The beating of a single horse's hooves sounded like a landslide from where Sango was sitting. She leaned forward as far as she could, letting out sounds that could only be compared to a banshee. She was using as little rein as possible only controlling the horse with her legs on the straight homestretch, managing to keep her feet appropriately placed in the saddle was a challenge in itself at this speed, but she was determined enough to not lose her stirrups. She almost dropped them in frustration, when she hit the finish line and was rushed in the gate. She pulled back on the reins, restricting speed as the handsome creature came to a stop. Her heart sounded like a steady drum banging in her chest, she could hear it thump as she turned her head to see the dust clouds that had risen from the speed of her horse settle slowly.

She listened ready to hear the time from the man sitting above the ring in the announcer box. '15.92' the number resonated across the crowd covered in stadium lights, the timer sitting up above the gate lit the number up in read, as it let out of the arena. Screw what the boys from her high school had told her, horseback riding was so a sport, and the rush barrels gave her should be no different than the rush of adrenaline from getting a touchdown in football. Sango couldn't have felt more pleased with herself as she leaned forward to pet Gold Digger. The equine creature was not only a teammate but also a soul mate, if not part of her own soul. When they would run the sharp turns and patterns amongst the barrels, it was as though they became a gust of wind, only leaving clouds of dust where they tread.

The front gate became a well-known target as the gelding always dashed towards it with Sango practically laying flat on the horse while trying to push him to full speed. "Good Boy!" She mused as the horse threw his head in a responsive way, at least that's how Sango understood it. Her father had taught her how to train and gentle a horse through the tank-like palomino. She often remembered the words her Father told her when the horse had first arrived at the old barn that was a few hundred feet from their house.

Sango, he's a strong willed man, he needs a strong willed woman to keep up with that and push him to full potential.

As she rode him back to the trailer to give him a breather she took a moment to admire the handsome equine. His short, flaxen mane moved with the bounce in his electric steps. He was a gift from the heavens above, horses were a gift from God himself. Nothing so magnificent could stand next to the animals, they gave freedom, and understood the human heart in ways that people themselves couldn't.

In this world, at least to Sango, nothing could stand in comparison to a horse. They had captivated her from a young age, Sango often remembered her and her father taking long rides out in the long, rolling plains of Montana. She missed that.

He feels comfortable with you. Sango's mind basked in those memories of conversations with him.

You really think so? Words exchanged between a thirteen year old her, and A man in his late forties, they sat on horseback and the never ending field hit the alarmingly large mountains in the distance, those mountains must have been able to touch the heavens, tell stories, and converse with the God, and the sky that held tones of pink, and blue which in comparison made her realize her smallness.

I indeed do, he has the same look as you...when you look off into those mountains he's as relaxed as you, as free as you. Sango remembers the wise feedback from her Father, and how much confidence it gave her. As her father gazed at her while he sat on his own horse and smiled with what she remembered to be the words that drifted into her memory like the breeze that shivered down her spine in the cool Montana spring. You're him, he's you. You've bonded, and now your hearts will never separate.

Sango rode down the line of trailers when she she could hear shifting sounds and a raised voice of her adolescent brother before she could even see him. "Hey, knock it off, Dobin!" Sango had halted her horse to look up and see Kohaku jerked on the halter repeatedly, trying to pick up his Paso Fino's head. When they had bought the horse, Sango and her Father had thought the bay mare would be calm enough for her flighty, scared, younger brother, she indeed was but it was Kohaku who often lacked confidence, and was in fear of what to do if anything would go wrong, leading him to lose patience and often fight as most children do. Sango dismounted Gold Digger, once the gelding was tied to the trailer, she walked over to Dobin, pulling her head off the ground, and tightening the rope that had her tied to the trailer to only give her access to hay at level with her head.

The seventeen year old girl wavered the attention of her frustrated brother. "Kohaku, look" The flustered twelve year old boy picked up his head, giving his Sister attention as she offered help. "This is how you tie, not too loose, not too tight" with the instruction, Sango effortlessly looped it twice with success."If you tie it too tight and she would rear, and it could end up hurting her, don't have it too loose either, you haven't rode her yet today and she hasn't earned that privilege yet of being able to snag bites of grass." Kohaku nodded quickly as Sango made sure he had absorbed the words she had spoken.

