Practice and Potential

I want to cry XD. This was meant to be a pretty sketchy piece and - as usual - that didn't work. But on the plus side, I like the outcome well enough. It was fun to do the very flat perspective of Lakewood receding into the distance, and I realised I haven't really drawn Poe properly face on before, either, so you can really see her face marking here, too.

Anyway...

This is her officially moving away from her foal-hood. She's just hit four years old so I've got a few images planned to get her trained, backed and ridden away. I'm also hoping to induct her into the %equiBREAK program, because its a wonderful idea and I was aiming to do those sort of images anyway.

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Note that Poe is not being lunged in this picture. I'm not bringing my personal opinions in, but Chess (who is not me), isn't fond of it for her own reasons. She was raised with natural methods so they're the ones she likes to use first and foremost. Shown here is the Parelli circling game - one of seven ground games. Chess uses a variety of natural methods and beliefs, rather than sticking to one set, but it must be said she likes the ground games from the Parelli programme.

If you want to know more, by all means google the games. There's lots of information. Alternately, I've previously explained the general idea of it here: fav.me/d4t24yo . Some explanation is in the story.

Also, in case anyone had noticed or was questioning it; yes, Chess' hair is getting steadily longer. She may cut it one day

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Chess was so absorbed in her work with Poe, that it surprised her to look up from the young horse's even circles around her and see the sky was pale blue; long shadows cast across Lakewood's yellowing fields as the sun began to climb, setting a golden light around the bronze leaves in all the trees on the Farm.

Chess smiled. She loved autumn; it was a beautiful time of year, but her favourite had always been winter. She had always been told she was a winter spirit and there had never been any joy quite like standing in the snow at 1am and smelling that crispness to the air that only came when yet more snow was on the horizon. But everyone at Lakewood was different; Becca was their summer girl - she didn't detest cold weather, but she didn't fare well with it, either. Twitch, on the other hand, was an Autumn soul, and each year they watched her come to life a little more when the leaves began to change.

Poe snorted, and Chess snapped her attention back. The young mare had just hit four years old - or she would in a matter of days. The fuzzy, leggy body of her foal-self had been replaced gradually - so gradually, that suddenly it was like looking at a new horse, even though they'd watched her grow. She still had a slight babyish delicacy to her body, the way she moved and the expression in her face, but she no longer looked gangly and awkward. Her mane and tail had grown out, her neck had formed the distinctive Arabian arch that was a strong trait in her bloodline, and the elegant dish to her face was almost the exact shape of both her mother and grandmother's.

She trotted smoothly about, keeping out on her circle with her ebony tail high on the bone, her neck arched down and her inside ear flicked steadily onto Chess. Her slender jaw worked gently and her white lower lip flopped in easy relaxation. Chess smiled at her. They had not embarked on any saddle training until she was four - that was always the plan - but she had done a fair bit of ground work over the years, so she was already well adjusted. She had also taken on Mossy's distinctive trait of desire to please, even if there were clearly parts of her sire in there, too.

Chess turned her shoulder in, and Poe snorted again, taking the cue for what it was and wheeling directly into the middle of the circle. The blonde spun away as soon as the little Arabian responded, flicking out the line and changing her body language again to push her out.

Poe obeyed with an almost proud skip in her step, picking up her trot once more, sailing past Chess and back onto the circle, having changed directions. Her new inside ear locked onto Chess and she arched her neck again.

Chess remained still. The little mare was very sensitive - a combination of mother, father, even her grandmother, and Arabian heritage in general. They were hoping it would make learning the games quicker, and so far, it had been working. Poe had already picked up on them all, so now they were just working on subtlety. The idea was to generate a response without the handler needing to do much of anything at all. Horses like Romany who were used to people flapping about around them were harder to work with, and they often needed more pressure on them for longer before starting to get the hang of it.

Poe trotted on, waiting and calm.

Chess took a breath. It was light out now; the stars had still been out when she led Poe from the Barn earlier. They would soon have to head inside for daily chores to start up. It was worth a try.

Keeping herself still as possible and quiet, Chess lifted her hand on the rope.

It seemed like so long ago that Candace had experienced trouble with halter training Poe, because she was so sensitive to visual cues. She'd grown since then, and some of that she had simply grown out of as she adjusted to yard life. Now they needed to teach her to respond to selective visual cues.

The rope remained slack but Poe raised her head, feeling the weight down it to her halter shift. Her trot lengthened. Chess turned her shoulders square, and that was all the mare needed.

She skipped into an even canter, hooves striking rhythmically on the rubber mix surface of the outdoor school; her mane flying back and puffs of her breath coming out in small clouds in the cold.

"Good Girl!" Chess exclaimed, beaming at her. Poe tossed her head. It was a far better response than it had been when they'd started and it was still early days. And Candace would be up at the weekend to work with her, too. She was still in school, and it was difficult for her to be allowed much time at Lakewood, but now that Poe was being backed after years of waiting, she had been granted a few trips, so long as her classes weren't interferred with.

There was the far off, faint rumble of what was unmistakeably their faulty kettle in the Den, and Chess reminded herself that they'd been working long enough. She turned in her shoulder again, and Poe immediately slowed up and trotted in to her. Her little muzzle pressed against Chess' woollen beret hat and the blonde laughed.

"You did good, Poetry," she murmured, and the Arabian arched her neck as if in pride. Chess gave her a good pat across the neck, coiled up the long line and began leading her to the gate, only stopping to grab the discarded carrot stick from the ground. They walked back through the paths and around to the front of the yard before heading into the warmth of the main barn through the farm yard.

The goats were all clustered by their stall door, bleating out their demand for breakfast. Eskimo - their Egyptian Mau who was somewhat elusive most days - was sitting by the steps to the hay loft. He appeared to be contemplating whether showing his face was worth it to get a bowl of tuna.

Chess led Poe back into her loose box and slid off her new rope halter. The one she had worn for years had been bought for her as a foal, and she had finally outgrown it, so the new dark red one had been bought online a month ago. The halter rested back on its peg and Poe turned to her waiting haynet as soon as she was rugged up to ward off the chill.

Stopping to pat Mossy and Aphie on her way down the barn, Chess finally made it to the Den.

Peanut looked up from the couch where she'd stayed since they'd headed down from the farmhouse that morning. Her tail flicked back and forth, but she stayed where she was. Becca was bundled up in a huge fleece jacket as she assembled cups on the side table.

"Morning," she said. "Poe?"

Chess took that to mean she was asking how the mare did.

"Fine," Chess shrugged. "Responding nicely now, but we'll get some more practice in." She was suddenly overcome with the kind of warm, heady feeling a person got after swallowing a box of smarties and realising that a sugar high was right around the corner. This kind of thrill hit every now and then when she thought about the potential Poe had in the world, and how close it was. "I'm so excited, Becks!" she said, practically bouncing.

The kettle began to whistle and Becca laughed, giving her a one armed hug. "Be excited all you like. After the mucking out."

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Short and slightly rubbish story, but I felt it deserved something, and yet its nearly 4am now. I'm going to sleep.

But Poe's on her way to being all grown up

Time - hours. Whoops.
This image used as a ref for basic shapes and pose: fav.me/d4ftkg7
Art, story and characters copyright to *Tattered-Dreams
Do not take, copy, edit, redistribute or manipulate.