by LuciferMorningstar » Wed Sep 09, 2015 3:09 am
Lilliaste woke up the next morning to a thunderstorm. She tried to go back to sleep, but she couldn't. She got dressed in breeches, paddock boots, and a Twenty One Pilots tour shirt. She gently touched the picture of her dad by her bed and headed out to the arena where Fire was.
She grabbed a lead line and began to lead him to the rescue barn. They were almost there when Fire Baby bolted at a crash of thunder. He reared, going vertical. Lilli grappled for control, but she couldn't get him to calm down. She held strong to the lead line with her one hand, not letting him go. Fire now stood on all fours, but was still skittish. She moved him quickly to an empty stall. His ears were back, and his eyes kept rolling. Lilli reached out to stroke his nose, but Fire yanked his head back and crab stepped. She sighed and got his feed. The moment she left, he began kicking at the stall door. Than she had an idea.
Five minutes later, Lilli had Fire on a lunge line in the indoor arena and a lunge whip in her injured hand. Lilli let Fire out to the wall. Suddenly, there was another crack of thunder and a strike of lightning. He bolted, but Lilli struck the ground in front of him with the whip. He stopped and tried to run the other way. Again, Lilli struck the ground in front of him with the whip. They went through this a few times before he calmed down. After a few silent minutes of rain, there was another clap of thunder. Fire tried to bolt, but Lilli used the whip on the ground again. This time he didn't try the other direction. He stood still.
After about 20 minutes in the arena with Fire, Lilli decided to take Fire back to his new stall. He went in with little to no fuss. This time, when she went to stroke his nose, Lilli was met with a warm nicker. She smiled, knowing she had gained more trust. "I'll be back later!" She promised him as she walked to the main barn. When she got there, it was already abuzz with riders and instructors. Lilly's grandfather found her by Domino's stall. "Lilliaste, I know you're tired, but Brett is sick and won't be here for a few days. Could you take over his lessons and camp responsibilities?" He asked her. "No problem!" She said through a fake smile. She didn't mind the lessons, but helping with the campers!? That was the worst! Last year, one of the girls who had never ridden before had tried to give HER riding tips! As if! It was hard for Lilli to see other people living near her house. Today was the first day of the 2 month camp for relatively new or inexperienced riders over the age of 14. Her grandfather smiled. "Thank you for all of your help"
Lilli stood in the parking lot, suddenly realizing that Brett pretty much ran every aspect of camp to do with horses! She would have to do the assessments and assign horses! The bus of camper pulled in, and 7 boys and 7 girls all piled out and pulled their bags out. Lilli put on a bright smile, realizing she still had on her 21 pilots shirt. "Hey guys! I'm Lilli. Brett is sick, so I'm filling in for a few days! Cabins are this way!" She showed them the cabins and made sure they knew which ones were which. Once the campers were all settled, she gave them the tour. She showed them the main barn, all three arenas, the X-country course, pens, pastures, and rescue barn. One of the girls saw Fire in the back stall and ran up to pet him. He spooked, throwing his head up and kicking the walls. Lilli rushed into the stall. She put her hands up in the air, and clapped loudly. Immediately, Fire calmed. Lilli stroked his nose, and went to explain to the campers.
They were all looking at Lilli like she was an alien. She decided to ignore it. "Sorry guys! He was just rescued from a war zone overseas. Right now I'm working with him, but for now I think he should he off limits unless you get specific orders from me, O.K?" She told them. They all nodded, even the girl who had spooked him. Lilli recognized her from last year as the girl who had tried to correct her riding! Lilli finished the tour and lead them back to the cabins. "Alright, get changed into riding clothes and meet me right here in 10 minutes! Don't forget you helmet" she said. Exactly 10 minutes later, all 14 campers were outside with her. She noticed they all had expensive riding clothing on. That meant she had to step up her game tomorrow.
When she got the barn, Lilli led the campers to 3
Horses all in stalls next to each other. "This is Pandora, Audi, and Maximillion. They are 3 of our camp horses. You will all be responsible for your own horse, but first I'm going to test your riding ability on these three. If this is your first year here, can you line up at Audi's stall?" 6 kids shifted to Audi. "Second year to Pandora" 6 kids to Pandora. "And third year to Maximillion" 2 kids to Max. One was the girl who spooked Fire, and the other was a Boy about 17, and pretty cute.
