swish swish, away!

[BAMON!]

<sub>"I really do not know why you are vocal so much."

Augusta sighed, shaking her head as she ran her fingers through her bronze coloured ringlets. She found herself curling a single ringlet around her right index finger whilst the reins were nestled comfortably in her left hand. A pair of black gloves upon her hands provided great grip. Of course it also helped that Augusta had been riding since she had been fully qualified to own her own stable, care for the horses, train them, race them, and of course breed them later on in her career. Of course she was just a small stable right now with two geldings, a mare, and two fillies, with hopefully one more mare on the way. Still, she felt she had a lot of potential as did her horses, so she was very optimistic about the whole thing. She hadn't been able to be optimistic a lot since the murder of her entire family when she was eighteen. Unfortunately at that point she was an adult, and so had always been forced to look after herself since then. A loud whinny cut through her thoughts, causing Augusta to sigh and bring the black mare to a halt.

Augusta glanced down at Wish's deep brown eyes before snapping out of it. She hadn't studied for all those years for nothing. Gathering the reins in both gloved hands she gave the mare a swift squeeze sending her into a smooth canter. The sun flooded over the pair, making the white long sleeved polo neck with pastel pink cotton unbuttoned vest top and beige jodphurs stand out against the black mare, black knee length riding boots and black gloves. Augusta felt the breeze caress her body as she let herself sink into every move Wish made. This was her first time out riding Wish, besides the training session she had with her before her first and only race, so she wanted to get a good feel for the mare. It wasn't long before Augusta pushed the thoroughbred into a gallop, finding out every setting the mare had as well as all her quirks. She could really tell this mare was going to be a good addition to her racing string. Putting the reins back in her left hand she then ran her right hand through Wish's soft mane, enjoying the feel of it in against her skin.

Who needed human contact when all the social interaction she needed was in these horses and her dogs? It was times like these she didn't mind being untouched by the opposite sex in every way. She didn't need a first kiss when she got to ride her first racehorse in his first win. They were the only kind of firsts she needed. A bright smile planted itself upon her pale complexion, her piercing cobalt blue eyes sparkling as the feeling of complete oneness with her horse flooded over her. Wish snorted softly, dragging oxygen into her constantly working lungs as she pushed herself into a faster gallop. The second, however, when she smelt the scent of another horse she squealed loudly, kicking up her hooves. Augusta glanced down at her mare before looking around. She couldn't see anyone, so with a shrug she continued keeping Augusta at her fast pace. However she soon heard hoofbeats that were not Wish's, so she brought her mare to a halt before turning around in the saddle. It wasn't long before she saw a figure and a horse in the distance. With the heat and dusty landscape it wasn't a surprise that the figure and the horse was slightly distorted in her vision.</sub>

[axelle]

Trollin took one of his last couple of steps carefully down the edge of the canyon, his dark coat covered in a coat of sweat as his nostrils flared and he snorted loudly. On top of the black gelding sat a fit and slightly sweaty man in a short sleeved polo and a dressy vest with black jeans, the only proper thing he was wearing for this weather was a black cowboy hat; he had clearly not expected to be riding today when he had first got dressed in the morning. The man however had completely forgotten about how improperly dressed he was and was smiling proudly down at his horse. It was evident Jaxon appreciated everything Trollin was doing for him, after all the gelding was so young at the age of two and was doing so much physical work. Not only was the gelding determined in everything he did from such a young age, but he also had the looks. He was gorgeous, but the only thing was that he couldn’t spread those looks. Jaxon had a thing for coloured horses or horses with interesting markings and couldn’t pass down Trollolol when he saw him. Trollin’s tail snapped out behind him as he carefully planned his steps, rocks falling out from under his hooves and off the edge of the path. Trollin’s ears flickered in all directions, taking in all the sounds around him.

Suddenly, the proud smile on Jaxon’s face vanished as Trollin’ leapt off the edge and landed with a stumble on the brittle ground of the canyon below him, Jaxon flying forward onto the gelding’s neck and gripping on for dear life. Dust rising up around the two of them as Trollin gathered himself again before charging forward eagerly, finally glad to be on flat ground again. Jaxon was pushed back into the saddle in a split second before he reached forward and grabbed the reins in his gloved hands. The leather of the gloves helping him grip firmly on the reins as he pulled back on them harshly. Trollin snorted loudly, tossing his head in the air and rising into the air slightly.

”You Troll! Stop it!”

