Erm...next day I guess. 19th, early-ish.

Word Count → 702

Dixie was up pretty early the next morning, tacking Duke up and mounting to go for a ride as the sun came up over the mountain’s peak. She sat upon her horse as the sunrise washed over the valley and lake coloring it in beautiful shakes of oranges and muted blues and purples. It was breathtaking to say the least, made her wish she was gifted in the art of painting, so she could capture the moment forever. Once she was done ogling, the real work began. Because both of the males were sleeping, she rode up to Gypsy and tossed a rope around the mare’s neck. Yipping softly, she gave a tug and walked them a few hundred feet away to get a short morning workout done. If she planned on training Thomas to do anything with horses, the beasts needed to get some early morning energy washed out before taking on the untrained man.

Kicking her heels into Duke’s sides, she encouraged him to pick up the pace to a steady lope, her body falling into the motions easily as they rode around in wide circles. The morning air was crisp and cool, a light breeze washing up from the huge lake, making everything more refreshing. Her sleep had been perfect, warm and snuggled up to Wayne always helped her get more sleep. Happy and slightly giddy for the start of the day, she got the horses to go even faster, laughing heartily as they galloped around the field. There was nothing to stop her from having this fun, the feeling of total freedom washing through her body. No one and nothing was going to make this moment any less significant than it was in her mind.

After about thirty minutes of riding, she noticed a light foaming of bubbly white sweat covering Duke’s neck and shoulders. Smiling, she slowed him to a walk and took then back over the tree where the men were at. Wayne was up with a small fire going again, a little kettle of water boiling and some dried meat sitting out for their small morning meal. Dixie slid down from Duke’s back and took all of his tack off, letting him go roll in the grass and play in the water with Gypsy for a while. Her body sank down to the ground near Thomas and she grinned at him seeing that he was still a little sleepy looking, but overall alert and ready to start with his horse training.

”Okay, Mr. Thomas…after we have a bit of food, we’re gonna get you started with Duke; just the rub down and the tackin’ up parts first.” Her voice was soft and smooth, letting him know that everything would be okay and that she had control of the situation. Wayne took all the bedding and rolled it up, putting it back in the traveling packs so it would be ready when they decided to move once again. He gave Gypsy a few pets before coming back and taking a few bites of the dried jerky meat. Dixie grinned at him as she ate some and handed a few pieces to Thom. It was tough and pretty much tasteless, but there was nutrition in it that was vital to their survival…and it stemmed the hunger growling in their bellies.


Once they were all done eating, Dixie stood and took Thomas’s hand, leading him over to where the now dirty horses were grazing. She reached down and grabbed a large handful of grass. ”We don’t have enough room to be carrying brushes around, but this works almost as good. Just rub the grass in circles all over the dirty spots, the rough texture will make the dirt and dead hair fall away easily.” She continued to rub her grass filled hand over a small patch of the chestnut stud’s withers, showing Thom how all the dirty stuff just seemed to conglobate and fall away. The horse sighed and shook his body a bit, sending dust flying all over. Dixie just smiled and shook her head, rubbing the grass over him more, ”This is also a good bonding technique…so c’mon, let’s get him all cleaned up.”

Poor Thom and his bum leg.

Word Count → 785

Thomas was doing well for his first little lesson, not that it was hard…but he trusted her enough to get near the horse and start working on it. The nervous hesitation as he got closer and took up a handful of grass wasn’t lost upon the little female, and she appreciated that he was giving this whole thing a try. Smiling, she walked around to the other side and started brushing that side as well, quickly getting the dirt and grime off. After a while of scrubbing the dirt off, she went back around and nodded, ”Good job.” Her hands swiped over the horse’s side, brushing off any excess hair, her pink palms coming away covered in the short reddish hairs.

Turning to Thomas, she took the grass from him gently and tossed it to the ground. ”When you move around a horse, you’ve got to be careful and very alert. They can get finicky sometimes and get the urge to kick or bite.” She got closer to Duke’s backside and placed one small paw on his rump, patting gently. Her body moved around to the other side of the horse, pressed close to his tail end and hind legs the entire time. ”If you stay close enough to the legs, a kick won’t do much but move you back a few inches…if you were standin’ back a few feet, you’d get hurt pretty darn bad.” Her hands patted over the horse’s flanks and back slowly, feeling him for any bumps or scabs. Once she was sure that he was free of lacerations, she turned and went back over to the tree.

”Now, Thomas…I see that you got yerself a hurtin’ leg there. You won’t be needin’ to ride if it’s hurt real bad. After I show you how to tack up, we’re gonna need to have a look at it, make sure there ain’t no infection growin’, alright?” Smiling again, she hefted the large western style saddle and walked over to Duke, setting it on the ground gently at Thom’s feet. Her hands pulled a thick layer of soft skins from under the saddle and handed the bundle to the male. ”This is a saddle pad, helps for the leather to not chaff at the horse’s back as they are ridden. Go ahead and put it up there, on the withers here, and then slide it down a few inches…perfect…” She smoothed the skins out over the horse’s back and nodded slowly, ”Time for the saddle, if you can pick it up with the hurtin’ leg? It’s a bit heavy, now…” She watched with a little smile as Thom bent, wincing a little, and scooped the saddle up. Moving the stirrups out of the way, she motioned for him to settle it up on the horses back slowly.

It seemed as if Thomas was just a natural it this, as he didn’t need any help with putting the saddle on. Or perhaps he was just a quick learner and was good at observing. Once the saddle was up in place, she reached under Duke’s belly and grabbed the strap, pulling it around and curling it through the loop on their side of the saddle. ”Now there are two of these straps for holdin’ the saddle on. The one in the back is a bit bigger than the front, and you tie it like this…” She proceeded to show him how to slide the strap through the metal loop, then around itself and back again, forming a perfect knot that could be untied easily. Moving up to the front strap, she pulled that part up as well, not as tight as the back one though. ”This one is a bit different, and can just buckle on usually…the little clasp here broke about a month ago, though. I’ve taken to just wrapping it through the small metal loop a few times ‘till it gets stuck, then it ain’t goin’ nowhere till someone gives it a tug.”

When the saddle was put on and secured properly, she took a set back and patted Thomas’s shoulder gently. ”Let’s go look at your leg. Duke can wear the saddle for a few moments…and when you start ridin’, you won’t have no reins at first. It helps with the balance.” She said softly, sliding her hand into his and walked him over to the fire, where Wayne was cleaning his saddle and reins, occasionally taking a bite of jerky. Sitting down with her back against a boulder, she patted the ground at her side, inviting Thom to sit there as well, ”Go ‘head and take the pants off first so we can have a look at the wound.”