man, and Cody was always on the lookout for new competition.

Satisfied with the brushing, Cody took a moment to pick out the roan's hooves, before making his way across the aisle into the tack room. The tack room was well-organized, each saddle rack was numbered, denoting which saddle was to go on which horse, which was written on a whiteboard on the opposite wall. Cody noticed his name had already been scrawled on the board in black dry-erase marker, under which where the names of the dozen or so horses that were to be in his care, a few that stood out after a quick glance to locate the saddle number for Parker, mostly ones he had met or at least passed by during his tour- Pearl, Trooper, Stetson. Seeing Parker's name with a number seven written next to it, Cody turned to the wall of saddles, finding number seven, he pulled down the saddle blanket and dark brown leather cutting saddle, returning to the bay, where he began to tack up Parker, swinging the saddle over his back, letting it land gently instead of plopping it down, he fastened the cinches, finishing with the breast collar, waiting to swap out the halter for the bridle for when Trail came back, he instead pulled out his phone, swiping to see the text from that buddy in Minneapolis asking if he had made it to the barn. One of his worst habits was neglecting to respond to messages; most times because he would put it off then get sidetracked, forgetting about it all together- that was when his phone was turned on in the first place- so he thumbed a quick answer so as not to be scolded later for not responding.

𝙒𝙊𝙉'𝙏 𝙎𝙏𝘼𝙔 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙇𝙊𝙉𝙂 '𝘾𝘼𝙐𝙎𝙀 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙒𝙊𝙉'𝙏 𝙎𝙏𝙊𝙋 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝙍𝙐𝙉𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙂
𝙒𝘼𝙄𝙏 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙏𝙊𝙈𝙊𝙍𝙍𝙊𝙒 '𝙏𝙄𝙇 𝙏𝙊𝙈𝙊𝙍𝙍𝙊𝙒'𝙎 𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙄𝙉𝙂

[Consulting_Angel]

Rafael Karim
"Nothing less than perfection"

Even just walking in-hand with the gelding was different to how he'd walk with Destiny. Nightstorm seemed to instinctively know what it was Rafael wanted him to do - the headcollar was mostly there for show, as the Anglo-Arabian would have happily followed his trainer around without it. But that didn't mean something unexpected could happen, Nightstorm was mostly bombproof, but he was still a horse, after all. Still, the pair walked as though they were on show, keeping in step, heads up and focused as they walked through the yard and over to the tacking up bays.

Rafael noticed immediately that it was not empty this time. In one of the bays was a pretty lilac roan that had just been racked up - and that he didn't recognise. With a slight grimace, he clocked the cutting saddle, as well as the person who would be working with the roan. The new guy from earlier, Cody. Since Cody seemed preoccupied with his phone for now, Rafael did not say anything as he tied Nightstorm in the bay furthest away from them, and then assessed the mess the gelding was in. He wasn't too bad, it was a warm day, and the pasture had been dry, though he had clearly been rolling around, so it was mostly dust and dirt that some time with the plastic and rubber curry combs and a dandy brush wouldn't fix.

Deciding it would be better to bring the box his grooming kit was in over to the bay, rather than trying to balance holding three brushes at once or going back and forth, Rafael set the box just inside the entrance of the bay, and got to work. He got so focused on brushing Nightstorm, he forgot that Cody was also there - though on the other end of the bays. Not that he really intended to speak to Cody at the moment - if at all - unless absolutely necessary.
Once the gelding had been brushed, freed of dirt and dust, Rafael moved onto picking out his hooves. Getting out the hoof pick, Rafael started on one of the gelding's forelegs. Nightstorm picked up each hoof as soon as Rafael touched each leg, knowing what was happening. That made things a lot easier, some horses simply refused to pick their hooves up.
Once finished, Rafael put the kit box away, in the gap on the shelves where the box had been originally, and then went off to the tack room to fetch Nightstorm's tack.

He took slightly longer to get the gelding's tack than he would with Destiny's. Mostly because he fully trusted Nightstorm to not cause a ruckus, and also, he was quite curious to see who the roan was. He'd taken a few moments to look at the board of all the horses' names and their corresponding tack number, as well as noting Cody's name and listed several horses. Number 7 was missing... 7... Parker, the name of which was under Cody's name. Definitely one of the horses that hadn't been worked with, he knew he didn't recognise the horse. He was more surprised at the amount of horses it seemed Cody would be working with.
Anyway, he took Nightstorm's tack, left the tack room and returned to the bays. As he walked back over to his gelding, Rafael glanced briefly over to where the roan and Cody were earlier, just to see if they were still there.

