Destiny -- open

[archibald]

destined for glory ,

Johanna still wasn’t used to riding Destiny, she had only been at Close for a couple of weeks at the most, and it always took a little while to completely figure out a new mount, seeing as every single one had different needs. She wished the same could be said for her trainer, Beth, she couldn’t figure out the woman for the life of her, one moment she was as nice as pie, and the next she could be a complete cow. Where Mitch had found the woman, she didn’t know, she was just hoping that she wasn’t going to turn out to be completely psychotic.

Sighing, she tucked a loose curl of blonde hair behind one ear, before donning her riding helmet, walking towards the filly and the groom holding her, doing up the buckle under her chin as she did. Oh well, she was just here to ride, and as long as she did her job well, it didn’t really matter if she liked one of her bosses much at all. “Hey Sky,” she greeted the petite, dark haired girl holding the bay filly, grinning at her, only just catching the girl’s quiet, shy response, almost inaudible, as it was.

She set to double checking Destiny’s gear herself, paying particular attention to the girth, the last thing she needed whilst galloping a Thoroughbred around a track was for a loose girth to leave her dumped on the turf. She didn’t doubt the groom’s abilities, for sure, it was just an automatic thing for her, when she wasn’t gearing up the horse herself. Satisfied that everything was in order, and with a hand up from the groom, she was soon up in the saddle, Destiny fidgeting a little underneath her as she sorted out her reins.

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*rolls*

[S u N f r O s t ~]

WILD KISS and AMBER BLACK

The slim bay two year old sidestepped nervously as Amber Black vaulted into the saddle. She was still slightly unaccustomed to racing with a person on her back, and she took a while to get used to things. But Amber didn't mind. A horse didn't have to be great from the moment they stepped hoof on the track, after all. Pausing, she checked her reins, making sure they were tight enough, before urging Kiss out onto the dirt, and then the turf track. Kiss danced underneath her, impatient to go, while also slyly checking out the other horses. Amber watched her closely, as she did with Kiss's half sister Wildly Natural. The two sisters really were quite similar in that respect - always trying to get off track.

Amber surveyed the turf, and found it to be mostly empty. No doubt some horse would come along soon, and maybe they would ask for a workout partner. Amber had seen a horse and rider just outside the track, preparing to come in. Maybe they could work together. In the hopes of catching the rider, Amber walked Kiss for a bit longer than necessary, then turned and began trotting the filly down the wrong way of the track. They would do quick lamps along this straightaway until it became clear if the other horse and rider would ask for a workout partner. Amber could use a mock race that wasn't with one of her staff. It became tiring, renewing the old rivalries all the time.

[archibald]

destined for glory ,

Destiny quickly settled down once Jo was in the saddle, the filly was rather quiet, as it was, not a terrible trait but slightly worrying, especially since it meant she didn’t have the drive to actually go and do something out on the track some days. That wasn’t to say she had the ability to be good out on the track, she was a well made horse and had proven that when she set her mind to it, she could do very well, she just needed a lot of encouragement. Hopefully with a lot of time and work on both Jo’s and her trainer’s part, it would get easier the longer she was with them.

As she got Destiny to walk out onto the track, heading for the turf track rather than the dirt one, seeing as the filly preferred it, she spotted another rider already out there. Maybe they wouldn’t mind having a training partner, but she wasn’t going to ask until after she had warmed Destiny up a bit, never wanting to run a horse straight off without stretching all those muscles, the last thing needed was an injury. So she nudged her into a faster pace for her warm up lap, which didn’t take them an incredibly long amount of time. The other rider was still trotting her own filly up and down the track, and Jo approached her, keeping an appropriate amount of distance between the two horses.

“Hey, do you mind if we run with you? Destiny here could use a bit of competition to keep her on her toes,” she asked, shooting the other rider a wide, friendly grin.

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*rolls*