Lilli showed all the new campers how to groom and tack. She led the three horses in her one good hand and a helmet in the other. She tied Max and Pandora to the fence of the outdoors arena, dropped one
Of her practice helmets on the ground, and signaled for the camper who weren't testing right away to sit on the grass. She tested Audi's riders first and took notes under each of their names. All had little to no rising skills. Lilli would assign them horses that hand them off. They would go with Robin, one of the Beginner instructors. Next, she called over the 2nd years. Two of them would go with the beginners, but the other four Would go with Jenna, one of the intermediate instructors. Next she tested the 3rd years, who she would teach herself until Brett came back. The girl, who's name is Rebecca, was ok. Not bad enough to go with the 2nd years, but she was nowhere close to Matt's skill level!
After Lilliaste tested all the riders, she sent them back to the cabins for some "Me Time" while she got the horses together. First she made sure the 14 camp horse stalls were empty. Thankfully, they were already set up and ready for horses. Lilli grabbed a piece of chalk and began to write the horse and rider names on the chalkboard nameplates. She got to the last 2 names: Matt and Rebecca. She still hadn't decided on horses for them yet. Matt needed an eventing horse, and Rebecca needed an solid horse who wouldn't spook. Lilli decided on Apache for Rebecca. He used to be a trail pony, but now he can jump a foot and is a pretty good school horse. But what about Matt? None of the school horses are venters like him. The she thought of Spartan. He was perfect! An eventing horse, but still has fire. She wrote the final names down and went to collect all the horses. After about 30 minutes, Lilli had all the horses in their stalls. Now, all Lilli had to worry about was Fire and her two campers.
Rebecca and Matt walked into the barn sporting (again) nice riding gear. She introduced the riders to thief horses and asked them to tack up. Lilli went to tack Domino. It was easier for her to coach from horseback. With one hand, it was quite a task, but she got it done. She clipped her helmet to her rolled up stirrups and walked Domino over to her two riders. She guided them to the outdoor arena. She threw Domino's reins over his head and knew he was trained to stand on his own. "Before every lesson, either Brett or I will be doing a tack inspection. Lilli barley spent any time at Matt. He had everything perfect down to the saddlecloth and polo wrap colors! Than she moved into Rebecca. Lilli only needed a few Seconds before she started commenting. "Your stirrups need to be rolled up, an your helmet clipped to your stirrups. Chinstrap is too loose. He need more brushing on his chest and neck." Lilli paused. She noticed one more thing. The saddle pad and polo wraps didn't match! "Your saddle pad and polo wraps don't match." Lilli said, ending her speech. "Really! I doubt that my saddle pad and wraps are the biggest issue" Rebecca said in a snarky tone to Lilli. "Look around" Lilli said. There wasn't a single horse being risen in sight with mix matching pads and wraps. Without another remark, Lilli clapped her hands. "Mount up!" Lilli mounted and remembered something. She pulled out a pair of jumping boots from her pocket. "Matt" she called. She tossed them to him and he caught them and strapped them on super quick.
Lilli ran the two rider's through a quick warm up and explained the jump course they would take. "So, it's the 1 foot cross rail, the vertical over, and the double combo." Lilli quickly moved through the lesson with the two campers. After they had finished, Lilli decided to dedicate the rest of the day to finding Fire a friend.
Lilli moved Fire to Main pasture 1 first. This pasture held all of the school/camp horses. She let him loose, and he shot like a bottle rocket to run. As soon as Fire saw Audi, he reared and whinnied a challenge. Audi was the leader of the "Herd" in pasture 1. Audi moved closer to Fire cautiously, however, when Audi got close enough, Fire whirled around and delivered a swift kick to his ribs. Audi snorted in rage, and Lilli screamed. She ran over as quick as she could. She quickly lead Fire back to his pen, and let him run. She than checked Audi for any signs of injury, but he seemed to be fine
I have been diagnosed with Emotional Intensity Disorder, Depression, and ADHD, so my inbox is always open to people who need to talk.
I thoroughly enjoy horseback riding, writing, biology/chemistry/animal science. I also love to study and research law. I'm currently at school in Ohio studying Zoology, and am hoping to one day achieve a masters in primate studies!
I've done volunteer work in South Africa, most of it spent working with infant Chacma Baboons and Vervets, but did get a chance to work with big game animal like lions, elephants, rhinos, cheetahs and giraffes. If anyone is looking for resources, I'd love to help! * * *These are my personal gifs made from personal video, please ask before you use!
