((open)) snap together.

[S u N f r O s t ~]

Chestnuts were a regular color in thoroughbreds. Chestnuts were, in her opinion, the most common thoroughbred color. You couldn't help but notice that most champions and special thoroughbreds were chestnut. However, very few fall into the "first class" regime of the thoroughbred coloring. The colt Amber Black rode was one of these special chestnuts. Unfortunately, he didn't look it today.

Amber had bought the horse from Amanda (Outcast) for a huge sum of money. With an excellent race record nearly worth dying for, and a potential to be another Hall of Fame-er, Amber had taken no chances in letting another stable have the grade four colt. With A Snap was a recent buy, however. They had not truly bonded together. That was the meaning of this ride - to bond.

Like all the horses Amber had bought, With A Snap was never to be sold. It was a policy of hers to not buy needlessly. Never had a horse been sold, except for Shooting Me Press, sold to Marley ((if you could call it 'sold'. more like 'given away'. or so she thought...). Snapple had come to the stable with three wins, and now had five. It was Amber's wish to make him at least grade two or maybe a high grade three before the end of the season.

Today, the two were out to bond, and also because the beach was an excellent training ground. The sand was hard to grip, so the horse would gain strength by running on it. The beach was long, promoting stamina and vitality. And the horse would learn trust and control as it was guided over the wet sand, and also to have fun and trust the rider on his back. He could also become more social, and Amber could meet someone new. That was their purpose as the pair entered the beach. Fun. Trust. Bonding. Training. Social Skills.

[elphabawest]

Houdini had turned his head, hearing something that Criss could not. Tilting his head in curiousity, Criss allowed the four-year-old painted Grulla to halt, giving slack in the reins.

"What is up with you, dude?"

A bellowing call sent tremors throughout Houdini's entire body. He swung around, almost unseating Criss. Quickly gathering the reins, Criss did what he could to stay on Houdini's back. There was no saddle keeping him in place, and Houdini's back was rather thick and witherless on its own.

There was nothing under the sun keeping Criss on the young stallion's back.

Criss's dark eyes shot up as he took in the sight of the girl in back of them, and the horse she was astride. Criss narrowed his eyes, trying to see what exactly the chestnut horse was. Thoroughbred, indeed, judging by the lanky appearance. But what was it?

Suddenly, it sank in for a split second of what the outcome of whatever was to happen would be. "If that's a mare or filly, I'm screwed," He muttered, tightening the reins. Houdini's neck bulged as he flexed it, fighting against the hold on the bit. Indeed, the young stallion wanted to investigate to. It took them a bit longer to really let the horse come into view.

It suddenly dawned on Criss what kind of danger he was in the second he came to realize the other horse was a colt. The testasterone would indeed be running thick, and his thoughts were confirmed when Houdini's ears slammed down against his skull.

"Don't you even think about it," Criss growled at him. He turned his head, doing whatever he could to keep the Grulla busy and away from the other horse. As the girl neared, Criss shot a glance over his shoulder with a sheepish grin.

"Hey, sorry to bother you guys. He won't do anything, I swear," Criss told her. At this point, to keep Houdini from wigging out completely and going after the colt, atleast for the first few moments before his attention span drifted to something else, Criss had Houdini's head turned toward his barrel and was turning him in circles.

Obvious logic. Wherever the head goes, the horse's body will follow.

Inevitable.

[S u N f r O s t ~]

The girl, seeing the grulla paint, pulled him up. Slowly, ever slowly, the chestnut thoroughbred slowed. His stride faltered unwillingly, and he threw up his head rebelliously, a disappointed whinny echoing through the air. Amber reached out a hand to pat the slightly sweated neck. Suddenly, her young colt was aware that the other horse was a stallion. Bad news. With A Snap was pulling hopefully towards the stallion, ears back and teeth bared. Amber firmly kept him in check.

I swear Snapple won't do anything either replied Amber, smiling at the boy atop the stallion. It interested her to watch this grulla paint turn, directed under the control of this boy. An obvious horsemean, knowledgeable too, by the looks of it.

My name's Amber burst out Amber hurriedly, realizing she hadn't introduced herself. This colt I'm riding is With A Snap. He's a two year old, but he already acts like a stallion! Snapple was still watching the grulla paint, his ears pinned back with obvious hostility. Amber tapped the colt's neck warningly with her hand. The last thing she needed for their bonding exercise was her colt going haywire on an older stallion.

[elphabawest]

Houdini was doing whatever he could to get at the younger colt, but Criss's relentless circling that he was forced to do prevented that. Criss looked up and eyed the colt's response. Brave attempt, but Houdini definitely outweighed and was quite larger than the Thoroughbred colt. Ontop of the age difference between the two, Criss was sure that Houdini probably would have had the upper hand. For that matter, Houdini seemed to know that, too.

