Light is a Place [open]

I quickly pull my over sized jacket on myself. It's pretty early right now, just a bit after dawn. The storm last night was a pretty rainy one. The faint heat of the sun radiates and causes the wet ground to arise with steam. It's a bit chilly outside, despite the season we're in. It causes me to tighten my crossed arms against my chest.

I really hope the weather clears up. I need to exercise not only Altai, but about three more horses. Then I have to give riding lessons to Patrica Jones and Lola Peters, the two little 12 year olds that have always watched me ride when Patrica's father, the butcher, comes every once in a while to claim a fat pig I raised myself. Since money has been a little tight for most of the districts, he pays half of what he owes and I give his daughter free riding lessons. Lola's father helps us distribute some of our animals to other districts, so I do the same with the Peters.

I approach the barn with our dog, Sash ,and slide the large door open. It smells of manure and hay....it's wonderful. The barn is so warm from the many occupants, I need to take my coat off. My boot clack against the cement floors.I head to the feed room and I fill 2 buckets of scratch and give them to the chickens and geese. I retreat back to the feed room and gather four flakes of hay for the horses. I personally deliver them to my nickering, impatient horses. I go back to the feed room once more and arrange a meal for the pigs. It consists of all sorts of forage and scraps from dinner in a watery stew. I fill the two troughs and watch the pigs squeal with happiness, then rage as they all fight over apple cores, pieces of bread, and some bark. I take some goat feed and place it in a small trough for our 2 goats.

I don't need to go to the cow barn, Mom is the one who goes near the cows. Altai and I like to herd them around our field, it's incredibly fun. But Mom shares some wierd bond. The cows always drool when they see me near their grain room, thinking I am getting some food for them.

I decide to take the animals out of the barn. It's bound to get warm. I lead the horses to one of our big fields, then I get Sash to herd the lazy, fat swine into a small mud filled pen. I open a coop door for the chickens, and manage to direct the geese to the pond without getting bitten by the aggressive male. Crap..I forgot the rabbits! I run to a small rabbit hutch near our house with a scoop of pellets in both hands for the little guys. I put each handful in a bowl. They're not low on water when I check. I let out a sigh and retreat back to the barn.

***

I feel the reins of the bridle easily slip through my fingers before I put them over Altai's head and rest them upon his neck. Altai looks at me and pins his ears back on his head, munching on the dried grasses he loves so much. He just wants to eat, but once he knows what we're doing for a ride today, he'll be glad he came along with my orders. "Hey, settle down." I say in a voice he's used to hearing when I need him to pay attention. Altai bows his head down again but I lightly tap the bottom of his jaw with the toe of my boot, he shoots his head up again and perks his ears at me, as if he was curious on what I was going to do with him today.I have put my arm through the bridle, I stand on Altai's left haunch. I hold his head back with my right hand and start slipping his bridle on, he gladly takes the bit and gums at it in his mouth to relax and position it comfortably. I smile and withdraw the reins back from his neck and I hold the reins in one hand. I open the stall door and lead him outside. He perks his ears and looks at all the other horses in the field a few yards away. He sees some mares and lets out his loud, ear piercing whinny. We get a couple neighs and whinnies back. But I click my tongue and he snaps back into reality. I lead him to the giant grassy field, no other horses are there to distract him, thank God.

I open the gate and let go of him. He casually walks inside and stops, waiting for me; like a gentlemen. I praise him for being calm and shut the gate. I put the reins back over his head and let them stay. I jog away a few feet, then tell him to stay still. He holds his head up high, then I run at his left side, I lunge forward and get about half my torso on, I squirm on until I can get my leg over. Altai snorts and paws his leg impatiently as I ready myself. "A'ight..I get it boy!" I giggle and pat his neck. "Walk on." I command as I give him a little kick. He walks forward, his head still up with exitment. After about 20 seconds of walking, I nudge him while saying, "Taaa-rot." He starts Trotting. He's got a pretty choppy trot, so it's a pretty bumpy one. I trot a full lap around the huge field, witch takes a few minutes, before asking him to canter. "Caaaan-ter!" I say in a sing-song voice. He then starts cantering. I've gotten used to his choppy canter as well, all our horses have more rocking horse canters. Their nice and easy.

