its not what you do; its how you do it

[Shane Hollman]

Shane just kept his smile as he watched the girl walk off. It was true, it scared his horse more then him. Though he was use to people coming after him on the basketball court, so he was use to it. Twister finally calmed down and started to walk once more around the edge of the arena. He was such a calm horse, just plodded along like a good solider. Shane loved it.

He watched as the girl went to the water bucket at the edge of the arena. He would have gone over there, but twister hadn't even broke a sweat. That was usual though. Shane just rode and observed, wondering if he would ever become a good rider. Most likely, but it would take a while. He thought riding horses was so easy, but he was definably proven wrong. Riding almost made him sore the first couple times he rode, Shane sore? that almost never happened. He dealt with it though, he figured it would have hurt worse if he didn't workout so much.

Once Bri started riding again, he figured he would give her space and walked to the gate of the arena. He dismounted the gelding and loosened the cinch, letting the gelding stand while Shane loosened things. He thought it would be nicer to let him stand without something cutting him off. Shane turned again to see the girl heading for a jump, he figured the horse would glide over it with ease. Twister nudge his arm right before the girl got to the jump and Shane looked away.

Suddenly Twister's head shot out to the arena and Shane thought he heard something. He looked over to see Bri on the ground and her horse standing over her. "BRI!" Shane shouted and sprinted as fast as possible across the arena. He was glad he was in shape, cause the arena was long, and he was running full out. He ended up sliding to a stop by her side. He never even thought about Twister just standing alone. "Bri? Are you ok?" Shane was on his knees next to her grabbing her shoulder. He was going to help her sit up, but he wasn't sure he should move her.

[Gabrielle Mantler]

Bri’s eyes bugged out of her head when all of a sudden she was face to face with some person. Bri lay still, her mind still catching up to the events. Finally Bri blinked a few times, trying to get her eyes to focus on the face. But the messages were slowed, everything not registering as quickly as it normally did. But she heard a voice, and she listened. It was her name. Think Bri, Think she though to herself as she ran the voice over in her head, attempting to match it. “Shane?” she asked, her mind slowly starting to register small amounts of information.

Bri continued to blink, her eyes still almost non-responsive. She must of fell really hard, for her to still be on the ground. Bri closed her eyes and opened them a few seconds later, focus returning in greater amounts now. She could make out some of Shane’s facial features now and mentally check her body for pain, the question he’d ask her just now registering to her brain. Bri started at her toes and legs, they felt fine. Her back felt fine, her arms like normal. So all in all she was just a little dizzy, unfocused. “I think I’m fine, I think I hit my head. But I’ll be fine” said Bri, as she lifted her hands to remove her helmet and let her blonde hair fall free. Bri slowly pulled herself off the ground until she was sitting up. She’d never felt this off, her head almost fuzzy. It was almost like she was on an insane high or something, because it was things she’d never felt before.

Bri stood up, probably quicker then she should of, but she felt nothing. “I’ve got to get back on.. You have to get back on when you fall off…” said Bri, stumbling towards Kass. Her legs seemed to get left behind and she started to fall but caught herself on the mares neck. Kass looked at her strangely, but didn’t dare move a muscle. Bri blinked a few more times, what was up with her? She always got right back on and never felt any pain. She just got on and continued on, she never actually had to give herself anytime to think or make sure she was okay. She was always okay, and she was sure she was this time. But why did she feel so off? She knew it wasn’t a concussion, she’d had one of those before they didn’t feel like this. At least not to her, so why did she feel weird? Bri almost started to panic, thinking of the worst case scenarios. Had she fucked herself up? Was she never going to be able to ride again? Was she going to be stuck in a hospital with no hopes of becoming a lawyer? Panic flooded her, all she could think about was what might be wrong with her.

That’s when it hit her, her brain was coming back rapidly. She was thinking more clearly, for the most part. She let her fingers trace some muscle lines on the mares neck, mentally naming off all the fact she knew about the mare. Her brain seemed to work now, seemed to focus and allow Bri to think clearly. Bri nodded to herself and grabbed the reins, she needed to get back on. She lifted her leg and was about to mount the mare when Kass side stepped slightly, obviously not sure about the idea. Bri lost her balance, which she never did over something so small, and crashed back onto the ground. “At least its sand” said Bri, laughing at herself before climbing back up into standing position. Though she wobbled slightly without the balance of the mare. “I need you to get on her Shane, just trot her around or something. She just needs to know she’s okay” said Bri. Everything still seemed like a huge puzzle in her mind, but she knew after that that she couldn’t get on Kass. The mare would be able to read even the smallest sign of confusion and take it the wrong way. She’d just set herself up for another injury, that left Shane. And she was sure he could get Kass to trot around the outside of the ring a couple times. She wasn’t that bad- as long as he could kind of focus on her.

