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Description
Assignment 12: Discipline Training

A month after initially getting the tack on her for the first time, Flight and Speranza were ready to go beyond basic training. She was gaining good ground manners, knew all the basic riding commands, and was no longer pitching a fit when the saddle came into view. What Flight had planned for her was the question that had yet to be answered, and when an unsuspecting Flight ventured into the kitchen late one night and found Mikael, Cat, Alexei, Khayman, and Mars all hanging out in the kitchen, and they weren't planning to let him leave until he gave an answer.

"Hey, if it isn't the big bad mustang tamer himself!" Mikael said as a way of greeting.

"Why is everyone in the kitchen? And what the hell is that smell?" Flight said. Something had been burnt, that much was clear.

Mikael visibly tried to hold back a laugh, Mars and Khayman were outright smirking, and Cat made a strangled coughing noise. "My fault. I thought- mistakenly- that I could fry some fish. It was actually going alright at first, but then Alexei told me to try this seasoning of his and it just went downhill. It had some sort of spicy pepper in it, and then the fish caught fire, and it was a mess. I had hoped that the smell would have been gone by now," she gestured to the open windows "...but apparently not. Sorry."

Fish, peppers, and a lovely burnt smell to top it all off- lovely. At this point Alexei started giggling and Mikael couldn't hold back his laughter anymore. Cat gave Alexei a dirty look and punched Mikael in the shoulder. Anyone who spent time around Rose Thorn quickly learned that Cat could not cook well at all. She was lucky when her toast only came out half burnt to a crisp.

"Anyways," Cat said, trying to talk over the two guys who were trying to stop laughing, only to catc each other's eye and start all over again, "Have you given any thought to what discipline you want to train Speranza for?"

"We've heard she's fast. Any interest in racing?" Mars chimed in.

"You're more than welcome to try her out on the track anytime!" Cat added.

Mikael and Alexei were finally sobering up.

"Hey, you know, I've heard that mustangs can make excellent herding and cutting horses. Maybe you could help me with the sheep herd tomorrow and we could work with Sheep?" Alexei added. Sheep was Rose Thorn's single cow. He had wandered out of the forest and integrated himself into Alexei's sheep herd one day. They had asked if anyone around was missing a bull, but either he was descended from some cows that got loose when Rose Thorn had been home to a cattle ranch or someone just didn't want their cow back.

"Or we could hit the trails tomorrow," Khayman offered.

"I was thinking about going out on the trails tomorrow with Ami. It would be a good start for endurance training if you want to go that direction!" Mikael said.

Rather than trying to address all of that, Flight simply said "Isn't it going to rain tomorrow?"

"I didn't think so?"

"Psh. There's a 25% chance of rain. It'll probably just be cloudy all day, maybe sprinkle a little in the afternoon, but it's nothing to worry about."

"If it rains we won't go out out on the trails," Khayman supplied.

"But if it rains we will still all go out to the track," Mars said.

"Racing can be a good start for young horses, and you can always retrain her for endurance, trails, or," Cat paused and pretended to shiver, as if the next word out of her mouth caused her pain to say, "cutting." Cat then looked over to Alexei and smiled sweetly. "Not that I have anything against cutting. It's just the people. And they smell like sheep all the time."

As amusing as they were, Flight was tired and just wanted to get back to bed. "I haven't decided yet. What if we just try all of your suggestions and see which one she does best?"

"Perfect!" Cat said immediately, before anyone else could jump in. "I'll see you and Speranza at the track tomorrow morning, rain or shine! How's six AM sound?"

------

Flight was not a morning person. At all. But he got out of bed before the sun rose. Not that he could tell whether or not the sun was up thanks to the cloud coverage and dense fog. He pulled on some jeans and a hoodie, then went to Speranza's pasture, tacked her up, and then took her out to the track, where Mars was already breezing her filly. He found Cat in the saddling paddock brushing out her colt's mane. "Oh good, you're early!" Cat looked at her watch, then corrected her statement. "Or I've lost track of time. Mars is almost done, then you two can have a go." She looked over the two, then frowned. "That's not exactly racing tack."

"Good morning to you, too. She had such a problem with this saddle and it's still so early in her training I don't really want to try something completely new just yet."

"Fair enough. It looks like Mars is bringing Demo in, so if you want to take her down that path." Cat pointed at a trail that Flight wouldn't have noticed had she not pointed it out, "you'll get to the gates. Don't try and load her in, just go to the other end of the track at a trot, then canter back for a warm up, then situate her in front of the gates. Whenever you're ready, get her running and I'll time you both. Go about seven furlongs," she pointed at a distance marker so he would know for sure "and then canter back to about where the gates are and bring her back here to the paddocks. All set?"

Flight nodded, then grabbed Speranza's reins and led her to the turnoff at the gates, then got up in the saddle. The mare looked at the long dirt expanse and he could feel her excitement. She didn't get to gallop and hardly even get to canter when they were working, but after seeing Mars and Demo she knew she was about to have fun. She certainly had a passion for running, that much was sure. He did the warm up lap, then got her back in front of the gates, though he could tell that was not where she wanted to be- she just wanted to run.

It was at that moment that it was apparent that a 25% chance of anything was not to be ignored. In addition to the miserable fog, it started raining. A few drops at first, and then the bottom fell out. Speranza started pawing the gruond that was quickly turning to mud to get Flight's attention. She was ready. Flight stood in the stirrups, cued her, and she took off, flying through rain so cold it stung, but neither of them seemed to mind.

It looked as though they had found their discipline on the first go, and Cat's stopwatch certainly agreed.

