Raiding the New World

[tobin james calloway]

Head to toe seems like such a cliché. The toe holds all the passion and truth. Covered in worn, unpolished leather, boots so used and worn if they could speak they could tell you the world. The truth and more importantly the lies of ever rider, the pain of old rodeo. Boots covered lightly in dirt, tops hidden by faded blue wrangler jeans. If anyone ever needed the truth, they should really ignore the clothing, that can tell a lot about people, however clothes lie just as much as the people who wear them. Plain leather belt stood back to the only thing polished a boy would wear. Any rodeo stars prized possession, a belt buckle. The last belt buckle he ever won, the one that ruined a career so promising. Years of high school rodeo, then a chance to star in the pro ring. A story the man would probably rather not speak of. However the story could change lives, in his eyes at least. If he had known that was such a focus he’d probably leave it at home. He’d keep it as plain as the black tee, and the plain black hat covering his blonde curls.

Steps taken, a limp in the boy’s though the horse followed without a flaw. The roan was all dressed up as it seemed. Shod feet covered in plain black bells in the front, topped with matching black splints. Black hooves were not close to hindered with any white, not even the flecks like the rest of the stallion’s body. Rear hooves seemed so different, dark leather skid boots, even the shoe flat and stretched an inch or so back from the stallion’s hoof. These simple things seemed much more important than the black saddle pad, the dark leather reining saddle with its silver bells and whistles. Polished leather and silver, like the matching breast collar and headstall, the stunning polished curb bit didn’t seem to bother the stallion at all. His mouth moving slowly on the roller inside his mouth as they walked.

Into the ring together, the boy shut the gate. A boy, ha, twenty two could be a boy or man at this point. Still limping the steps to the ring moved on, closer to the center was when the pair finally stopped. Dark soft slit reins tossed easily around the stallion’s thick neck the boy limped to his thick shoulder. The stallion sure had a body on him, stocky and only fifteen hands, Tobin’s idea of the perfect quarter horse. Patting a calloused hand on the stallion’s huge hips a smile came to the boy’s face. Fixing the reins on the horse’s neck, then running his fingers through the thick black mane. Standing free of the horse it seemed like a struggle for him to get his foot into the stirrup. Once in his arms did most of the pulling, setting himself in the padded seat of the reiner. Collecting his stirrups and reins the young man took a deep breath, patting the stallion’s muscular neck.

Click of the tongue and the two were a pair, walking forward in the deep dirt of the arena. Slight squeeze of the knee and a small flick of the reins reminded the stallion of his job ahead. With just that the horse seemed to round his body right out, neck curled and head tucked and lowered. The warm sun caught glimpse or the silver as they moved, making it look like more that it was. A couple rounds on the fence and another click of the tongue, and they were off, into almost a dressage type of jog, almost slower than the walk itself. Though so easily sat it seemed like the smoothest gait the stallion had. Any easy motion of the boys hands the stallion turned. Moving in the other direction, then in a couple meaningless figure eights, keeping the slow moving jog like neither were in a hurry to get anywhere. A pace so relaxed it seemed almost natural.

[rilynn elizabeth mcknight]

cause the last time you saw me

is still burned in the back of your mind
------------------------------ you gave me roses and i left them there to die

the only sound that echoed through the barn was that of the hard soled boots of rilynn mcknight. her simple black tank top was dusted with yellow straw, and fragments of dirt from the pasture. behind her trailed a mischievous three year old quarter horse gelding. his muzzle suddenly touched the worn leather of rilynn's belt, and she stopped in the middle of the aisle way. "i'm not very happy with you right now, cig." she turned back around and kept walking toward the first cross tie. after clipping both of the halter clips to each side of the giants leather halter, she walked slowly toward the barns large tack room. the girl grabbed her matching dark brown western tack, and a small grooming box. rilynn returned and placed the tack on a holder, and the grooming box on the ground next to it. for the next fifteen minutes she carefully groomed the large quarter horse until he shined in he light from the open barn door. she then carefully moved to tacking him up, the saddle pad and saddle went first, the chest buckles, the bridle, and finally the black bell boots on all four feet. cig had a problem with hitting himself.

