Intermediate Horseriding (private)

[Keeva Kaldres]

OOC: Self-moderated training thread, posted with permission of GM Aesha

IC:

It was a crisp brightening, cool, nonetheless, but not as cold as the long winter had proven to be. Her footfalls on the ground below were echoed fervently by the clopping of her equine companion’s hooves beside her. Esteron was a wonderful horse, a beautiful young stallion she had considered her friend for a considerable while now. Whilst he had not accompanied her to her first lessons in horse riding, Esteron came with her now, his head held high in an arrogant sort of poise in muted anticipation for what was to come.

She had not originally chosen to further her skills in riding, having originally opted for basic training in alchemy. Something however, had spurned a change of heart in her, and she had soon found herself running back to the Academy of Trade, imploring them to let her alter her lessons of choice. She loved animals, horses in particular, and she really did want to advance her skills in riding the beasts. With any luck, she would be instructed by one of the teacher’s who had taught her before; one of the two elfin brothers who had first introduced her to the wonders of this art.

More footsteps and paces, both horse and human-made, soon brought the pair to the training area she had practised in before. Nothing had really changed since last she had been here, nothing she could easily pick up with the attentive orbs of her eyes. Not that she had expected anything to be really different; this was naught but a simple stables and riding range, anyway, and things such as these did not evolve as quickly as others might have done. In any case, whether or not things here had been altered in any way was, on the whole, quite irrelevant. With one last knowing look to Esteron, Keeva led her steed into the practice area of the stables proper, searching for someone who might be able to help her out. Before, when she had come here, she had not known the first thing about even being able to properly mount a horse, and now she was in search of something much, much more. She had only learned how to push her steed into a canter thus far, and she wanted to try something faster, perhaps practice some jumps. However that, of course, would ultimately lie with her instructor’s decisions.

“Master Arryd?”

She recognised his elven countenance immediately, and gratefully proceeded to lead Esteron towards her former teacher, who was currently busying himself with altering the saddle on a lovely bay gelding. At her words he looked up, an easy smile forming on his features. He was handsome, as all elves were, and she had not failed to realise that before, let alone now. Of course, those kinds of observations were quite immaterial now; she was happily in love, after all, and nothing was about to change that.

“Serale! Ah...Miss Keeva, wasn’t it? Quite the pleasure to see you here again. I’d been told you’d be coming here today- as luck might have it, I’ll be your instructor.”

She almost breathed a sigh of comfort as he said that, but managed to cut herself just short of doing so instead.

“That’s a relief.” A hazy smile, and then another thought struck her mind. “Is...Is Firelight still here?”

“Firelight? Oh, I’m sorry, Keeva, but she was sold off to a merchant a month or so back. Don’t worry though- she’s got a good home now, and besides, she was probably getting bored of this place by then. Now, how about you introduce your friend there.”

Her initial sorrow at not being able to see Firelight again, the mare with whom she had practised the very basics of riding, was soon replaced by an odd sort of guilt as she realised she had not said a word about the Carmelyan Warsteed as of yet.

“Ah...this is Esteron.”

Arryd moved forwards to give the horse an affectionate pat on the muzzle and a few muted whispers of greeting, before moving back to the bay. Folding his arms across his front, he considered his young student for a moment before giving her first lesson of the brightening, his tone affable, if in a serious sort of way.

“Well, we might as well get started now, then. Get Esteron warmed up a little first; take him on a few laps around here. Walks and trots, and then do one lap of cantering, slow him down and bring him to a stop over here. After I’ve seen how you do, we’ll move on to something new to you.”

[Keeva Kaldres]

The dark-haired woman nodded graciously in acknowledgement of her instructor’s words. She had not expected to learn something new immediately upon her arrival here, and it was only natural for him to want to see how she had progressed since the last time she had been here. Besides, Esteron would be more than happy at the prospect of a good bout of exercise- being kept holed up in the stables at the Military Base for so long was not a way of life that particularly agreed with a horse, after all. Having been born on the plains of Carmelyn, on the Warsteed Downs, such a thing did not come across as too much of a surprise, really.

“Alright. Come on, Esteron.”

Whufffff...

Running one hand along the length of his muzzle in a blatant gesture of fondness, the girl moved to mount her steed from his left side, making sure her feet were both planted firmly, and securely, in the stirrups before adjusting her position on the saddle to ascertain a more complete sense of comfort. She had ridden her mount many times before, and they were very much used to each other’s company by now. A task like the one Arryd had just set for them would not prove to be much of a challenge at all, and she was certain they would complete it without anything in the way of qualms or quandaries at all.

