(OPEN) Lonely traveler

[Blaze Solorre]

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Today was the third day after come here to Pinewood Virginia. Neither the horse nor the man felt at home in this strange new enviorment, and probably wouldn't for a good while, but atleast they had eachother. Everything about Virginia was different from Arizona from what was understood so far, but the man was trying not to be judgemental. He had to give this place a try because, facing the facts, he didn't have enough money to go back home. And he had promised himself that he would find his own way in the world from now on. He couldn't just back out merely because things were a bit challenging. No, he would face up and learn to love this new world that he and his horse had been thrusted into.

Ashleigh Blaze Solorre. For such a fancy name the man was really nothing more than a twenty year old unsure of what to do; a cowboy from the deserts of Pheonix Arizona now standing in the middle of a white covered, but otherwise hostile place where for once he wasn't sure of himself. That trademark pride in his step had disolved into a rather nervous, wary way of moving around. He was sure that in time he would get used to this place, and if he was lucky find a friend or two- but for now he had to be careful. It seemed to far that he was unwelcome here, and he had to carry on with his business with upmost caution.

The gelding who had accomponied- and in a way inspired the idea of coming here in the first place, was not too much better. His routine had changed dramaticly in the past week and he didn't know what to expect. He was a bit nervous and all of the energy that had been pint up in him for the past few days was about to explode out of him. Going from the dusty, warm terrain of his homeland, where he had hours every day to gallop around his paddock whenever he pleased, leaping and bucking, to this cold place was a big and rough change for his three year old mind. He wanted freedom, but he could not yet have it. His companion had promised him that again 'soon', when he was adjusted, but he could not adjust untill he could get this out of his system. He needed to let loose and be a colt for a while.

It had been snowing that night, and what Blaze had at first found to be a wonder he now just gazed over cooly- knowing fully well the chill that could seep into your bones from it. He had nothing like warm clothes with him, and no money at the moment to buy some- and the best that he could do was to wear longsleeves and jeans that afternoon. His face was tinged slightly pink from cold instead of its usual bronze shade, and his ears stung- but he needed to be out here with Kismet. He needed the animal's companionship as much as he needed food or water. So he would just deal with the weather for now. Today he would be able to ride his horse again and not even the biggest of snowstorms and the foulest of people could keep the slight smile that pulled at his lips from forming as he walked into the barn with a covered saddle in one arm and a hackamoor bridle in the other.

The welcoming smell of straw, warm horses, and manure drifted towards him as he closed the door and glanced around. It was atleast fifteen degrees warmer in here than outside and instantly he was grateful, not only for his own sake but for Kismet's. The gelding had not needed a winter coat much in Arizona where it never got below freezing, so it hadn't developed. His thin papery skin was exposed to the cold now more than the other horses and he had to wear a blanket at night to keep from getting too cold. Walking towards his equines stall he let out a low whistle, their signal. Within seconds a chocolate brown head shot over the stall door and with an excited snort the gelding bobbed his head. "Well atleast someone is happy to see me." Smiling, Blaze stroaked the animal's forhead, tracing the blaze that ran from eye to halfway down his face. Leaning to his right the man lifted Kismet's braided rope halter off of it's hook. "Behave now Kee, and you just might get some real exercise today.[/b] The liver chestnut horse danced in place excitedly as he saw his halter in Blaze's hand, and when the latch was undone he eagerly crowded forward. Instantly Blaze pushed him back with a firm but gentle shove. "No." Relatching the door, he turned away from the stall. With a horse as high-energy as Kismet, he couldnt let the animal get away with anything. Especialy because the colt was extremely strong as well as stubborn once he got his way. Blaze began busy himself with pulling out his grooming supplies and organizing them for a few minutes much to Kismet's dislike. The horse pinned his ears and watched Blaze grumpily- but knew better than to strike the stall door for that would only lengthen the time he would be in this prison.

When he finished Blaze turned around again to face his horse. Kismet's ears instantly changed from flattened against his skull to pricked. He was inquiring whether or not he could come out now. Without a word Blaze unlatched the stall door again and slowly opened it. This time though, the colt didn't move forwards although he did dance in place a bit. With a slight shooing motion Blaze had the animal back up a bit. Satisfied that Kismet understood now, he walked into the stall, shut the door behind him, and stood even with the horse's shoulder. With one hand he reached behind Kee's poll and applied gentle pressure. The horse didn't do anything at first, but after a moment his neck softened and he dropped his head. Nodding to himself, Blaze haltered the horse and led him out of the stall. There was no praise for being obedient, because that was what was expected- but there was on problem there.