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[Shane Hollman]

Shane balanced on his knees as he kept one hand on Bri's shoulder. He didn't know what had happened, or if she was even ok. He was worried when she didn't respond right away, but was relieved to hear her voice. "Yea, its Shane. I'm here." He kept his voice soft, knowing that a loud noise not not be the best thing for her. He had fallen off before, though it seemed to be worse for her this time.

He kept a concerned face as he looked over Bri, making sure she didn't have and bones sticking our or that her arms where bent in the correct directions. He glanced back at her face as she started to speak once again. "I think you hit your head too." He again kept his voice soft and watched her pull her helmet off, looking to see if there was any blood or anything. Once she started to sit up, Shane placed his hand in the middle of her back, keeping her steady. he could tell she wasn't herself.

As she stood, Shane rose with her, keeping his hand on her back. He hoped she didn't feel weired with him touching her, but he wanted to make sure she didn't fall again. He heard her speak and shook his head. "I don't think thats a good idea, though it is what you are suppose to do." He was wondering if she was really serious, it took her a while to get collected, another fall and he would be running her to the hospital, literally.


He watched as she stumbled to her horse, reaching for her when she started to fall, but pulled up short when she caught her horse. This was going to be interesting. Shane stood a couple feet away, hoping he wasn't letting something tragic happen. He looked away for just a split second, glancing at Twister. The gelding just stood quietly, watching the action unfolding. Next thing Shane knows, bri is on the ground again. He laughed slightly and bent down to help her up. He laughed as she spoke about him riding Kass. "Me? Ride Kass?" his voice was a little hesitant but he could see she was serious. "Um ok, i'll try." Shane moved to the mare, patting her softly. He hoped he wouldn't end up on the ground, not because of the mare, but because of his riding skills.

[Gabrielle Mantler]

Bri’s mind seemed to function more, coming back quickly as she took control. She was still no where near what she usually was, but it was like the ability to be the boss was making her mind wake up. “give her her head, focus on centering yourself” said Bri as she watched the two, her vision coming back nicely. She was still trying to figure out what happened, but her brain lacked the ability to focus on more then one thing at the time. But she could focus now and it was helping keep her from panicking at the idea she might have some kind of brain loss. If anything, she would get to buy a new helmet out of the deal.

Bri watched the two move along together, her eyes flittering from one part of the horse to him back to another part of the mare. ”Breathe. Talk to her. Gentle ques now, nothing major. Nudge her softly, she’ll respond” said Bri as she ran her fingers through her hair, the pulling at her scalp made her want to scream bloody murder in pain but it made her brain come back in quick, shark stabs. But patience was a virtue, and something Bri lacked a lot of. Especially when she wanted to just take everything back to normal and have no sympathy from Shane at all. Bri hated when people sympathized over her, it was attention she’d never gotten and attention she was never found off. She’d broke up with a few boys over it, because she just liked to be left the fuck alone. But after this fall, she would like to stay with somebody for a little bit, just to make sure she didn’t black out due to brain damage or something stupid like that.

“Now just ask her for a trot, She’s smooth so no worries.” said Bri as she coached from center ring, all her instincts coming back to her. Bri even found herself tapping her leg, like she used to do with a crop when she taught lessons. That was a long time ago. Then all of a sudden her mind went blank and her eyes closed, a flashback entering her head unwilling.

“Gabrielle!”
Bri stood straight up, panicking. Her name was rarely spoken at the large barn, unless by a small lesson child who was lost or looking for her guidance on something with their pony. Bri slowly peaked her head over the stall, but never really saw much more then the large, callused hand slap her across the face.
“Could you hurry up? I’m not making any money off you when your in stall’s grooming horses- I want you in the ring, teaching those brats in pigtails how to ride”
Bri nodded her head and scatted, looking fro somewhere to hide. She was sixteen and she knew she wasn’t supposed to be treated like this. But it was a high class barn and she knew if word got out that she taught here that when she moved barns many people would follow and plenty of new clients would flow in as well. She just had to put of with this for a few more months, just enough to get some good cash and get her name out there. Plus the showing opportunities were great, because as amazing as it was to enter the ring on your own horse it was twice as good for your reputation when you rode somebody else’s.
Bri waited till she though it was clear and escaped out of the small feed room that was almost a secret place, it was just a small corner with bins everywhere. She thought she was completely fine until she felt her collar being pulled on, the front digging into her throat. She heard words, but none of them made sense. They all seemed like jumble in her mind, as she struggled to get away. Before she knew it she was laying on the cold cement floor, her head throbbing in pain. All she saw was black and then..

All of a sudden Bri snapped back into reality, her body in a sweat. She looked around anxiously, everything seemed okay. It was probably only a few seconds she told herself, flashbacks went by much quicker then real time. Bri looked around until she spotted her large mare, Shane still atop her large frame. “Looks good, you’re dong great. Just keep that lower leg quiet. And don’t fret, I won’t make you canter” said Bri, giving instructions as she watched, trying to distract herself from the memory. It was weird, she hadn’t really thought of that since she was seventeen, it’d just become almost a nothing to her- not a big deal at all. Why was it all of a sudden coming back?

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