"Alright I'll remember that." Kohaku was a good kid, and not a bad rider but at twelve, you still have a lot to learn about horses, Sango was seventeen and had little to no problems anymore, her Father had taught her well, even told her she had a way of her own with horses, but Kohaku wasn't as much as a natural as her but he still had that love and passion that was a bottom line for whatever you do in life and the way he was with Dobin, was much like Sango's way with Gold Digger.

Gold Digger balanced Sango, she was stern and gave little trust to people due to their lack of ability to be trustworthy. Gold Digger was as dependable as horses came, her Father taught him to 'protect his rider', meaning if anything would happen to Sango, that horse would go nowhere, he would stand completely still, until she mounted him and gave him permission to move. Nevertheless, the gelding was more of a gentleman than most boys had been to Sango her entire life, aside from her deceased Father of course. Dobin balanced Kohaku, The mare was gentle and could make up for the concentration Kohaku lacked on his bad days, she was a strong horse, who was able to be a lady, and a motherly attitude to take care of the young boy. They had become the things the siblings needed; their safe havens, their rocks, they only had their grandparents and the magnificent creatures left to them by their Father.

"Okay, hop on" Sango turned around after her words had been cut off to see Kohaku petting Dobin as she stood perfectly still with her ears perked forward, alert but patient, his reins sitting in a stoic way near the saddle horn. Dobin, sounded like even-tempered to her, the very name could stand the test of time, waiting for a lost love, or wounded associate with unconditional love and patience.

Sango looked at the horse and approached the mare with a gentle pat. "Take care of him, okay?" Nothing left her feeling secure like her brother on a well behaved horse. Sometimes Sango tried to behave as though she was a mother to Kohaku, but she felt her place in his life was better as a sister than a mother. She had held the weight of a senile Grandfather and Grandmother, a young boy growing up, a parent leaving when she was five, and a parent dying when she was thirteen which at times made her feel much older than she actually was, making her feel more like a mother than a sister.

"You don't need to worry!" Kohaku spoke with excitement. He was obviously ready for his first rodeo of the season. "I'm only doing pole bending, and fifty yard dash." His smile was warm and had attempted to calm his nervous sister down. She often wondered if this is what their parents would have felt like to see him go and compete his first time.

Sango took a deep sigh, crossing her arms and looked at Kohaku; he was weak, he was naive, and she loved her brother, she wanted to see him become a strong young man, even if their he had very little of a patriarch to look up too. "Yes, but accidents still can happen, so you need your-" Sango was cut off in an abrupt fashion.

"Concentration, I know, sis, chill" after this he rode off to the gate about four hundred meters away. Sango hopped on Gold Digger pushing him into a trot to catch up with her little brother. He had probably picked up on her attitude over the years, the two spent enough time together with the horses that if Kohaku saw Sango act a certain way about anything, he would try and develop the same attitude.

When they arrived at the gate it was filled with other riders. Sango continued to caution Kohaku about letting horses come up behind Dobin, or him coming up on the rear ends of strange horses of the other riders that were patiently waiting for the event to begin. With all of Sango's worrying over her brother the time came for him to enter the gate.

"Good luck, just remember to-" again, Kohaku thought his sister was being a worry wart and cut her off. Cut from the same cloth was becoming an understatement as they grew older. Sango's stubborn attitude was slowly becoming his too.

"Thanks Sis!" with this he rode in the gate, once Dobin saw the line of evenly spaced poles in the arena, it was a matter of seconds for her to know her job.

She burst out of the gate with speed and agility. Dust flew as she tore up the side of the poles, they took a first turn as Kohaku leaned inward with Dobin so to avoid any falls, his balance was quite good for a twelve year old boy, he was small and agile like she was at that age and still was. He was well connected with his horse, a bond between a make and a female that was functionable. Boy his age rarely understood that.

Sango hoped that maybe if he understood mares, as he grew older he would be smart with girls, and act like a proper gentlemen. To handle a women correctly would allow the young boy to avoid conflict that was unnecessary in life.

When he reached the end he weaved back up the cones and turned to push Dobin down the home stretch, they completed the event with a time of '35 seconds'. Sango was overwhelmingly proud, for him simply being able to do it. After all, shows and rodeos should not be entered to solely to win, but more to enjoy yourself and have fun in competition.

She was thrilled that he had done so well with his horsemanship, just being able to get a horse to do what you want with good communication was always a good start. "Good job, bud," Sango congratulated as he rode up to her on the chocolate brown mare. Kohaku though looked disappointed , she wasn't sure if it was about his performance in the ring or something else, but being his sister she was obliged to ask. "You okay, you look upset there?"