Tying the animal expertly, Blaze had taken the old wool blanket off of and brushed down the colt in less than ten minutes. This had been a daily ritual for a long time and Kee made no move to show agression or annoyance unlike in the past years, even as Blaze ran his hands from ear to tail and back again, then under his belly to where the girth would be. A year ago none of this would of been possible, for Kee had been a monsterous two year old, biting and kicking at every chance. The two had come a long ways. Pulling a lunging cavesson(sp?) and cotton line out of his tackbox- he set both items on his saddle so he could carry them with him.

Blaze patted the horse's glossy neck firmly before picking up his saddle and bridle in one arm and yanking the leadrope loose with the other. Alright now. Here we go; no funny business.[/color] With that both horse and boy began to walk shoulder to shoulder down the barn aisle towards where Blaze had seen a few battered but usable roundpens a few days ago.

Once out of the barn, the cold came like a slap in the face. The air felt as if icecicles were dangling in it, razor sharp and stinging. Blaze shuddered and pressed closer to Kee; who seemed to already be adapting to the cold a little bit. The colt pranced sideways sharply, throwing his head up suddenly to dodge clump of snow in front of him- almost making Blaze trip and fall into the snowpile himself. Instantly he turned the horse in a tight circle and stopped in front of the snow again. In a place like this- shying as snow wasn't an option. "Kee its water. You love water. The horse stared at him indignantely before- after a bit of coaxing, walking through the snow and towards the pens. A minute later they finaly reached the gate and Blaze dropped his saddle and bridle onto the rail. Once done with that, he grabbed his lunging equipment. No one was here; and that was a good thing for now.

Leading Kismet through the gate and closing it after himself, the black-haired boy walked his horse to the middle of the corral quietly. Kee was a bit excited and danced in place when they stopped. This corral was very similar to the one that he had been kept in for years while in solitary back at the ranch. So far, though, he was behaving. Blaze smiled slightly, looped the leadrope over Kee's neck and took his halter off just long enough to slip the lunging bridle onto him and clip the cotton line on. That done, he threw the halter and leadrope over his shoulder and positioned himself squarely in the middle of the arena. "Alright Kee; Walk. As he said this he gave the animal two yards of slack, jiggled the rope a bit, and sent the young horse into a fast placed- flat footed walk good boy.
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finished . incomplete
notes; 1597. origionaly just a reply to another thread, but there was no answer so I just fixed it up a bit and replaced it here open to all- and even more than one person if you want.

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[Autumn Sky Chapman]

Dear Diary,
I have no idea why, but I just feel so homesick right now, I mean, my mom is at home, trying to get the divorce finally then I know that she will get married to Brian, of course, after they dated for a while. Brian had always been there for her mother, never even tried to have a relationship with her and she knew that everything would work out. He would never date a married woman and he was holding himself back from killing my father because of the drunk he was. I just hope things work out how they are suppose to work out.
Well, I better go,
Autumn

She still felt like a complete outcast hear, she did not know why, but she did. She had been here for nearly a week, but Autumn Sky Chapman was still homesick and still felt completely out of place. She tugged at her cowboy hat, the black velvet shielding her head from the cold and her face from the snow flacks that came down every now and then. She pulled the heavy work jacket over her shoulders more as she looked outside, watching everything before she went out in the freezing cold. He knew a few people, but he barely talked to any of them, just kept to herself most the time. She did not know why, but she just did not go out and talk to people, she would rather stay to herself and her wonderful horse. Alabama did not get a lot of snow, except one time in 1993 when they had a Bad blizzard that was three feet high, but not very much snow came down. She was sure she would get use to this place, but no time soon.

