First ride (Open) « Thread Started on Aug 21, 2008, 4:19pm »
It had been a pretty long day for the first day of classes. Classes had ended at 3:30, and he had had hockey practice from 4-6:30, dinner from 7-7:45, a few minutes in his dorm-room to throw on some more comfortable clothing, and a mad dash to the stables to be there at 8:10. He liked to be early for things, didn't know why....but it had always been his thing.
Thus here he was, leaning against the wide barn door of the stables, tossing the occational sheepish glance at the horses within. "Man I hope I live through tonight," he thought worriedly. "At least I will have pleasant company to witness the horrible death I will be having at the hands...or hooves....of one of these horses."
The sweet small of oats and hay was actually quite comforting, but he largely spent the waiting moments trying not to think of the fact he was about to get up on top of one of the beasts. "Can't we just go ice skating?" he though. He reminded himself to give Jackie an invitation to do thus if he lived through the eve.
"At least I have met someone worth hanging out with here," he thought happily. A wry smile appearing on his face as he thought about History class earlier that day. He had really enjoyed how easy he had found it to interact with her, and with thoughs of impressing her, he had dressed tonight perhaps slightly nicer than he should have for his first time riding horses.
He had on his flamingo's T, and faded, loose fit, jeans. He liked that T because it had the number of his preferred flamingo's pitcher on the sleeve, Stevie Urbino, #33.
A glance at his cell informed him it was now 8:17. He glanced out the doors to see if he could spot Jackie. "Aw man, I so hope she isn't standing me up..." a worried look crossed his face as he mused.
Re: First ride (Open) « Reply #1 on Aug 22, 2008, 12:06am »
Jackie jogged up to the stable at 8:21. She stopped beside Ethan, glad that he had waited. She was a bit out of breath from running, but nothing major. "Sorry I'm late, I got half way here and then I had to run back and get Nancy to repeat her locker combination because I forgot it," she said with a lighthearted laugh.
She wasn't dressed nicely, but she didn't look like crap either. She had her barn clothes, and she had her everywhere else clothes.. The wardrobes never mixed, unless she ripped a hole in an article of clothing form her everywhere else clothes. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans that hugged her body nicely, and a pink tank top with mooses on it. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she had her baings pinned back with bobby pins. She hated having her hair down at the barn, if it was at all warm she got too hot with her hair down.
She wasn't wearing very much makeup, just mascara and eyeliner. That was all she ever wore though, unless she needed to look really good, then she'd wear lipstick as well. She had some goosebumps on her very tanned arms. The sun was setting and it was getting quite cool. She kept a hoodie in her locker for at night, and she'd grab that while getting Geronimo's brushes. The hoodie obviously hadn't originally been hers; her friend that had been on the swim team had given it to her after he had had it for a while and not worn it. On the front it said, "Bunghardt Academy Swim Team," and on the right arm it said, "Hickey," which was Jackie's friend's last name.
"Have you ever ridden a horse before?" Jackie asked Ethan, trying to figure out if they had to go to the very basics. She had taught beginner lessons for about a year before she had started high school, so she knew what to do if Ethan had never ridden before, but it would be easier and more enjoyable for her if he had. She'd have fun either way though.
She realized something that she had forgotten about earlier. Ethan was going to need a helmet, and she should have asked him if he had a hockey helmet or anything similar. Bicycle helmets wouldn't cut it, but some stables figured that hockey helmets were close enough to equestrian helmets and would allow students to use their hockey helmets, but didn't recommend it for the long term. It didn't look as nice, but it still protected the head. There were some helmets that people could use if they had forgotten theirs, had taken a nasty fall and needed to replace theirs, or if they didn't have a helmet for some other reason, and she was sure she'd be able to find a helmet that fitted him.
"Do you happen to know what size your head is, for helmet fitting purposes? I'm 7 and a quarter, if you want to go off of that," Jackie said.
« Last Edit: Aug 22, 2008, 12:35am by Jackie Leitch »
Re: First ride (Open) « Reply #2 on Aug 22, 2008, 10:33am »
Relief flooded over him when he saw her hurry up to him. "Sorry I'm late," she said, "I got half way here and then I had to run back and get Nancy to repeat her locker combination because I forgot it," she laughed lightheartedly. He just smiled in response, just happy she had not left him in the lurch.