Holding her head high in a manner that mirrored Esteron’s own air of pride, the woman brought her heels to gently touch the horse’s flanks, a movement which spurned the stallion to start forwards at a slow pace, a walk that did not test him in any way, at least where the physical sense was concerned. The girl seated upon the horse’s back seemed dwarfed by the sheer size of him, war-mount that he was, and yet the two seemed to suit each other, of in an abstract and bizarre sort of way. Keeva was one who favoured pale colours, shades that complemented the bland hues of her own makeup and appearance. When she had first started looking for a suitable steed, she had deliberately asked for a horse coloured in black and grey, and Esteron had fitted that description perfectly. With mane and tail ebony in colour, and a coat of lucid grey edged with that same shade of sable, the stallion was admirably well colour co-ordinated with his owner, if such as bizarre thing existed to be said.

Drawing her frame forwards by the slightest amount in the saddle, the woman touched her heels to Esteron’s side once more as they finished their first lap of the practice area. The trot was a much livelier gait than its slower counterpart, as well as one that she had her mount exhibit on a much more frequent basis than those others she had learned. Responding to the more pronounced motions of the stallion’s muscles beneath her, Keeva shifted her own weight accordingly, quickly becoming accustomed to the frequent ups and downs of the horse’s back as he continued his sojourn about the training grounds.

Another round, and it was time to begin cantering, the equine equivalent of a jog, in her way of thinking. Bringing heel to flank yet again, she could feel the breeze begin to tousle the raven strands of her hair, the caress of the wind a welcome softness to her brightening’s lessons. Esteron, as always, carried himself with dignity, his head still seeming to be held aloof even now as he quickened his pace once more. It was probably safe to say that he was enjoying the run just as much as she, simply from recognising the blatant enthusiasm that the warhorse put into his rapid strides alone.

At a point a little sooner than she had expected, it was time to slow down once more, reverting first to a quick trot, and then to a much slower walk. Finally, with one last, light tug on both reins, the girl brought he steed to a halt, his hoofs fixing themselves firmly on the ground once more a short distance in front of where Arryd stood watching her.

Once they had fully come to this stop, Keeva inclined her head to offer her tutor a suitably pleased smile, before waiting to hear what he had to say. This first exercise had been a somewhat simplistic one, although she suspected that greater challenges would await her, and Esteron too, soon enough.

[Keeva Kaldres]

“Good. At least your abilities don’t seemed to have slipped. Now, walks, trots and canters are all fine, but there is another, faster, pace, that you can also use. This is called the gallop and is a full-out run for your horse. Because of this you shouldn’t let your mount run at this pace for too long at a time, understand? Now, you can make Esteron run at a gallop in the same sort of way that you made him trot and canter, and start walking in the first place. Simply bring your heel gently but firmly against his side, and he’ll quicken his pace for you. Now, given the speed of this pace you may wish to lean forwards in the saddle a little. It means less resistance from the wind you feel hitting against your face when you ride, and makes things a lot more easy and effortless for your mount.”

Gracing his student with a light smile, Arryd then vaulted to the saddle of his own mount in a way that seemed to be almost devoid of any effort whatsoever on his part. Truly, it seemed like a long time before she would be able to exhibit the same kind of grace and facility that he did when it came to riding.

“We’ll take a trip outside of the city for this one, where we’ll have more room to practice. I’m sure Esteron will enjoy the fresh air, too.”

With a nod from Keeva to signify that she had understood and acknowledged his words, Arryd brought the heels of his boots into gentle contact with the sides of his steed, before beginning to lead the way. At the same time, the young woman spurred her own mount forwards, Esteron managing with ease the same, slow walk as his bay counterpart. Upon leaving the proximity of the stables and training grounds of the Collegio, the gelding quickened its step to a cheery trot, subsequently inspiring Esteron to do the same.

“We won’t go out too far, miss Keeva. We don’t want to waste too much time just looking for a decent place to train, after all, now do we?”

Again, his student merely nodded once in acknowledgement. She didn’t have much to say, as per usual. It had always been that way; her social skills had forever been terribly grounded. There was, however, no denying her excitement at the prospect of learning a new pace with Esteron. The canter had proven more than adequate up until now, but if there was something faster…Well, it might just happen to prove its worth in one of these brightenings to come, not to mention that it would enable her to travel from place to place in a much shorter span of time.