She smiled at the black beast nudged her shoulder and she walked outside the barn, moving at a gentle pace as her booted feet hit the ground. She brushed her hand over her tight blue jeans before stuffing her hand into the thick jacket pocket of her's. She was going to freeze, but she knew that Curse needed to come out for a little while. She felt the cold hit her hard, the air going deep into her lungs as she took in the smell and smiled slightly at the sight. It was a very pretty place, this place was so pretty. She knew Curse would enjoy the time out in the round pen best of all, even though he was not use to snow, he knew freezing weather. It got cold in Alabama, sometimes in the single digits, which was on in the teens and Autumn was finding it rather nice out... In a way. It was still very, very cold.

This snow... It was fresh, Autumn could tell as she stepped outside. She saw how it was not disturbed and how it floated on top of the packed snow when the wind blew. It was very pretty to look at and she could not help but smile at the place. She did not care much for the bone cold weather, but at the same time, she did not mind it much at all, as long as she could have some fun. She could remember going out with Brian hunting when it snowed lightly in Alabama and seeing huge Bucks walking in the meadow. She could remember picking up the rifle and taking aim, holding the gun steady and taking the buck. She could remember loading the buck up on Curse and riding back to the stables to have it butchered and ready to eat that same night.

She fixed her jacket, the long sleeve black shirt under the jacket and the dark blue jeans that were very tight. She looked ahead, her nose was slightly red from the cold and her ears were tingling slightly and beginning to get colder. She stopped long enough to pull off her cowboy hat and pull on a beanie and then replace the hat. It at least kept her ears warm, her nose would just have to live with being cold. Curse once again pushed her, hoping to get her to move on so they could continue on towards the round pen and she smiled. She loved her gelding, he was such a mess to put up with, but a good friend.

She was going slow, allowing him to get use to the cold weather as they walked. She went past the round pen a few times and even went around the barn in order to make sure they were both use to the cold. Each time they went by, the smell of straw and other horses filtered in through the air and one time she even stopped to see how could it was. "Fifteen Degrees or so Curse, looks like a cold day after all." She said as she looked at her beautiful horse and smiled at him. She knew that a few horses stayed inside all winter long, but her horse, held a nice winter coat and it was very smooth. She kept it nice and clean, never allowing it to get messy looking. She tried not to show him much in the winter time unless it was at a rodeo and then she took him out and fast. When she went past the front again, she saw someone else walking down the hall, but she said nothing to get the attention.

She had stopped long enough to let the warm air touch her and the horse for just a few moment. It was not long before a brown head stuck out from the stall... She wondered why she had never seen the guy, the stall was right next to Curse's own stall. She just shrugged and then moved on, this time, stopping at the arena possible, or maybe no, she did not know. She moved on down the walk way towards the round pen, but made a quick stop however. She just felt like she needed to stop and look around. Her gelding was not happy about the idea, but she was a little okay about it. She just wanted to take in the morning, for some reason, she needed to relax, to think and not ride at the same time.

She turned when she heard crunching snow and saw the horse and rider leaving the stables and she turned her head back to the view. It was just the pasture mostly, but it was pretty, seeing the land covered in a blanket of snow and just being able to enjoy it. The horse was not saddle or bridled, just walking beside the rider who had the stuff. He was rather cute, Autumn thought to herself as she glanced over at him one more time and then looked at Curse. "Cute one, ain't he?" She smiled when he snorted, tossing his head and shaking it slightly. "Jealous?" She was being quiet about it, did not want to draw attention to herself or her horse.

After a moment she moved from the fence and headed to the round pen. As she got there, she noticed that the two were lunging. She was careful as she opened the gate and went in, keeping on the side so she did not disturb the two. She smiled slightly and mounted the horse, moving with ease as she got ready. She settled in the western saddle and pulled at her sleeves before she took off the heavy jacket and placed it on the fence carefully. The black long sleeve shirt was thick and she looked ahead. She pulled off her cowboy hat and then pulled off the beanie and placed it on top of her jacket. She replaced her hat and looked along the fence line.

