Post by symphony on Sept 16, 2012 10:27:05 GMT -5
Tally Cremer and Sails Abroad
A high-pitched whinny sounded from one of the front yards for the third time in the last hour, making Tally sigh as she hung the last of the rugs out on the washing line to dry. Sails was lonely again. The filly was definitely not correctly named; she demanded company at all times and didn't like anything new. Tally couldn't even imagine her leaving the barn, let alone the country like her name suggested.
Sails needed work, she decided as she moved back towards the stables to check the other horses and grab a lunge line, halter and lead. Most of the others were dozing in their stalls; only Coursette was mildly disturbed by Sails' racket. Tally gave the large grey mare a quick pat as she passed, then grabbed the halter that hung outside Sails' stall and walked down to the gate of the turn-out yard. The yearling spotted her almost immediately and cantered over, letting out a few high-spirited pigroots on her way and snorting. Tally glanced over towards their neighbour's house; it was quite a way from Sails' pasture, but she could still almost hear them banging their heads into a wall because of the racket. Several times already, they had become fed up with it and complained, especially when Zorya and Sails were bored at the same time.
As she reached the gate, Sails shied at nothing, kicking her heels up again, and slid to a stop, snorting loudly. Laughing, Tally opened the gate and slipped through, holding one hand out to the skittish youngster like a peace offering. After a moment Sails extended her nose to sniff Tally's hand, and she stepped forward and rubbed the filly's neck, slipping the lead around her neck quietly.
"Hey there girl," Tally said to the filly, smiling as one ear flicked back to listen. "You're making a lot of noise today." She kept talking nonsense as she slipped the soft halter over the filly's nose and behind her ears, doing up the buckle quickly.
"Come on then." Tally clicked her tongue gently to Sails, and the grey moved off quietly beside her, full of nervous energy that only heightened when they turned not for the round pen at the side of the stables, but down the drive and towards the track. Usually, the yearlings would be lunged in the round pen they had on site - that was what it was there for, after all - but she had been planning to take Sails down to the track for a while now. The filly was shy and needed to adjust to situations before she felt comfortable with them. It was late in the morning now; not much was on except for a few novice riders being taught the ins and outs of trackwork and a few apprentice jockeys, but it was still a good time to introduce Sails to the track.
As they walked down the road, the grey filly spooked and shied and danced all over the place at the sight of passing cars, few of which even considered slowing down as the rushed past. Eventually, there was a clear spot in the traffic, and they could cross the road without Sails having a complete heart attack, and soon enough they were walking through the almost deserted saddling yards. A few people were still around, mostly packing up gear or walking the odd pony horse, and they called out greetings or a comment about Sails as Tally passed. When they reached the round pen, it was deserted.
Leading the filly into the yard, Tally switched the lead for the lunge line and urged the filly out towards the fence, feeding her the line slowly. Already knowing what to do, Sails obliged and moved out as far as she could go, settling into a calm walk while looking around with wide eyes and pricked ears, not listening to Tally at all. For the moment though, that wasn't a concern. If Sails was not allowed time to settle in and get used to the new surroundings, it would become almost impossible to do anything with her.