rilynn checked over her work, and carefully pulled the reins over the geldings head and began to lead him outside once more. she placed her light cowboy hat on her head, and flipped the reins back over the horses head once they stepped outside. she moved over to the left side of her horse and pulled herself up to sit in the deep saddle. the gelding danced underneath of her, excited to get to work. the girl nudged him onwards in the direction of the outdoor arena. the sun was pelting down easily, giving off just enough heat to keep you warm, and the breeze was going just enough to cool you down. it was the perfect day to train, the perfect day to ride until nightfall. upon getting to the large arena, rilynn could see another pair of riders. a man and a beautiful roan. she continued onward and bend over the beasts neck to open the gate. a sense of adrenaline ran quickly through rilynn's veins as she saw the familiar pattern of three barrels in the middle of the ring. barrel racing along with pole bending was part of her daily life, and always would be.

"alrighty cig," the girl spoke softly and nudged the gelding into a faster walk, loosening both of them up, getting prepared to lung quickly around the three brightly painted barrels. the pair were absolutely graceful in their work, making it look easy. the two were coming up on the man and the roan, rilynn decided to introduce themselves, "hey, i'm rilynn, this is cig." the girl held the reins in her right hand, keeping the other free just in case he wanted to shake hands.

so this is me swallowing my pride
standing in front of you saying sorry
--------------------------------- for that night and i go back to december

.tagged. talon
.words. 489
.outfit. click
.notes. not my best.
.lyrics. back to december - t.s.
.credit. <33 @ CAUTION 2.0

[/left]

[tobin james calloway]

Jogging still the last figure eight was decided, A kiss through his lips and no leg movement sent the pair into an easy lope. Moving forward at the slow collected pace around the ring twice, then another figure eight, flying lead change and off in the other direction. Tobin had noticed the girl and her horse walking in his direction though kept on his task at hand. Turning down the center of the ring lengthwise, not quite as the barrel was in the way the stallion’s gait quickened. The pair moved quickly towards the other fence with no apparent sign of stopping. With only about eight strides left to the fence, Tobin sat back in his seat, humming instead of an abrupt ‘whoa’. The stallion’s hind quarters dropped and dug into the soft dirt as his front hooves kept moving with the hard slide. Composing himself for only a moment after coming to a complete stop reins moved slightly to the left. A quick turn on the hunches to face the other direction they took off. Quickly again like before, any onlooker would see the same thing about to happen.

Once again the pair repeated themselves. Sitting back in the seat and a hum lead to a hard sliding stop. Backing up four steps then a quick three sixty on the hunches and off loping around the ring once again. The stallion still holding himself rounded like a western pleasure or reiner would. The pair eased down again to an easy jog moving around the ring slowly before as it seemed only an onlooker could see Tobin’s body relax just a bit more. The stallion moved out from his jog into a more flowing trot. A clearly rougher movement but nothing a deep seat couldn’t handle. Noticing again the pair close to entering the ring. Blue eyes caught there glance like he had forgotten they were there. It would be good for him to remember, meeting people would be good. Being here in this new place seemed fine, being hired on was of course the only reason for his arrival, but it seemed like a decent enough place. Good place for his horse, and he couldn’t complain either, he lived on site in a newer travel trailer in the parking lot. His horse, his trailer and or course, his truck, that was a man’s life right there.

The pair stayed to the opposite side of the ring as the other pair entered. Bright blue eyes glanced over as he sat deeper in his seat, letting the stallion walk at an easy pace. Still quite collected and proper in his steps, they moved forward still as the girl and her gelding approached. Blue eyes met hers as they moved beside one another. ”Hi there.” His voice wasn’t one from around here, more northern, not American for sure. ”Name’s Tobin, this is Raider.” He commented patting the horses neck after tipping his hat slightly. Polite was a way for Tobin, easier that way he always told himself. The stallion’s ears perked back, as if to listen closer to the pair talking. Otherwise he ignored the pair and the other horse by continuing to walk.