Curse tossed his head and she pulled the reins up, giving a kick and starting him off. She kept her head level and her left hand down, only using her right. Her back was straight and her heels pointed down like she had been taught. The horse moved with ease, his muscles rippling under his skin and his body flowing perfectly. As she got to the first corner of the round pen, or first turn, she barely touched her heels and he moved it up to a trot, his body moving from walk to trot without a flow of hesitation in his step. She moved with careful ease, watching the other horse and rider as she did so. He is still a cutie.

~~~~~
Word Count: 1,419

[Blaze Solorre]

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A fear of ropes had always hindered Kee in his training, for in the short three years of his life the only thing that he had known them to be for was to catch him- and hurt him. A rope meant people. People meant pressure, work, and worst of all, pain. The tactics that had always been used to get the best of this strongwilled colt had always been to show him who was boss. To work him until he could no longer stand without his legs quivering beneath him, to sack him out, to try to break his spirit. Yes, ropes were a terrible thing in the mind of the young gelding. This thought was branded deep into his soul, and Blaze knew that it would take years to heal him from his terror of ropes, and even in there would always be a scar. Blaze was patient though. He understood fear to an extent that at times it was as if he felt exactly what his colt did. And maybe that was the reason that he had been able to come as far with Kee as he had.

It had been over a year since the brute of an animal had been forced to endure treatment of a working machine that had gone wrong, but still at times he thought of the cruel treatment he had gotten not so long ago. It was for this reason that they were here now in the round pens, working up from the basics once again. There was no telling when Kee would suddenly just blow up, fear taking hold of him, and Blaze had found that it was better to go slowly than to rush him into things. That was how it is, he accepted it.

"Trot" his voice called to the entergetic colt, the tone almost crooning to the ear of his friend. The chocolate colored animal snorted and with a flick of his tail moved into a quick paced trot- lifting his feet high and prancing, obviously showing off. His neck arched regaly and his body was rounded. He was glad to be out moving, even if it was to Blaze's tune. And out of pure bliss, he moved into a lope- whinnying shrilly to anyone listening. Blaze lengthened the line between he and his horse- encouraging the animal. He had not asked Kee to canter, but he could not bring himself to ruin the horse's mood. The colt was absolutely delighted to be moving around again in the open, and he needed to run out some of his friskiness anyways.

It was as Kee was cantering flawlessly around the pen that another pair- girl and horse, made their appearance. The colt noticed the two before Blaze did, alert and excited as he was. With a toss of his head he slid to a stop cow-horse fashion with legs tucked neatly under him and hanches low to the ground, throwing dirty brown snow from under him and covering Blaze in it. The dark haired bow sputtered as the snow covered him- shaking his head quickly to rid of some of it then looking bewilderedly at Kismet. "What was that all about?"[/b] He said, turning to the horse who was looking right past him- tense and with ears sharply pricked forwards. Turning towards where the colt was looking, he quickly understood the reason for his horse suddenly turning on the brakes. At the gate, a girl with blonde hair; two hats, rather tight jeans, and a black shirt was standing with a large black horse in tow. He raised an eyebrow as she led the large animal into the pen, carefully advoiding Kee by staying to the outside edge. Blaze waited until she had mounted her horse and begun to trot around to attempt getting Kee's attention again.

With a low whistle Blaze flicked the rope a bit to catch Kee's attention again; but because the horse had been paying no attention at all, when he saw the line attached to him flicker around near his leg- he suddenly bolted forwards; startled. He lined out at gallop, almost tearing the rope from Blaze's ungloved hand- only bothering to turn when he got within a foot of the other rider and his horse, and even then just barely. He swept by them, wildeyed. Blaze lost no time in trying to control the animal though- quickly taking up all of the slack in the rope and making it taunt, applying pressure to Kee's nose. The horse sped up again. "Easy Kee. Easy my friend- slow. Easy."[/b] Blaze began to croon, keeping the pressure on the animal's cavesson. The colt made another lap around the pen before his terror subsided enough to flick his ears towards Blaze, catching his voice in the wind. Easy. Another half of a lap and he had dropped to a controlled canter, still nervously eying the line attatched to him but no longer crazy eyed. His orbs had dropped back to their normal brown haze.