“When we leave the city gates I’ll start off on a canter, and then a gallop. Be ready and don’t fall behind!”

A few short moments was all it took for a pair of the city’s gates to come into view. On horseback, it would not take long for the two to reach its proximity. Bracing herself, the girl reasserted her grip on the reins, feeling the soles of her boots in the stirrups in preparation. The gap seemed to be closing more rapidly as a result of Keeva’s excitement and anxiety both. Just a few more seconds now…

[Keeva Kaldres]

It came so quickly; one moment she was riding through the house-lined streets of Abestat, and the next she was spurring her mount onwards at an ever-increasing speed on the open countryside encircling the city proper. In a bid to keep up with her instructor, she had Esteron running at an absolute gallop, albeit with the wind vying to oppose their every motion. Esteron’s mane and tail streamed out in ebony reams behind him, black banners that gleamed dully under the suns’ all-encompassing light. She could feel that exact same breeze pummelling her delicate frame with all of its unseen and ephemeral might, threatening to throw her from her mount’s back at any moment, regardless of her firm grip on the reins and the fact that her feet were planted quite securely in the stirrups. Arryd, however, was still managing to maintain a considerable lead on her, even despite the fact that his gelding did not seem much of a match for her own Carmelyan warhorse in terms of speed.

Leaning forwards in the saddles, she could just about feel the flailing tendrils of her steed’s mane brushing across the pallid countenance of her face. The wind no longer streamed past her as harshly anymore, although that was certainly soon to change as she brought the heels of her boots to Esteron’s flanks once more.

With little more than a shrill whinny, Esteron bolted forwards, neck stretched ahead of her , legs and hooves reaching forwards and folding back in more rapid succession than they had done before. It was all Keeva could do not to fall of her mount as they sped onwards, her thrill and furore at the ride more than managing to drown out any other emotions of worry she might have held locked within her at the moment. However, she was pretty sure that, once this outing was over, a sufficient amount of pain would remain to remind her of her exhilaration this brightening.

Raising her head to risk a glance ahead of her, she wondered where the elf was planning on taking them. They had come quite a way away from the bustle and hubbub of the city now, and she doubted that any would bother to disturb them here.

[Keeva Kaldres]

Even though they had come a far distance away from the looming structures and recognisable grandiose of the city proper, Arryd apparently thought they still had a little further to go in order to continue their lessons for this brightening. His mount never slowed in its pace as they carried on with their journey, and Esteron continued to strive to match the other horse’s pace step for step, his equine face set in an expression of complete resoluteness and determination. Keeva, on the other hand, was finding it a little harder to cope with the rapid pace now that she had been engaged in it for a while. Her grip in the reins had tightened considerable since their departure from Abestat, regardless of the teachings she had trawled through a few months before. It was becoming more and more of a possibility that her rear would remain quite sore for a good long while after her lessons here had culminated.

Just where in Telath is he taking us?

As if in response to her unspoken query, Arryd’s mount immediately began to slow in pace, reducing its gallop to a comfortable canter, then to a steady trot, before finishing with a laid back walk. Following suit, Keeva instructed Esteron to do the same, and soon both of them had come to a halt near a small excuse for a copse, a randomly places smattering of trees which were distanced from each other as tough repelled by each of the other’s respective presences.

“We’ll stop here, Keeva. Dismount, and we’ll get the horses cooled down before we proceed further.”

Dismounting from his own steed, he waited for his student to do the same before leading her towards the small collection of trees, leading her towards a solid looking oak besides which ran a cheerful stream, its flow parting ways after being hindered by the odd rock or stone, only to reunite in its path in order to cascade over the edge of a miniature waterfall. It seemed like a good place for the horses to drink, given the lazy undulations the stream was putting itself through. When she made to lead Esteron towards that watery haven, however, Arryd barred her path with an outstretched arm, shaking his head slightly from side to side in a symbol of ‘no.’

“We’ll let the horses drink in a bit. First, I want to show you something. Seeing as the horses have been running at a gallop for a while now, so it’s quite safe to assume that they would be hot after all that running.”

Moving towards his own steed, the elf placed one hand firmly upon its chest, apparently feeling for something. The horse itself offered naught but a whicker in response and acknowledgement to its master’s touch.

