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Post by Brandwyn on Nov 13, 2011 7:40:29 GMT -5
Ole Bob sent Red and a couple of other rather exuberant rangers around the ground s to announce that the time to choose ranger horses was here for those that needed a horse. This applied mostly to new apprentices, but there were a couple of rangers that were retiring their aging mounts and one who had lost his in a battle with thieves.
For those rangers, he just introduced them to their new horse that was from the same bloodline as thier old. They were quickly finished but they stuck around to watch the young ones.
Ole Bob stood on the end of a string of young horses, most of whom were rather small at around 14 to 15 hands and had shaggy coats and for the most part were gray. Not all of them fit into the 'tradiontal ranger horse' mold, however. There were a few that were rather large, even one that seemed to be part battlehorse and some that were mixed with the spotted plains ponies and then there were some new horses that were just there on display. There were chesnuts, bays, blacks and even a palamino and a dun.
Ole Bob had brought a couple of the breeding stock from Skandia that had been a gift from Aribjorn's father to King Duncan. These two horses were not for choosing, but Bob wanted the rangers to get a good look at the likely future of the ranger horses breeding program.
He cleared his voice and then said, rather loudly, "All right you young-uns, gather around here. I want all of ya who don't yet have a horse to line up along here arm's length apart." He looked at each of them and waited until they sorted themselves out into a line.
"The way this works is I am going to let you file past each horse. If you want a specific horse, approach it and see how it reacts to you. This needs to be a mutual agreement and liking between you and the horse or you will likely have problems with your communication. Take your time and make sure that the one you finally choose, has chosen you and then you will both be happy." Ben motioned to the first one in the line. "Okay then, there you go. Just walk down the line and look them over and see which one likes you."
He stood back and winked at Tory who talking to the Skandian horses. She had spent several days with them bringing them from the port in Caraway along the river up to Araluen and had formed a bit of a bond with the white stallion, though she would never consider givning up Chip for the stallion. He was there to make more colts and fillys, not to be used as a ranger horse himself and besides, she was far too attached to Chip and loved him and his chocolate spots. She was there mainly to keep the new apprentices from picking the Skandian brood mare or stallion and to see which horses Dian, Al and Enya ended up with. She grinned encouragingly at each of them in turn.
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Enya
Apprentice Scribe
Posts: 109
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Post by Enya on Nov 13, 2011 14:41:37 GMT -5
Enya stood quietly a little but feather away then she was told to. Staying quiet she glanced over at the horses, the young girl really did not know what house she was want. Enya sighed a little looking down not saying anything.
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Post by Brandwyn on Nov 13, 2011 19:35:28 GMT -5
The boy standing next to Enya who was at the end of the line stepped forward and walked down past the horses that were watching him curiously. Most of them turned away as he approached, but he was looking at a rather tall dark bay colt about the fifth one down the line. The colt let him approach and then blew a puff of air in his face. The boy reached up and petted the horse on his neck.
"I think he likes me!" the boy said with a grin.
"Very good," said Bob. He walked over to him and whispered something and the boy said something softly to the horse. Then he walked over to the log where the saddles and other tack were and began trying different ones on the horse.
Ole Bob turned back to the line and looked at Enya. "You are up, Miss. Come on over here and take a look at these horses. Let them get a good look at you."
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Enya
Apprentice Scribe
Posts: 109
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Post by Enya on Nov 13, 2011 19:42:58 GMT -5
Enya gulped slightly and steeped up to the horses. most moved away from her before she ever tried to touch one. ~ they know i'm afraid of them~ she thought sighing a little stopping at one that seemed to be the smallest. It looked at her as she reached up it put its head against her hand. Smiling Enya happily ran her hand threw his long main.
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Post by Brandwyn on Nov 13, 2011 20:10:09 GMT -5
"Good job, girl." Ole Bob walked up to her and the small black colt with the gray mane and tail. He had stormy looking eyes, but was very gentle as he sniffed Enya's hair and then nuzzled her chest.
