g.reener p.astures.

[jackie .mae. ellison]

Jackie had only been here at Canterbury a few days now, and she loved it. The place was amazing; and having horses at school like this she felt right at home. Jackie couldn't wait to get down to the barn to meet the horse she had choosen to ride while she was her at school. The mare that Jackie chose was a tall, sleek and deep bay thoroughbred mare named Tequila. This mare was described as headstrong and tended to be quite stubborn at times, Jackie couldn't have asked for a more perfect horse. The two hard personalities that were quite alike.

Jackie strolled into the barn wearing her black half chaps over her skinny leg denim jeans, and walked past the numerous horse stalls where horses begged to be petted, or tried snagging a treat. The teen finally laid her eyes on the bay mare, and Jackie couldn't help but smile; she was gorgeous.
Hey there, Jackie cooed in a soft voice. The mare tossed her head lightly and nudged at Jackie's hand, you can have treats after we ride, Jackie told the mare as she stroked her face, and fixed her tosseled forelock. Jackie procceded to the tack room to gather her things, so she could groom down Tequila and go out for a ride.

twenty minutes later...

Jackie was finished grooming the mare, and she settled her bright green saddle pad onto Tequila's back, and adjusted it around her withers. She then hoisted her kincade 16.5 inch saddle onto the mare with ease; she was strong but her height never stopped her from doing anything. She put her girth and predicting that Tequilia would be grumpy about the girth as most hot horses were, Jackie gave her a warning swat on the shoulder telling her to knock it off. Jackie was small but she was sure to show the horse who was boss. Jackie then looked around realizing she was the only one around, and wondered if anyone else would be out riding today, she knew it was only the first couple days of school but she hopped to make some new friends soon.

[Cole Green]

the boy's fingers held on to the buckle of the reins, allowing the young gelding to trail behind him. although cole couldn't help but kiss a few times to motivate the gelding to pick up his pace just a bit. as the two rounded the corner into the main aisle, patch was jogging very lazilly behind cole. quickly, though, cole stopped in his tracks; and the paint horse behind him did not object the lack of movement.

there was a few feet between cole and the hind quarters of a big bay, and he had just nearly ran in to her.

oh, sorry,

cole commented with a small chuckle, smiling faintly as he tried to eye the girl whom was busy fitting the mare with her tack. although the big bay blocked cole's vision, and he gave up, talking to the person, whom he was assuming to be a girl, blindly,

didn't mean to almost run you over.

his tone was tainted with sarcasm. yeah, patch, straight out of his stall, he's really one to be cautious of. cole had quickly learned that the young gelding was spirted once you where in the saddle, but nearly bombproof on the ground. his tendency to nap all day meant that cole had to work even harder to wake him up once they where in the ring; and once he was awake, he was quite a handful of excitement. even though, cole could't deny his newly found attachment to the guy. he was young, beautiful, and unexperienced. he could have chosen almost any horse, but cole had decided to devote himself to one that wasn't as experienced as the rest.

[jackie .mae. ellison]

Jackie had just finished tightening the girth on the large bay mare, when she heard hoofbeats. She figured it was just one of the other school horses being restless in their stalls. But then she realized it was another student. As Tequila pinned her ears to her head, being that another horse was there. Jackie eyed the boy who was standing there with his horse, who'd nearly run the two over. Jackie walked around the front of the mare, stroke her face for a second saying, Calm down, your fine. Then she patted the mare's shoulder and walked over to the boy standing there. Hi. It's okay; just don't let it happen again, Jackie said to him, jokingly. She then quickly wiped her hands on her jeans, and extended it towards the other teen before her; I'm jackie, she told him.

