[Steph] Training

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Oh for God's sake Jube... you act like you've never seen a rope in your life. Derrick Tanner muttered as the paint horse danced and bucked at the end of the lead as if it were a snake attached to his halter instead of a rope. He rolled his eyes slightly at the horse's antics, and stood perfectly still waiting for the horse to get a grip and calm down. Jubilee was still a young horse, but you would think that after two years on the road he would have mellowed out a bit by now. But oh no, Jubilee was still just as wild and...rambunctious as ever. He spooked at everything... even the sound of his own hooves on the gravel would set him off. Derrick sighed as Jubilee continued his tantrum, and glanced over at the much larger paint who stood boredly watching the younger horse. How the hell did I manage to get one like you and one like him Johnny? He asked the larger horse whose ears pricked forward slightly at the sound of his nickname coming from his rider's mouth.

The quartet that had set out on the road two years ago for their 2,000 mile trip around the Western and mid United States had been home for only a couple weeks now, but none of them looked the worse for wear. Sure Derrick was still a bit scruffy... but when was he not a bit scruffy? He was a cowboy for crying out loud, what kind of cowboy went through the trouble of preening himself every morning? Okay well.. the real kind... not the rodeo cowboy. Derrick was the real sort of cowboy... the kind that were slowly disappearing. He wasn't the kind who got all dressed up and did competitions, he was a down in the dirt, wrestling steers to brand them, roping calves to tag them, cutting cows to single one out for inspection, penning a herd to send them off to wherever they were going, and hog-tying calves to medicate them. Nothing he did was for show.

Because of this, he was quite... well built. He was the sort of guy who probably shouldn't wear a shirt very often because it should be a crime to hide something as amazing as his body. He wasn't like that though... the build wasn't for show, it was for work. After all, to bring in a full sized steer without killing yourself, you had to be an incredibly strong guy. That's like wrestling a rhino and trying to come out on top without being impaled. It took a lot of guts to do what Derrick did as an every day job which would bring about very little pay and absolutely no glory. Sure the rodeo guys did the same thing, but they got paid a lot more than he did, and they all got a lot more glory than he did too. Despite every reason Derrick had to be a high and mighty in the spotlight kind of guy, he preferred to stay off to the sidelines and just do his work in peace.

When finally Jubilee's antics ceased, Derrick patted the horse's neck and got him tacked quickly. He wasn't planning on doing any hard work with the young horse, just a bit of practice. In spite of a 2,000 mile trip, the young horse still needed a lot of training. Once he had secured the tack on the animal, he lead him out to the western practice ring, and mounted up. He half expected more insane antics, and was quite pleased when he got none. He gave the paint a bit of rein, and pressed his heels lightly into his sides, resulting in just exactly the kind of walk Derrick had hoped for. Not overly long or quick, but not too slow and short. A smooth gaited horse made a roper's job a million times easier than one that felt like it was going to throw you out of the saddle at every step.

After a bit of working at just a simple walk, he asked for a bit more, and a perfectly even lope was produced. Derrick had to say he was impressed. It was like the horse throwing the tantrum earlier was completely gone, and all that was left was a push button cow horse. Curious as to what would happen, Derrick dismounted, and took out the lunge line. As soon as the thing was attached to the halter, Jubilee exploded again. Bucking, rearing, fighting the thing that was going to kill him with every ounce of his strength. Needless to say, Derrick was at a loss as to why a rope was so terrifying to the horse. He saw them every day. Finally, he just let the lunge line drop from his hands, and stepped back. Jubilee dove on the thing like it was a snake, and pounded at it with his hooves. When he was satisfied that it was dead, he moved away with a snort. Of course it followed him, producing another explosion.

What really got Derrick was that Jubilee had seen thousands of snakes on their trip, and had never once reacted to them. Sometimes he wondered if Jube was a bone head just to annoy Derrick. He was certainly nothing like Johnny, that was for sure. Ah well... such is life. They couldn't all be perfect... besides, given a little time, maybe Jubilee would level out to be like Johnny. For now though, it was time to just sit back and wait it out. He shook his head slightly, and leaned against, the fence, just waiting for Jubilee to figure out that the rope wasn't going to kill him. It would probably take a while, but eventually he'd get it... and this was the only way to let him come to that realization.