Bob leaned in and whispered in her ear "His password is fiddlesticks. If you don't say that to him, he won't let you do anything. That's so no one can steal him from you. Now you make sure you keep that password to yourself and your mentor. Best if he or she knows it, just in case. You should know your mentor's horse's password as well." Bob instructed her.
"So what are you going to name him?" he asked her.
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Enya
Apprentice Scribe
Posts: 109
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Post by Enya on Nov 13, 2011 20:16:36 GMT -5
Enya thought for a moment " Ill call him Storm "She said smiling petting the horse " So what now?" Enya asked looking at Bob with her deep sapphire blue eyes.
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Post by Brandwyn on Nov 13, 2011 20:38:42 GMT -5
Bob smiled at her and pointed to the saddles sitting on the log. "Say his password in his ear, mind you, so no one else can hear, then take him over there and let Miss Waterton help you pick out a saddle." Bob motioned to Tory who came over and looked at him questioningly.
"Give her a hand picking out her tack and run her through the basics, will ya?" Ole Bob asked and Tory nodded. "Sure thing, Bob."
Tory turned to the new apprentice and smiled. "HI, I am Tory, bring him over here and...let's see..." Tory examined a couple of the saddles and then took a look at Enya and her new horse and shook her head. She went farther down the line and saw a black saddle with a dark gray suade seat. It looked about the right size. "Here, come try this on on him. It looks like it might fit both of you." As Tory bent down to pick up the saddle, the shoulder of her tunic dropped down over her arm and her myriad of whip scars were visible across her back and up the back of her neck. She stood back up holding the saddle and pulled the tunic back up around her neck.
She looked at Enya and then noticed the girl's scars on her face for the first time. "I see you have some pretty bad scars too. Were those from a fire?" tory asked. "Mine are from a whip, but I think I lucked out that the swine, Korrin, never struck me in the face. Mistress Coleburn wouldn't allow him to mark me where it would show." She said bitterly, the haunted look that so often crept into her eyes was back. "That must really be awful to have them on your face. How'd it happen, if you don't mind my asking?"
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Enya
Apprentice Scribe
Posts: 109
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Post by Enya on Nov 13, 2011 20:44:22 GMT -5
Enya wisperd the word to her horse before leading him over "the one on my face i got from a bandits dagger.. but i have this long car on my back i got from a fire" Enya said shyly looking down " letting her black hair fall in her face.
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Post by Brandwyn on Nov 14, 2011 21:13:46 GMT -5
"Really? Wow, a bandit. And you survived! You should wear it proudly." Tory said solemnly, then she glanced around and pulled up the left side of her tunic a bit. On top of the whip scars was a long clean scar that ran from the abdomen just below her ribs and up around her side and dissapeared up her back. It was still pretty red although it had been just about a year since the incident occured. "A river pirate gave me this." Tory said proudly. "I was fighting a couple of them and thought I had knocked the guy out, but he waited until I was skewering his friend and then slashed me open. It took forever to heal up. If it hadn't been for Ringulf killing that pirate I wouldn't be here today." Tory set the saddle on Stormy's back and slid her fist under the pommel in the front. She nodded satisfied that it was sitting on his whithers correctly. It almost looked too long, however.
"turn him in a tight circle, will you? I want to see if the saddle stays put and make sure it isn't bumping against his hip."
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Enya
Apprentice Scribe
Posts: 109
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Post by Enya on Nov 14, 2011 21:21:12 GMT -5
" uh, OK" Enya said as she did as she was told. " i managed to run away and escape them.. if i had not been able to climb that tree as fast as i did they would have found me and killed me" Enya said. her voice kina low she hated talking about things like that.
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Post by Brandwyn on Nov 16, 2011 11:15:00 GMT -5
Tory nodded, "Well once you learn how to use your bow and knives, you won't have to worry about bandits like that. They'll see you coming in your Ranger cloak and start running."