His name definitely fit the black gelding. Along with his confusing blaze markings that could appear as if the horse had three eyes from a distance. Finally, the thoroughbred slowed and stood in place for about a second before moving backwards uneasily. He tossed his head wildly while his tail snapped out behind him again. Muscles twitching underneath his coat as it took every bit of his strength to fight against the harsh grip Jaxon had on him. When the gelding finally stopped moving for a second he received a pleased pat and soft encouraging words from his owner.

”That’s it bud, no more fooling around”

Jaxon cooed down to Trollin before loosening his grip on the reins. Trollin instantly noticing took it to his advantage and moved forward again, his legs lifting high into the air as he pranced eagerly. Trollin’s ears pinned against his skull as he wasn’t too keen on being held back so much. Jaxon steered him in a tightly half circle before giving the black thoroughbred a tight squeeze to his sides. Trollin tossed himself forward eagerly, squealing out as he was finally set free.

The sound of Trollin’s hooves and snorting echoed throughout the canyon until the sound of another horse’s squeal got the gelding’s attention. Again, Trollin stopped suddenly and spun around in his spot, throwing Jaxon onto his neck again. The gelding certainly was a troll when it came to running and stopping suddenly; it would probably be worse if he was partnered with a rider that knew nothing about his habits. Thankfully Jaxon had caught on quickly before anyone got hurt.

Regaining his balance Jaxon sat up and looked around to see what had made Trollin stop. In the distance, the figure of another horse and rider could be roughly seen through all the dirt and dust Trollin had stirred up. That must have got Trollin’s attention – he absolutely loved our little filly at August Park and was completely distracted by her at times. Jaxon chucked lightly as his hand ran over the gelding’s neck.

”Let’s go check it out,”

Jaxon’s chuckle was still lightly affecting his speech as he spoke to Trollin. As a precaution Jax’s grip tightened on the reins, shortening them quickly as well. When he had enough control Jaxon gave Trollin a firm nudge in the side and the Thoroughbred moved eagerly forever, prancing as he went towards the rider and her horse, and his ears were flickered forward curiously. As they moved closer it was more evident that they were approaching a shorter horse and a younger looking woman.

”A little hot today, isn’t it?”

Jaxon smiled as he fought with Trollin to stop the gelding in a short distance away from the other black horse. He had never had Trollin casually near another horse while being ridden and didn’t want the youngster to over-react. Jaxon gathered the reins in one hand and rolled up his sleeve at the same time. Wiping his grow with his free arm before continuing to charmingly smile at the woman on her horse.

[BAMON!]

<sub>Augusta had never been like any other women. The first thing she saw when the two approached was the eye catching gelding. His facial markings were so unique and absolutely beautiful. It was only after thorough examination of the fiesty gelding that she looked at the rider. If the rider had been a horse then Augusta had absolutely no doubt this male would be a prize stallion, in logical terms. She couldn't find any flaws in his physical appearance or expressions. He handled the thoroughbred between his legs with finesse and ease. Augusta had always found it a plus to be able to look up at a man. There was something about tall men that made her feel safe, protected, and reminded her of both inner and outer strength. She could tell when stood this man would end up taller then her. With her assessment of the man done she looked up into his eyes and offered him a shy half smile. Unease soon overcame her and she lowered her gaze back to the beautiful gelding. Augusta had always been drawn deep by the enchanting creatures known as horses. They were so majestic, powerful, raw, primal, and passionate.

Feeling a tug on the reins, Augusta's gaze snapped down onto the fourteen point three hand tall mare beneath her. She looked like a tiny imp compared to the giant of a gelding the man was riding. Wish was so far inching forward towards the gelding whilst trying not to alert her rider to it. Despite being so small she was five years old, and because of this had some wisdom in her. Wish whinnied quite loudly considering the distance between the two horses wasn't that great. Ears pricked forward, she stood calmly infront of the gelding as she reached her muzzle out towards his. Augusta watched Wish curiously. She had never seen the mare interested like this in another horse before let alone a male. A curious thought popped into her head - did Wish like really taller males like her? Shaking her head out of such a stupid thought she glanced back up at the rider trying to give a polite with a slight friendly expression despite feeling rather shy beneath all the properness.

"It is, really hot out here. I don't know why I wore such thick clothing. It looked chilly when I set off..."

Her voice faded off as she frowned. Since when did she ramble?

"Anyway, thats a beautiful horse you have there. I love his facial markings."

