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Post by Chelsea on Mar 16, 2006 18:11:33 GMT -5
"You're lucky. My mum and dad are the only ones that are like that." she said with a smile. Ava gave Lyle a pat. "So are you going for a ride or did you just come back from one?" she asked.
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Post by Jacqueline on Mar 16, 2006 18:16:09 GMT -5
"I'm going for a ride. Want to join Lyle and I?'' Kyle replied. He patted Lyle and looked at him. He just had to pick his hooves and get him tacked up and they were ready.
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Post by Chelsea on Mar 16, 2006 18:30:30 GMT -5
"Sure. I'll grab Cloud." Ava said with a smile. She walked over to Cloud's stall. "Hey baby." she told the mare. She lead the horse to the cross-ties and clipped her in. Cloud was fidgetting and pulling anxiously at the cross-ties. She was pawing the ground and whinnying. "Easy..." Ava told the nervous horse. She grabbed her brush and started to run it through Cloud's smooth coat. When she had finished grooming Cloud, she grabbed the hoof pick. Cloud hated getting her feet picked. She whinnied loudly and started to pull and struggle with the cross-ties. "Kyle? Can you hold her for me?" she asked. Cloud always gave her trouble. She always tried to bite and attack the farrier too.
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Post by Jacqueline on Mar 16, 2006 18:36:03 GMT -5
Kyle picked out Lyle's hooves and put on his saddle. He left the girth a bit loose so that Lyle would be comfortable then he walked over to Ava. "Sure." He said, walking over to hold the anxious mare.
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Post by Chelsea on Mar 16, 2006 18:42:46 GMT -5
Ava smiled. "Thanks." Her face then turned more serious. Cloud was a dangerous horse to work with when you were picking her hooves, or doing anything with her feet for that matter. Cloud's old owner just left her feet to rot and used to hit her when she did something wrong. She also never rewarded Cloud's good behaviour. Cloud was a sweet mare and would never hurt a fly but when you got near her hooves, she would freak out. Ava grabbed a cloth quickly from the tack room. It was a cloth she always used when dealing with Cloud. On somedays the mare was fine but somedays, she needed a sedative. Ava draped the cloth over the mare's face and tied it. "Hold her halter tightly. Don't let her rear or buck." Ava told Kyle. She checked the cross-ties to make sure they were secure.
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Post by Jacqueline on Mar 16, 2006 18:53:10 GMT -5
Kyle grabbed hold of the halter anmd got a good grip on it. He watched as Ava picked out her hooves.
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Post by Chelsea on Mar 16, 2006 18:57:27 GMT -5
Ava took a deep breath and picked up Cloud's left back foot. She was worse with the back feet so once they were done, she'd relax a bit. She started to pick them out. Cloud was whinnying nervously and trying to move. She was prancing on the spot and fidgetting which made it hard for Ava to keep cleaning her hoof. "Easy." Ava cooed to the horse. Cloud whinnied very loudly and tried to rear up. Ava dropped her foot and jumped backwards, out of the way.
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Post by Jacqueline on Mar 16, 2006 19:00:26 GMT -5
Kyle held onto the halter and using quite a bit of his weight he kept Cloud from rearing. "Easy." He said softly, petting the mare.
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Post by Chelsea on Mar 16, 2006 19:07:02 GMT -5
Ava sighed and brushed some hair out of her face as Cloud settled down once more. She quickly finished picking out that hoof and put her leg down. Ava walked over to Cloud's blind-folded face and gave her a mint. She then went back to hoof-picking. She was able to pick out her other back foot and her left front foot. When Ava tried to pick up Cloud's right front foot, Cloud pinned her ears and bared her teeth. "Hey! Stop that!" Ava scolded the mare. Ava didn't mind if the mare tensed or anything but once she started to flash her teeth or trying to bite, Ava got angry with her. It took Ava ages to train Cloud out of the habit of biting and somedays she fell back into that routine. When she did that, Ava would scold her and not give her any treats when she was finished. Cloud would behave better the next time. Cloud closed her lips and allowed her last hoof to be picked. Ava walked back over and pulled off the blindfold. She gave the horse a pat but no treats for trying to bite.Ava grabbed the mare's bridle and saddle and tacked her up. "I'm ready to go." she said with a slight smile, as she unclipped Cloud from the cross-ties.