She stopped Stormy and then took the saddle back off of him. "I think this one will work just fine and I believe the seat is just the right size for you." She said and then picked up a piece of oiled leather with a long strap and handed it to Enya. "This is a soft bucket or a nose bag. You can carry water in it, though it will eventually ooze out through the leather, so it is only good for short disatances. But what it is really used for is to put his grain and oats into while you are on the trail. You hang that strap over his ears with his nose inside the bag and he can munch away to his heart's content." She grinned and patted Stormy. "It's nice because it folds up and fits in your saddle bags, which are here, by the way." Tory handed Enya a pair of large saddle bags that were connected by a wide strap of leather with two grommetted holes. "You put these behind the saddle and these leather straps here go through the holes and tie the bags on so they won't fall off. Then these two longer straps go around your bedroll."
Tory handed her a long roll of oiled leather. Inside were two thick dark green wool blankets. "You can put your clothes in here too if you like, but I carry mine in a rucksack. Of course Ringulf is forever teasing me about being a clothes horse and that I pack too much stuff. I pretty much carry everything I own with me because I never know what is going to happen next." She sighed. "Anyway, this oiled leather here that you roll the blankest up inside acts as a ground clothe to keep out the damp ground when you sleep and helps keep your blankets dry while you ar travelling. You have to retreat these with mineral oil every month or so to keep them waterproof along with your saddlebags and your rucksack too if you decide to get one of those."
She looked around at the pile of gear, "let's see, what else? Oh yes!" She reached down and picked out a soft brush, a stiff brush and a hoof pick and a metal comb. "These are for grooming your horse. Do you know how to do that and do you know what to do with each of these items?"
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Enya
Apprentice Scribe
Posts: 109
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Post by Enya on Nov 16, 2011 11:34:20 GMT -5
"Wow this is alot of stuff"Enya laughed a little then looked at the things used to groom the horse " Well no not really."She added with a sigh " But its not really that hard to figure out is it?"she asked looking at her horse for a moment before turning back to Tory.
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Post by Brandwyn on Nov 16, 2011 12:17:35 GMT -5
Tory laughed, "Yeah, it seems like it, but that comes with the territory and no, its not that hard to figure out."
Ole Bob came up behind them and Tory nearly jumped out of her skin because she didn't realize he was standing right behind her when he said, "why don't you show the whole group how to properly groom their horses and tack them? I'd like to see you in action."
Tory gulped, wondering exactly what that meant. She had a gut feeling that here was another person that was going to influence her future. "Umm, okay." She said, instantly getting nervous. She was fine with one-on-one instruction, but she hated being the center of attention. She looked around and noticed most of the other rangers weren't paying any attention. There was still a lot of activity at Crowley's tent and most were distracted by the recent arrival of the courier, wondering what the news was that had their Commandant all flustered.
"Gather round here you young-uns." Ole Bob said loudly and motioned the others over. "Miss Waterton is going to explain the basic care of your horse."
Tory looked at him like he'd been hatched from a dragon's egg. "Gee, this class suddenly got a lot more complicated." She muttered and Bob chuckled. "I am not sure I like being volunteered for this teaching stuff." First the archery class was thrown at her and now Bob was putting her on the spot with the horses.
She took a deep breath and then decided to follow someone's advice and begin at the beginning. She picked up the soft brush and began to teach. As she explained each item, she demonstrated on Stormy and then handed the item to Enya so she could try it and she watched as the others mimiced her on their own ranger horses.
She showed them how to get a horse to pick up its foot by nudging them with her hip and pinching the tendons just above the ankle bones although that wasn't necessary for the ranger horses who were trained to left their feet for their riders. At least she explained how it was suposed to work. Since she didn't know Stormy's password, he wouldn't budge. She smiled ruefully at Bob and then turned to Enya, "You are going to have to demonstrate, he's your horse. Just run your hand down his foreleg there and lean against him a little. He should lift his foot right up. Cradle the hoof on the underside and don't lift it too high or pull out away from his body or you could damage his knee."