She added, trying to cover up whatever reason she had rambled. She supposed though rambling wasn't so out of character for her. She did tend to just ramble to her horses. It was easy to talk to them and her dogs. They never judged, never answered back, and was always there to listen, to offer support. It was just easy. She could trust them, she could tell them anything, and they would never hurt her or abandon her. She had only felt those things with animals. Other humans tended to always end up hurting her and she never felt comfortable around them. She always felt comfortable around animals. With a naturally good seat, Augusta dropped the reins before gathering up her bronze curls to tie it back into a bun with a thin black scrunchie she had on her wrist. Gathering the reins up again she held them loosely in her left hand whilst rubbing Wish's neck with her right hand.

"This is Swish Swish, I just call her Wish. I recently bought her. Despite her small size she is always making herself known. You can never miss her. I'm Augusta... I own Royal Standards Stud."</sub>

[axelle]

Jaxon continued to hold a firm grip on the youngster below him, trying to prevent Trollin from fighting against his hand. He had too much energy, too much strength, and was much too naïve to really know what he was doing and how powerful he really was. He was definitely the baby, in that sense, of August Park’s current racing string, even if it did only consist of two horses so far. Using his one free hand Jaxon tried to calm the gelding down as much as physically possible – nothing calmed this horse down. Even now, as he tried to stand perfectly still under Jaxon’s command Trollin snorted loudly every few seconds, his nostrils continuing to constantly flare, and he shifted in his spot from time to time. Jaxon just hoped that the gelding would one day realize his strength and power to smarten up and hopefully would do that before he became too much of an influence on the younger male horse on the property, Bold Target.

When Swish moved closer to him Trollin lost control. The baby couldn’t handle being held back when there was so much interest in him, he just needed to say hello to the other horse as well. Powerfully, he threw his head up in the air and gave an unexpected playful kick into the air, squealing loudly into the empty canyon in response to Wish’s own squeal. The sudden kick back sent a small amount of pain through Jaxon’s leg – this gelding always brought out the worst in it, his sudden movements always ended up taking a toll – and he winced in response. Trying to cover it up quickly he collected up Trollin’s reins and gave him a warning tug. Distance could, and would, be made if Trollin didn’t smarten up. Jaxon’s first impression would not be messed up because of some previous injury and some over-excited youngster. Trollin calmed again as he muzzle met with Wish’s own. His ears flickered forward for what seemed like a second and he let out a low nicker before, again, tossing his head up playfully and backing up. At least he made his own distance, even if it was in an attempt to play some kind of game.

Jax’s smile appeared on his face again quickly, replacing the wince of pain, when he heard the woman’s soft voice and listened to her ramble on about the heat and her outfit of choice. Jax’s was no better. At least she was prepared for a day out riding, somewhat. Jax was just supposed to go down to the barn to check out how everyone was moving in and got put to work letting Trollin let out some steam as he was giving the stable hands constant problems since the extreme early hours of the morning.

Another chuckle left Jaxon’s lips when Augusta complimented Trollolol. Yes, he certainly had charming looks, now If only he could get himself a charming personality and mature a little faster.

”He got lucky there. He kind of slack’s everywhere else,”

Kind of true. Trollin was an alright runner, he enjoyed it. A heck of a lot more than he enjoyed staying at home and pestering the stable hands. He had too much energy to not want to run. Jaxon watched as Augusta dropped the reins to collect her hair and put it into a messy bun. Jaxon almost envied her for a second. He could never just drop the reins on Trollin, he’d just take it to his advantage and play around. Suddenly, he heard her voice again and he instantly regretted not introducing himself first. What kind of professional gentlemen didn’t introduce himself first? If he was to run a stud far one day he would have to make a mental note of always introducing himself first.. he usually did, why not today?

Shaking his head lightly he nudged Trollin lightly to get the gelding to take a few steps forward. Willingly the Thoroughbred moved closer to the mare in front of him until he was almost right beside her. Again, his young mind getting the best of him as he extended his neck, lowered his head, and ran his muzzle along Wish’s rump. His lips playfully lipping at her coat as he tried to engage some kind of game from her. He had been hanging around with Bold Target for much too long. However, Jaxon didn’t notice as he collected the rains firmly in one hand and extended his free hand out to Augusta. Her name was an instant hit with him – heck she shared almost the same name as his last name, just remove the ‘a’. the thought brought a smile to his face as he introduced himself.

”I can tell, for a little thing she can definitely yell. I’m Jaxon August, owner and operator of August Park, which is hopefully one day going to be one of the better known stud farms around when one of our youngster’s grows up. You can call me Jax though, everyone always has.”

