Riding Lessons Repost

[Asfaloth]

When Anwashawn finished his morning workout he returned to his room to change clothes before going to breakfast. He dressed simpy, belted on weapons and went to the dining hall. As he walked he contemplated what to do with the day. This was one of those rare occasions when he was free from training with Corin. These had come so infrequently he still wasn't sure what to do with these small blessings of free time.

 

He had finished breakfast and was walking back to his room when it occurred to him that he'd never ridden a horse, had no real idea what was required in doing so, and that any true Tower Guard or Warder would be at least passing familiar with the skill. As he was free he decided to remedy the situation and took himself over to the stables.

 

When he got there he saw a warder in color-shifting cloak rubbing down a horse in one of the stalls. "Excuse me Sir. My name is Anwashawn. I am a trainee here in the Yards and I was wondering if you could teach me what you know about horses and how to ride them?"

 

OOC:Any other trainees that want to join feel free to overhear and join in.

-------------------------------------------

Kynwric had arrived the night before and spent the remainder of that night secreted in the Tower with Loraine pouring over the clues they had picked up on this most recent trip. Fortunately for him and unfortunately for her the Captain-General had asked to see her and so Kyn hd escaped down to the stables. He had taken up a brush to see to their horses, knowing that the grooms had already done so, but it gave him a reason to stay.

 

"Excuse me Sir. My name is Anwashawn. I am a trainee here in the Yards and I was wondering if you could teach me what you know about horses and how to ride them?"

 

Kynwric turned and sized up the boy who was adressing him. "Teach you what I know? Boy that would take weeks, assuming you had ever sat a horse before. It isn't simply about knowledge, it is about developing skill just as you practice with a sword you have to practice with a horse. The difference being that a horse has a mind of its own and is liable to not want to jump over the fire to charge a dozen trollocs." Kynwric watched the reacton for a moment and then nodded. "If you have the time to learn and learn properly I'll teach you. Go ask the grooms to get you a horse, tack and saddle and grooming tools and bring it all out into the corral. We'll start there."

 

Kynwric reached out and grabbed Horse's bridle and led him out into the corral and waited there leaning against the fence while Anwashawn did as he was told.

-------------------------------------------

"Teach you what I know? Boy that would take weeks, assuming you had ever sat a horse before. It isn't simply about knowledge, it is about developing skill just as you practice with a sword you have to practice with a horse. The difference being that a horse has a mind of its own and is liable to not want to jump over the fire to charge a dozen trollocs."

 

"I see. Well it is important and I've never been one to turn away from a challenge so I would the lessons."

 

"If you have the time to learn and learn properly I'll teach you. Go ask the grooms to get you a horse, tack and saddle and grooming tools and bring it all out into the corral. We'll start there."

 

As the warder led his horse away Shawn turned back to the stable and spoke to the nearest groom, asking for the items he was told to get. A short while later the groom returned leading a gentle looking beast and asked, "Would you like me to saddle her for you?"

 

"No, that's quite alright, I believe that may be my first lesson. If you just bring me the neccessary items I'll carry them over."

 

While waiting for the groom Shawn took a moment to look the horse over. Not knowing much about horses he didn't really know what he was looking for but he wanted to be as familiar with the animal as he could in such a short time. So he held out his hand for the horse to sniff and then started petting its nose. When the groom returned Shawn placed the saddle onto the horse's back thinking it would be fine unsecured for such a short distance. He carried the blanket, bridle, and basket of grooming tools and led the horse to the corral where his instructor waited.

 

"I am ready sir. Before we begin, may I ask your name?"

-------------------------------------------

"I am ready sir. Before we begin, may I ask your name?"

 

"Aye you can ask..." And Kynwric smiled at the shocked look on his face. "I am Kynwric Gaidin." Kyn eyed the horse and the equipment that he brought with him and nodded. FIrst lesson, never, ever, ever put a saddle on a horse without a blanket. She'll be unhappy which will make you unhappy. and if I see it I'll be unhappy and that'll make you very unhappy. Understood?" Kyn had been holding his gaze on the boy and when Shawn nodded he gave a short nod. "Good."

 

"Now get that saddle off her and let's start with how to groom a horse." Kyn still held the brush he had been using on his hand and motioned for Shawn to get it out. "First you brush her down, you do this evertime you take a saddle off, while you are brushing her out aso look for burrs and stickers in her fur. Those can be driven in by brushing so you need to pick them out before you brush over the area. Now listen, this is ver important. Never stand directly behind a horse. Not for any reason. You'll find yourself dead." With that Kyn half turned and began to brush down Horse. "See how I am doing this? Do the same to her. Work front to back. Go on now, give your ole girl there a good brushing out."

