[open] So you had a bad day

[Phoenix Zima]

There was never anything as majestic as a friesian stallion running freely across a pasture. His thick neck arched, his long legs stretching out in a perfectly smooth stride as his feathered black hooves struck the ground in a rhythmic gait. Prince Caspian, known more fondly as Casper, was just that horse this morning. He was big, and he was beautiful, proud and imposing, kingly and strong. He was the picture perfect horse for his breed. When he galloped, the ground seemed to shake with the tremendous force applied to it when each hoof struck the earth. His stride was naturally collected, and his headset was naturally held where most dressage horses were trained to hold it. There was a certain majestic elegance about the horse. He looked like the sort of animal that you would see only featured in "Dream Horse" calendars, the ones that you look at and think "that is so edited." But I promise you, the only editor of this horse was God... and Phoenix Zima was the maintainer of the natural beauty of the stallion.

The big horse kicked up his heels as his high spirits showed through. Casper was indeed a beautiful horse, no one would deny that. Suddenly, his hooves stopped in their beat and all four hit the ground at the same time, digging into the earth and bringing him to a sliding stop, his head snapped towards the direction of the barns. For a moment he stood perfectly still except for an excited quivering in his muscles. Then, all of a sudden he started forwards again, only this time picking up his long graceful trot. He moved up to the top of the hill, and stopped there, looking down on the barns, his ears pricked, his brown eyes large and inquisitive as he peered down at the seemingly tiny human standing down at the pasture gate calling him. For a moment he just stood there, as if debating whether or not he was going to come or make her come chase him for an hour before letting her catch him.

Finally, after his indecision was over, he started towards the gate at a high strung walk which quickly became a slow trot before breaking into a full gallop again, his long unruly hair tangling in the wind created by him rushing by. It was beautiful now, but when Phoenix was struggling for hours to get the long hair untangled it certainly wouldn't be so beautiful. She let their manes grow long because it looked better. She was a firm believer in the outside looking like the inside, and in her opinion, her horse was the most beautiful creature inwardly, and his outward appearance should reflect that.. and of course, Casper's most certainly did. As he neared the girl, he slowed to a walk, snorting wildly and tossing his head as he did so. As he stopped in front of Phoenix, a smile creeped slowly onto her face... the sort of smile that no one with the exception of Ice and Casper had ever seen.

Hey there beautiful boy. Phoenix murmured to the horse as she stepped up to him. Even though she was 5'11" the 17 hand horse towered over her, making her look much smaller than she was. As she stepped up to the giant animal, she kept her left hand just slightly out of the horse's view, and reached up with her right, stoking his neck softly, causing him to relax and lower his head to a height where she could reach it. Once he had done that, she quickly and deftly slipped a halter on him, and got it buckled just in time for him to lift his head back up quickly and take two steps back... but it was too late for him. He'd been caught. Casper was still quiet young, and his favorite game was "you can't catch me unless I want you to" so Phoenix had to come up with different ways to catch him every time she put him in the pasture. He learned fast, and she could never use the same method twice in one week.

Casper never fought her once he was caught though. He'd been trained much too well for that. Even though he was plenty big enough to push her around and act up, he wouldn't do it. Besides, Phoenix hadn't really been herself since the accident. At first it had been simply because she thought she had lost Ice... but since Parker had saved the horse instead of signing the papers to have him put down like Phoenix had asked him to, that wasn't her reason anymore. She still couldn't ride Ice, even though he was back. He needed a bit more healing time and rehab before he would be ready for that. Even on Casper though, they hadn't jumped higher than 3' and normally they would jump 4' at least. They had also stayed away from anything vaguely resembling cross-country, and even just on the pole oxers, Phoenix would get quite nervous on the approach. Casper didn't understand any of what was going on, but like any horse, he could tell she wasn't quite right, and so wasn't quite as bad as he normally would be.