[bronc]

𝙊𝙁𝙏𝙀𝙉 𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀𝙎 𝙄 𝙋𝙍𝘼𝙔 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙔𝙊𝙐, 𝙊𝙁𝙏𝙀𝙉 𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀𝙎 𝙄 𝘿𝙊𝙉'𝙏

The cadenced clopping of hooves on concrete, coupled with the thud of boots, pulled Cody away from the new message from his friend that had pinged, to who he at first thought to be Trail but instead he noticed it to be the stranger from before, this time with a black sporty-type horse in tow. Cody had never particularly liked the look of those types of horses; they were too light for his taste, looked like the slightest breeze would knock them over. It was big-boned, strong stock horses for him, ones big enough but also nimble, quick on their feet, with willingness and cow sense to compliment. A horse that could put in a full day's work in the pasture, but also succeed in the show pen. Back home, his family's horses were like that, they all, including the top performers, started out as work horses, pushing cows, doctoring calves, seeing all new types of terrain, learning how to work, how to be a good partner. Of course, this wasn't all new information to them, from birth they would be turned out over open pastures, they weren't babied or pampered, they were allowed to be a horse, to live as the horse was meant to live, picking up survival instincts. Cody used the same program now as a foundation for any horse in his training. It built confidence, taught them how to put in a day's work, so when it was time to decide on the horse's future; show prospect, stud prospect, or to stay on the ranch, they had that foundation to fall back on and build further upon.

Cody watched as the man brought his horse- noticeably into the bay furthest away from where he had Parker. He scoffed to himself, looking back down at his phone to answer any other missed messages- it was quite the habit, most especially when he was working, he didn't like to be distracted, turning his phone off or going so far as to leave it behind at home, but he figured it didn't matter much, he didn't talk to many people anyway, and the ones he did knew how he could be, taking him for who he was, knowing he would never change. Once he was set in his ways, there would be no budging. It didn't make him the most popular, or the easiest to work with, but it was how he was, to some degree he was respected for his steady personality.

𝙄𝙎 𝙄𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙂𝙊𝙊𝘿𝘽𝙔𝙀𝙎 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝙃𝘼𝙐𝙉𝙏 𝙔𝙊𝙐, 𝙊𝙍 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙁𝙀𝘼𝙍 𝙊𝙁 𝙉𝙀𝙒 𝙃𝙀𝙇𝙇𝙊𝙎?

Still, he didn't imagine his first impression on the man had been that bad, maybe it was a general dislike for the western style, he'd known quite a few English trainers to have quite the superiority complex, or maybe it was worry, that he'd be forced out of the spotlight with this new trainer in town. The choice annoyed him a bit, coming across as childish, but he let it go, he also could be petty at times, if that was how this man wanted to go about this, then fine, let him be. He wouldn't have long to deal with Cody, anyway.

He watched out of the corner of his eye as the other trainer came out of the tack room, he'd spent a little longer than Cody figured he would need to, he seemed to know his way around the place. The only thing Cody could think of was that he'd taken the moment to check out the new name on the whiteboard, Cody taking some satisfaction from the fact that it seemed he was already a part of the barn, something he knew would most likely get under the man's skin. Taking a deep breath but not bothering to look up from his phone for whatever answer the man had, he asked, "That bay belong to you?" a slightly passive comment about how he'd chosen to tack up as far away from Cody as he possibly could. Seeing no more new messages, or to be honest not caring too much at the moment, he turned his phone back off, sliding it back into his pocket, before turning to scratch Parker behind the ears, waiting for Trail to come back.

𝙒𝙊𝙉'𝙏 𝙎𝙏𝘼𝙔 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙇𝙊𝙉𝙂 '𝘾𝘼𝙐𝙎𝙀 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙒𝙊𝙉'𝙏 𝙎𝙏𝙊𝙋 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝙍𝙐𝙉𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙂
𝙒𝘼𝙄𝙏 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙏𝙊𝙈𝙊𝙍𝙍𝙊𝙒 '𝙏𝙄𝙇 𝙏𝙊𝙈𝙊𝙍𝙍𝙊𝙒'𝙎 𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙄𝙉𝙂

[Consulting_Angel]

Rafael Karim
"Nothing less than perfection"

He kept walking, glancing away quickly when the question was asked. Was it that obvious he'd made a deliberate choice to pick the bay furthest away? Well, maybe it was, in hindsight. And petty. It wasn't normally like him to act like that, but he had to admit to himself that he was starting to feel a little threatened by this other trainer's presence. Especially given there were mostly English-style trainers here, so anyone new in the Western field was bound to cause a particular stir. And being trusted with the care and training of several horses already - more than anyone owned themselves - was just the icing on the cake. This man hadn't even done anything to him directly, and yet, Rafael had decided this was how it was going to be. He was already stressing himself out over how he was going to prove himself to stay in the spotlight, even though part of him knew that he didn't really need to do that.