An almost playful tone to his voice towards the end of his words when he heard her say that she owned a stud farm as well. A little friendly competition never hurt anyone right? Who knows, maybe they’d team up together one day and breed some amazing future champions together. That is, if he ever got his feet on the ground and got known. No one wants a foal from a horse that wasn’t too successful.

Jaxon suddenly realized that Augusta must have come down here for a reason with Wish. No one wanted to be in this kind of weather during one of the hotter moments of the day, it was almost like a suicide mission if you had no really means to be here. Maybe he had interrupted something that she was working on with Wish, a certain training strategy? Jax only wanted to really stay around to go along the edges of the canyon to keep Trollin listening and under control.

”Trollin and I must have interrupted you’re training though… I’m sure you want to get out of this hot sun as quick as possible,”

Jax’s voice was polite and apologetic.

[BAMON!]

<sub>"Slacks huh?"

Augusta murmurred, tilting her head as she looked at the gelding again.

"Well, as far as I can see he definately has the spirit, and if thats anything to go by then probably the speed to go with it. He's just a youngster right now. Its to be expected that he'll be a little rambunktious. All males, no matter the species, are like that, and some take longer then others to harness it into something manageable or productive. I'd suggest putting him with another horse, someone submissive, that way he can race around in the paddock with that horse, encouraging him or her into racing around. That way he'll loose a lot more energy, especially if you can't up the training sessions or something. When he gets older and isn't so... must run all the time, you could use a horse walker too. That would be good for him."

Augusta responded, finding herself getting carried away with all the horse talk. It wasn't long before she was listening to the man introduce himself as Jaxon August. A very interesting name. It seemed like fate that his last name would be very similar to her first name. Augusta August. Frowning, she shook that last thought out of her head before focusing on everything around her. She had noticed Jaxon wince a little when the gelding kicked out. A twinge of concern and worry had flooded through her when she saw that. She had made herself not react though. She didn't understand why she would suddenly now be trying to interact beyond politeness with another human, especially a male. It wasn't as if male humans had ever been nice to her before. Upon hearing the name August Stud recognition flooded into her eyes. Her gaze lit up as she realised this was the man who owned the palomino colt Bold Target. She had seen him briefly when looking around the other yards and fell in love with him. Bold Target that is. Upon seeing the colt she had known he would make beautiful babies with either her filly Musicala or future mare ( if she won the auction ) Epic Attempt. She had already been making such plans for when Bold Target retired at the end of his racing career.

"Oh wow! You own that palomino colt, Bold Target. I must say, I have fallen in love with that boy. I honestly can't wait to see him on the track, and of course as a stud in later life. I have a filly and mare that I think would make an excellent breeding pair with him."

Augusta gushed, loosening up once again as she talked about horses. It was always when talking about animals that she was relaxed and genuinely her true self. Outside of it she always seemed so uptight and proper. Augusta knew it too but she couldn't help it. She always appeared like that when uncomfortable. Better for them to think she was uptight, proper, and confident then an uncomfortable little girl in her opinion.

"Hm...? Oh! You're not interrupting. I mean, you did just happen - well your gelding did just happen to get Wish's attention which did catch my attention so I stopped her, so in that sense you did interrupt in a way, but not such in a way you need to feel bad. After all, this is a free country, and wide open space. Its not your fault our horses seem to have an instant and magnetic attraction to each other. Its just what happens in the animal kingdom. The female always tends to go for the taller males. Taller always gives off the feeling of protection, and raw primal power. It makes females feel safe and lust all at the same time, so really, it is understandable. Especially since your gelding isn't on our farm so not seen as part of her herd. Its all the more interesting to her. Especially since she is so small. I mean, she comes off as confident, collected, and totally normal, besides being very vocal, but deep down I'm pretty sure she's insecure and hasn't had any good experiences with other males, so its probably natural she is going after an unknown male who has far more potential similarities and interests."

Augusta ended up rambling. When she finished she ended up confused. She had been sure she was just talking about Wish but for some reason she got this inkling that she could have been talking about herself too. Shaking her head, forcing the thoughts out of her head, she looked from the gelding up at Jaxon with her normal shy half smile.

"What I'm trying to say is, that you shouldn't feel bad, that you didn't interrupt anything important, and if you would feel it would be productive to your horse and his training regime, you could breeze with me and Wish if you like."

This was definately a wierd day.</sub>