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[|stephanie harte|]

things started out simply enough. it was the same rutine every day and yet it was one she would never get sick of. rising from her bed stephanie placed her long, strawberry blonde locks into a simple wavvy ponytail. she put on her levi jeans, a comfortable white tank top and a black plaid shirt overtop. with a final touch she placed on her head her black cowboy hat. stephanie didnt care much for her looks. of course she cared a bit, she was a girl of course. but spending hours infront of a mirrior every day was something she had no interest in. besides as her friends and family had told her she was a natural beauty. she took their words and trusted them. she walked down the stairs of her small two story cottage and got into her black chevy avalanche.

the drive to pinewood seemed to fly by. her heart pounded with the thought of seeing her two beloved horses again. but of course she really was excited to see jericho her western horse. mystery she still had a lot of work to do. the mare seemed like she wanted to trust her but was hesitant. steph knew that mare was going to be a champion racer. but not until she broke through the mares hard exterior shell. she got to the stables and found another vehicle already there. she looked at her watch and saw its was only 8 o'clock. she looked towards the riding rings and saw a horse that appeared to be dancing despite the frustrated look of his owner. steph shrugged and hopped from her truck and started towards the barn.

the moment she opened the door head emerged from stalls. jerichos voiced called out to her and laughing she walked down the aisle towards her beloved stallion. she walked into his stall and saw he had already finished his food the morning staff would have given him. she immeadiently gave the glowing horse a swift brushing then led him out to the cross ties. despite being a stud, unless steph ignored him for another horse he ignored them, causing no fights at all. throwing on the blue and white saddle blanket then the black saddle with silver studding she smiled as she looked at her horse. he was handsome, easily the best horse her parents had had on their breeding farm. the young blood bay andalusian looked at her expectantly, as if saying what you waiting for? lets go!
steph smiled and put on the matching bridle before leading her horse out towards the barrel ring.

the barrel ring was ajoined with the ring the young man and his horse were in. entering the barrel ring she saw the guy was on his horse now. she turned back to jericho who nudged her impatienly and mounted up. she started warming up and after a few minutes was holding jericho at a steady canter around the ring. as she rode by the other ring she saw the horse was apparently dancing again. but looking closer she saw he was terrified of his lunge line. steph frowned and slowed jericho to a walk. she looked at the horses owner who watched on in frusteration. steph smiled warmly and rested on her saddle horn.
"having a bad morning?" she asked kindly. her blue eyes danced as she watched the stunning horse fight his rope again.
"has he always done that?" she laughed

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Derrick knew better than to protest bringing Casey and Jed along, it never worked. They always got whatever they wanted whenever they wanted, and for some reason, they always wanted to follow him around. Why they wanted to be his shadow, he didn't know, he was anything but nice to them...in fact, some would even consider him too harsh on them. He didn't care though, if they were trying to beat the snot out of some other kid, he had every right to be "mean" to them. Not to mention the fact that he simply hated them and he had to have them along everywhere he went. That just annoyed him to no end.

He could have quoted what his boss was going to say in response to her question. "Of course I'm serious, a trip into town will do them good, and give me a bit of peace for a little while." Derrick's expectation was right. Down to the very last letter, that was what he said to Jay as an answer to the question. Derrick was now coming to the opinion that he'd been working here far too long if he could predict his boss' answers to questions before he even opened his mouth. Actually, it was probably because he'd gone through this so many times that he just knew what he would say every time.

Derrick didn't say a word, but as Jay headed up the stairs, he went out to put the horse up. The appaloosa still had the saddle on his back, and Derrick doubted if he would appreciate having it on for a few more hours just standing around in the round corral. Casey and Jed followed him out the door, still racing around and screaming. They were just lucky he didn't have a gun, otherwise he would have shot them right there on the spot. Instead, he just clenched his jaw and kept walking. He pulled the corral gate open and walked over to the horse, quickly undoing the cinch and jerking the saddle from the animal's back. He grabbed the bridle off the fence post and slung it over his shoulder, the kids still racing around his feet and screaming. He wasn't going to be able to take this much longer.

Sorry Des, He muttered to the horse who looked quite annoyed with the kids, the Grim Reaper's at it again. He patted the animal's neck and walked out, closing the gate securely behind him. It took him but a moment to put the saddle and bridle in the barn where they belonged, and then headed back out. Finally, the screaming and hyperactive movements of the two children became too much for him to handle. In a swift and deft movement, he caught both of them by their shirt collars, and brought them to a stop in front of him. If I hear even so much as a sound out of either of you, He said, obviously quite serious, I swear I will drop you off at the pound and they'll lock you up in a cage and you'll never see the light of day again. Casey and Jed instantly fell silent. Every other time when he'd had to take them out, he always made good on those things. While he'd never promised to lock them up in the pound before, he'd gone through with other threats before, so they believed him.

The silence was so golden in his opinion, he relaxed a bit more. As long as they were silent, he could handle them. He looked up as Jay came out of the house, obviously ready to go. He was hoping she wasn't the sort of person who had ten million things to do in town. He knew that with the few hands they had working it would probably take about four hours to get all the branding for just today done, and since he was now no longer there, they were short a roper and that meant it would take even longer. The quicker he got back, the quicker the job would get done.