You're clever Casper, but not that clever. She said, reaching up and straightening his forelock before giving a light tug on the lead and starting up towards the barn. People generally stayed away from Phoenix, considering her tendency to be unkind towards everyone, so the silence in the barn didn't bother her in the least as they arrived there. She never expected people to come around when she was there, she'd brought it upon herself, and she didn't care. She was deliberately unkind, and intentionally pushed people away. She didn't want anyone to know her, she didn't want to let anyone in. So she pushed everyone away. It was just something that had been a habit of hers since before she could remember. The last thing she wanted was to let someone in just to have them abandon her again. She only had one friend in this world, and that was because he was exactly like her and would never do that to her. He'd been there most of her life, and was like an older brother to her. If anyone asked about her family, she would only tell them that Ice, Casper, and Parker were her family. That was it. Her horses and her only friend... they were the only family she had, and probably the only one she ever would have.

Once she reached the barn, she clipped Casper in the cross ties, and set about with the grooming. First things first... the never ending chore of getting every last snarl out of his mane. It was going to take her forever, but there was nothing she would rather do. These horses were her life, and she would rather spend hours preening them to perfection than sitting in a stuffy class room with a bunch of people who think they're smart. With her horse in front of her, a mane comb in her hand, and her ipod playing somewhat loudly in her ears, Phoenix completely drifted off into her own little world where perfection could, in fact, exist, and she was completely oblivious to the real world. She had all her focus on her horse and the task at hand with perhaps a tiny bit of it on the music in her head... there was no way she was going to notice anyone coming in or going out, not unless they somehow managed to break her concentration... which was nearly impossible. This was Phoenix's life, and she wouldn't change it for the world.

When she had finished grooming her horse to perfection, she went about tacking him up quickly. It never took long with Casper. When they were both ready to go, she lead him out to the arena, and pulled herself up onto him, decidedly collecting the reins and pushing him forward into a rhythmic trot. After several minutes of warm-up, she turned him towards a small 2' vertical, and of course, he popped right over it like it was nothing, though his lack of form over the jump clearly stated that he was not a fan of these little jumps and would much rather be doing the 3' and up. Still, Phoenix knew that she needed it in her own mental state to get him over a lot of smaller jumps before she could ever get herself to send him over a larger one.

For probably about 15-20 minutes she just kept working on the smaller jumps from 2'-2'6" before turning him towards that dreaded 3' vertical. With every stride she told herself she'd done this a million times before and Casper was fully capable... that they could do this easily. For a brief moment she was confident, but two strides away as the jump seemed to loom up on them, she lost it, Casper caught on, and he slammed on the brakes, nearly coming to a stop before leaping to the right, and successfully unseating Phoenix. She hit the ground pretty hard, and felt the air escape from her lungs as she did so. It hurt... but not enough to be some sort of injury. Even so, for a moment or two she just lay there in the arena sand, hating herself for not being able to get over something so puny as a 3' vertical. It wasn't even an oxer for God's sake. She had been jumping things much higher and more difficult than that for years... but not since the accident.

She sat up slowly, and just stayed sitting for a moment, watching Casper as he trotted a lap around the arena before coming to a stop and looking at her with that confused look he always got when she fell off. It was almost as if he was mocking her and saying "you're better than that, and we both know it." She wanted to scream, more so at herself than her horse, because she knew it was her fault entirely. She sighed and pushed herself up onto her feet, suddenly feeling the pain in the hip she had landed on. It wasn't broken... probably just bruised... but it sure hurt. She walked over towards Casper, trying to ignore the pain, but limping ever so slightly anyway. Just as she had nearly reached him, he spun around kicked up his heels, and cantered off to the other side of the arena, clearly mocking her now.

God damn it Casper I am not in the mood for your stupid games. she growled at the horse, who obviously didn't care that Phoenix was clearly frustrated. Today was just not her day, and Casper wasn't helping her already bad mood in the least. She just stood there at the end of the arena looking quite miffed, and glared at the horse, knowing that walking down there would be completely pointless since he would just run to the other end as soon as she got there. She had to wait for him to get bored before he would let her catch him again, and only God knew how long that was going to take.