Her voice offered a soothing tone to his stressed body language. "Yeah, I'm fine" he sighed seeming depressed. Sango didn't want to leave him like this. Kohaku being upset could lead to him not paying attention while he was around others and getting hurt, or someone else getting hurt.

The jittering ramble of the microphone brought the riders attention to the booth waiting for their names to be called. "Koga, and Lightning at the gate, Sango and Gold Digger you're on deck." If Koga was here she knew one person who she could trust who would be near. The one girl who was mature enough to look after Kohaku and protect him from making any rash actions or losing focus.

"Sango!" Sango turned around to see a delicate looking girl, with dark black hair and brown eyes. She gave off a gentle presence, one that was similar to that of a soothing breeze, or a cool spring morning.

"Kagome!" Despite Sango being next to compete, she couldn't just leave her best friend without a greeting. Although Kagome says she came to see her, Sango knew she may have some ulterior motives for coming. that ulterior motive was most likely Koga.

Koga was a handsome Native American boy, who rode an even better looking stallion that was now competing in the ring. Sango always thought the beginning of their relationship was a bit shaky, considering he broke up with a girl to go out with Kagome. His ex-girlfriend, Ayame, was a feisty red-head that was a well known trick rider in their small-town world. Kagome had little to do with the break up by what Sango recalled, it was only after Koga began to pursue her which left Ayame harassing Kagome in various ways for several weeks.

Sango maneuvered Gold Digger over to Kagome, making a safe but comfortable distance as to ask her a favor. "Would you keep an eye on Kohaku when I go in the ring? He just seems upset and I don't want him getting hurt." Kagome had a cheerful smile on her face, she enjoyed being around small children and even though Kohaku wasn't small she was one of the few people she would allow to be very involved in his life.

Kagome nodded. "Sure, I'll go up and keep him some company." She was indeed a good friend and a good person, sincerity and transparency were two qualities of her that shown through to Sango over the years.

As Kagome went up to the gate, she stepped up on the bottom bar to watch Koga. Her object of affection and his Sorrel Stallion were indeed poetry in motion, taking the poles on effortlessly, taking a time of 25 in the division, which left him in first place.

Koga had tore through the gate giving Lightning a quick command to halt. "Hope that nag of yours can pull it's weight." Koga came up to Sango with a competitive comment, Sango wasn't one to allow anyone have the last word, especially a guy who thought he was all that because he could ride a stallion.

Her Father always said to her 'like rider like horse', Koga and the cocky stallion were the poster children of this statement. They had a relationship just like any pair of people would, you clique with those who held similarities with you. 'Koga and Lightning, Cocky asshole meets cocky asshole.' Sango thought to herself.

"Oh believe me, he can, he might have a little less to pull considering I don't have a big ass ego to saddle him with like some people." A smirk crawled across her face as she took pleasure in her comeback, leaving Koga in a speechless grumble as he rushed his Stallion out of the ring to keep it from losing it's mind over mares and other horses, his ego could at least handle one thing.

Sango eased him before the gate with a gentle push, When the gold tank picked his head up and saw the stretch of poles in front of him, he snorted in excitement and the thought of letting go and being free. Gold Digger tore through the gate, he was ready to tear and rip across the ground, like the thunder he had in his heart that gave a thousand bolts per second. As he made the first turn Sango began to lose her stirrup. Sango left her stirrups down and began to push with her legs and give him more reins. This was her, this was him, together they were a fearless team, giving their hearts and souls in one pattern, this was their all. Sango had made it to the final turn into the home stretch. Sango leaned forward until she was as close to laying flat on her horse as she possibly could.

"Sango and Gold Digger, an impressive 24.95, and they're are in the money in front of Koga and Lightning." Sango grinned triumphantly. Gold Digger even seemed to be pleased with himself, as he threw his head while she pulled him to a stop, reminding him that he had finished what she had asked him to do.

Beating Koga was uplifting, he had a large ego but that accompanied his natural horsemanship. She felt he would be more admirable if he saw gaming events more as a work between horse and rider rather that be so focused on speed and letting all other things go out the window. Barrel racing, pole bending, anything in rodeo was not simply speed, it was also brains, and above all heart.

"My handsome man deserves a break, c'mon Kohaku!" Kohaku clicked to Dobin, following Sango with ease as Kagome caught up and walked up near Sango as they chattered and giggled back to the trailer. Sango and Kohaku tied the horses to the trailer and let them take bites of hay as they sat down near the back doors and began to converse with Kagome.