Derrick snapped out of the flash-back when he heard someone talking to him. Luckily he caught most of what was being said. He smiled good naturedly at her question. No, actually this is a good morning, believe it or not. Jubilee was far from the smartest horse on the planet, and was a big of a nut-case most of the time and there was always something that set him off. Tomorrow it would be the saddle, the next day it would be the barn cat, the next day it would be the cars outside... there was always something. It was just a question of what it would be. Of course, once he got over something then it wasn't an issue again, but you never could tell what it would be.

Not with the lunge line... He replied to her second question, But there's always at least one thing that sets him off. He'll get over it eventually. He glanced back to the paint who was still spooking at the snake that was chasing him around the corral. This one could take a bit longer than usual for the horse to get over, but whatever worked right? Jube was a problem child, that was for sure... but he would mature eventually. It was just going to take him a little longer than most horses. He was only five now, so he was still young and still had a lot of growing up to do. He would get there eventually though, Derrick just had to patient with him.

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[|stephanie harte|]

steph pulled some straggling blonde locks from infront of her eyes and placed them delicatly behind her ear. she toyed with her long ponytail a moment, watching the horse flee and fight his lunge line. she frowned curious as to what could cause the horse such emotions. stephanie was a trainer in multiple disiplines from breaking and training ground work in both english and western to barrel and finally to racing. she had her newest horse Misery Buisness who had come off the track with one win and serveral dismall losses. but stephanie knew the owners had ruined the young filly and it was her job to make mystery, as she called the black thoroughbred, better.

stephanie looked away from the horse and back to the young owner. she had not met him before today as she was still fairly new to pinewood. seeing he was distracted and intent on his horse she smiled and turned jericho along the fence again. the young stallion, happy to have her attention returned to him arched his thick neck and lifted his long legs under him, prancing gracefully. steph laughed quietly and gave the blood bay a pat on the neck. he gave a small wicker and slowed down to a graceful trot. after trotting the arena twice she brought his gait up to a gentle canter. he flowed under her, his movements smoothe and fluent. she seemed to be flying and that was certainly the way steph felt. if she could fly this is what it would feel like. steph gave him the signal and jericho extented his canter even further, his strides now ground eating.

after cantering the ring several times steph brought jericho towards one end of the arena. the stallion stood stark still, ears poised, body taught, ready to spring. the barrells seemed to be challenging him and jericho was ready for their fight. he had competed several times before and won 3 times out of 5. the other two were close second place finishes. stephanie was concentrated, her hands light on the reins, planning her approach. jericho listened, swivelling his ears back every few seconds then forward again, as if seeing if the barrells had moved. then steph leaned forward ever so slightly in the saddle and the horse took off. his speed was unbelievable, covering the ground to the first barrel in only mere seconds. he spun aroun the barrell, seeming to barely be touching the ground. steph held onto the horn and gentle kneeded his sides. rounding the final barrell she leaned forward and jericho shot off like a rocket. pulling the stallion up she kept him at a medium trot and made her way around the ring. check the stop watch she used she smiled at their time. just under 9 seconds. not bad for a simple training.

steph cooled jericho down for several minutes before stopping him and looking back towards the horse and owner...

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It was a beautiful foggy morning in Eastern Montana, one of the many places Derrick had lived. The mountains protruded majestically from the cold damp and gray later of fog that hid the earth from sight. Everything was peaceful and serene, the place was heaven on earth to those who were in love with the countryside. Derrick was one of those people. He loved the mystery of the wilderness, the thrill of never knowing what was over the next rise. This place was his Eden, were it not for his goal to return to West Virginia in a year and a half's time, he would probably have settled there.

As it were, he was only in Montana for about a week, and he had been hired by the BLM for a short time to round up some Mustangs for a census while their helicopter was out of commission. Of course he agreed, and set out. They had asked him if he would need help, and he declined the offer. He rode alone. Badger and Jubilee were left at the headquarters, and Derrick and Johnny set out across the plains alone with one thing in mind, find the mustangs and bring them all back home in seven days. It was a short time to accomplish this, but he was fairly sure there was nothing he and Johnny couldn't do.

The sun was just beginning to come up over the mountains, reflecting off the fog and making the countryside glow. Suddenly a flock of birds appeared through the fog in a terrified frenzy, and shortly after the sound of pounding hooves filled the air, meaning only one thing... mustangs. The majestic and unruly horses emerged from the fog running just because they could run... because they loved to run. Derrick stood watching them, standing besides Johnny, simply blown away by the scene before him. The horses moved at such incredible speed, leaping and dodging obstacles, kicking up their heels, chasing one another around. It was the most amazing thing he could imagine seeing.

