Post by tragedy on Dec 21, 2011 2:50:33 GMT -5
A cool breeze danced over the features of the small town of Pinewood which made everything look alive. Trees shifted and swayed as their branches waved in greeting to neighboring buildings like old friends meeting up again after a long departure. The newly bloomed flowers and foliage that blanketed every grassy stretch in sight rustled and gave to the smallest whim of the atmospheric force. Justine let her sapphire gaze flicker back and forth between the road and the scenery as she drove toward Pinewood Stable. The quaint town was quite beautiful. Justine always found new places and shops every time she drove around. There was so much more to Pinewood than what met the eye on a first glance. It was quite refreshing as opposed to knowing every little nook and cranny to a particular place. The twenty-one year old female pulled onto the winding gravel road that led to the spacious riding stable in her metallic blue Silverado truck. She had never been fond of cars. They were just too little and you couldn't pull a horse trailer with them---something she did often. The West Virginia native had a horse that she showed regularly and she would continue showing him here at Pinewood. Justine didn't always live here in Pinewood though. Up until a few months ago, she lived near the capitol of West Virginia, Charleston, with her parents. She did have a brother but her parents had sent him upstate to be in a private boarding school since it was supposed to be one of the best, academically speaking, in the entire state. But, since they moved to Pinewood, finances were not what they used to be. Her father was a salesman for a company and the business relocated to a bit larger city near by. Pinewood was the closest they could afford to buy a house. Her father was also a horse trainer but for the time being, he was taking a break from it and focusing on his other job. He had sold all the horses he had in training except for Justine's prize and joy, My Prince Charming.
My Prince Charming, or "Prince" as they called him around the barn, was a beautiful chestnut American Saddlebred gelding that stood around sixteen point three hands. With his long legs and sweeping neck, he seemed much larger. They worked well together in the five gaited division, though. He was just enough fire to ignite her competitive spirit. Prince didn't get along with everyone though. Justine had owned him since she was eighteen and had been under the impression that he was unruly, poorly mannered, aggressive, and temperamental. But that hadn't been the case at all. The previous owners had just been unable to connect with the gelding and therefore their relationship was not synchronized. But Justine and Prince got along wonderfully. That wasn't to say that they had their bouts of miscommunication and she never became unseated but it was rare. The five foot six golden haired female let her truck roll into the parking lot that was located near the barn. She parked it out of the way and removed the key from the ignition. With a simple motion of her fingers, she locked the vehicle before she began to make her way into the stable. As soon as she opened the door, a chorus of nickers met her ears. A warm smile tugged at the corners of her pale lips as her azure gaze swept up and down the stable hall. Prince lived in the eighth stall down and on the right from the stable hall doors. Once there, she haltered her gelding and began to brush him off. A soft hum filled the stall as she then picked out his long red hued locks and cleaned his hooves. Once Prince was groomed to perfection, she walked down to the tack room to get her tack. After scanning the name plates for a few moments, she finally found her things. Using well practiced movements, she picked up a saddle pad, her saddle, the martingale, bridle, and girth. She neatly lay the girth and saddle pad over the seat of her saddle while she draped the martingale around her neck. She held the bridle a few feet off the ground in her free hand. After working alone for awhile, she learned how to make as few trips as necessary.
Justine carried all of her things back to Prince's stall before she hung the bridle on the peg outside. She fitted the saddle pad upon Prince's spine and then eased her saddle down on top of it. She didn't have the most expensive cut back saddle in the world but it fit her and Prince just right. It came to her used and she got it for less than three hundred dollars. She wouldn't trade it for a thousand dollar Shively, either. She finished tacking Prince up before she wrapped his forelegs with dark green polo wraps. Then she put bell boots on his front hooves as well as stretchies. Behind, she made sure his cannon bones were protected with shin boots. While slow gaiting, he had a tendency to hit himself in the cannon bones while traveling around corners. Once he was wrapped, padded, and ready to go, she bridled him and led him into the indoor arena. There wasn't anyone else using it but her at the moment. Justine easily mounted the gelding before she asked him to walk off on a loose rein. Her fingers manipulated the braided reins as Prince stretched his legs. She used that time to stretch herself, too. She slipped her boots out of her stirrup irons and tightened her body as she lifted herself out of the saddle by her knees and thighs. It was hard to do that for a long time but she was determined to at least make it four laps around the entire spacious arena. It took a few wobbling tries until she found her balance again and was able to stay out of the saddle by a few inches. Eventually, she became too tired to stay up anymore and she settled back down in the leather seat. She would try again tomorrow. She let her boots work their way back into her stirrups before she asked Prince to trot. Her fingers inched up on the reins until all the slack was gone and she had good but not harsh contact with his mouth.
There was no point in getting on and immediately start pulling on his face. She always let him have his head and stretch out for several laps before she asked him to collect and push up into the bridle from behind. The stretchies, which simply consisted of approximately two feet of surgicial tubing and fleece covered straps to attach them, rattled and jingled around with each stride as she guided him into various patterns. Sometimes they did figure eights, serpentines, circles, half circles, and diagonal lines on and off the rail to mix it up. Prince became bored easily so Justine always had to look for a way to change the routine. Once he was warmed up, she dismounted and removed the resistance training aids and hung them over the back of a chair that sat near the arena entrance. Then she got back on and continued trotting him around while alternating diagonals to work both sides evenly. He was a dream to ride in all gaits and she wouldn't have any other horse over him.
STARRING : TRAGEDY & JUSTINE WITH MY PRINCE CHARMING
WORDS : 1270.
STATUS : [color=bd7e60 FINISHED
NOTES : OPEN FOR ANYONE.
LYRICS USED : USE SOMEBODY - KINGS OF LEON
LISTENING TO : SLACKER RADIO.
BANNER CREDIT : TANA
TAGGED : OPEN[/color][/font][/sup]