[Cole Green]

i'm cole,

he introduced himself, and then he met her hand with his own, shaking it once before it was pulled back casually.

yeah, i'll try to keep him in line, cole joked with a small smirk, sometimes he's just too big of a handful.

cole gestured back to the paint horse as he finished speaking. patch's head was drooping down, and his eyelids where nearly shut. with a small laugh, cold glanced back at the girl, whom he now knew as jackie, and sighed,

see what i mean? he's just bursting with energy.

instinctively, cole squeezed his thumb into the middle of his fist gently, cracking the knuckle with a small pop and releasing the small tension that had been there. cole was wearing dark navy skinny jeans and a snug, white, short sleeved tee shirt that was soon to become part of his barn-attire. white probably not being the best choice for coming to the barn, but, regardless, it was stain free for the time being. overall, his appearance was very casual. he never found the need to dress up to go to the barn. and usually, he mocked and made fun of those who wore their breeches and tall boots, and popped the collars of their polo shirts. it was unnecessary. riding horses shouldn't be a fashion statement.

[jackie .mae. ellison]

it's nice to meet you, jackie said as she drew her hand back after shaking cole's. As she heard Cole say 'see what i mean? he's just bursting with energy.' As she watched the paint horse standing there half asleep, she couldn't help but let a small laugh escape her lips as a smile rested upon her lips. So are you headed out to ride now? Or have you already ridden? jackie asked, just to break a little bit of the silence haning in the air, maybe they could ride together or something. Get to know each other, or whatnot. Jackie's long brunette was already pulled up and tucked neatly inside her helmet, she moved back to the mare's head and took the bridle off the hook and swiftly placed in on the mare. Thankfully Tequila wasn't to stubborn about her bit.

I'm ready to ride if you are, jackie said to cole, I'm not so sure he is though she said pointing her small riding crop in the direction of the paint gelding who literally looked asleep as he stood there. Jackie drew the reins over Tequilla's tall head and walked ahead gently clucking to the mare to urge her to walk forward. She hoped that her and cole could ride together. So far Cole seemed like a nice guy, he wasn't the preppy type like she'd imagined most of the guys here would be like; he just seemed like a nice guy, he was funny too.

[Cole Green]

i'm headed out now, actually.

cole watched quietly as jackie bridled her mare. he was desperate to have sunny be willing to take the bit sometime soon. cole had practically taken ten minutes just to get the gelding to lower his head; and then he had struggled to get the metal past the gelding's clenched teeth. it had been... quite the trip. he was confident that patch would improve with patience and practice, but he wasn't exactly looking forward to it. on the bright side, patch had been fantastic about his saddle, girth, and having his feet picked.

yeah, cole chuckled, being knocked back to reality by her words, he may need some convincing. cole took a step nearer to his gelding, who gave him the courtesy of opening his eyes to peer at him as he advanced. come on, bud, it's not like you need the sleep anyway.

cole took hold of the reins just below patch's muzzle and pressed his free hand behind the gelding's elbow, clucking as he pushed the gelding forward. after a few seconds of barely moving, cole got the gelding tracking once more. they followed the first pair out of the dim barn and into the bright sunlight. both cole and patch narrowed their eyes against the bright rays as they neared the ring. cole closed the gate after them. as he turned patch back around, he called out to jackie,

so, what grade are you in?

[jackie .mae. ellison]

Jackie led the tall bay mare down the barn aisle and into the bright light of the afternoon; after adjusting her eyes to the sun she led the antsy mare to the ring. She pushed the gate all the way open and the sand of the ring held the gate in place so that Cole and his horse could still come in. She turned and watched as the paint gelding lumbered into the ring alongside Cole. Jackie placed the reins over the mare's head, and tightened her girth one hole on each side, then ran both of her stirrups down. She heard Cole call to her asking what grade she was in. I'm a sophomore this year, she told him; what about you? she asked him the same thing back. He didn't look to much older than her- she assumed he was either a sophomore like her or a junior.

Jackie pulled the small mounting block to Tequila's left side, and easily stuck her left foot in the stirrup and hoisted herself over the mare, gently easying down into the saddle. She patted the mare's neck, and let the gorgeous bay mare walk on a long rein.

So, how long have you been riding? she asked him. She gave a light squeeze with her calves to keep Tequila walking at a nice even pace, she turned slightly to see if Cole was getting on.