-------------------------------------------

Shawn accepted the chastiment gracefully and vowed to never do it again. Then he listened to instructions Kynwric gave on grooming and got to work.

 

It seemed the stable boys had done their jobs well for there was little to do by way of brushing. The horse's hair was all laying flat and running the right direction before Shawn even started but he went through the process anyway to cement it into his head. He found no burrs and only one sticker during the process and was sure to remove it before brushing.

 

He took his time about the process, slowly moving from front to back and top to bottom then doing the same again on the other side. When he'd finished he looked expectantly toward the warder for further instruction.

-------------------------------------------

"Aye good. Next you need to check her hooves." He picked up the cleaning pick and moved over beside Shawn's horse, showing him ow to clean the hoof and check the shoe. He moved through all the other steps of caring for a horse and watched as Shawn completed them all satisfactorily. "Good, good. Now we're going to saddle her from the beginning.". He looped a rope over the mare's head and removed the bit and bridle. "Anytime you get a horse out of the stable you'll use a rope around her neck, then you put in the bit like so, once you get the bit in then you slide the rest of the bridle over the horse's head. Sometimes you'll have to force the jaw open and you do that just like you would a person." He moved through the rest of the steps of saddling a horse and showed shawn all of them, watching as he duplicated each one with instruction and then again without any help.

 

OOC: Just move through this last part and describe it out and then we'll move along.

-------------------------------------------

Shawn watched as Kynwric finsihed the grooming process and then instructed him in the steps to saddling and bridling the horse. Shawn repeated these steps, though the know for the cinch strap took a couple of tries to get right. Kynwric then had Shawn take everything off and repeat the entire process to ensure the lesson was learned.

 

When he was satisfied that Shawn could groom and saddle the horse without supervision Kynwric showed helped him to adjust the stirrups and made sure Shawn could do that as well.

-------------------------------------------

OOC: darnit, sorta late, but i'm here!

 

IC: Mark wandered down into the yard after lunch to see what was up for the day. Maybe he could catch some free time watching trainees get beaten into the ground, or even just......relax....no, not that. He left his greatsword in his room and made his way out into the open.

 

There was some horse riding lessons apparently going on, and not too many people had showed up to try out. Since Mark and horses had a natural "distaste"(yes, that word isn't even close, but still) for each other, it looked like a good idea to try out.

 

Mark wandered over to the sharpest looking one there and introduced himself.

 

"Hey, i'm Mark. I'm really bad with horses, and wanna try out here. Is that okay?"

-------------------------------------------

"It's fine, go and get a horse, tack and harness and grooming tools and we'll get you started." And pointed inside as he spoke to Mark. Then turning back to Shawn. "Alright m'boy, climb on up there. One hand on the wither and the other on the saddle, left foot in the stirrup and then up and over you go."

-------------------------------------------

Mark stared at the horse, wondering about the briliance of coming down here in the first place. His own two legs had lasted him long enough, why stop now? He turned to leave, only to be blocked by the form of Kynwric behind him. Not too well thought out, for an escape plan. Mark sighed and turned once more to the horse, working up his nerve to get on the bloody thing.

 

He tentatively placed his foot into the first stirrup, and was promptly bitten by the horse. Kynwric only smiled at the attempt, which angered Mark, and drove him to try again, with moderately more success. He managed to prop himself precariously in the saddle and waited to hear what to do next.

-------------------------------------------

OOC: hey Mark, go get your own horse this one's mine Wink

 

IC: Shawn grabbed hold of the pommel of the saddle with his left hand, placed his right on the withers and lifted his left foot into the stirrup. This was it, now he would see what the horse really thought of having someone climb on her back. With that thought he pressed off the gorund and swung his right leg over the saddle and into the other stirrup. The horse moved around a little, probably she was accustomed to more graceful riders, but Shawn held his seat until she settled down.

 

"Well, that wasn't too bad a mounting was it? What's next?"

-------------------------------------------

"Next we ride... pass me the reins and let's get you used to sitting on the bloody critter while it moves." Kynwric began to walk the horse around a bit, letting Shawn get used to the bouncing gait. He saw Mark returning astride a horse and narrowed his eyes. "Get down off that thing Mark, you'll be startin' from the beginning." He led the horse Shawn was sitting on a couple more rounds as he let Makr figure out how to get down on his own. Finally Kynwric stopped the horse and handed the reins back to Shawn. "Alright keep that pace up and keep control, it should only take a light hand to guide this anmial, so don't jerk her around. Just keep riding and getting used to it."