"Nice to meet you, Amber," He responded, throwing another glance over his shoulder with a grin. He eyed the girl for a moment. Obviously there was a bit of an age gap between them as well. Criss was twenty-five, and guessed roughly that the girl couldn't have been older than seventeen? "I'm Criss. This is Houdini."

After obviously getting fed up with turning circles, Houdini gave a grudging sigh and halted, shooting a withering glance at the colt. Criss sat back, one hand on his jeaned thigh contently. A chain or two draped from one pocket to the next. Criss's black hair was longer, looking slightly twisted into very subtle dredlocks, but not entirely. Piercings of rhinestoned squares traveled up his ears until they reached the cartilidge. His dark eyes were lined very slightly with eyeliner, kind of topping off this bad-boy rocker appearance. But it was merely appearance.

Criss's eyes traced the colt Amber rode, years of experience and judgement allowing the colt's first impression on Criss to set in.

"With A Snap, huh?" He said, nodding slowly. "Nice looking colt. Can't say I'm familiar with him, but I'm sure we'll run into you guys on the track at some point as well. I'm running my friend's old racing barn."

Houdini was eyeing the colt with almost a chastising expression. He couldn't figure out why this younger stallion was trying to take him on. As though Houdini hadn't made it clear enough. The grulla was solid, with a neck this as a plank of wood, a barreled chest and heavy-set build. He may not be all that tall, but he definitely was a force to be reckoned with. Especially if Criss was ever involved.

Criss swung one leg over the side of Houdini and slid off, landing on his feet. He started moving toward the colt to get a better look at him, and Houdini took a step forward to follow. Criss immediately turned, snapping a finger and pointing at the stallion insistantly.

"Ah! Stand." He said firmly. Houdini stopped in his tracks, and watched Criss continue moving. He greeted the chestnut colt, offering a flattened palm, introducing his scent. Despite not entirely being familiar with racehorses, Criss knew the equine genetic code was the same with all horses, whatever the sport.

"He looks like he's got quite the talent out there." He commented, his eyes sweeping Snapple's frame. "He's got the long legs, lean body."

[S u N f r O s t ~]

((I don't really remember my char's characteristics, so please excuse the lack of detail on appearance.))

Amber's eyes focused intently on the older person. Your friend's old racing barn? Who's was it originally? I'd probably have known the person from my years on the track. She noticed paint's attempts to break from the boy's grip, and, with a jolt, realized he hadn't introduced himself. What's your name? she asked curiously.
It seemed that her answer wouldn't come for a while. The boy had dismounted the stallion and was now walking towards her colt. A Sharp command kept the stallion back, and the grulla watched sulkily as his rider came towards the chestnut two year old she rode.

Amber admired the strength of the training this person had done with his horse. There was no doubt that he was experienced with equines, and that his stable of horses was a beauty to the eyes. Amber imagined clean, well kept fields, and hard working people keeping a not-so-modern barn up to date. It would be a little less contemporary than SOPS'. she imagined.....

The girl blinked. How had her imagination run away so quickly? It was amazing what the free mind could do, what the imagination could conjure up, in movie style. Amber watched as the boy introduced himself to Snapple. Snapple sniffed his hand, ears perked for a second, then looked to the grulla stallion and pinned his ears again. Amber grinned. He likes you well enough she mused, still watching the thoroughbred for any different reaction.

Hearing the person praising her colt, Amber beamed and patted his slightly damp neck proudly. Yup, he sure has turned out to be a beautiful two year old she said, her pride barely expressed in her words. His pedigree lines are unknown, but he sure is a beautiful horse. He has five wins under his belt, and he's raced eleven times. He was second in the Winter Cup at the Grade Five level, and he was third in the first running of the Ghost Rider Stakes, which took place this year. I payed a pretty penny for this big guy. After a moment's thought, she added It's pretty tough to be the best in my stable. Stride of Perfection? she added, in case he hadn't heard of it. There's Grand Silence, Deathflash II, All For Glory......

[elphabawest]

"Criss," He responded, "Sorry." Did he mention his name? Criss couldn't remember. Well, he did now. Noting the colt's expression toward Houdini, he rubbed Snapple's forehead, shushing him gently. "He-e-e-e-y, you're fine. Be the bigger one, don't let him get to you," He said gently, glancing up at Amber with a grin, shaking his head. He returned his attention to her when the question was directed to him.