“We feel for the horse’s temperature here. If they feel hot, we walk them around a little, then give them a bit of water to drink. Contrary to what some might think, we don’t allow them to drink gallons of water at once when they’re like this. After they’ve had something to drink, we let them walk a little more, give them a little water, walk them, and so forth until they’ve cooled down nicely. A cooling down blanket is useful for this.”[/color]

Taking his own steed by the reins, Arryd began the process of cooling his own equine companion down, before gesturing for his ward to do the same. Whilst this technique would prove to be entirely new to Keeva, it was a necessary one for her to learn nonetheless.

[Keeva Kaldres]

With a genial nod towards her tutor to signify understanding, the girl then turned her attentions back to her steed. For all the time their sojourn might have taken, Esteron certainly did not look too much the worse for wear for his efforts. Perhaps it was solely down to his good breeding, but it seemed more as though he could have kept up that full-out pace for much, much longer than this. His head was still held arrogantly high, an aloof gait which admirably matched and belied his innate prideful nature. A little exertion such as this was not about to go cursing him with any causes for concern, and resentment was sure to take a firm grip on his equine soul if he let the other horse here outdo him. One acute gaze met with another as Keeva bestowed her steed with an affectionate pat on the muzzle before beginning to carry out the proceedings Arryd had just explained to her.

Crouching down besides the front of her mount, the young woman placed one hand firmly on Esteron’s chest, taking care not to provide her steed with any cause for discomfort as she felt for his temperature. He did feel warm, as she had suspected he might do, but not quite as hot as her tutor seemed to have meant. His breaths were not rugged, and he seemed calm enough. Still, Arryd was working at the procedure himself with his own steed, and so Keeva felt quite inclined to do the same with hers.

“Let’s take a little walk, alright?”

Esteron let slip a wry snort of acknowledgement, a sound that did not overly commit itself to either acquiescence or dismissal, and instead hovered some ways betwixt the two. Just as this plan of action was new to Keeva, so was it new to him, and thus he was not yet wholly sure whether or not he would enjoy this strange new modus operandi. Conviction and trust in his owner, however, were two traits that he most certainly did have, and he doubted that she would do anything amiss after they had been together for this long. Following her lead without a sound or gesture of resistance, Esteron’s hooves worked to flatten the grass on his path around the copse, never faltering in his steps or slow paces. When the girl led him towards the small stream, the stallion bowed his head in a way that could almost be described as dainty, delicate, quite unlike the haughty male beast he was supposed to be. A few generous sips of water, and then he was being made to walk about the perimeter of the clearing once more, even though he was not quite sure why he was being made to do it. When he was next brought back to stand by the stream, however, he would find that his owner would not deign to disturb him from his drink once again, and would instead incline her wan head to reassert her attentions on the elf who had come with her.

“Are we going to be riding again soon, sir? Once the horses have cooled down, that is.”

She was eager to ride atop Esteron’s back once more, to feel the caress of the wind running its translucent fingers ruggedly through the black tresses of her hair, to feel her heart beat excessively from sheer excitement and delight. She wanted to be challenged, to learn more tricks and techniques, and could only hope that Arryd would be kind enough to teach her some more of these this brightening, instead of callously leaving her expectations dangling until next they met.

[Keeva Kaldres]

Apparently Arryd had only been giving half a mind to his own task of tending to his horse. Even whilst walking his gelding, and in betwixt deigning him with a healthy sip of water, the elf had kept a watchful eye on his ward, making doubly sure that she was doing all the right things in handling her Carmelyan steed. Not that all his attentions were particularly warranted, of course; Keeva and Esteron had long grown used to each other’s company and mannerisms, and a routine such as this, new as it was, was not about to throw them anytime soon. Once the horses had been nicely dealt with and satisfied, Arryd languidly decided that it was time to proceed further with their lesson for that brightening, and signalled vaguely towards his young student in a bid to draw her attention. Her question came to him not long after he had done this and, with a smile, he merely chose to interpret the answer into what he had been about to say in the first place.

“Of course we will, Keeva. In fact, for the rest of this brightening we’ll just be riding around the countryside to get you used to that new gait. I’ve a route all planned out that will bring us back to Abestat at its end. All you’ll need to do is ride by me and make sure you don’t fall behind. We might even try out some jumps along the way.”

