They arrived at the stables and Tommy had her drop him off at the entrance to the training grounds, waving her off to get the boys situated. "I expect we'll be here a few hours, so they can get comfortable. I'll pay you for your time," he assured her.
Evelyn had gotten her carriage parked and the boys unloaded and set out to pasture. After a friendly greeting with the stablehands, she headed to the training grounds herself.
Walking in she saw Tommy speaking to a man she recognized from her routes, and his two brothers and another two people were off to the side, smoking and laughing. She proceeded to Tommy and stood behind him. He turned to her and waved her over. "Ms. Cox, this is Mr. Stanley. He's a breeder for a variety of horses - mainly racing and cattle horses. Today I'm here to consider purchasing two riding horses."
She nodded and smiled. "Mr. Stanley," she said, extending her hand for a shake, "It's great to see you here!"
He returned the handshake and smiled warmly. "Evie, it's nice to see you!"
Tommy looked at Evelyn. "You two know each other?"
She smiled and met Mr. Stanley's eyes. Discretion was called for. "Yes sir, I give him a ride every other weekday morning to begin errands in town," she said.
Mr. Stanley nodded. "Yep, I've been doing that about a month now. Usually I'd walk or call a car, but her horses caught my eye, and they do give a great ride."
Tommy nodded, looking off into space again. "Alright, perfect. Let's take a look at these horses."
As Mr. Stanley began walking, Evelyn fell in beside Tommy and the group of men fell in a few meters behind them. She leaned over to Tommy and whispered. "Mr. Shelby, if you're coming to Mr. Stanley who raises specialized horses, and you just want a riding horse, why do you need me?"
He nodded slowly, pulling out a cigarette and popping it in his mouth. "Trainability," he began. "I want to enjoy riding this horse, but need to know it can be trained for anything we need. It needs to be flexible for different riders, able to navigate a variety of environments, and have a durable temperament." He lit the cigarette and took a drag.
Evelyn nodded. She believes she understood - this would probably be a getaway horse. "Yes sir, I can help with that," she said. "It'll be similar to cutting horses. They face bulls and cows with babies, coyotes, and robbers. They're fast, agile, and able to help any rider."
Tommy nodded again. "That sounds about right." He glanced at her, and she met his gaze. She thinks he knew she understood.
They arrived at the smaller pasture that housed about ten horses. They varied a little bit in height and build, but all looked to be warmblooded. She was observing their behavior and movement best she could.
"Ms. Cox, when you're ready, call some out to turnout," Tommy said. She looked at him briefly, surprised he was leaning so heavily on her opinion. But she nodded, continuing to watch them for a few moments.
"How many do you want?" she asked him.
He shrugged. "Walk away with two today. Might get more later."
Evelyn nodded. "Okay. I want those four -" she pointed to a chestnut with a white blaze, a chestnut with socks, a gray, and a palomino - "but I'll need to see all of them individually in a turn out."
Mr. Stanley nodded. "Aight, boys, move out all of them except those four, and pop one in the turn out!" Some stablehands set to work, putting halters on the four she'd noted.
Tommy nodded. "Get ready to work them in the run."
She sighed, walking towards the work area. It was a smaller round pen, used for warmups and sometimes breaking a horse. Today she'd just be watching how it moved and reacted to her. Mr. Stanley guided her over to the trainer's stall for any equipment she needed. She stood near a bench, took off her skirt and pistol to set on a shelf in the stall, and tied up her hair more securely. She grabbed a whip and some robes and climbed into the stall, where the chestnut with a blaze had been put.
When she got in the pen, all of the men were already at the fence. A whistle had been let out when she took off the skirt, but aside from that they all seemed unphased. It was refreshing to be trusted instead of berated. Evelyn approached the horse and hooked a long rope to the halter. It stood with ears at attention, ready to dart, but was amicable. She ran her hands all over him - twitchy, but stood for her. Muscular but shorter than standard. She guessed he'd be hotter tempered than a standard warmblood, but quick and smart.
Getting him to circle was easy, but he was active, jumpy, and a little difficult to switch directions. After a few minutes of exercises she halted him and placed hands on his back. He stood steady, so she climbed the fence and put more of her body on his back. "Is he saddle broke?" she called out.
Mr. Stanley nodded. "Yeah, just a bit antsy."
Evelyn popped her leg over and sat down. He shuffled his feet but stayed steady. She leaned forward and changed out the ropes so she could have some sort of reins. Pressing on his sides and clicking, he started forward.
He lurched forward, trotting immediately and roughly. She moved for him to slow down but with no response, she pulled back so he'd turn suddenly. He jerked around and changed direction but sped up.
"Open the gate for the ring!" she yelled out.
"You heard her boys!" Mr. Stanley yelled to the stablehands. They moved to open the gate as Evelyn continued circling. When the gate was open, she moved the horse to run to the large, ovular ring.
"Get!" she called, tapping her heels on his sides and swatting his hip with her rope. He immediately and gladly shot forward. She planned to run him and turn him rapidly, get some of his energy out, so she could see how he moved and what his temperament was really like.
