Back in the saddle (open)

[Cara]

Alejandra headed toward the indoor arena. In her left hand she held the reins of the bridle that her skewbald gelding was wearing, and in her right hand she carried the capsule that kept her tiny daughter safe and warm. The baby currently slept, and the capsule didn't seem to bother the gelding who was calmly walking at her side with his ears pricked forward.

As they reached the arena, Alex left the gelding ground tied outside the arena while she walked to the seating area and placed the capsule carefully into the wheeled frame that it went into - which turned the carseat into a pram without needing to remove the baby from one seat to another. She then walked back to the gelding and led him into the arena.

Tightening the girth, she pulled the stirrups down and swung into the saddle. "Oh, my poor aching muscles." She said as she sat up and found the other stirrup. It had been too long since she had been in the saddle, but due to her pregnancy she'd had to stop riding. She'd kept Mo fit though through lunging and long-reining - keeping herself in shape as well. Closing her legs around the gelding and asked him to walk forward.

[Lottii]

Evann smiled, a hint of nervousness evident on his face, as he slipped the dainty English saddle onto Swallow. The horse hadn't like the close-contact saddle he would eventually learn to wear for cross country, but for now the male was letting him be comfortable in a little lightweight show saddle that was more similar in the way it sat on his back to the racing saddle the gelding was used to. Swallow danced around him, clearly still unhappy being tied up in the yard despite several days work. That was another lingering trace of the thoroughbred's racing days, racehorses were generally used to being handled inside their stables. Evann tried to settle him, his hands moving in a relaxing touch over the horse's neck, but to little effect. Sighing, he slipped off the headcollar and loosely held the the reins of the bridle that he was wearing underneath.

Leading him out of the yard, the male wasn't surprised as Swallow continued to twist and turn on the short walk to the indoor arena. Spotting a girl working with a pretty skewbald, he offered a deceptively confident smile as he warned that he was about to open the gate. Safely in the arena, he gently pulled the stirrups down and checked the girth, noting Swallow's normal flinch as the stirrup irons touched low down on his belly. He pushed himself onto the horse's back without much effort, although the horse stood at over sixteen hands, that wasn't an issue for his tall frame. Yesterday, he'd sat on Swallow and walked him round, letting the horse get used to a very different feel of rider. Today he was going to work some more on that and try a trot, maybe even a canter depending on how it went. After all, the horse was used to being ridden, just in a different way. Evann had worked with freshly off the track tb's before though, and knew from experience that rushing things never helped.

Applying the gentlest of pressures to Swallow's sides, he let a smile light up his features as the horse walked forwards somewhat calmly. His head was high and his eyes looking around a little anxiously, but he was accepting what he'd been asked to do. Evann glanced over again to the girl, noting for the first time she had a baby with her in the seating area. "I'm Evann," he offered forwards shyly. Swallow chose the moment to suddenly leap sideways, and Evann focused for a moment on regaining his balence, cursing under his breath for letting himself get distracted. "This is Swallow. He's rather on his toes, but it's only his second time ridden since he came off the race track." Evann didn't really know what else to say, but his attention was taken back to Swallow as he repeated the leap again. "What's up boy," he murmered as he looked to see what could be fussing the horse. A spot of sunlight was filtering through the roof and dancing around on the floor. "Really?" he chuckled, "you silly lad." He let the bay stretch out his neck as they approached the spot, laughing again as Swallow put his head down at blew through his nostrils at the spot.

[Cara]

Alex had Mo walking nicely around the outside of the arena, pleased that the pram on the other side of the plexi-glass wasn't bothering the skewbald gelding who had eye-balled it the first couple of times that they had passed it - she had changed rein once to allow him to see it from the other direction too. She liked the fact that she could keep an eye on her sleeping baby while she rode, but that the glass would muffle the sound of the baby's cries should she wake up and panic.

The young woman looked around as someone announced their arrival, and she gave the male and his horse room so that her gelding didn't overcrowd the anxious looking Thoroughbred. She kept Mo down the far end of the arena as she continued to give the other horse and rider room to sort themselves out. She turned away to hide a smile as the other gelding danced around, she remembered having days like that on her mounts in the past.

She turned back toward the man as his spoke. "It's nice to meet you, Evann." She returned warmly. "I'm Alex." She patted her gelding's neck, at a walk, the crossbred gelding seemed to be half alseep, maybe it was time to start working. "This here is Magic Moments. We do hunter-jumpers, but we've both been out of action for a while." She glanced toward the plexi-glass which separated them and the baby. "Oh, my daughter is asleep in her pram on the other side of the glass." She nodded in the aforementioned direction. "Swallow will no doubt not like the look of the pram and capsule. It took Mo here almost a week to get used to it being near his stall." She rubbed her gelding's neck as Mo dragged his front hoof through the sand flooring of the arena. "I need to get this guy moving. Is it alright if I work him around the far end of the arena at a trot?" She wouldn't have asked if it had been any other horse, but she didn't want to set the Thoroughbred off by going at a faster speed.