He started to tack up Nightstorm, torn between pretending that he didn't hear the question, or answering anyway. A quick glance back over and it didn't seem like Cody was particularly interested his answer anyway. But he decided to speak. "Unfortunately it does not have my name on it. But it is my favourite to use." perhaps it was a flimsy excuse to put over the real reason, but there were a few trainers that had certain bays they liked to use. They wouldn't cause a fuss if someone else was using it when they wanted to, but it was their preferred spot. "If everyone had their own, that would be quite the wasted space." Rafael added, trying to keep it light and civil, mostly because if he didn't, he could sense that there'd be a blow up between them. Well, maybe it would be him blowing up at Cody. And that would not be a good look at all.

Rafael refocused back on the gelding, redoing the girth of the saddle up after he'd put the bridle on, since the gelding had a habit of 'puffing out' the first time he did it up. And especially with cross country, he did not need a loose saddle. Then, he untied the now-empty headcollar, and carefully backed Nightstorm out of the bay, and turning so they were in position to leave the area. Rafael reached up, and gave Nightstorm a rub on the neck and ears, as praise for his behaviour - though such good behaviour was not a surprise for the gelding - and then started to walk.
He was going to ask what Cody was waiting for, since he'd been with Parker, all tacked up and ready for a while with no sign of moving. But hearing another horse and trainer approaching - and then entering - Rafael guessed it was for this other Western trainer, whose name evaded him right now. Not that he particularly cared to know.
Regardless, Rafael stepped to one side with Nightstorm to let him the and the horse pass by.

[bronc]

𝙊𝙁𝙏𝙀𝙉 𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀𝙎 𝙄 𝙋𝙍𝘼𝙔 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙔𝙊𝙐, 𝙊𝙁𝙏𝙀𝙉 𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀𝙎 𝙄 𝘿𝙊𝙉'𝙏

Cody listened to the man's half-hearted defense, knowing it to be just that, a defense, but he didn't push it, only gave a half nod, saying "It would." He stroked Parker's neck, then crouched down by his front legs, putting on the first splint boot. "Any other preference you want me to know about while we're here?" he asked over his shoulder after some thought as the man began to walk away, though by then he had heard the clunking of boots followed by hooves on the concrete floor, looked over to see Trail followed by his own horse, a stocky smoky black. He wasn't sure if the other trainer had heard him anyway. Trail's phone was to his ear, Cody could hear him mumble something incompressible before hanging up, slipping his phone back in his pocket. "Sorry about that, man," Trail said, with a sheepish smile and a "what can you do" shrug. "No worries," Cody answered, having moved on to the second boot, then standing to slip the halter off Parker's head, then sliding the brown leather bridle over his head, the gelding taking the snaffle bit willingly. By now Trail had brought the stud into the bay directly next to Cody, clipping the cross-ties to his halter, going to work on brushing down his own horse. Taking the moment to figure out this new horse, he wasn't the type to sit and wait when he could be working, doing something productive, Cody pulled one of the split reins over Parker's neck, leading him out of the barn, where the path lead to a small open lot. He double-checked and tightened the cinch, before tossing the split rein back over Parker's neck, he put his foot in the stirrup, climbing into the saddle, landing softly so as not to thud on the roan's back. Settling himself into the saddle, as natural as if he'd been born there, he didn't waste much time figuring out what he had, sliding one hand down the reins, bringing that hand to his hip until Parker bent his neck towards him, his nose touching Cody's boot, when he immediately dropped the pressure. He did the same for the other side, then did both sides one more time, before letting Parker walk on a loose rein. This was a systems test, a pre-trip inspection if you will, making sure all the buttons worked, that there was nothing wildy out of order before the pair set off. He was well put together, soft and supple, maybe a little out of practice, but that wasn't his fault, apart from being put on the walker and a little bit of work here and there, he'd been left to sit for a while. Overall a nice horse. Cody didn't imagine it would take much to get him back into shape.