[rilynn elizabeth mcknight]

cause the last time you saw me

is still burned in the back of your mind
------------------------------ you gave me roses and i left them there to die

rilynn watched carefully as man and horse gracefully loped around in figure eights, coming to amazing sliding halts making the sand from the arena fly into the air in a magnificent cloud. the gelding danced underneath rilynn turning him toward the end of the arena, she kicked him into a quick gallop. approaching the first barrel they wound around it once and raced to the one of the left at even more speed. they whipped around it gracefully, kicking up dirt as they shot out for the third and final one. after shooting around the third one, rilynn galloped the horse down towards the right side of the arena, gradually slowing the beast into a slow walk.
"hey, i'm rilynn, this is cig." the girl held the reins in her right hand, keeping the other free just in case he wanted to shake hands. , ”Name’s Tobin, this is Raider.”. rilynn examined the mans face, she took a mental snapshot of him and put the name with the face. his horse, raider, was gorgeous. quite massive and large. cig on the other hand was awkward, tall and massive. "nice to meet you, tobin. how long have you two been here? i haven't seen you around. the girl tipped her hat back to him, southern manners. rilynn was a true southern girl, anyone could tell by her way of dress and her way of speech.

the wind blew easy, tousling rilynn's hair and making her hat askew. she let go of the reins and pushed her bangs back and pushed her hat downwards. she picked the reins back up loosely with her right hand, the gelding walked easy, occasionally tossing his head toward the stallion. curious to this new friend. subconsciously, rilynn remembered seeing tobin just a day or two ago, she remembered something about him being a trainer. she wondered how good her was, and exactly what he was going to train in. "you're a trainer right?" rilynn spoke softly, asking the question just to check herself.

the pair kept at the same walking pace, cig never tried to out do the stallion at hand. he was a very passive horse and never wanted to make much trouble with other horses. but always seemed to cause humans trouble. cig was very crafty, he could unlock his stall door, the paddock gate, open feed bins, etc. he was very mischievous. but in the ring he had boat loads of manners and grace. the perfect horse for rilynn.

so this is me swallowing my pride
standing in front of you saying sorry
--------------------------------- for that night and i go back to december

.tagged. talon
.words. 416
.outfit. click
.notes. not my best.
.lyrics. back to december - t.s.
.credit. <33 @ CAUTION 2.0

[/left]

[tobin james calloway]

”Nice to meet you too miss. I arrived last week, Raider a couple days before.” His bright smile brightened up the conversation a bit as they walked along. His voice was clearly different from hers, and different from the locals. ”Apparently there is a lot of paper work to do around her, I’ve gotten most of my riding done later at night.” His blue eyes held hers for a moment as they walked paying little attention to the horses. Raider did the same, paying little mind to anything but Tobin. Dedicated to Tobin was the one thing Raider was. Like some stallions he was a one human kind of horse. Though Raider was not a mischievous fellow, just was not a huge fan of being around other humans. If he had a choice he would have made it long before. Five years together made them quite inseparable.

”I am, anything western is what I do.” He commented with a bit of a smile. Though a lot of gymkhana events were a women’s sport they were all the same. He could teach them just as well. It all came down to the same principles. ”Who’s your teacher around here?” He questioned, curious if she was one of his elected students. He took over for a lady in her thirties, off to have a baby or something. He couldn’t really remember, he was just happy he scored the job. For a travelling rodeo star being in one place for a longer period of time was a big deal. Then again those days were over. No more rodeo, not for a long time at least. He needed time to heal, a bum leg does that though. A bad accident, a couple broken bones, no big deal for a man on the circuit, but this one was a deal breaker. He was out for at least a year or two. Sitting still in once place might have good or bad effects on a guy, maybe this would be good for him. It would be nice to be on the road again, however that wasn’t an option right now. Plus being a personable guy made it easy for him to teach. He’d done it before, teaching roping, not basics or anything like that. It was good experience for him and surely his accidents could come in handy with troubled teens as well as normal students. He had a job to do and he was going to do it, even if he wasn’t on the road. This place couldn’t be that bad, Rilynn seemed nice enough. Hopefully the other students were the same way. He could put up with a lot of bull the circuit taught him that. Tobin just needed to heal and this was his time.