After a few minutes had passed, he swung up onto Johnny's back, and headed the big bay towards the mustangs. At first the horses were confused at the appearance of another horse they'd never seen coming towards them and slowed their pace to look, but then when they saw the man on his back, their playful galloping turned into a mad rush to get away from the human. Unfortunately for them, Johnny had too much gusto for them, and the distance between them closed swiftly. Instead of just chasing them though, Derrick brought Johnny up along side the herd, forcing them to turn.

The paint was much faster than the mustangs, and making the herd circle was a simple task for the big horse. They kept the circle wide at first, and slowly eased them in, making the space they had to move smaller and smaller with every round until they finally stopped and milled about one another, nervously watching the horse and human as they continued walking around them, keeping them in a group and preventing them from breaking out and scattering. It was just like rounding up cattle. After a good half hour, Derrick stopped Johnny and stood watching the horses who were now standing still and watching him just as carefully.

For several hours he just kept the herd there, keeping any who tried to stray from the group from wandering away. By the time night fell the mustangs hardly seemed to notice the cowboy and his paint horse, just as Derrick had hoped. When the moon rose and lit the earth, Derrick started Johnny towards the mustangs, and as if Johnny was simply their stallion, they moved forward at a comfortable walk, still wary of Derrick, but comfortable enough that they didn't try to scatter as they moved along.

When the morning of day seven rolled in, 15 mustangs walked placidly up to the corral gates, and stopped worridly, not liking the human contraption ahead of them. Instead of trying to force them in though, Derrick simply pushed Johnny through the horses who didn't seem to even realize there was a human on the paint's back, and walked him into the corral. After several moments hesitation a young colt bravely moved out ahead of the lead mare and followed Johnny. After that the rest of the horses slowly followed, cautious of their surroundings, but beginning to trust where the large paint was leading them.

Derrick wasn't just your typical chase them where they need to go sort of cowboy. Though he knew full well that animals couldn't reason like humans and didn't believe that animals should have the same rights as humans, he also understood that they were living breathing creatures who had lives of their own, and to him, trust was of paramount importance. He was no horse whisperer, but he grew up with horses, and he knew that it didn't take much to get them to trust you. He was a regular old Jim Craig.

Derrick was slightly confused as to why the girl said nothing when he answered her questions, but he didn't look too much into it. He was far too easy going to let that bother him. When she continued on, he looked back over at Jube who was starting to realize that the lunge line wasn't going to kill him, though he was still a bit spooky and jumpy. Derrick just shook his head and walked over to the flighty horse. Jubilee started to dance away from Derrick, but when he heard the sharp and demanding command of "stand" from Derrick, he stopped in his tracks and stood perfectly still.

Thank you. Derrick said when Jubilee obeyed, and patted the horse's neck gently, then proceeded to unclip the lunge line and replaced it with the lead rope. As much as Derrick loved the young horse, he could be a pain in the neck sometimes. He was a high maintenence horse, and was always getting into trouble. Derrick had hoped that the horse would take after Johnny's example and start behaving more, but no such luck. Jubilee seemed determined to do everything the hard way, and learn everything on his own... and unfortunately, he was a very slow learner.

He glanced over at the girl and her horse in the barrel ring, and watched them for a brief moment before swinging up onto Jubilee again, and setting him at an easy lope around the outside perimeter of the arena. Surprisingly Jubilee acted as if nothing had just been out to kill him, and even completely ignored the lunge line as he stepped over it where Derrick had left it on the ground for this exact purpose. He was a hard horse to understand. He could be fine with something one minute, and the next be panicking about it. It would take a while to figure out just what was making him tick.

After a minute or two had gone by, he slowed him to a walk, and let him just go at his own pace for a bit, and letting his own mind wander. It took a lot more than most people realized to cross half the country on horseback. Derrick's build was enough proof of that. After two years of living off of the generosity of others and what he could find in the wilderness, he was quite thin, though still quite muscular. You had to be an extremely hardy person with extremely hardy animals to make a trip like that. It was no easy task, but they had accomplished it all the same.

If he decided to ride out again on another cross country trek, he would go in the opposite direction... and maybe even make a complete circuit of the United States. That was a long ways off though. He wanted to finish Jubilee's training before he left again, and he figured that he, the horses, and the dog could use about a year off. It was only fair to give them time to get rested up properly... and maybe make a little money so he wouldn't have to rely quite so much on other people on the next trip. It was hard work being a long rider, but it was a challenge that he was certainly up to.

He snapped out of his thoughts when Jubilee decided he'd had enough and came to a stop. With just as much ease as he'd mounted, he got down off the horse, and took the reins in his hand, heading up towards the barn, keeping a tight hold on the reins. He knew how unpredictable this horse could be, and he wasn't going to risk the animal getting loose and hurting someone. The last thing he needed was to cause trouble and Jubilee was just the horse to make that happen.