𝙄𝙎 𝙄𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙂𝙊𝙊𝘿𝘽𝙔𝙀𝙎 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝙃𝘼𝙐𝙉𝙏 𝙔𝙊𝙐, 𝙊𝙍 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙁𝙀𝘼𝙍 𝙊𝙁 𝙉𝙀𝙒 𝙃𝙀𝙇𝙇𝙊𝙎?

Continuing to let Parker walk on a loose rein, Cody turned his head slightly to see the man from before, Rufus, he thought, but wasn't quite sure, he had been told the man's name by Tyler during his short introduction but hadn't paid much mind to it, that didn't matter he would find out soon enough. Cody had never been great with names anyway, how could you, when you met so many people you would only be leaving behind a few months later?

"Where are you off to?" he asked, in the same nonchalant tone as before that meant he didn't care much what his answer was or where he was going for that matter, though he was a bit curious about this man, mostly from the few short interactions he'd had with him, not more than a few sentences had been spoken between the two, but he could feel the tension, could practically see it in the air between them. What did it matter, he was only one more of those English trainers, practically designed to have a superiority complex. Though, he was a bit bothered by the man, there was no point in getting into it, he didn't particularly want to be sent packing his first day for disorderly conduct. He didn't bother to stop working while waiting for his answer, now asking Parker to back, putting him through the paces. The roan didn't belong to him, he'd probably never have the kind of money for a horse this nice, but he still felt a sense of pride working with him, some he secretly hoped Rufus, or whatever his name was, noticed.

𝙒𝙊𝙉'𝙏 𝙎𝙏𝘼𝙔 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙇𝙊𝙉𝙂 '𝘾𝘼𝙐𝙎𝙀 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙒𝙊𝙉'𝙏 𝙎𝙏𝙊𝙋 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝙍𝙐𝙉𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙂
𝙒𝘼𝙄𝙏 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙏𝙊𝙈𝙊𝙍𝙍𝙊𝙒 '𝙏𝙄𝙇 𝙏𝙊𝙈𝙊𝙍𝙍𝙊𝙒'𝙎 𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙄𝙉𝙂

[Consulting_Angel]

Rafael Karim
"Nothing less than perfection"

Any other preference? Rafael thought. He could definitely think of quite a few, but he couldn't figure out how to word them without being rude. Not that there was really anyway to word 'stay away from me' or 'leave' without being rude. He tried to think of anything else that would be more reasonable to claim as a preference, but the only other things he could think of were common sense - don't use his equipment, don't use the same pasture he used for his horses, don't even think of riding his horses or even putting a Western saddle on them. Okay, those last two were a bit far fetched, but he did think of one more thing that he could mention.
"Sure. I prefer to train alone. Not that that should be a problem." he answered.

He didn't mind other people being in the other arenas, of course, since they were usually focused on their own thing anyway. He didn't even really mind other people watching him, especially if it meant he could show off what he'd taught one of his horses. It was the group lessons that he did not like. Usually, Rafael would be either ahead of everyone else and would have to slow down so everyone else could catch up. Or, on rarer occasions, he'd be behind, which was so much worse.
The only time he didn't mind was if he was the one teaching, but that wasn't very often, usually only if one of the younger or less experienced trainers needed help - and Rafael was always more than happy to give them some advice and help.

Once the other western rider was inside and had gone into a bay, Rafael proceeded outside with Nightstorm, rather hoping that the interaction was done. Unfortunately not, and he ended up watching as Cody worked the roan, Parker, in the yard while he presumably waited for the other trainer to finish tacking up his horse. Though the roan hadn't been properly worked with for a while - he didn't know how long for - it was already clear they worked well together. And Cody seemed to have a sense of pride to be on the roan. Or maybe he was imagining that last bit.
Being asked where he was going, Rafael thought to respond that it wasn't any of his business. But it wasn't as if they were likely to cross paths. Not that Cody seemed to care too much.
"The cross country courses." Rafael replied, very much looking forward to it. A new route for one of the courses had been built, and he wanted to check it out.

With that being said, Rafael decided that he didn't want to waste any more time stood around, and he started to walk again. "See you around, Colby." he added, as he left, deliberately getting his name wrong, but being sure not to emphasise it as to pass it off as an innocent mistake.