[Cole Green]

i'm a junior,

he replied, keeping his eyes on her. cole stood near patch as jackie mounted, and then situated his attention back towards his own horse. he sure was a lot smaller than his horses at home. he had been forced to leave them behind by academy rules, both of them. and staring at the creatively marked paint before him, he missed his own horses terribly. he thought foldly of his thoroughbred, zeus, and then of his friesian, thor. tearing his eyes away from the paint, whom had grown a bit more perky in the warm sunshine, cole responded to jackie's question. he had only been half listening, because the thoughts of his horses came first.

a long time, cole chuckled, how about you?

as he spoke, he flipped the reins gently over the gelding's head, and then left them. cole reached down and took hold of the back of patch's fetlock, and slowly pulled forward, lifting the leg up off of the soil and stretching it out. patch fidgeted, not used to this yet. finally, cole gave his leg back to him and allowed him to sway and fidget for a moment before he dipped underneath the gelding's throat latch and reached for the other leg.

[jackie .mae. ellison]

Jackie leaned forward and patted the mare's sturdy neck, then procceded to straighten out some of Tequila's dark mane. Jackie gave a little pressure with her left rein and turned the big mare around to walk around in the other direction, so she was now facing Cole. The big bay mare's coat shined in the sun, with the extra grooming that Jackie had given her before they came out to start their ride. When she heard Cole's reply to her question, she smiled lightly. Me? I've been riding for quite some time too, she said to him. When I was little my parents couldn't keep me away from the horses, they even told me when I was first learning to walk; I managed to make my way out to the barn, and ended up in the pasture with some of our horses. My mom was so worked up that they could've killed me- but in truth they were actually watching over me, Jackie said, she was sort of babbling on. She tended to feel more comfortable talking to guys than she was talking to other girls, that's why her words just tended to spill out all over the place sometimes. She looked in Cole's direction hoping that he didn't think she was wierd for just spilling all that.

Jackie walked Tequila around the curve of the arena, then picked up her reins and asked for a small trot to start warming up the bay mare. She moved easily into the posting trot all her power coming from her calves. She then sat back and slowed the mare down to a walk once she reached the other end of the arena. She patted the mare's neck lightly and then looked back at Cole for a reaction or something from her earlier comments.

[Cole Green]

having just finished stretching out patch's hind limbs, which where stiff, cole began to reply to what jackie had said, just a few seconds after she had finished speaking. his voice was rather loud, seeing as though she was nearly at the opposite end of the ring, and he peered at her over the seat of his saddle.

a small chuckle exited cole's lungs, i know what you mean. my parents train, so i've been wandering around horse barns since i could walk, too. i can't say that all of the horses i was around where exactly looking out for me, though. memories of stallions with nasty tempers popped into his mind. cole suppressed a small smile.

cole pulled on his second sturrip iron before taking hold of the reins and leading the lazy gelding up to the mounting block. with a small sigh, the teen took hold of the reins, his fingers entwining within a few threads of the gelding's smooth mane, and mounted. the gelding stood still, his eyes perked and inattentive to his rider. after a second or so, cole squeeze his calves against the gelding's barrel. patch took a step forward.

cole spun the gelding around beneath him and pushed him towards the rail. patch was very stubborn with responding beneath cole's aids, and it took a lot of persuading to finally get him off of the rail and into a twenty meter cirle at the end of the ring. cole applied more of his leg to the gelding's sides, making him exert himself and move forward at an acceptable, not barely awake, pace.

[jackie .mae. ellison]

Jackie loved the hardwork that the mare was giving her already, and they were still just walking. She knew that her and Tequila would make a great team. Even though both of them can have quite the attitude and stubborness; Jackie knows they'll work great together. Jackie watched cole and patch for a moment as the two moved into a circle, at the other end of the ring. After walking another half time around the ring, Jackie gave a little pressure with both calves and pushed Tequila up into an soft, easy sitting trot. Much to jackie's surprise the mare was extremely comfortable, and easy to sit. She moved the tall mare down the long wall, and circled around the opposite end from cole in a trot. She then began to posting lightly with the mare's trot, and moved out to the rail again. The air was warm, with just a gently breeze around them. It was a perfect time to be riding. She continued to keep Tequila in a trot and she turned and asked cole; So, do you have any siblings? She thought she'd get to know him a little better, as long as he didn't mind telling her about his life. She wouldn't mind sharing about her's if cole decided to ask either.