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Post by Jacqueline on Mar 16, 2006 19:12:12 GMT -5
Kyle let Ava scold the mare with no help from him. She did a pretty good job of it. He smiled, "I just have to get Lyle's bridle on and then I'll be ready," He said, with that he walked back over to Lyle, patted him and unclipped him from the cross ties. He slid off the halter and tossed it aside, making sure that it was out of the path of any horses or people that might come thig way. He put on Lyle's bridle and besides Lyle clenching his teeth and not letting Kyle get the bit in his mouth at first, it went on with no hassle. Kyle patted Lyle and led him over to Ava and Cloud.
((Oh yeah, he put his helmet on somewhere in there.. lmao))
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Post by Chelsea on Mar 16, 2006 19:17:39 GMT -5
((lol!))
Ava grabbed her helmet from the stool and put it on. She buckled it and lead Cloud outside, with Kyle following her. She stopped and made sure Cloud was standing nice and still. Ava grabbed hold of the reins in her left hand, rested her right hand on the back of the saddle, and slid her left foot into the stirrup. Right as she was ready to hoist herself up into the saddle, Cloud started to prance on the spot and shimmied sideways to the right. Ava held on and hopped as Cloud moved. She laughed and slid her foot out of the stirrup. "She's being so bad today." she giggled. Ava made Cloud stand still for a few seconds and then mounted her without a problem this time.
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Post by Jacqueline on Mar 16, 2006 19:23:38 GMT -5
Kyle smiled. "Yes she is. Hopefully she's better once we start doing something." He said. He led Lyle over to something that he could stand on. Lyle always side stepped and carried on as Kyle mounted and he was tall so Kyle didn't like mounting him from the ground if he could help it. He swung into the saddle after tightening his girth and pulling down his stirrups. Then he patted the gelding and walked him back over to Ava. Lyle anxiously tried to break into a trot as they made their way over but Kyle kept him at a walk;.
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Post by Chelsea on Mar 16, 2006 19:29:50 GMT -5
Ava sat comfortably in the saddle. She gave Cloud a gentle squeeze to get her to walk. When they reached the trails, Cloud behaved herself and stayed at a steady walk. Ava sighed, relieved that her horse was behaving herself. Cloud was very alert on the trails and was looking all around as they rode. Ava gave Cloud a looser rein so that she could walk comfortably. Cloud whinnied loudly and broke into a full-fledged gallop, taking advantage of the loose rein. "Easy! Easy!" Ava told the horse, desperately trying to gather up the reins to stop the mare. Cloud skidded to a halt and immediately bucked. Ava managed to stay on but Cloud was trying to rear and buck. "What is wrong with you!?" Ava asked, angrilly. She was exasperated with the mare. She gathered up her reins very tightly so that Cloud barely had any give. She started to turn the horse in very tight circles to calm her down. "I think she has PMS today." Ava said, in a frustrated way.
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Post by Jacqueline on Mar 16, 2006 19:35:58 GMT -5
Lyle walked along eagery ready to go faster when he was asked. Kyle saw Cloud take off with Ava and gave Lyle a bit of a kick. Lyle sprung foreward into a fast gallop, but Kyle pulled it back into a controled gallop. Once they caught up and Cloud skidded to a halt, Kyle pulled back on the reins and Lyle stopped too. "Are you okay?" Kyle asked Ava, patting Lyle for stopping so nicely.
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Post by Chelsea on Mar 16, 2006 19:39:58 GMT -5
"I'm fine but Cloud's giving me hell. I dunno what's wrong with her." said Ava. Ava was at her witt's end with the crabby mare. Even as Ava walked the horse in very tight circles, Cloud was snorting angrilly and she was gearing up to kick.
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