[shortstop]

This HG is not for public adoption

I tried so hard with this one omg
I really hope you like her ahhh <3

This is annarouat's Summer Event kiddo!
If you could fill this out for me, that would be awesome c:

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[b]username;;[/b] [url=http://www.chickensmoothie.com/Forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=637308]annarouat[/url]
[b]show name;;[/b]
[b]call/barn name;;[/b]
[b]gender;;[/b]
[b]height;;[/b] 17.1hh

[monochrome.]

Oh my goodness, I am entirely in love with this darling; I'm stunned speechless. ouo Thank you so, so much! I can't wait to start working with her on the tasks! <3

username;; annarouat
show name;; AR's I Said I'd Never Let You Go
call/barn name;; Grimm
gender;; Mare
height;; 17.1hh

[lovestruck]

Beautiful. Just beautiful

[monochrome.]

-- Task One || "First Meeting" --
(755 words)

The truck's engine hummed to life as Emma switched on the ignition, her vision clouded with sleep. Even the early hour - four-thirty in the morning, according to the truck's clock - couldn't keep her contagious excitement at bay, however. Tapping her fingers in anxious excitement against her leg, Em smiled as she pulled out of her stable's driveway and onto the main road, the trailer hooked behind her truck sliding onto the asphalt road with a soft thud.

By the time Emma reached the barn that supposedly housed the new addition to her herd, the sun had slipped over the horizon, painting the morning sky in soft yellow and pink hues. The familiar sounds of nickering, huffing and gentle chatter surrounded Emma as she entered the foreign stables, glancing cautiously around the wooden walls to catch the eye of a young man. Furrowing her brows in gentle concern, Emma glanced up and down the oak stables before allowing her gaze to fall back on the stable manager. Extending her hand, Em introduced herself and gently explained her situation. The stranger had grinned and led her to a stall, handing her a worn rope halter, before the trilling of his phone had dragged him, apologetically, elsewhere.

Emma wasn't entirely sure what to expect as she unlatched the stall door, her palms tacky with the morning humidity and her mouth dry with nerves. Shadows cast across the shaved bedding shrouded the stall's inhabitant in darkness, but a soft huff was audible as Em stepped cautiously inside. Throughout the stable, chatter from riders could be heard, and the yearling was supposedly gentle, but the assurances of safety that rushed through Emma's mind did little to calm her excited sense of panic. "H-hey there, girl." Emma's voice was a soft whisper as she saw something move in the dark, and before she knew it a gentle muzzle was poking at her fleece jacket. Emerald eyes shone brightly, coated in curious anticipation, and Emma felt a nervous laugh escape her when an inquisitive pink muzzle found its way into her pockets. It was then, as the horse explored her pockets and Emma laughed at the odd situation, that the stable manager and head breeder found his way back to the stall.
"I see you've found your filly."
Emma jumped slightly, surprised by the stranger's appearance, before nodding happily and glancing back at the filly. "Yeah. I did."
"Need help with getting her loaded and prepped for her new home?"
Emma turned back to the filly, her head tilted as though calculating something, before glancing back at the manager and shrugging. "Not at the moment, no thank you. I think we're just growing acquainted with one another, but I may need some help with loading her into the trailer at some point."
The manager nodded and smiled at the filly before turning away and adding, "Well, good luck with this girl. She's one of my favorites from this year's foals, I'm sure you'll grow to love her."

Within the hour, the filly had explored every inch of Emma's pockets, presumably in search of the source of the mysterious scent of molasses that covered her jacket. The alarm on Em's watch had gone off, spooking the horse slightly, but Emma had calmed her with soothing words and gentle petting. A halter had been slipped over the filly's head - according to the paperwork Emma had read over before signing off on her adoption of a new family member, she'd been halter trained at a young age so as to keep the numerous HG yearlings better organized - and now the duo was standing in the shadow of the massive metal trailer. The stable manager watched from close by, leaning against the barn's worn wood with a gentle and curious smile. Emma practically held her breath as she lowered the trailer's door, watching the filly explore the metal with caution. Most horses despised the contraption and avoided entering it altogether, and Emma could hardly contain her massive grin when the filly had stepped into the trailer with minimal persuasion - this time in the form of an offered carrot stick.