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[marie smithson]

Marie woke up early, swinging her legs out of bed and grabbed her new boots she had shipped up for her birthday. She shuffled around for her breeches, slipped them on, then her Zocks Socks and found her boot pulls, pulling the boots over her legs, she sucked in air, "Oo, that hurts," she murmured to herself, her legs stiff from wearing them all day yesterday. They were Ariat Boots so they'd break in faster than most boots. She slipped on a white t-shirt and then found her car keys. She checked the time, making sure she'd have enough time to ride her horse and give a few lessons.

When she got to the pastures at the barn she walked to her designated one. She whistled. There was a shrill whinny. If anyone hadn't noticed the gelding trotting over they would have thought that was a mare not a gelding. TC looked over, pinned his ears and swished his tail. "Oh shut up TC, I'm taking you out next!" she called.

She grabbed Donte's leather halter off the gate and opened the paster. She left it wide open,. the horses had been trained to never 'run off'. Though TC might be the only one to run off, she doubted it, the horse loved his food and women more than freedom. Donte stood still while she slipped the halter on. She walked him out and shut the gate before she walked him with a loose grip on the lead to the cross ties. She groomed him quickly, starting with his mane and tail, then brushing him with a stiff brush and a nice soft brush, his coat nice, thin, and shiny even before she went over him. She sprayed him with showsheen and flyspray. Then she picked his feet out, sweeping up the mess and sticking it in the little cleaning tub at the back of the tie racks. She did his body work. She watched someone walk their stallion out. Donte scooted forward to try and take a chunk out of him. She smacked him with her whip. He lunged back, pinning his ears and started to lunge forward, she tapped him on the nose with her whip and he froze, seeming to think about his options. Either lunge at her and get whipped more, or give up and not get beaten. He went with the second one and settled into a nice little halt. Marie grabbed her polo wraps and wrapped his legs tightly. She put roll on on his face and swat on his belly before flyspraying him again.

She pulled her tack out quickly, she slipped a pad on him before sliding a half pad on over that, then slid the saddle over and tightened the girth up. She put her helmet on and grabbed her gloves before sticking the bridle on Donte. Donte lowered his head easily to the bit, but was being mean about opening his mouth. The lady with the stallion left and was already out riding by the time Marie had the bridle cinched up and was ready to go. She stuck her black gloves on and walked him out to the mounting block. She got on and walked him around. He balked going down the drive and she gave him a few smacks and turned him in a few circles before he went down. The horse liked to voice his opinions. When they finished a little trail around the property she praised him each place they went and then walked him towards the practice ring. She trotted him around the outside of the ring before she entered, halted at the center.

The horse was square in the front but his left hind was a little too forward. He rested the left hind before moving it back next to the other one. Technically he wasn't supposed to step back, but the judge wouldn't very well be able to tell that. "Good boy!" she praised. She praised him for any nice transition. He was round and on the bit. It was hard to get him on the bit. He had the thickest bit she could find and he was still too light. She moved him into a trot again and was turning at C when there was the outburst.

Marie, caught off guard, grew nervous and stiff in the saddle immediately. Donte, himself, caught on to the 'danger', and took off in a little playful buck. Marie, a little stunned, sat the first buck, thinking 'Oh shit, Oh shit! Not again, don't buck me off again!' Donte was the only horse to EVER buck her off. And ever since she'd been a little skiddish on him. 'No I'm NOT coming off again' she thought. "HEY! Cut it out!" Donte stopped immediately. Well, that settled that. Marie trotted over to the horse, "Hey there cutie. You bite or hurt my horse and I'll whip the shit out of you, got it?" she told the stallion sternly as she grabbed the reins. "Don't try running, we'll just beat you, My boy isn't a 3 Place winner for nothing," she said. She trotted over to the rider. "Are you ok? You better take him, I'm not comfortable with stallions I don't know," she said. Donte had his ears pinned and started to lift his hind leg closest to the stallion. "Donte! Cut it out!" She said, showing him the whip. He settled it, but she could feel he hadn't quite leaned his weight on it.

