.::.

[ATROX.]

WE ARE NOT THE SAME

it is cold that morning, and i can feel each breeze within my lungs, drying me out inside. pulling me inside out and shortening breaths. she must be chilly, but still, the mare dances about on light feet — hands? she is an odd creature, tall and slender and unearthly to my human eyes. i breath to her, and she puffs back, a playful toss of the head and the rise of those tufted ears.

versengt is free and wonderful, shivering in the early light and bristling. she circles as i perch atop the fence, gathering courage so she can approach.

an uncertain step.

i laugh at her, sending the strange beast back a few strides. she shoots forwards three more, just to spite me, looming over like a goliath deer. the neravontii balances on slim limbs and totters like a ballerina, but she is not foolish — no. she can play me just as well as i can her, and we are at a stalemate.

she carries on dancing. back and forth, side to side, great swooping arcs of those limbs as she stirs glistening frost. it's too cold for her out here, i know, but she has no trust. not yet.

and then she dances forwards, bowing and dipping that great head to explore my hair, and then my face and shoulders. she tastes my fingers, snorts at my laughter, and threatens to nip me until i quiet. she is mine, and i am hers to do as she pleases. i am tempted to slip onto that high-up back, to run with her in the fields, but i know she is far to proud for that. she will delight me, she will love me, but i am not her kind. we both know.

she lowers to her knees, now level with me. a nudge, the soft touch of downy skin to my cheek. we rest foreheads, and a gentle nuzzle is pressed to my cold palms.

we are not the same, her and i, but we are similar. we are not the same, but we could be.

[ATROX.]

CHAIN DOWN THE HURRICANE; STORM BENEATH OUR SKIN!

she dances. she still dances for me. i can see her shifting, moving about in the short, crisp fields of winter-bitten grass. she gallops, kicking up soft powder in all directions before wheeling.

i flinch. this is her favourite game.

a drum beat beneath her, a concerto in those spindle limbs. the mare races the wind, charging headlong to me. she waits till the last moment to throw herself back, rearing and snorting like a mad thing. she is a mad thing. i tell her so and receive only a cheeky nip in thanks.

versengt follows me willingly, skipping about like a spring lamb as we trek across glittering pastures and into the warmth of the small (although originally considered large) lean-tos that have been converted into two stables and a tack room around a small, fenced-in and covered yard. there is a real barn at the edge of the property, but versengt stays close to home, close to my side.

she feasts upon the small bucket of offerings i have left out for her, hardly twitching an ear when fixings jangle and leather creaks. it is a mere curious turn of the eye as i place a saddle on her back. the girth is cinched slowly, bit by bit, until it is comfortably snug.

haha! the beast is harnessed!

[ATROX.]

THE MANCHESTER BOYS NIOR. OH, WE'RE SO ADDICTIVE.

she skips, ducks and paws like a thing caged. versengt is uncertain for once, unsure of what it all means.

"it means exercise, you lazy thing." i coo to her. she turns to push at me, shaking her head as finely woven leather reins sway against her well-muscled neck. stirrups clap softly to the fresh hide of her all purpose sadle, girthed close and comfortable under a plain numnah.

the mare is the pickiest i've ever met, pulling off any materials she didn't like the touch or smell of and shimmying away when i swapped the saddle from a plain seat to dressage. she knew what i was doing, and it was only because she allowed it that anything went onto her back. versengt made sure i knew it well.

so, when i place delicate weight against her, and then level myself over the flat, broad cantal and she barely flinches, i have to stifle a victory squeak. another wriggle, and i inch myself over the twist and swing a leg up and over. up on her back and high above the ground. the pair of us casts a long shadow as my mare and i jitter out into the cold and complete a nervous lap around an empty paddock.

it is only when i tighten the reins and squeeze closer to her sides a fraction that she shows me what she can do!

versengt takes up the slack of reins, stretches me over her and rises beneath like a tidal wave. with another prissy toss of her head, she's cantering, strides a perfect beat to the snort and plume of breath that rises up ahead. we fly across silver expanses, and then she speeds up.

wheee!

[ATROX.]

BLASTZONE

it seems another dancer has joined us. she roams around on sturdy legs, pulling at the fenceposts with skilled fingers and fiddling with the gate. i tut at her, catching Feuer's attention as she trots right over to me, much braver than my first neravontii.

speaking of versengt, she is one field over, heavy with foal. i had seen the two mares greeting each other in a friendly way from the kitchen window, and i was happy they were getting along.

feuer is the boldness in our little (but soon to grow) family, whilst versengt is demure and somewhat aloof. the red-ish mare creeps up on me whilst i think, making a low, snickering noise, as if she's laughing. she probably is.

my attention turns back to her and if offer her one hand, expecting her to nose it much like my first encounter with ver. instead, she slides her hand into mine, gripping my forearm and flopping her ears around like a demented donkey. i am awe at her gentleness, and she must have been offended by my flapping jaw as she wheeled back to take off over the glittering fields. the mare cavorts around for a while before goading her paddockmate into a race, making another of her odd noises as she easily outruns her heavier opponent.

i hop up onto my usual fence to watch, giggling as the two snort and snuff at each other, both trying to win whatever competition they were currently engaged in. oh dear.

[ATROX.]

SHE'S LIKE DUSTDEVILS IN JULY

when feuer had seen me leading around versengt, she had naturally been curious. curious enough to snatch versengt's halter and attempt to dissemble it. it ended up on her instead.

as i laugh to myself, i thread her lead-rope through a breakaway loop, loosely knotting it as i juggled a saddle at the same time - boy were these things heavy! so heavy that instead of easing it to the floor, i balance the pommel on one knee, tapping her nose away when the mare leans around to sniff at the newly made leather. must still smell a little like cow, i guess.

she doesn't seem to mind much when i place it on her back, or do up the girth, has she done this before? i think back -
the people at the centre told me she was from the wild, so where had she seen something wearing a saddle before. maybe versengt in the last few days before i stopped riding her? probably.

feuer was pretty competitive and didn't flinch at a thing, so it was only natural she would want to beat her stable buddy at everything. well, we'll see how she feels later on. i wonder how she'll react once i'm up on her back?

[ATROX.]

versengt (right) & feuer (left)

[ATROX.]

[ATROX.]