And now the dust was spinning behind the truck's tires as Emma pulled off of the dirt path and onto the highway, the trailer swaying steadily behind the pickup's flashy crimson bed. Through the review mirror and the trailer's window, Emma could just see black-tipped ears and, though the blonde rider would never admit to it, the smallest of smiles spread across her face at the sight.

[monochrome.]

-- Task Two || "Taking Home" --
(580 words)

The trailer creaked quietly as it slowed to a stop behind the bed of the red pickup truck, the creature inside it stirring. From what Emma could tell, the horse had slept through most of the ride, barely repositioning herself even through the three hours drive. The sun bled through the treetops that surrounded Emma's acres of stabled land, its heat unwelcome in the dry climate. Switching off the ignition and clambering out the door, Emma could hear the excited whinnies that filled the area, five distinct sounds. From the driveway, the cedar fencing of the first main paddock was just visible. Emma used a herd stabling system, with each "herd" kept separate from the others to prevent dangerous grappling for power - thus forcing her to keep groups of horses in separate paddocks. King, her oldest stallion and the most compulsive and headstrong of the group, was eagerly waiting Emma's approach. Romeo stood behind King, his head tipped almost as though in curiosity. Another paddock, across the pathway from King's, held the stable's other two stallions, Faustus and Ty, both shouldering against each other in hopes of squeezing closer than their 'opponent' to the fence for superior view. If she hadn't seen it so often before Emma would have laughed at the sight, but at this point she just smiled, her heartbeat thumping in excitement as she rounded the truck to unlatch the trailer.

Unloading the filly had been a tedious task, especially when Emma was left with no choice but to move as slowly as possible to prevent her from spooking, but eventually the duo stood on the dirt driveway, lead rope in Emma's hand and the filly's ears swiveling about like radar dishes in search of information. Soft breaths left the yearling in gentle puffs, her exhales irregular and nearing a panicked tempo. Placing a flat palm gently against the horse's neck, Emma hummed softly, doing her best to calm the anxious creature. Gently stepping forwards, Em led the mare down the pathway and into a round pen much further from the two main herd paddocks, the whinnies of protest from her anxious horses - likely wanting their morning hay, which she was late on offering them - sounding behind the duo. The door unlatched with ease, and Emma turned the darkly colored mare loose, watching her explore the pen.

The pen was of expert construction, with carefully designed wood ringing it, taller than Emma herself. Electric wiring designed to prevent escapes, turned off and absent of the telltale humming, wove its way between the slats of wood. Patches of grass littered the massive pen, the greenery thriving specifically in the part of the round that was free of sunshine. Half the pen was settled in the shade of the indoor stables and arena, the other half left open to sunlight. A filled trough, its water crisp and cool from being filled only that morning, resided near the gate. Emma offered a half-hearted two-finger salute to the mare - an odd habit she'd picked up from an equestrian camp as a child, supposedly developed as a way to teach children to respect their horses - as she unlatched the gate and let herself out of the pen. The sun caused the slightest of glares, but a simple shielding of her eyes with a hand allowed Emma to clamber to the top rail, watching curiously as the filly explored, her ears forwards and tail switching in curiosity as she observed the new territory.

[monochrome.]

-- Task Three || "Settling In" --
(511 words)

By the time the mare had settled down and the rest of the horses had been fed, night was already falling, the sky fading out into darkness. Emma made her way back to the round pen to find the filly settled against the fence line, her back to the pathway and the rest of the paddocks over the hill. Emma picked her way off the path and into the grass, pushing a hand cautiously between the slats and against the filly's neck, scratching gently. The horse seemed to visibly relax, her muscles loosening and a hind foot resting in a more calm position against the ground, even her lower lip drooping slightly in relaxation. Emma laughed softly before locking up the stables and heading home, the filly on her mind.

The next day began early, and Emma was at the stable before the horses were awake. King raised his head at the sound of the truck's ignition, and Em smiled as he trotted towards her, extending a cautious nose over the fence in greeting. She patted the stallion for a few moments before jogging to her storage shed and retrieving a few flakes of hay, tossing them into the herd pastures with care. The sun slowly tugged its way over the horizon, and by the time Emma had finished refilling water troughs and feeding the herds, all the horses were awake and eager to start their day. A soft whinny sounded from the round pen downhill and Emma smiled, happy to begin working with her new mare.