"Steady Kee; thats a good boy."[/color] A moment later the horse dropped to a walk- blowing out a hot breath and dropping his head slightly. Blaze had him go in a few more circles, drawing the horse in tighter with each circle until he had come to the middle once more. It was then that he moved to the horse's shoulder and laid a hand on his neck- working his way up to the bridle and taking hold. Only after he had secured his horse did he turn to the girl and her horse to be sure that they were alright. She had looked to be a good rider but with a crazed colt tearing around the pen- even the best of riders could get hurt. Spotting her, he gave a slightly nervous smile. "Sorry about that... "[/color] He cleared his throat slightly. "Are you alright?

He was unsure of what to expect, and was rather afraid that she'd be very upset at his lack of control with Kee. So far in Pinewood he hadn't found anyone very forgiving of mistakes, much less someone who was enough to call kind. He rubbed Kee's poll slowly, calming the animal gradually. Once he was sure that the Fox Trotter wasn't going to bolt again, he took the loose end of his lung line and proceeded in allowing the animal to sniff the offending piece of tack. "See Kee? Only a bit of nylon. Nothing to be scared of." [/b] The horse eyed his hand for a moment before taking a deep whiff of the rope. One more sniff and he snorted as if to say Oh well if that was all it was... and turned away. Visibly, his whole body relaxed. Blaze then began to rub the colt's whole body with the rope- from poll to legs to tail- just to make sure that the horse was alright with things now. Kee didn't move a muscle as this one- but instead turned to watch the girl and her horse inquensively. Who are you?
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finished . incomplete
notes; ^^ not as good as the last but..

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[Autumn Sky Chapman]

She had been spotted by the horse, she had watched as he had made a halt, tucking his legs like she had seen a horse do at the rodeo when it was herding cattle, making sure the cow did not try and get away. The method was called cutting and she watched the horse was expert eyes before she focused on her own horse and kept him going. Midnight Curse was able to keep a firm location on the other horse as well, going into a lope that was not a limp, but a smooth lope, taught into him by the one who road him. She let her hand lay to her side, limp but firm as she moved with the horse, able to feel each thing about the horse. "What was that all about?" She had barely caught the words from the other rider before she mounted, but he had been speaking to his own horse, which was normal, she did the same thing when Curse all of the sudden got focused on something else. Sometimes, she wished she could blind fold him without him going crazy.

She stayed on the outside, keeping a close eye on everything going on around her and then looking to see the guy trying to get his own horses attention back on him. It was a normal method, flicking the rope at the feet in order to get them to look back in the direction, but the colt seemed to not like it. He bolted and as he got closer, Autumn could see the fear that had built up and she watched as the other guy was nearly pulled from the rope and Curse stopped. She felt her body nearly go over and the young colt getting a little to close with that gallop. He was wildeyed as he went by and Autumn had to pull Midnight back slightly, watching as the horse went crazy. She watched the man before her, he was quick to try and take control, of course, she would of been having the same problem with her own horse if he got wild all of the sudden. "Easy Kee. Easy my friend- slow. Easy." She listened to him, stopping her own horse to calm down his own breathing, knowing that he got spooked and went into protection mood quickly. The horse seemed to understand and slow down for the man and she watched, her hand absent-mindly stroking his neck as she watched. "Steady Kee; thats a good boy."

The colt came to a stop and he got closer, taking hold of the horse and making sure he was secure. The man was a good trainer, she could see that and she just watched for a few moment. He was calming the horse down as she turned her horse and moved off the rail a little and got a little closer, but not by much, only a little closer, so they did not have to yell at all. She looked at him, the cold barely effecting her as her adrenaline was pumping. "Sorry about that... Are you alright?" She nodded and just looked at the colt.

The colt was young and soon enough it would not be as scared so most horses would be, the way the man was showing him the rope, being gentle and not rough, it reminded her of her mother in a way. Her mother never got mad at a horse, was always gentle and sweet them and she was always careful. That is one thing that she loved about her mother, that she was gentle with the mighty horses. "No harm done, he is a good horse, just a little rough and still young, they are all like that at his age." She said, slapping Midnight on the shoulder with her hand before she leaned back up straight. "I'm Autumn Chapman and this is Midnight Curse, my own nightmare." She said, smiling, her golden brown eyes looking down at the man.

The horse was back focused on Midnight and her and she just smiled at them. The man was still cute, now that she got a much better look at him.
~~~~~