 

Kyn then turned his attention to Mark. "Alright, first things first, unsaddle her and find the grooming brush, it should have been in that bucket the grooms gave you."

-------------------------------------------

Kynwric was right, the animal was a placid beast that had a nice gentle gait. It seemed the stable boys could tell he was inexperienced and had shown pity on him with their choice. This really wasn't that bad. Actually Shawn found it to be rather enjoyable to sit up high and move about without much effort. He could see now what the draw was to it. Shawn decided he could definitely get used to this. In fact, it might be worth it to see how comfortable he could be going faster.

 

"Hey Kynwric Sir," Shawn called out. "How do I get her to go faster...Never mind, I think I figured it out." And indeed he had, for as he called out to the warder he accidentally kicked the horse's flanks and she started to trot. He held on to the horse with his knees and the reins with his hands and let the horse decide for herself where to go. He reveled in the feel of the air rushing by him until he saw that they were coming back around to where Kynwric and Mark were standing with the other horse. It was then that he realized he didn't know how to stop.

-------------------------------------------

"Pull back on the reins!" Kyn yelled out as he spotted the horse and riderbearnig down on them, grabbing the reins from Mark he turned the second horse to the side, putting her between themselves and Shawn's horse. Having pushed the other trainee against the rails of the fence he scrmbled up onto them as Shawn, well more like his mount, went around the obstruction of the other horse and continued on. "You pull back on the reins to stop her!" Waiting amoment to see if Shawn acknowledge him or not.

 

OOC: On LoA till next monday, see you all then. Shawn continue riding. Mark work on the grooming and then assuming it is all alright start the riding the Shawn has been doing.

-------------------------------------------

OOC:hehe, that took off on me....

 

IC: Mark got off as quick as he could, diving from the beast.

 

"Well, that was a disaster. I'll go get that tack instead." Mark turned to the stabled, and headed to the room for a saddle, bit, and brush.

 

OOC:More later. g2g

-------------------------------------------

OOC: NOW i continue Very Happy

 

IC: Mark walked slowly to the stables, thinking of all the experiences he had been through with horses over the years. Growing up in his northern sjienaran farm with abusive family, he had never had much confidence with animals, and they somehow took notice of this whenever they could. He had been bitten, stomped, kicked, and even sat on by the fanily plow horse many times. His vast hatred for the beasts was VERY called for, but he couldn't deny their usefullness in overland transportation. Sighing with great regret at having to go into the stables, Mark walked into them.

 

He was greeted with the stench of the hundreds of horses that had lived there over the centuries, every one of them leaving a familiar stench in his nose. Moving quickly, he found the saddle room, and grabbing a brush and saddle, moved back outside to see what he could learn today.

 

Kynwric was waiting for him outside, and Mark moved over to where he was standing. Placing the saddle down, he looked at the mount ready for him. It was a mangy thing, all placid and such, but the minute he rested the brush on its backside, it turned and attemped to bite him. He resisted the urge to pull his longknife out and take the things throat out, and went back to scrubbing the beast vigorously, getting it done as fast as possible.

 

Glowering with dark anger, Mark turned back to Kynwric and asked as politely as he could how to saddle the horse. All he wanted right now was to bite it, but a tightly sinched strap was all of the revenge that he was going to get for the moment.

-------------------------------------------

While Kynwric taught Mark the basics of grooming and saddling, Shawn used the time to practice riding. It seemed that the lithe and fluid musculature his body was developing through swimming was paying off here as well. He seemed to be having much less difficulty than mark, or indeed any of the others in the Yards. This was a new experience for him, something he took to almost as easily as he had to swimming.

-------------------------------------------

Mark stared at the other trainee, who took so easily to the horses, as if they were a part of him. No matter what the talent may be, Mark enjoyed to watch those who were good at something. He spent hours just watching warders pound trainees into the ground. This other guy had some talent.

 

"Hey, you there. You look like you're taking well to this horse riding thing. Could you show me how you did it?" he asked just before falling from his own horse.

-------------------------------------------

"Yeah, sure. It's really not that hard. Get on and then grip with your knees. Kick lightly with your heels and the horse will start moving. If you decide to go faster just kick him again, not too hard, just enough to give him the message. Don't hold too hard on the reins , grip with your knees instead. I've found that holding pulling on the reins for gripping just tells the horse to stop, so doing that and kicking at the same time just confuses the poor horse and makes him irritable."