Sango and Kagome chattered as they went up to the trailer as Kohaku kept up a pace behind them. Sango was in conversation with Kagome about school, and the horses themselves when Sango turned her head to see another rider coming up the bath almost colliding into her.

"Hey easy!" The rider was a male, he had an long legged paint with striking blue eyes. Sango didn't get a good luck at him, neither did she want too. The guy had just rode into her path and took little concern of the her or her brother.

The light that now shown behind him in the other direction made his face seem more black as the light covered his back and made his face vanish in the dark april night. "Sorry, she's nervous around other mares like the brown one." Sango wondered how he pointed out that she was a mare, you usually have to check. He stood their for a second as the trio continued to move, Kagome had said it was alright, but Sango made no attempt to converse with him. She was agitated when he called her out "Are you the one that beat Koga's time?" Sango turned and gave him a glare, she still couldn't see his face and it was starting to make her feel more vexed as he tried to pester her.

"Yeah." Sango leaned down to pet Gold Digger, proud that he had pulled attention to himself. He was a hard working horse, and he deserved all the praise he got. "What of it?" She sneered this as much as possible, Kagome gave her a look as the venom was spit in the stranger's face. Kohaku rode up alongside Sango, making an attempt to keep Dobin away from the frisky paint.

"I'm just saying, he's tough to beat, so congratulations." Something about his voice made Sango's skin crawl, she was agitated with comments and questions from him. A silence fell and Sango was about ready to ride off when he imposed on her another question. " Is your palomino for sale?" Sango let a slight growl salt her words and she spun off a quick, cutting answer.

"I'd sooner cut off my own leg." After she hissed these words, the paint he sat on began to act up again. Sango had no view of his face but could feel in the air that she had knocked off any chance of him holding a conversation with her.

"Well, he's worth keeping, a little hot. That's okay though, like horse, like rider." The last part of his comment was flirtatious, he had no need to physically touch her, she already felt violated by his verbal confrontation. She watched him ride off, what made her the most angry was the way he proudly carried himself as he caught up with another guy and she could tell they were looking back and having mention of her.

Kagome looked up at her, expecting Sango to say something about the snappy comment he had left her. Sango was left speechless in frustration. The guy was probably just looking to pick up a girl using a poorly pulled together pick up line, as clever as it was, she found it corny and perverse. Sango motion for the group to move forward and ignore the recent interaction.

Whether his words have been a coincidence, or not. The way he said words to her that her Father had said to her years ago made her angry, and disgusted. Going back to the trailer and having access to food too before long would be a blessing. Men always enjoyed taunting her, but she always enjoyed showing them who was boss and watching them walk away like scared dogs with their tails between their legs.

"They still have half of the Juniors to go and then the Senior division, which has plenty of old timers, then you guys can get ready for dash, so why not get a bite with me and Koga?" Sango had no enjoyment of spending time with Koga, but she would feel rude to refuse her friends invitation.

"Sure!" Sango heartily agreed as did Kohaku, the three began to make their way down. Before Gold Digger was completely out of sight, Sango turned around and saw him looking at her, she swore sometimes that God would let her father keep an eye on her, through that handsome palomino. That handsome, wonderful horse was her guardian angel, and the man who had her heart like none other could.

That horse was her first love, her rock, and all together her best friend.

Author's Notes:

I posted this before, and reread it, feeling unsatisfied with my work I took it down, and cleaned it up a bit. I made this better, went back, edited, cleaned, and now I'm reposting it. I didn't like the first edit. Also for Koga people, sorry I made him out like a bad guy in this (I like Koga a lot, I just need to play him up like a bit of an ass to everyone beside Inuyasha). So take two I guess?

List of horse terms-

Barrel Racing- A gaming event for Rodeo where you race a horse around three barrels in a clover pattern as fast as possible.

Pole Bending- You have a line of poles, you run up the side, weave down, weave up, and run back down, again this is a speed event.

Fifty yard dash- You go up around a barrel fifty yards away from the starting line and dash back, speed event.

trick rider- I highly suggest you look them up on videos, they're pretty freaking cool. They do acrobatic poses on horses.

Palomino- Horse w/ white mane and gold fur.

Paint- Brown and White horse, ever see Rain from Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron?

Paso Fino- Horse Breed

Gelding- Castrated male horse

Stallion- A horse who still has his manhood

Mare- Female horse

Any questions please ask, also leave reviews please! :)))))