A dazzling smile, and the elf had vaulted into the saddle of his bay with an envious amount of ease, grin soon fading into a look of mild impatience as he wordlessly gestured for Keeva to do the same. Esteron seemed eager enough to comply, and subsequently both riders were comfortably mounted up and ready to ride again in no time at all. Arryd was, conspicuously enough, the one to lead the pair out of the tree-riddled copse itself, and onto the transparent path of the route that they were to be taking. The horses merely whickered in allied response, clearly anticipating the imminent promise of the long, good run which was to come.

“We’ll start off slow, at a trot. Nothing too hard for you, I’m sure. After that we’ll try the gallop again, although I noticed you coped quite well with that the first time ‘round as well.”

The dark haired woman managed a slight smile at that. Whilst she did enjoy striving for and maintaining an air of indifference, an almost impassive sense of serenity, she could not help but feel impartial to the odd compliment every now and then. Words, however, were short in coming for her, as they always seemed to be, although Keeva did make sure that she offered her tutor something in the way of thanks for his praise. That done, and Esteron’s hooves were once again covering ground on the broad span of countryside encircling the austere design of the city of Abestat itself.

“Now, I take it you and Esteron have not yet tried out jumps yet? Well, once the horses are moving at a more steady pace, I’ll explain.”

Another ephemeral hint of a nod, and the girl turned her gaze back towards the path that lay ahead of her, idly considering and mulling over the events that were soon to follow. She was fairly confident that she would not have any trouble in displaying her questionable prowess with the gallop once again to her tutor, although jumps would likely prove to be a completely separate matter entirely. Whilst she did trust Esteron copiously, she was unsure about how she would feel riding on him whilst he was committing himself to leaping over some form of obstacle or other such impediment. The amount of discomfort such an act could burden her with was not such a pretty thing to have to comprehend.

[Keeva Kaldres]

“All it takes to make your horse jump an obstacle is to guide your steed straight towards it. If the obstacle is only small, then the horse should jump over it without any problems or hesitance. If it’s a much larger obstacle, however, the horse may instead choose to hesitate, or refuse to jump altogether. Since you’re not experienced enough yet, we’ll just be trying out smaller jumps for now.”

Whilst she would have liked to try out something more challenging, smaller jumps would be enough to satisfy the young woman for now. She wanted to become as good at horse-riding as she possibly could, and knew that, in order to accomplish such a lofty task, she would need to make smaller improvements first, and take shorter steps forwards, learning all the basics that constituted towards being a competent rider before taxing herself with the more trying feats associated with the skill.

“Ah, perfect. You see that log up ahead, just lying across from that tree? I’d like you to ride Esteron towards that- It’s not too big, so he should just jump over it without any problems. I’ll keep riding beside you, just in case anything goes on. Make sure your feet are planted firmly in your stirrups there, and try to keep your balance no matter what. There’s a knack to how you should sit in your saddle here, so I’d like to see how you do, alright?”

With a nod being her only response to that particular question, the woman averted her gaze to rest on the lie of the land before her and her steed. Trees still remained scattered erratically to one side of the route Arryd had chosen to take and, as he had pointed out, just a short ways ahead rested the admirably indifferent bulk of a log that had arrived there by some means unknown to either rider that brightening. Of course, such petty things as how the structure came to be were quite irrelevant. After all, she had only been instructed to use the thing as practice, as a tool through which she could further her prowess as a rider. The technicalities of ‘how’ or ‘what’ where the log was concerned were of no consequence, and all that mattered was that she managed to guide Esteron through a jump over it without losing her balance and falling off in the process.

“Alright, Esteron, gently now…”

With one, dignified whuff in response, the warhorse offered no quarrel as his rider pushed him into a canter, bringing him into a steady run along an invisible path that led straight towards their designated obstacle for the day. As they continued to approach the wooden device at an even rate, the young woman’s instinctive reaction was to hold her breath, to exude an air of apprehension as she prepared for the jolt that was to come. The obstacle was drawing close now, and soon Esteron would be pressed with the decision of whether to jump, or falter. Both choices were nicely ridden with the potential of being highly discomforting for the rider.

[Keeva Kaldres]

What she had been expecting was not exactly what she came to experience as Esteron vaulted over the log in response to being guiding towards the impeding device. Muscles bunching up in order to spring the bulk of their owner and his burden over the cylindrical shape that was the fallen piece of wood, Keeva found herself thrown, first back as her horse began to engage in his jump, and then forwards once more as her steed landed harshly on the verdantly carpeted floor beneath him. Once he had established his footing successively once again, the warhorse reverted to the previous gait he had been committing himself to under the instructions of his rider, that of the canter. The rider in question, however, was in no mind to offer anything in the way of dispute to Esteron’s choice of actions; she was too busy trying to quell the lance of pain and discomfort that had arched through her being, apparently as a result of not having been positioned correctly in preparation for the jump she had had to go through with her enthusiastic mount.