[Cole Green]

having followed jackie's lead, cole pushed the small gelding forward with his legs, constantly having to squeeze as he sat in the saddle. cole circled the gelding once more, sighing deeply and glancing over at jackie as he passed her. the young gelding was racing beneath him, and cole half-halted gingerly. patch tossed his head in protest, but slowed all the same. trotting at a decent pace, cole kept the young gelding next to jackie and her own mount; although, making sure there was enough room between them to fit at least another horse. cole had found that his assigned mount grew a bit defensive around other horses, but it was easily managed by simply adding space between him and the other horse.

uh, yeah, i do, cole paused, then continued on, i have a sister, who goes here, actually. but my older brother passed away just about a year ago.

having come out and said it, cole took a deep breath in through his nose and turned his head away from jackie, whom he had been watching as he spoke. cole tried to keep his mind off of his brother's death, but it was involuntarily coming back to haunt his thoughts. trying to a) push james' death from his mind, and b) not have jackie pity him, which made him feel both uncomfortable and embarrassed, cole shot the same question back at jackie with a small smile,

do you?

[jackie .mae. ellison]

Jackie kept pace along side of cole and patch, by asking for a gently half halt to keep Tequila's stride a little smaller. Tequila then pinned her ears back slightly at the presence of the other horse there beside them, but Jackie gave a small nudge with her outside heel, to tell the mare to knock it off. Having company along side of them wasn't going to kill her. Jackie then listened as cole answered her question about him having any siblings. when she heard cole say but my older brother passed away just about a year ago. Jackie instantly felt a pang of guilt for having asked him, she didn't want to make him talk about anything that he was comfortable with. I'm sorry.. Jackie said softly, looking in his direction. She kept Tequila moving, at an easy paced trot, then pulled back gently and sat in her saddle and asked for a smaller stride into a sitting trot. She loved how comfortable this mare was; Jackie knew she'd be spending alot of time out her with the mare. Then she heard Cole ask 'do you?', she was kind of glad that he'd broken the silence first between the two of them.

Actually I have three older brothers, she told him; then added,so you know being the baby I was always picked on, but they toughend me up, she said with a slight smile, and a gentle laugh. She was beginning to miss home, and she hadn't even been at school that long. Even though there were times her brothers did pick on her, she missed them- and missed hanging out with them.

[Cole Green]

cole smiled as she spoke about being toughened up by three older brothers. instantly, he thought of his sister, ryan, who, despite her name, was very feminine. but she hadn't always been that way, hell no. ryan had started life as boy-ish as one could be, but changed her ways a bit once she decided that female friends would be crucial. it had been some time around sixth grade? cole couldn't remember exactly.

i'm the baby of my family, too, cole added on to the end of what jackie stated, and, straightening the gelding beneath him, cole continued, i can still blame things on my sister, he chuckled, she just switched from crying over it to hitting me, so i tend to take the blame more.

[jackie .mae. ellison]

A small smile lit Jackie's face when she heard that cole was the baby of his family too. She felt like she was really getting along with cole, and hoped that they could really be friends. She sat back slightly and moved Tequila downward to walk, and patted her neck lightly and held her reins in her inside hand, and rested her other hand on her hip. Just letting Tequila catch her breath for a moment. She looked at cole and with a slight smile, she asked So, where did you live before you came to Canterbury? She was curious being that she only made the trip from Arizona, and wondered how far other students had traveled to get to canterbury. Jackie halted Tequila and waited for Patch and cole to get ahead of them so that Jackie could turn cole and patch to get ahead of them so that she could turn and tarack tequila in the other direction.

She turned around with a smile on her face to look at cole and patch to see if they were turning around to go in this direction with them too. Tequila side stepped slightly beneath Jackie, in anticipation of what she was going to be asked to do next. Jackie loved how willing and hardworking tha Tequila was already showing her self to be.