Tory stood back a little, the hoof pick in her hand and waited for Enya to lift Stormy's left front foot. Then she handed her the hoof pick. "You use this to clean their hooves out. Run the pick down around the outside of the frog but don't dig in too deep. Just get the dirt out and make sure their aren't any rocks wedged in between the hoof and the frog." She made a motion over the hoof, without touching it so Enya could see where she was supposed to run the hoof pick.
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Enya
Apprentice Scribe
Posts: 109
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Post by Enya on Nov 16, 2011 12:33:51 GMT -5
Enya did as she was told and got Stormy to lift his foot for her. She lisoned to what Tory said. Enya looked at the others for a moment but she stayed quiet not really wanting to say anything in front of everyone.So Enya just nodded as show she understood what to do. She wished she was not so shy but she really had no idea why she was so shy.
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dian
Apprentice Scribe
this status thing reminds me of Facebook
Posts: 100
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Post by dian on Dec 3, 2011 0:40:21 GMT -5
Dian had stumbled over her own feet when one of the rangers had told her group it was time to pick out the horses. She didn't see Charlie anywhere but went anyways, she remembered where the horses where from when she and Tory had gone to visit them. Fortunately she hadn't tripped on her way over there. Nipping at her heels, as always, was Obsidian her border shepherd pup. Dian had tried to leave her back at her tent, but Obsidian was to persistent and followed Dian. After about the 3rd time nearly tripping over the pup, she picked Obsidian up and held the wriggly little ball of fur close.
Dian stood in the line, completely nervous. She had the worst feeling that none of the horses would "pick her" and she'd either end up riding the demon battle horse when she left the gathering, or she'd leave on a horse that didn't quite like her. It would be just her luck too.... if only she could change things easily instead of being so shy around these Rangers. Being shy wasn't fun but she couldn't help it. Shyness was something that the rangers had "inflicted" upon her, seeing as she use to be the chatter box that went beyond mindless chatter.
The girl she was next to, whose name she did not know, had gotten her horse and went off with Tory. It was her turn. Her eyes shifted around, trying to figure out what she could do to delay rejection. This was dumb she realized, she was good with horses, surely one of them would like her... wouldn't they? The smile Tory had given her previously didn't really reassure her. She walked up to the horses, her eyes nice and wide. She liked the Skandian horses, but the seemed to ignore her, then again she knew she wouldn't be getting them anyways. The Palomino and the dun shied away from her, they definitely didn't like her. She was near the end of the line of horses, when one of the bigger horses, a Pitch black horse, one of the bigger ones that seemed to be related to battle horses, moved away from the group to nuzzle at Dian's out stretched hand. She liked this one, she liked him a lot. He was a bit bigger then she had expected, but she had ridden large horses all her life. She didn't feel nearly as dwarfed by this horse then the demon of a battle horse, but still a bit dwarfed. With closer inspection, she could tell the not all of the horse was black. It's under belly was a dark grey, and its hooves where a lighter shade, and he had a steak running down his muzzle that was an even lighter shade of grey. He was beautiful being a ranger horse he could obviously keep a steady pace easily throughout the day.
Dian ran her hand across the horse's muzzle. Before old bob could come and tell her about this horse, he got distracted and had tory start talking about how to groom the horse. She couldn't get the horse to move from his spot, so she left it reluctantly to go see what Tory was showing the others. Tory had the girl who had been standing next to her with her horse. Tory was having the girl clean out the Horse's hooves and Dian watched carefully. She had brushed and done some minor grooming of horses, but no more then getting the knots out of their manes after running through the leafy forest. She kept looking over her shoulder to the large stallion, trying to think of what she would name him. No names came to her, and she tried to focus back on Tory, despite her thoughts wandering.
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