"Do you want me to go for help? Do you need a leg up?" she offered. Donte started to swing his hind end close to the stallion. "No tail-gating buddy," she said, tapping his butt. He pinned his ears and chomped the bit, his nervous habit.

[Phoenix Zima]

Although Phoenix was only a waitress, and didn't even make enough to pay for the board for her two horses, you would never know it. She dressed like she was worth millions, her two horses were always sparkling clean and always elegant as if they were the most high end horses in the world. No one would guess she had the measly salary of a waitress. Of course, part of that was because of Parker. He really was worth millions, and for whatever reason he had chosen to favor Phoenix as if she was his little sister, and refuse to let her have anything less than the best. If it weren't for Parker, she would still be living in her shabby apartment, Ice would have been put down, and her wardrobe wouldn't be even near to half as big as it was now.

When he'd received the desperate voicemail from her that was barely understandable because of her sobbing, of course he came to her rescue and when he saw the state of her apartment and she threw her arms around him in tears, he took care of everything involving the injured Ice, and insisted that she leave the grungy apartment and move in with him. He couldn't be affiliated with people who lived in such rundown places as that. A month later he dragged the hungover Phoenix out to the barn where her precious Ice was waiting. She thought he was dead, and seeing him there on his way to being healed about made her pass out.

It had been a few weeks since then and Ice was well on his way to being fully healed, but she was still struggling with this fight against herself. She was tired of riding this way... constantly trying to force herself to believe that she wasn't afraid when she really was. It took all the fun out of riding, and the fun of it was why she did it. Riding was what she was good at and she loved doing it, but when it was a fight, it was no good for either her or her horse. She felt like she was constantly trying but never getting anywhere.

When the girl and her horse came towards him Casper pranced in place a bit, but his never ending curiosity got the best of him and as his reins were taken up by the rider, he simply danced at the end of them and complied. He was a gentle giant of a horse and he was often more trouble than he was worth, but Phoenix loved him, despite all the frustrations. He was a good horse under all that, and he showed such promise... if only she could ride him like she used to.

An icy glare was what met the girl who brought Casper to her. No one handled her horse unless they had express permission to do so... especially when she herself was having trouble doing so. She snatched the reins from the girl her blue eyes narrowed with her fiery distaste felt towards the girl. are you trying to get someone killed? she asked haughtily, ponying one stallion with another, of all the stupid amateur... she trailed off on that thought and pulled Casper away from the other stallion, leading him a safe distance away before hoisting herself up onto the horse, not nearly as gracefully as she normally was capable of due to the current pain in her hip.

The young horse seemed to have caught on to Phoenix being anything but happy with any of them at the moment and was standing quietly, but eying the other horse cautiously. Despite only coming off as angry and completely blowing off all of the questions the other rider had asked, there was legitimate concern under all that. Yes, Casper was very non-dominant despite being a stallion, but horses were unpredictable... and she had nearly just lost Ice, the last thing she wanted was for her other prized possession to get hurt too, and from the way the girl's horse was being fidgety and acting like he'd take a chunk out of Casper the moment his rider stopped paying attention worried her. Casper was her baby, and anybody whose horse hurt him would definitely have hell to pay. Hell hath no fury like Phoenix.

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[marie smithson]

Marie flinched, letting the reins be yanked from her hands. Marie looked down at the saddle. Why did everyone hate her? "It's ok boy," she said, patting Donte. Donte looked back at her like 'don't you mean your ok?' "I know, you aren't a stallion, but little miss priss thinks so. Maybe she'll realize and apologize," she said with a quiet sigh before moving Donte into a nice trot. He seemed to be good after that. He even kept trotting fine when someone dragged the noisy bouncing, trash cans by her. She moved him into a canter and did a few warm up extendeds. When they finished three she did a two loop serpentine, switching canter leads in the middle, while watching out for the other rider, and did one more extended canter.