I lead him to the woods at the far north end of the large field. I open the gate while I'm still on him and venture into the trees. He walks calmly through the woods, his head l ow. He will occasionally pick it up when a mockingjay zooms right infront of us, across the trail. I whistle a little song, then a few seconds later, I begin to hear it. The mockingjays were so interesting to me. Always mimicking something the've heard previously.

I begin to think of this year's hunger games. What If I'm chosen? How would I ever fight? I would probably die the first day... It sends shivers down my spine. I pat Altai's neck." If you were with me...I woulf probably survive..at least a little...." I say to him. Altai shakes his head. He then picks it up and perks his ears. A few short seconds pass before he let's out a shrill whinny. I wonder what he's so exited about.

notes;;;; baha sorry. I had to copy/paste a part from a previous post. xD I didn't know what to do and I feel a bit lazy lol.
words;; 1,174 :D

"You don't want to compliment him," She warns with a wry smile. "He's very arrogant."

I smile, "So he's a beautiful horse with an ugly personality?" I joke. "My horse...he can be really head strong...My dad says he might have bloodlines of horses that were raced against eachother, long ago,before the districts even existed!" I explain. "People would bet money on the horse if their choice. And horses even had events when they would jump over pretty obstacles, or run and jump distances, they would even DANCE!" I liked sharing this knowledge with someone with horses.


"And I'm Ash." she says. "Nice to meet cha' Ash." I respond. "What about yours? What's its name?" she asks. "My horse's name is Altai." I respond.

words;;; 123 o_e writer's block

Ash looks as if I'm lying about the horses dancing. "Dance?" she repeated in doubt. "Yes, they would pick up their legs as if they were marching! Then they would do all these moves..." I went on.

"Oh, this is Kade," Ash answers. I smile and look at Kade, he is a bit smaller than Altai. I now am certain that there are different kinds of horses. Altai's head shape seems a bit different than Kade's, and Altai is bigger, but could it be an age difference? nah...."Have you guys ever tried riding over obstacles before?" Ash asks me. I furrow my brows a bit at the question. "Well....do stone fences count? If yes, then all the time! He even likes to jump over creeks, and logs!" I reply with enthusiasm. "Do you guys jump at all?" I rephrase her question to her.

OOC;; wooaaah!! I didn't notice that xD

and I had a boyfriend named Roy lol

"Kade's jumped over creeks and logs before," Ash began. "but never stone fences. Or anything like bars. He's only jumped if it was necessary." I nod and look at Kade. I wonder how fast he is. "So he must be very coordinated, to do that. But is he fast?" Ash says. Altai is one of our fastest horses. I smirk at Ash. "Well, like I said, he might have bloodlines of those kinds of horses they used to race.....I think he's pretty quick all around." I answer.

A thought comes into my head. We should have a race.....just to see how fast our horses really are. I have never really raced Altai against any other horses...but he sure loves to run. "Do you....wanna race?" I ask gently. Altai nods his head and stomps his front hoof impatiently. I smile and pat him. It's as if he senses what I want to do. "C'mon. You can run around with us....Altai's getting exited." I state. I click my tounge and pull back on Altai's reins, telling him to back up. I pull the reins to the right and turn him around. I urge him on with a click of my tounge and he begins to trot down the trail we came. Once we get to a long, straight stretch of the trail, near our fence, I make a kissing noise and he canters his choppy canter. The gate must be about 100 feet away. I left it open too. I give Altai a kick and let him gallop the rest of the way until we reach the large field we started in. I pull back and slow him to a canter, then pull him into a circle, so I can see if Ash and Kade decided to follow or not.