She had dressed comfortably but not unappealingly. She had on work jeans and pink top that seemed to fit right in at the stables. He continued to lean on the door as she bounded into the stables getting things set. He thought she looked very cute as she concentrated on her task.
"Have you ever ridden a horse before?" she said absently. "Yes, yes I have a few times, just not in a while," he grinned slightly as he thought of his last ride about five years ago. "I remember all the basics and such, just don't want to jump on up on a horse again without someone else around," he said. "Or you around," he thought.
He had never been a bad rider, although he had not done it in years. When in history class he had been trying to think of a good reason to hang out with her this had been his best idea."Do you happen to know what size your head is, for helmet fitting purposes? I'm 7 and a quarter, if you want to go off of that," she turned to him as she spoke.
"Ahh....seven and a quarter would most likely fit me ok.....or a seven and three eighths of one is kicking around," he responded.
"This should be fun," he thought. "I hope I don't fall and make an ass of myself," tht thought burned in his head. "Hey what can I do to get us ready?" he pushed away from the door as he spoke. "What horse should I get?" he glanced at the row of stables as he spoke.
Re: First ride (Open) « Reply #3 on Aug 22, 2008, 10:42am »
She smiled at Ethan when he said that he had ridden before. That meant that she wasn't going to have to walk around beside him the whole time. She'd much rather sit on a jump or the mounting block, and they could still talk that way. "What all did you do?" she asked.
She was at Nancy's locker by this point and read the combination off of her hand, where she had written it. She opened the lock and pulled out Geronimo's brushes. "K, I'll see what I can do. You might just have to wear my helmet," she said. She knew that whenever she didn't have her helmet she had to wear a helmet that was slightly too small for her, but she couldn't remember what size it was. She couldn't really feel the difference anyways. But, she didn't remember seeing one close to hers that was bigger, and she would have been noticing anything in thhe seven range.
"He's the paint in the third stall on this wall," Jackie said, pointing to Geronimo's stall. They were standing in the middle of the stable, and so he could either go to the right or the left, and then there were stalls on either side of the aisle. It was much easier to just point than to try and tell him where to go. She opened her locker and grabbed the hoodie. She then put it on and picked up Geronimo's brushes and went to his stall, leaving the lockers open. Nobody had ever stolen anything from her, and so she wasn't too concerned about it.
Re: First ride (Open) « Reply #4 on Aug 22, 2008, 11:37am »
She smiled at him when he admitted to having ridden in the past. "What all did you do?" she asked. "Well I got about two years of lessons when I was nine to about eleven or twelve," he admitted gently. He was a little amused at having to divulge he was not nearly as green at riding as he had let on originally, but he just turned and walked over to the stall she had indicated.
A very gentle looking paint horse was within. He smiled and nodded at Jackie. "Yea, I think this horse would be good for me at the moment, thanks for getting your friend to let me ride him."
When she said he would have to wear her helmit he turned to face her fully. "Oh crap, I totally forgot about that...I was going to bring one of my hockey helmits....how about I go grab one from my dorm room so you can ride as well?" By this point she had pulled on a school hoodie from the locker, and holding some brushes had moved over next to him at the stall.
He looked down at the girl next to him with a grin, "It would get kinda uncomfortable if we tried to double up in a single helmit....I am willing to give it a shot....but I can't be sure how well we will pull it off....hehe, both literally and figuratively."
Re: First ride (Open) « Reply #5 on Aug 22, 2008, 12:21pm »
She laughed softly, "I thought you asked me to teach you how to ride, it's gonna be kinda hard to do that if you already know how!" she said, not minding at all. She smiled at the comment about Geronimo being a good horse for him to ride, "He's really calm, but it takes a little bit of work to get him moving. Like, he'll go up a gait without much problem, but he won't move forward within the gait much," she said, "I'll give you a crop, and use it whenever you feel the need to."
"Nah, just use mine. I can use Nancy's. It's 7 and an eighth, but I don't really feel a difference and I've used it before. Unless you really want to wear your hockey helmet," She said. She really liked Nancy's helmet cover, it was hunter green with a picture of a bit on the back and some ribbon hanging down.
She laughed. "I think it'd be better to just assume that it won't work," she said. She went back to Nancy's locker and grabbed Geronimo's saddle and bridle, and then she put them on the hook outside of Geronimo's stall. "Are you fine with brushing and tacking up?" she asked. She knew that some stables tacked up horses for their students, so she wasn't really sure if Ethan wouldk now how.
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