[Blaze Solorre]

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Kismet was a complicated colt with a compicated history- all behind him in a short time span of three and a half years. Nothing about him was a certain thing, and that was one thing that made him so difficult to understand. His breeding, for one, was one thing that remained a mystery to Blaze even now.

You see, it all started on a horse and cattle ranch in Pheonix Arizona, when 'Wishful thinking', a bay Missouri Fox Trotter mare was bred to the ranch's best stallion, 'Song.' They had hoped that with the mare's ability to work with cattle and the stallion's good temperment would make their best colt yet, but what they didn't take into consideration was Wish's temperment. She was a rather moody and highstrung, but they just figured the foal would have his father's personality. The mare was bred to Song, and the champion foal was eagerly anticipated. They were wrong.

Well, they weren't wrong about the 'champion' part of it, for when the slightly roman nosed colt was borne he was a sight to behold. He just wasn't the type of champion that they wanted. With his beauty though, came many silent questions. Song was a coal black stallion, known for producing black foals. This colt was a dark chocolatey brown. Still, everyone just shrugged it off- figuring that it was just a fluke.

It wasn't untill the young animal was a few months old that people began to have doubts. He was monsterous and bratty, and wouldnt hold still even to nurse. It was then that one of the ranchhands spoke up, remarking that the young animal- whose coat was now turning a reddish shade - looked a lot like one of the farms other stallions; a liver chestnut arabian who was known for his unpredictable nature as much as for being beautiful. Everyone thought about this, and the more it was pondered on the more it seemed likely that the colt was not the offspring of Song at-all, but of the chestnut's. Dispite the resemblances though, many refused to believe this. Everyone had seen the breeding between Song and Wish, and it seemed highly unlikely that the colt's father could be the chestnut(whose name was Fateful Night). No one was brave enough to speak their suspicions to Wyatt Horner, the ranch owner- however.

No one ever did find out whether the colt was Fate's or Song's as there was no money to spare for DNA testing or anything of the sort, so when the time came to register the colt they went ahead and registered him as a Missouri Fox Trotter, son of Wishful Thinking and Song. His name would be 'The Misery of Kismet' though, and to all of the ranchhands, that name reflected the question in the colt's bloodlines.

In Blaze's mind, it made a lot of sense that Kismet was half arabian. While he did possess a few distinct Missouri Fox Trotter traits, such as his highly muscled barrel and short, stocky neck, as well as the fact that he was undoubtedly very sure footed. His endurance was remarkable as he could go all day at a trot without breaking a sweat, and his eyes were wideset. But other things, such as his short temper, thin and streamline body, and highset tail definately showed hints of arabian. It didn't really matter to the boy what his horse was- as long as he was Kee, but sometimes he did wonder.

Kee stood calmly beside Blaze now, his neck extended fully and ears tipped foreward again- watching the girl and her black beast as he enjoyed his companion's massage like- movements over his body with the rope. Up his front legs to his cheek, down his neck and across his back, down under his belly then to his dock and down again; he didn't so much as flinch the whole time. Countless hours had been spent doing this very thing over and over, aiding him in conquering his fear of rope. Last, he took the rope and once again jiggled it in the same way that he had earlier. This time, fully aware that he wasn't going to be hurt by the long piece of nylon, Kee hardly even batted his eye. "Atta boy" Blaze praised, before glancing at the girl.

Her horse appeared to of stopped rather suddenly at Kee's breakout, but she had recovered and was now allowing her horse to regain his breath. "No harm done, he is a good horse, just a little rough and still young, they are all like that at his age." she replied to his inquiration. He nodded, glad that she was alright, and more than a little bit suprised at the fact that she hadn't even so much as snapped at him. So far the only thing people had done was just that. Her friendly acceptance of his appology came as a great relief to him. "Yes. And the bad history that he's had with ropes doesn't help at all. It was mostly my fault though; I startled him.[/color] recognizing Kee's youngness proved that this girl knew atleast something of horses.

She sat up straight in her saddle. "I'm Autumn Chapman and this is Midnight Curse, my own nightmare." At this introduction Blaze flashed a bright grin at her. He wasn't sure completely how to introduce himself; by his nickname or his name. He battled this for a moment before he replied. " Very good to meet you Miss Chapman and Midnight Curse. [/color] he said formally with a slight nod of his head. " I am Ashleigh Solorre; but everyone calls me Blaze, and this is 'The Misery of Kismet', or if you will- Kee.[/b] as he said this he patted Kee's neck firmly and in return the horse nuzzled Blaze's shoulder affectionately- completely at leisure now.






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finished . incomplete
notes;

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