[_Kynwric_]

Kynwric watched as the boys began to ride, wkeeping an eye on them and urging them to try different things with the horses, including backing up and moving them from side to side. All skills they would need if they ever formed a cavalry line. "Alright gentlemen, bring it in here." When both of them brought the horses and were in front of him he began again. "The rub down and cleaning needs to be repeated, make sure those horses get back in the stables and the grooms know they are there. Tomorrow we go riding for real, outside of town where you can really learn what it is to ride. Not to mention having to chase a horse if he unseats you... for miles. Dismissed and see you following breakfast in the morning, oh and bring your weapons with you."

[Asfaloth]

Shawn took his time unsaddling and grooming the horse. He found the grooming process to be as relaxing for himself as for the horse. After leading the horse back to the stable he sought the advice of the stableboys and fed some grain to the beast.

 

 

 

The next morning Shawn went through his regular fitness routine and then went to breakfast at the mess hall. He had a quick and hearty breakfast before rushing back to his room to get his weapons. As soon as he could he ran to the stable.

 

He tried to request the same docile horse that he had ridden yesterday but was told that she had been taken out by someone else earlier that morning. Instead he was given a very spirited gelding named Thunder.

 

After grooming and saddling the Thunder Shawn waited for Kynwric and Mat to arrive so they could set out.

[_Kynwric_]

Kynwric arrived a few moments later, a scowl on his face, his demeanor changed little when he saw Shawn standing there with his horse ready. Without saying a word Kynwric looked his horse up and down, taking a critical eye to the job he had done. With a grunt Kynwric nodded his head in assent and headed into the stable, returning a fe wminutes later with his own horse. "Let's go..." He swung up into his saddle and led the way out of the grounds and city... looking for a good place to begin the real lessons of horsemanship.

 

OOC: Sorry for the delay, after we talked I had RL come up and bite me badly.

[Asfaloth]

The warder seemed to be in a rather bad mood today and this worried Shawn. Would their time together be as helpful as he hoped or would the other man be too pre-occupied to give Shawn the instruction he needed?

 

Shawn thought it best if he just kept his mouth shut and followed along but his curiosity got the better of him as they left the Yards. "I hope you don't mind my asking Sir, but where are we going?"

[_Kynwric_]

Kynwric guided Shawn out from the village of Alindaer, having ignored the question of where we were going and simply leading on. When he finally pulled up atop a small hillock centered in a clearing he wheeled his horse about.

 

"Alright, you know where we are?" Without waiting he pointed over the treetops at a hill a few leagues away. "Meet me there. There should be no reason for you to dismount... just ride. It is up to you to choose the path best for your horse and yourself. I'll be judging you on the condition of both when you arrive, in addition to timeliness." Kynwric laready knew the path he would take, but it was up to Shawn to decide what his own path would be. "Any questions?"

[Asfaloth]

"No Sir, I have no questions. I will be with you shortly." Shawn replied as politely as he could and then watched the warder ride away. He surveyed the land between himself and his destination, trying to discern the inherent dangers and find the easiest and fastest route.

 

A straight path would be the shortest but consisted of several hills and planety of rocks, pitfalls that could injure the horse if they rode too fast. He saw another option that would allow for greater speed as there were few dangers to be seen from this vantage. The problem with that route was that it was nearly five times as long as it wound around the outskirts of the clearing.

 

Shawn decided on route that was as balanced as he could see, knowing that he'd probably have to change the route as he went anyway. He started off heading straight down the hill at a run but when he came to the first rock pile he turned right and kept his speed instead of slowing to go through it.

 

Eventually the rocks ended and he turned left, back toward his goal. The angle was all wrong though, he'd gone further off course than he'd thought. He angled back toward the hill that was his target and urged his horse on to more speed.

 

Soon enough he came to another rocky outcropping. By this point his horse was lathered from all the running and Shawn mentally upbraided himself for not paying attention to the horse's condition. He slowed to a walk and helped guide the horse through the many dangers represented by the various rocks and the holes that threatened to twist the horse's ankle.

 

By the time he made it through his horse was ready to go again and looked relieved to have taken the rest. There were now no more obstacles between him and the hill Kynwric had pointed to. It was a straight shot from here to there with nothing but a gentle slope to slow them.

