Preparing The Cullen's and Hale's for Their First Lesson
A/N: So I guess the title explains the whole chapter. I hope you enjoy and so far, I seem to be keeping up my resolution (for now...XD)
Oh, and any horses described in this chapter are up on my profile (I don't own any of those pictures, just to let you know XD)Enjoy!
Normal Disclaimer
BPOV:
It was almost three o'clock, so I went out to the ring and saw Ms. Jennifer in a lesson.
"Ms. Jennifer, would you like me to help the Cullens and the Hales tack up?"
"That would be great, Bella, thank you. I'm trying to think who to use for them. Bring Lacy down to a walk," she said to her student. "Can you call them out here?" she asked me.
"Sure," I agreed as I went back to the barn.
I saw all of them together in a circle looking like they were talking.
"Um guys," I said timidly. They all looked at me and smiled. "Ms. Jennifer needs to see you to determine which horses you're riding."
"Okay, Bella," Emmett said cheerfully.
They all followed me out to the ring.
"Ms. Jennifer, these are the Cullens and the Hales."
She looked over at them. "It's a pleasure to meet you," she said kindly. "Have any of you actually ridden a horse before, not like a pony ride, but ridden without assistance?"
They all shook their heads.
Then she turned towards me. "Bella, here is the plan. Alice will ride Miss Emmy Lou; Emmett will ride Dancer, but brown Dancer, as you can imagine. Rosalie will ride Cygnet; Jasper will ride Charlie and Edward... who can he ride?"
"He can ride Sonja," I offered. Sonja may be an A-circuit horse, but she was just as wonderful for the beginners.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. She's been worked twice and very sound. I jumped her on a three foot six course with Red helping me out today."
"No complications whatsoever?"
"None noticeable to my eye or Red's and you know his dad is the vet."
"Perfect. I'm almost done with Lacy, so do you want to help them fetch the other horses?"
"I'd love to."
So we walked back to the barn. Emmy was an old Quarter Horse that the trainers used on the beginners she was 14.2 hands high, the tallest a pony could be before it was classified as a horse. She was a very sweet pony...until you got a gelding behind her.
There were two Dancers at the barn. Brown dancer, his registered name was Powwow Dancer, was a placid horse. And despite his size, he was very calm, more like a teddy bear. But the other Dancer could be hard to handle and just a spas.
Cygnet (but everyone called him Ciggy), was a chestnut Arabian. He was very sweet but had the bounciest trot! He was also very old but was a whole lot less temperamental than Emmy.
Charlie was an old Appy, and Appaloosa horse. I don't think he had a mean bone in his body. All of these horses were "push button ponies," or horses. Meaning, a bomb would go off and they wouldn't even blink.
My Sonja wasn't exactly like that, but I had gotten her to trust people (mostly me) so much that she would do anything for them. But she still had a little bit of spirit in her, but seemed to know when there was a beginner or not on her back, so she would time her exuberance well and playfully buck only when I was on her back.
As I was thinking about all of that, I had gotten the horses and put them all on the cross ties, ready to be groomed on and tacked up.
"Alice, Emmy is on the cross ties closest to the fan; Emmett, Dancer is to her left; Rosalie, Ciggy is to his left; Jasper, Charlie is on the cross ties closest to the rear entrance; and Edward, you'll come with me to tack up Sonja, but I just need to instruct them first. You all have plenty of time until your lesson, about forty five minutes; I just want you guys to be ready early."
They all nodded and went to their assigned horses except Edward who stayed next to me. Smart child, he was.
I told them what each brush (the ones they would use) does and how to use it.
APOV:
The horse I'm riding, Emmy, looks so sweet. She's very small, just like me! And jazzy says I'm sweet, so we're very much alike.
"Oh, and Alice," Bella said.
"Yes, Bella?"
"This goes for everyone, especially the ones who have geldings, boy horses: don't let your horse get too close to Emmy's backside, or she will kick you or your horse."
We all nodded. She's feisty, too, just like me! I was very excited. And when I looked at Edward, he was staring at Bella like he was in a trance! This is obviously a good sign! I exchanged a knowing glance with my other brother, Emmett. We knew that Operation Matchmaker would (finally) be able to be put into play.
This was going to be fun!
EmPOV:
This'll be fun! But I (for once) have to be careful about how loud I talk and all of that jazz. Not that Mom doesn't rebuke me enough at home, but there is no real danger. Here, there is.
My horse, Dancer is huge!!! Like me. But he seems very nice and calm. (The second part) not like me.
But still, it's all very exciting and little Eddie is looking at Bellsies (a nickname I picked up from one of the stable hands, Logan, I believe his name was), like he was a blind man seeing the sun for the first time.
I looked over at Alice, and I knew that she saw Edward, too. It was now time for Operation Matchmaker: an operation that Alice and me have been waiting so long to use on Edward.
This was gonna be fun!
RPOV:
Bella seemed very nice and I could tell that she, Alice, and I were going to be great friends.
The horse I was to ride, Cygnet, was a pony, I could tell that much, but I could also see that he was very sweet. I couldn't wait to ride him!
I saw the way Edward had been looking at Bella. I couldn't wait for him to get the guts to ask her out.
If he ever did.
But I knew that if he didn't Alice and Emmett would be sure to help him out with that.
This was going to be...interesting to say the least.
JPOV:
My horse, Charlie, was just right for me. He was unobtrusive, quiet, and seemingly intuitive, which made him charismatic. Those are all of the traits everyone says I carry. I know I am quiet and unobtrusive, but I'm not too sure about the others. But oh well, I'm excited all the same.
As I'm sure my twin and my friends had, I saw Edward staring at Bella like she was the most beautiful creature alive. I will admit, she was very beautiful, but no one could ever compare to Alice, but maybe I'm just a bit biased.
This lesson would be...what's the word, interesting, if not fun.
EPOV:
I was still speechless. It was such an honor to ride her horse.
I waited silently next to her, taking in all she was saying so I could impress her with my quick learning when it came my time to groom on and tack up her horse, Sonja.
She carefully instructed each one of them on how to groom, and I watched each time. She picked out all of the horses feet for them, since she said it can be tedious to do. How sweet of her.
Then she told them all to hold tight for a second and turned towards me. "You ready?" she asked.
"Yup," I responded.
So she led me to her horse's stall. I used all I remembered, which was surprisingly a lot. She looked impressed.
"Did you know any of this before today?"
I could lie and say yes, or I could tell the truth and say no. "No, today is my first day doing anything like this."
"I'm very impressed. You seem more than capable to learn, and eager, too."
I couldn't suppress a smile. She was impressed by me! Impressed by my quick learning, but impressed all the same!
This was going to be fun.
BPOV:
I finished with Edward and got the rest of them tacked up with ten minutes to spare. I was impressed with all of them, especially Edward. He was so sweet and undoubtedly handsome. But I bet he's taken, so I best not get my hopes up.
But they were already to ride, so I lead them all, one by one, out of the barn and into the ring.
A/N: Like it? Hate it? Love it? R&R Please!!!! I worked very hard on this and it's pretty long for me!!!! Don't lose hope yet!! ;)
Lots of Love,
Thanks Bunches,
~ Lissie
P.S. If you have any question whatsoever (horse questions, terminology, general, etc, please, PM me and don't hesitate to ask!)