Donte was doing piaffe when he sat back and reared, Marie gave him the reins and he leaped forward into a canter, but it was controlled, even then. He popped a little buck and got smacked with the whip. He did it once more and got the same response before settling down into the canter. She did a canter pirouette, starting into the spiraling circle and then executing the move with as much finesse as she could muster. Her abs contracting almost painfully and she forced herself to breath. Donte lifted all of his feet one at a time, he pivoted once, which made her a little angry but she let her anger go and just tapped him quietly behind her leg.

He snorted and went to leap forward but then finished the pirouette and went into a softer canter in the end. Good thing cause Marie didn't want him to start picking that habit up. She moved him down to trot, it was very forward, so forward his feet hesitated just above the ground, almost like he was climbing stairs. She slowed him to normal trot, then moved him into an elegant piaffe. He didn't want to pick his front feet up and she tapped his shoulder. He snorted and started to take off but then she moved him into an extended trot.

Why did everyone think Donte was the stallion? He was gelded, he was just a hot horse with a bad attitude. Marie laughed out loud. Donte gave her a funny look as she moved him into a nice extended walk, letting her reins go loose and let him stretch his nose as far as he could to the ground. He chomped on the bit, that was what he did when searching for a connection. She picked up a little connection on the outside rein so he felt more comfortable.

She watched the other rider quietly. She wanted to see how the other woman handled her horse. She seemed very... violent, but sometimes people just have a bad day. Marie had had so many she'd stopped trying to make things better and just looked on the bright side.

[Phoenix Zima]

Phoenix, apologize? That would never happen. Ever since she was a child she had been manipulative and mostly unpleasantly self-centered. Even if she knew she was wrong she would never admit to it, and she would never, under any circumstances, apologize. She couldn't explain why she was the way she was, she had just always been that way as long as she could remember. Really though, it all started when her mom left and her dad decided he didn't want her anymore and she was thrown into the system where she bounced around from home to home because no one could deal with such a bitter child. When she finally was adopted, the family only did it for the posterity and, just like everyone else, ended up not liking her and not being shy about letting her know, which, of course, only made her that much more bitter.

Parker and her horses were her escape. For whatever reason, things were different between her and Parker, and she knew that he legitimately cared about her as if he was her older brother. She didn't know why he did or what she'd done to deserve such treatment from one of the richest guys in the country, but she liked it, and she got along with him, which was more than she could say for most people. Her horses were her most prized possession. She would give up everything she had before she even considered giving up Ice and Casper. While she was unpleasant and rather rude to most people, she was the extreme opposite with her horses. They always had the best care and treatment she could get for them.

While she was stubborn and harsh with people, the was the extreme opposite when she was on her horse. It was like she was a completely different person. Although she was certainly firm as anyone riding a young trouble maker of a horse would have to be, she was also quiet and gentle with her hands. Casper seemed to realize that Phoenix was in a bad mood and instead of dancing away the moment her weight was on him, he stood perfectly still, waiting for her signal to move out. When she asked him he moved forward with long fluid strides, being much more respectful of her now than when she had fallen off. Although he was young and often stupid, he knew better than to push too many of her buttons, or risk getting himself into even greater trouble than before.

It was days like these when Phoenix really wished she could just ride Ice. Before he'd gotten injured when she'd have a bad day with Casper she could always ride Ice afterwards and know he would be perfectly honest and jump anything she pointed him at. It was nice to have a horse like that who you could rely on to make a bad day better... but with him out of commission for a while, she was just going to have to suck it up and deal with Casper's antics to the best of her ability. She pushed him forward into a collected trot, wincing slightly at the pain in her hip every time she lifted herself out of the saddle in her posting... but you know what they say, no pain, no gain... besides, if she quit now Parker was bound to hear about it and she wasn't about to give him the luxury of being able to hold that over her head like she knew he would.