“Well, almost a success, I’d say. You need to learn how to sit yourself in the saddle when Esteron performs a jump like that, though, so you don’t hurt yourself so much the next time around.”

The look his student gave him at that moment was not one that exuded any amount of pleasure in the words and statements he had just imparted to her. A frown marred her delicate countenance, and the grey orbs of her eyes seemed even colder and remote than they would have been on any other usual brightening. In fact, it was quite difficult not to realise that the girl was angry, and that her temper was beginning to flare.

“You could have told me that before…”

Eyes narrowed as Arryd appeared to swat aside her sentiments of ire with a broad sweeping of one hand across the air immediately in front of him. He might have been her teacher, and an elf at that, but his aloofness was not going down too well with his young student, who did not relent in her glaring at him as he continued to speak, slowing his horse into a steady trot even as Keeva motioned for her own mount to do the same.

“Try to oppose the motions of your horse as it jumps so you don’t get thrown about so much. Lean forwards a little when your horse begins jumping, then back as it starts to land. If you do it right, you shouldn’t feel too much pain at all, although obviously it needs practice. Now, shall we try again? Bring Eseteron around, and we’ll ride back towards that log, alright?”

Seeing as he was her instructor, and she subsequently did not have much of a choice in the matter, the girl merely nodded reluctantly in response, inwardly cursing him for not having had the decency to warn her about positionings and pain earlier on, before it had become too late to prevent them.

[Keeva Kaldres]

With a few whispered words of gentleness and reassurance to her steed, Keeva pulled lightly on the left rein in a bid to have Esteron turn around, to go back the way he had come. The log still lay there, as lifeless and inert as ever, and even seemed to be awaiting the horse and the rider, daring them to try their previously messy feat once again. For all that the wooden obstacle tried to provoke them, however, Esteron certainly seemed willingly enough to give the relatively new technique another go. Muscles lurching back and forth in succession as the two made their way back to the place of testing, the stallion’s eyes shone with the light of resolve and utmost determination both as he waited for the woman on his back to make know her instructions to him.

Keeva, however, maintained a firm grip on the reins in both hands, the grey orbs of her eyes fixed unwaveringly on what lay ahead, the path that they would both have to take in order to contend with their unwilling piece of apparatus once again. It was not as though she would really need to exude as high a degree of concentration and thought to this technique as her steed was, or at least she did not think so, but she truly did not relish the thought of ending the jump with a large number of aches and pains lancing through her system once again.

As soon as Esteron’s hoofs first left the ground, so did Keeva do as she had been instructed to by Arryd, leaning her small frame forwards into the saddle, into the wind that buffeted her fragile form from ahead. Feeling the rush of wind brush against her face, sending dark hair streaming out behind her like some tapering black banner, she somehow began to feel more certain as to what she was doing, more confident in her posture and pose. If anything, she doubted that she would experience as much in the way of pain this time round as she had had to suffer through before.

A series of dull thuds sounded as Esteron landed on the ground once more, tossing his head pompously about as though incredibly pleased with the feat he had just exhibited. Straightening her back in the saddle, Keeva felt as happy as she could be at the revelation of not having a nasty amount of aches in pains in her backside at that moment. It was, perhaps, a strange thing to feel proud and delighted about, but it evidently meant quite a bit to the contended young woman. All it had taken to avoid a hefty amount of pain was a slight alteration of her positioning during the jump, a demure shifting of her weight in the saddle as Esteron had left the ground and committed himself to the jump itself. It seemed like such a trivial process that Keeva was surprised to think that she had not been able to fathom it out herself.

Slowing her horse to a trot as she waited for her tutor to catch up with her, the woman flashed him a brilliant smile before she waited for him to speak in response to her efforts, her previous frustration at his teaching methods having all but vanished.

[Keeva Kaldres]

As Arryd’s horse neared Keeva’s, the man merely nodded several times in muted succession as he noted her reaction to the jump. The girl was clearly brimming with delight at her recent triumph, and the elf would do nothing to quell those cheery thoughts now, whilst she was evidently enjoying them. Instead, he gave her a few more moments to revel in her surging feelings of pride, before offering her a more vocal display of congratulations, and proceeding to move on with the next part of their lesson.