"I'm running Rush Margins for the time being, whiel similtaneously trying to get my own stable up off the ground. It was owned by Elphaba Thropp. She owned Just Got Wicked." He explained. Houdini studied his human master and the colt, tilting his head curiously. Criss had owned the stallion since he was a weanling. Criss had brought him up from the ground and trained him from the very start. It was a cross between extensive training and a strong bond between the two. As the girl spoke, describing her stable.

"I haven't heard of your stable, but I am familiar with some of the names," He said, leaving the chestnut colt's side and returned to Houdini's. As Criss passed, Houdini turned his head and nudged his arm gently. Criss patted his neck and jumped up after gathering the reins. He went trhough the typical process, lying over Houdini's back on his stomach, then draped one leg over his back, and he was on. Houdini wasn't that tall to begin with, and Criss stood about six-feet tall, so it was a pretty easy process.

"Deathflash is a pretty big name here. You have a foal of his, huh?" He said, genuinely interested. "Great line. If he's anything like his sire, you've got one hell of a horse,"

[S u N f r O s t ~]

Chris, eh? An interesting name. By the way he acted... well, he acted like a Chris. It was funny, how that sort of thing happened. Amber couldn't help but smile. Snapple seemed to calm down under Chris's pat on his head. Soothingly, her own hand looped downward to rub the colt's neck. Her two year old's skin felt slightly sweaty under her fingertips.

Rush Margins? Just Got Wicked? I've watched that guy closely since he started. I remember his first race. Amber nodded as she remembered seeing the black thoroughbred enter the maiden race. It was in a regular racemeet, she remembered, against a large field. How's that black fireball doing now? she asked, referring to Just Got Wicked.

She was surprised at Chris's reaction to the name Deathflash. Not many people really realize how great my colt's sire was. Deathflash II beat Bank On Silver AND Merry Bay King in that race. True Enough, too. That's all the Hall of Famers, in one race. Unfortunately, things didn't go so well for Deathflash after that race. She sighed, then grinned again. His son is grade one, though. Fourteen wins, I believe. Better than his sire - but no where near the greatness he had. Maybe once he's three he'll get there.

[snowfairy4xmas]

would you mind if i joined??

[S u N f r O s t ~]

ooc|: You can ask Elphaba. I wouldn't mind, but we should wait to see what Elphie thinks.

[snowfairy4xmas]

(( okie dokie))

[elphabawest]

I don't mind. :3 I'm gonna respond in a second, grabbing my laptop out.

[elphabawest]

A smile tugged at the corners of Criss's mouth. The name Chris wasn't as uncommon as one would think. The way he spelled it was indeed not very common at all. Coming from a close-knit Greek family, Criss was born to the name Christopher Sarantakos. Criss had always had a fascination for what could be possible when the mind, body and spirit combined. He had notebooks filled with ideas on what he could possibly turn into an illusion. This came into the subject of horses, too. Criss had been able to stuff that was never seen before by his family. He at one point had crawled between the legs of a young Arabian stallion at ten years old, and the horse not much older. It wasn't that Criss didn't know what he was doing, he knew. He also knew how high strung the stallion was. But with slow, fluid movements, Criss wound around each leg of the stallion, without the horse budging an inch. Something Criss's parents, terrified at the time, had never seen before in their lives.

Criss had always had a fascination with illusion since his aunt showed him his first card trick. That was something Criss wanted to pursue as well, as Criss Angel, a name he had decided on randomly. He was definitely looked at as a weird sort, dark, but really Criss was a regular, outgoing guy, despite his appearance. He was intelligent, well trained with horses, and had taught himself many things as well. His head rose as Amber spoke her familiarity with Just Got Wicked and Rush Margins, nodding slowly.

"Yeah, she's a good little mare. Elphaba wanted so badly for her to get into the Hall of Fame. She knew Witch had what it takes. I think what I'm going to do is bring all of her horses over to my place just so I don't have to be driving back and forth," He said with a shrug. "I'm not sure yet. But it's nice to hear Witch has a bit of a fan. She's a great horse. Reminds me quite a bit of Elphaba. Then again, those two were practically inseperable," He remarked.He watched as his touch seemed to steady Snapple, as well as his human's hand on his neck. It fascinated him, what impact the littlest human contact could have on a horse. A blow caused by a hand could strike fear or anger into a horse, while the gentlest touch could calm him. It was intriguing.

[snowfairy4xmas]

Ashton walked along the fence line with her horse darkie she saw people and kept walking.Darkie heard something rustling in the brushes and started to crow hop along the fence, ashton got scared and didnt know what was going on. They passed the line and darkie settled down she saw a asign that said boarding and walked up tot he ranch. Ashton raised her voice as she saw noone around Hello anyone here?