Description
Assignment 12: Discipline Training

A month after initially getting the tack on her for the first time, Flight and Speranza were ready to go beyond basic training. She was gaining good ground manners, knew all the basic riding commands, and was no longer pitching a fit when the saddle came into view. What Flight had planned for her was the question that had yet to be answered, and when an unsuspecting Flight ventured into the kitchen late one night and found Mikael, Cat, Alexei, Khayman, and Mars all hanging out in the kitchen, and they weren't planning to let him leave until he gave an answer.

"Hey, if it isn't the big bad mustang tamer himself!" Mikael said as a way of greeting.

"Why is everyone in the kitchen? And what the hell is that smell?" Flight said. Something had been burnt, that much was clear.

Mikael visibly tried to hold back a laugh, Mars and Khayman were outright smirking, and Cat made a strangled coughing noise. "My fault. I thought- mistakenly- that I could fry some fish. It was actually going alright at first, but then Alexei told me to try this seasoning of his and it just went downhill. It had some sort of spicy pepper in it, and then the fish caught fire, and it was a mess. I had hoped that the smell would have been gone by now," she gestured to the open windows "...but apparently not. Sorry."

Fish, peppers, and a lovely burnt smell to top it all off- lovely. At this point Alexei started giggling and Mikael couldn't hold back his laughter anymore. Cat gave Alexei a dirty look and punched Mikael in the shoulder. Anyone who spent time around Rose Thorn quickly learned that Cat could not cook well at all. She was lucky when her toast only came out half burnt to a crisp.

"Anyways," Cat said, trying to talk over the two guys who were trying to stop laughing, only to catc each other's eye and start all over again, "Have you given any thought to what discipline you want to train Speranza for?"

"We've heard she's fast. Any interest in racing?" Mars chimed in.

"You're more than welcome to try her out on the track anytime!" Cat added.

Mikael and Alexei were finally sobering up.

"Hey, you know, I've heard that mustangs can make excellent herding and cutting horses. Maybe you could help me with the sheep herd tomorrow and we could work with Sheep?" Alexei added. Sheep was Rose Thorn's single cow. He had wandered out of the forest and integrated himself into Alexei's sheep herd one day. They had asked if anyone around was missing a bull, but either he was descended from some cows that got loose when Rose Thorn had been home to a cattle ranch or someone just didn't want their cow back.

"Or we could hit the trails tomorrow," Khayman offered.

"I was thinking about going out on the trails tomorrow with Ami. It would be a good start for endurance training if you want to go that direction!" Mikael said.

Rather than trying to address all of that, Flight simply said "Isn't it going to rain tomorrow?"

"I didn't think so?"

"Psh. There's a 25% chance of rain. It'll probably just be cloudy all day, maybe sprinkle a little in the afternoon, but it's nothing to worry about."

"If it rains we won't go out out on the trails," Khayman supplied.

"But if it rains we will still all go out to the track," Mars said.

"Racing can be a good start for young horses, and you can always retrain her for endurance, trails, or," Cat paused and pretended to shiver, as if the next word out of her mouth caused her pain to say, "cutting." Cat then looked over to Alexei and smiled sweetly. "Not that I have anything against cutting. It's just the people. And they smell like sheep all the time."

As amusing as they were, Flight was tired and just wanted to get back to bed. "I haven't decided yet. What if we just try all of your suggestions and see which one she does best?"

"Perfect!" Cat said immediately, before anyone else could jump in. "I'll see you and Speranza at the track tomorrow morning, rain or shine! How's six AM sound?"

------

Flight was not a morning person. At all. But he got out of bed before the sun rose. Not that he could tell whether or not the sun was up thanks to the cloud coverage and dense fog. He pulled on some jeans and a hoodie, then went to Speranza's pasture, tacked her up, and then took her out to the track, where Mars was already breezing her filly. He found Cat in the saddling paddock brushing out her colt's mane. "Oh good, you're early!" Cat looked at her watch, then corrected her statement. "Or I've lost track of time. Mars is almost done, then you two can have a go." She looked over the two, then frowned. "That's not exactly racing tack."

"Good morning to you, too. She had such a problem with this saddle and it's still so early in her training I don't really want to try something completely new just yet."

"Fair enough. It looks like Mars is bringing Demo in, so if you want to take her down that path." Cat pointed at a trail that Flight wouldn't have noticed had she not pointed it out, "you'll get to the gates. Don't try and load her in, just go to the other end of the track at a trot, then canter back for a warm up, then situate her in front of the gates. Whenever you're ready, get her running and I'll time you both. Go about seven furlongs," she pointed at a distance marker so he would know for sure "and then canter back to about where the gates are and bring her back here to the paddocks. All set?"

Flight nodded, then grabbed Speranza's reins and led her to the turnoff at the gates, then got up in the saddle. The mare looked at the long dirt expanse and he could feel her excitement. She didn't get to gallop and hardly even get to canter when they were working, but after seeing Mars and Demo she knew she was about to have fun. She certainly had a passion for running, that much was sure. He did the warm up lap, then got her back in front of the gates, though he could tell that was not where she wanted to be- she just wanted to run.

It was at that moment that it was apparent that a 25% chance of anything was not to be ignored. In addition to the miserable fog, it started raining. A few drops at first, and then the bottom fell out. Speranza started pawing the gruond that was quickly turning to mud to get Flight's attention. She was ready. Flight stood in the stirrups, cued her, and she took off, flying through rain so cold it stung, but neither of them seemed to mind.

It looked as though they had found their discipline on the first go, and Cat's stopwatch certainly agreed.