Ｔｈｅ ｓａｄｄｌｅ ａｎｄ ｂｒｉｄｌｅ
- It had been roughly a week since she had met Sparta. She had managed to go out and continue to find the dino though he didn't stray far from her now. Their bond seemed to grow with each passing day and today was no exception. Kalian carried a saddle in her arms, a bridle attached to its horn as she set it down by a nearby tree when she spotted Sparta.
She let out a whistle, a small tune but it caught the dino's attention and he ambled over. He seemed pretty lazy today, which seemed a good thing for the seventeen year old. She looked him over with a smile and reached out to him as he lowered his head and let her stroke his nose in greeting. "Mornin' Sparta." she said to the young dino. She gently took the bridle from around the horn and showed it to him slowly.
His reaction was not as expected. Sparta huffed and snatched the bridle from her grip easily before tossing it towards the water, it landing with a splash. The dino looked back to Kalian, as if saying 'I am not letting you put one me'. His protest and rejection of the bridle was pretty clear but it did not stop his rider.
Kalian shook her head with a smile as she watched the bridle land in the water. "No Sparta, you can't do that." she scolded the dino as if it were a child. She then walked over to the water's edge and picked the bridle out of the water, watching it drip before bringing it back to the dino. "This," she said pointing to it as she looked at Sparta "goes on your head." she finished the sentence and then held the bridle out again.
First thing first, Kalian slowly began to place the bridle on. She would start to put it on, only to take it off so the dino could get use to the feeling of her putting it on him. She finally was able to place it on him after about twenty minutes of doing what she did. Kalian smiled at Sparta as he tested the new material out around his head and maw, simply opening his mouth to get use to the feeling of it and how it felt to move around with it. It seemed to unaffected him really and it wasn't long before he had totally forgotten it was there.
She let him get use to it for about a hour or so before she got to the really tricky part. She called Sparta back with the same whistling tune and then watched him approach her. He was too large for her to simply put the saddle on so she needed him to somehow get down to her level. It didn't take much thought as she managed to get him to lower himself to the ground. "That's it." she said to him with a smile before getting the saddle. She placed it on his back and then quickly secured it as he tried to get up. He didn't take to this as easily and slammed himself against a tree, trying to make the saddle come off but it didn't. He didn't admit defeat to the saddle until he was totally exhausted and Kalian was tired just watching him. She pulled the bridle off first and then took the saddle off, this was good progess in her option. A few more days or weeks and she knew she would be on his back riding him hopefully.
The First Ride
- The day was young and cool for the time being. It had been weeks since Sparta had been involved with the saddle and bridle. She huffed as she sat against a tree, carving yet another arrow for her nearly empty quiver. Kalian looked up to see Sparta watching her, she had yet to gain the courage to climb atop his broad back. Now would be a good time, seeing as the dino seemed calm and collected for the time being. She guessed it was now or never. She knew there was a chance she could be thrown. That was the last thing she wanted out of all of this anyway.
It wasn't long before the male was saddle and ready to ride. He looked at her curiously now as he had himself lowered. It wasn't surprising to Kalian because Sparta had continued to do this throughout the past week, as if he wanted her to ride him. Well she was about to find out if that was the look he had been giving her. She had dreamed of this day since she was small so it was pretty obvious she was somewhat excited over the events to come.
Kalian slowly got herself up into the saddle and before she could adjust anything, well, Sparta was already up. She looked down and shook her head, that fall would hurt but he wasn't freaking out yet so that was good. The young woman slowly adjusted her weight in the saddle before she finally took hold of the reins. It felt pretty nice to finally be on his back, well, until he took off. She wasn't use to any of this so it wasn't surprising when Kalian found herself sideways and holding on to one of the horns on his back for dear life. "Sparta Stop." she said to the dino and for once he actually listened to her. She took a deep breath before she got back in the saddle and tried yet again. Hopefully he wouldn't take off before she was ready.
It had been an hour so far and he seemed to be taking well to her on his back. Kalian stopped Sparta and boldly stood up in the saddle, mistake. Sparta had watched her do this and immediately started to break into a trot, leaving her to fall back and off of him. The dino seemed to have planned such a thing as he simply turned and came back to her as she laid on her back, watching her with his small eyes. "Not funny." Kalian muttered as she pulled herself up to her feet and brushed off her clothes of any dust and debris. She was done for the day, she didn't want to push anything after all. It seemed things had gone well. A nice day to relax would be a reward since Sparta seemed on good behavior but she didn't want to spoil the large animal, after all, he wasn't exactly controllable if he wanted to do something, one small person couldn't stop him from doing it.