“Alright then, at least now you seem to have gotten the hang of that, although a lot more practice with the jumps wouldn’t go awry.”

With a smile and a wink towards his student, the man then spurred his mount onwards once more, pulling gently on his gelding’s left rein in a bid to have him turn full circle and move forwards in the direction they had both been taking in the first place. Powerless to do anything les than follow suit, the young woman complied with her instructor’s wordless command and subsequently had Esteron do the same, the dark stallion tossing his head in a vain semblance of pride as he allowed his hoofs to follow onwards from the bay’s once more.

“You’re probably getting tired now, so we’ll be riding back to the city. What I am going to do is to lead the horses straight ahead on this path for a while, just so you can practice the gallop a little more. After that, we’ll be turning to the right and heading back to the city cross-country, understand?”

With a nod, the girl bit back an angry retort to the man’s implication that she was tiring. On the contrary, she felt as good as when she had first started her lesson for this brightening, if not better. Of course, the soreness in her thighs and rear begged to differ with what notions of folly she held contained within the crevices of her mind, but, at this particular instance in time, Keeva simply did not care.

“Alright.”

Frowning at Arryd’s back as though she could bore a hole through it, the girl tightened her grip on the reins by a smidgen as she heeled Esteron into a more rapid canter. She would do as he had instructed, and she would arrive back at the gates of Abestat no worse for ware than she had left them. The fact that she was not, by any means, as capable a rider as her tutor seemed immaterial now, so long as she could carry on and keep the threatened state of her pride intact.

[Keeva Kaldres]

In little time at all, the woman found herself bringing her heels to Esteron's flanks in a bid to have him run at a full-out gallop. The wind buffeting at her slight form was something she found strangely appealing, despite the fact that it seemed to be doing all it could to throw her back out of the saddle proper. Hair streaming wildly behind her as she leant down a little against her steed's back, stormy grey orbs remained adamantly fixed on her instructor's back as they continued to ride. She would maintain this pace, as would Esteron, regardless of how tired Arryd seemed to think she was.

The scenery around her seemed to flash past as they rode, trees and bushes dwindling to mere fuzzy images as the horses and their riders raced across these open fields. Those blurred vistas, however, were of no importance to the young woman as she focussed on the task at hand. Holding to the reins with a set amount of determination, the girl's mind was set as she continued to strive in keeping up with Arryd.

Hooves met with solid ground in more and more rapid succession as Esteron's muscles heaved back and forth in an admirable display of his strength. There was no questioning his ability to keep up with the bay gelding up ahead; it was only Keeva's own skills as a rider that were being put on the spot in this instance, as it was.

Time seemed to slide by in an extravagantly hesitant manner as the two riders continued to speed ever onwards, riding in a straight line that ran almost perpendicular to the path that led back to the city of Abestat itself. Whilst the passage of time seemed to drag by in an irritatingly slow manner, in reality it was not long before Arryd led his own steed towards the haven of the city proper once again, albeit after a swift check to see whether or not his pupil was still with him.

Pulling gently on the right rein, the woman was soon directing Esteron in the appropriate direction after Arryd, his pace slowing back into a comfortable canter as they headed back for home. The discomfort that came as a result of riding for this long still screamed at the girl's senses in an unsettling manner, but the beaming smile on her face was not to be messed with in any form. She had managed to keep up with her tutor, as she had silently willed, and she was not going to make a complete fool of herself now by falling from her mount on this, the last leg of their minor excursion.

The look she gave to the elf's back had receded in its intensity now, anger now dashed with pride and a sense of accomplishment. Whilst she was still by no means the rider she wanted to be, she was getting there, step by measured step, and she would not cease in her training until her self-set targets had been met with.

[Keeva Kaldres]

The gates of Abestat neared, intimidating slabs of granite marring the otherwise flawless view of the celestial canvas. It was at times like these when one could truly begin to appreciate the beauty of nature, the organic elegance that the world outside, away from the everyday hubbub of city life, could provide. Soothing shades of green, and the gentle hues of cerulean blue; it was a world free from the boundaries of mundane trials and tribulations, untroubled by the hardships that normal people were forced to suffer through. For a time, Keeva regretted having to go back, having to set foot in that bleak metropolis once again. It was not that she did not like the city, of course- after all, she had had some of her most memorable experiences here- still, it was nice to get out of that place every now and again, to relax her mind on excu