After a moment or two she asked him for the canter, which he promptly picked up... only on the wrong lead. When she asked him to change it, he clearly didn't want to and gave a slight buck, and was reprimanded with a firm smack from the whip, reminding him that he wasn't allowed to act like that and get away with it. After bringing him back down to the trot for a few strides, she asked for the canter, and this time he picked up the right lead... though he did so grudgingly. He was just in one of those moods where he was doing everything he could to cause more trouble for Phoenix and she was definitely not in the mood to put up with him. As she turned him towards a jump, a smaller one than the last one she had attempted, his head came up and he made an attempt at rushing it, but as soon as he did, she pulled him to the left, forcing him to circle. Three times she circled him in front of it until he decided to listen again, then took him to the jump again. This time he stayed at the speed she wanted him to and jumped it perfectly. Satisfied, she trotted him in a circle, then brought him back to a walk. That was enough for one day.

After two laps around the outside perimeter, she stopped him and dismounted, bringing her stirrups up and loosening the girth. She ran her hand down his neck and patted him affectionately, then brought the reins up over his head and started back up towards the barn, still limping slightly. She had planned to take Ice out for a walk on one of the trails after riding Casper, but now she wasn't so sure that would be a good idea. Perhaps she should wait a while then take him out. He needed exercise every day if he was ever going to be ridden again, and she wanted to be the one to do it. Once at the barn she removed the tack and hosed him down, dried him off, and put him back in the stall before heading to the loft to get some ice to put on her hip. Even just lifting her shirt a little she could see the ugly black bruise that went partly up her side as well. Perfect. With a sigh she slumped down on the couch, holding the ice pack against her hip. Honestly, ever since the accident, falling took more out of her than before, and even a non serious fall like that shook her up a little and made her feel a bit like crying in frustration. She had a horrible feeling she was never going to be able to ride like she did before, and that thought just killed her. Riding was what she loved, she didn't know what she would do with herself if she couldn't.

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[marie smithson]

Marie watched only for a few minutes before picking up the trot and moving him into a few movements. She looked in the mirrors and decided he looked sweaty enough and had been a good boy, despite the ... interruption. She smiled and pat him, letting him walk around on a some-what loose rein. After a few minutes of a cool out she walked him to the pasture, taking off his bridle and saddle and setting them on the rail. He nickered softly. She handed him a carrot and he munched on it before taking off into a little canter before slowing over where there was a big fluffy pile of shaving. She knew he wanted to roll, get a drink of water, and pee before she gave him a rinse off so she figured she'd save some time. She grabbed T.C.'s halter and walked over to him. He was standing guard on one of her mares. He snorted at her. "Shut up you big sissy," she said, handing him a carrot piece before quickly slipping the halter on him. He pinned his ears in discontent but decided it was ok for her to lead him around. She just laughed. She picked up her saddle, saddle pads, girth, and bridle on her way out.

T.C. snorted but stayed calm. She walked him back to the barn, set the saddle on the rail before clipping T.C. to the tie racks. She grabbed her stuff and quickly put it away before grooming up T.C. and sticking a light sheet on him, enough to keep him warm but not too warm. T.C. snorted at the other stallion, baring his teeth and started to swing his butt over enough to kick at him. Marie tapped him before he could get to the kicking. He snorted at her and went to bite her, he got a tap on the nose and a stern, "Ah-! No!" He pinned his ears and twitched his tail in aggravation.

"Well I don't really care." Marie continued grooming up his face and then clipped his lead and led him out back to the pasture. Donte was waiting by the gate. She swung the gate open, knowing Donte would only follow Marie.

T.C. let loose into a gallop, going to check up on the ladies. Marie just rolled her eyes and let Donte out before locking the gate and grabbing his halter, setting T.C.'s down in the spot besides Donte's. Donte stood waiting patiently, watching her mess with the halters. Marie stuck the halter over his head and lead him back to the barn. She hosed him off quickly and then threw on a cooler after sweat scraping him.

Donte stood well for once. He didn't paw, didn't aim to bite. In fact, he slept a little. Marie pulled out some ice boots and iced his legs. He hated it but it only took him a few seconds to stop picking up all four legs and stomping/kicking out. She fed him about four carrots and a couple of Pretzels. They were the only things she trusted when it came to feeding him goodies.