Snatching a halter from the hook on the secondary herd paddock's fencing, Emma slipped it over Ty's head and led him through the paddock's gateway, sending a stern glare and sharp poke at Faustus when the stallion tried to shoulder his way through the gate as well. On any other day Emma would find it funny, but this morning she was focused on helping the new mare adjust to the surroundings and horses of the stables. Leading Ty down to the round pen, she watched as his ears pricked forwards when he caught sight of the mare, his attention hooked on the stranger. Emma smiled slightly to herself, pleased with her decision. Of all her horses, Ty was the most sociable and easy for the others to get along with, which was obvious in the way he extended his neck in a friendly manner towards the newcomer.

Emma led him around the round pen, allowing the two horses to meet with the fencing between them. The mare seemed a bit shy and nervous as she approached Typh, but after a few moments she was prancing happily within the pen, Ty matching her motions. Emma chuckled and opened the round pen's gate, releasing Typh slowly into it and watching the horse's sniff cautiously at one another. Perched on the top of the fence slats, Emma grinned as the two horses cantered from one side of the pen to the other, apparently 'racing' one another in some sort of game that they both seemed to enjoy.

[monochrome.]

-- Task Four || "Halter Breaking" --
(615 words)

Emma watched the mare speed around the round pen, her head down and her back rolling up and down, again and again, over and over. Grimm had been acting like this all morning, switching between cantering and galloping around the round pen for what seemed like hours. Emma had assumed the mare just needed to let off some energy, but by now she knew better. Grimm was getting restless and needed to be moved to her long-term paddock as soon as possible. But before that could happen, Emma needed to further the mare's training.

The night before, Emma had fished the brand new halter from the tack room and hung it on the hook inside the pen. Grimm had been trained to tolerate a very lightweight rope halter at a young age, in order to transport her and in case of emergency usage, but training a young, hotblooded horse to tolerate the heavy, itchy feeling that leather or nylon halters sometimes caused. Emma had ordered the halter, a black and turquoise piece designed as a breakaway halter to prevent injuries in case of emergencies, a few days after she'd heard the news that she would be caring for Grimm. It was the best quality she could find, and it had been sitting in her tack room for weeks now, waiting to be used.

When Emma had first hung it in Grimm's presence, just after sunset the night before, the mare's eyes had widened and she'd given the foreign object a wary amount of space. When the halter had failed to prove itself to be of particular threat, she'd approached it, sniffed at it, and soon ignored it all together - even going so far as to sleep near it. This morning she seemed to be at ease around it, other than the apparent restlessness that she had been feeling.

Swinging the gate closed behind her, Emma tugged a molasses treat from her pocket and offered it to the mare with a flat palm, laughing softly to herself as the horse's whiskers tickled her wrist. She extended a hand and patted the mare's neck for a moment, reaching to the fence and grabbing the halter in a deft movement. Moving slowly, Emma offered the halter to the mare, holding it out in a flat palm. Grimm seemed slightly wary but sniffed at it anyways, and after a moment, Em reached up with her free hand and tugged Grimm's forelock away, glancing at the mare quickly as she did so. "Ready, Grimm?" Raising the halter slowly, Emma slipped it over the mare's nose and ears, sliding it into place. The horse's ears swiveled backwards, pinned against her neck in unhappiness, but Emma left the halter on her head, patting her neck and cooing softly in hopes of keeping her calm.

Several more molasses treats later, Grimm stood steadily with the halter on her head, her ears no longer pinned but now pricked forwards in attention. Emma smiled slightly at the sight and slowly attached the mare's lead rope. Moving the side of the mare's head - all the while ensuring that she remained in Grimm's field of vision - Emma tugged softly on the rope, rewarding the mare with cookies when she turned her head or body correctly according the rope cue given by Emma.

By the time the sun slipped below the horizon, Emma stood a few feet away from the mare, whose halter shone in the fading daylight. A soft smile framed the rider's face, the mare's lower lip droopy with content exhaustion. Slipping out of the paddock, Emma waved a silent goodbye to the sleepy mare. "See you tomorrow, Grimm."