 

Shawn was tempted to gallop ahead to make up some of the time he'd spent detouring and walking but then remembered that he was getting judged partially on their condition upon arrival and how the horse had reacted to the last run. So Shawn settled for a fast trot and made it to the top of the hill where Kynwric was waiting in only a little more time than he would have running.

 

The older man didn't seem much in the mood for conversation today so Shawn simply waited for the assesment he knew would be coming.

[Mark_Mandragoran]

OOC: *cough, hack*......not....late, am i?

 

IC: Mark stared out over the fields as Kynwric rode away and left him to ride his way back down to where he was told to go. He had gotten out of bed later than usual that day, somewhere around daybreak, and only gotten in a little excercise before going to the stables. The sight of the angry warder had intimidated him, but anyone with lots of fighting skill did that to others, and he respected his human heritage by allowing his human fear to keep him from doing stupid things, like challenging people like kynwric to a duel.

 

Mark had somewhat screwed up saddleing his horse, and the ride out to the hill had been long because he slid all over the place. So right after jynwric disappeared over a rise, Marl dismounted and tightened the saddle. When he got up, looked around, chose the easiest and most scenic route, and started off.

 

Easy it wasn't. Mark spent the next half hour letting the horse pick a route, and he held on for dear life, not wanting to admit that the horse could beat him by simply walking. The end of the rough path moved into a forested area, where Mark proptly fell off and recouperated. Getting back into the saddle, he noticed a slight groove in his pelvic bone, and for some reason... the saddle felt a little bit better. Just a bit

 

Ignoring the looks he got when he arrived, Mark waited to see how he and the other follow did.

 

OOC: good? tell me iff i did something wrong...

[_Kynwric_]

OOC: S'fine, we'll assume you mae it to the meeting.

 

IC:

 

Kynwric was loungins about the hilltop he had pointed out when Shawn arrived and he glanced around for Mark. "I guess we wait now... you made good time. Have a seat and let the horse graze. The next part will not be so leisurely." Kyn then lay back in the grass and waited some more, he could feel agitation floating across his bond and knew Loraine must be embroiled in something or other within the tower, prolly arguing over a book again. he smirked as he thought of that and how much easier, and duller, his life would be if she was Brown instead of Green. he sat up as he noticed a stirring in the horses and then heard the sound of hoofbeats on the ground.

 

Finally when Mark had arrived and had a moment to rest Kynwric looked over them both. "Well, not bad. The horses look in good shape, in better shape than you do ayway Mark. Next up it mounted combat... so saddle up and get out your weapons." Kynwric mounted himself and ran through several drills, including on how to roll off your horse when it was wounded or killed. "Alright, practice those and let's see how well you've learned."

 

OOC: Make up some things to do with your weapons from horseback, including working through any problems and then do the falling off your horse bit. I've got one more thing after this and then we're good I believe.

[Asfaloth]

Shawn accepted the praise for his speed and his horse's condition on arrival with humility and grace. It was easy to do so considering he only did as well as he did because of the instruction Kynwric had given. Well, that and the horse itself, he was lucky to have been given an intelligent and well-trained horse this morning.

 

Kynwric demonstrated several sword techniques for them to copy and Shawn learned them as well as he could. The bad news was that he could only use one of his swords if he was to control the horse. When he asked the Warder about that he was told that if he spent enough time with a well-trained horse then he would be able to send it commands during battle without using the reins.

 

Not that the attack and defense moves Kynwric showed them were easy, far from it, but with enough practice Shawn felt that he was at least competent enough to practice further on his own. Then came the hard part. Kynwric wanted them to learn how to escape from a horse that was wounded or killed to prevent being squashed by it.

 

This move consisted of pulling up the leg on the side the horse was falling to and rolling away as he fell. The first time he tried Shawn landed on his head directly under where the horse would have been if Kynwric hadn't stopped him from falling. Eventually though Shawn learned the trick and succeeded in removing himself from the horse in all manner of ways depending on what the horse was doing.

[Mark_Mandragoran]

Mark liked the sound of their next lesson. Something that would finally be applicable and usefull to him!! He whipped out his greatsword and tested the weight in his right hand. Considering he could use the weight of the running horse as momentum, things started to come easier. As long as he concentrated on the swordwork, he instantly did better at his riding(someting unconscious), and it fell into place. Being overeager, though, he overreached and flung himslf from his saddle with his own weight. He only grinned, though, cause todays lesson just got better! He looked over at the other guy to see how he was doing.

"hey, everything workin for ya?"