After a few minutes of fast running, turning, and other maneuvers, she slowed him down. Finally the horse seemed to be calm enough to actually listen and respond. His ears swivelled instead of being tense, and he was moving in a more natural way. She patted his neck, murmuring to him.
She headed back to the turn out ring and walked him slowly. She hopped down and did some of the same exercises she had in the beginning again. When she was satisfied, she handed him off to a stablehand. "Close the gate, and grab me the next one."
Tommy waved her over. "First impression?"
Evelyn crossed her arms and leaned against the fence. "I don't think he'd be ideal in a city," she told him. "He's agile and fast, and seems to bond quickly. But starting up is rough and he's naturally tense and flighty. If he spent time at a facility and then worked into the city, he might do well, but he's so young - it'd probably be a while before he'd be ready."
Tommy nodded. "Noted. Next one."
Evelyn continued similar routines with the next three. By the end, she was sweaty and tired, but happy. Discussing with Tommy and Mr. Stanley, her official recommendation was the gray and the chestnut with socks. They were warmbloods, active but not nervous, and headstrong. She thought they'd have great potential as "riding horses" - or in this case, probably getaway horses.
Tommy and Mr. Stanley walked off to talk numbers, and she wandered back to where the equipment was. The stablehands had gone to tend to horses, and the rest of the Shelby group came over to her.
"What was that?" Arthur said, plopping down on the bench.
She chuckled. "Horse stuff."
Michael smiled. "Yeah, it was good. Where'd you learn that stuff?"
Evelyn sat down at the end of the bench. "Grew up training horses in Missouri. Learned to ride before I could walk."
The other boy with the Shelby brothers smirked. "What's up with the pants?"
She laughed. "Pants are more comfortable and practical. I gotta wear the skirt for business, though - you know how 'high society' people like their women."
He smirked. "You are right. Women don't look half bad in trousers though, eh boys?"
The men laughed together, and Evelyn smiled and chuckled. She had to agree - she felt she looked better in her pants.
"This is John," Arthur said, clapping the shoulder of the man she'd just spoke to. "In case you missed it, I'm Arthur and this is Michael," he said, motioning to the young man, "and finally is Finn. We're all Shelbys."
Evelyn raised her eyebrows. "Impressive. I can see the resemblance for the most part. What do I call y'all? Just shout Mr. Shelby and see who responds?"
They all gave a laugh at that. "Nah, call us our first names. Call Thomas Tommy - he's fine with it," John said, chewing on a toothpick.
"Alright," Evelyn smiled. "Y'all can call me Evelyn or Evie, but pick one and stick with it."
"Evie has a ring to it," Arthur said. "You ready to be our horse trainer?"
She gawked a bit. "What? I haven't been offered anything. I'm just a carriage driver."
He shrugged. "Don't be surprised if Tommy offers it up."
"Unless you don't wanna be involved in trouble," Michael spoke up. She met his eyes. "I remembered you said you stay away from it. Anything with us is likely to cause some trouble."
Evelyn nodded. "Thanks for the heads up. At least it'd just be with horses - how bad could that be?"
The men gave a hearty laugh. "Leave it up to the Shelbys!" Arthur told her.
Tommy let them know he'd be a while. "You," he said, pointing to Evelyn. "Don't go anywhere. Stay with them." She nodded, resigning herself to the boys.
"Do your horses take saddle?" Michael asked her.
"Yeah," she said. "They're trained for work, carriages, riding, and even jumping, although that's not good for them."
Michael leaned in and lowered his voice. "Can… I ride one of them?"
Evelyn laughed loudly. "Of course! Let's go."
She walked off to the barn with Michael. The others slowly meandered behind them, in no rush to follow, but with nothing better to do. Evelyn hunted down the largest saddles she could find, and some larger halters. She handed the halters to Michael and set the saddles aside, motioning for him to follow her.
Standing by the fence she glanced for her duo. They were probably munching on some sweetgrass. "Aspen! Spruce!" she called out.
Michael waited patiently, but Arthur had an opinion when the horses hadn't shown for a few moments. "You just call 'em in? I don't think horses work that way."
Evelyn raised an eyebrow his direction. "My horses are trained by word, too. Just wait."
Michael nodded. "It's not unusual for working horses to learn words, right?"
She smiled at him. "I'd say that's right." Evelyn looked back at the pasture in time to see some tubby horses trotting their way. "Taking your time, huh? God, y'all are fat."
The horses eventually made their way to the fence where they were waiting. Evelyn took a halter from Michael and got it on Spruce. Michael did the same with Aspen. They opened the gate and led the horses into the barn, where they saddled them and checked their feet. "Alright then, everything else is just horse stuff - if they're not listening to your hands or feet, use your words," she advised. "If you need help getting a leg up, let me know!"
Michael prepared himself to get in the saddle. The horses were on the tall side for their breed - each about 16 hands high - and it took some effort. He eventually leveraged himself into the stirrup, then up to sit. Evelyn followed suit, although a bit easier. "Alright then, let's ride. Just no jumping!" She clicked her tongue and set off at a canter.
She was riding Spruce and he was a bit spunkier than Aspen. Aspen was more needy, but also a bit lazier. He could still pick up the pace when needed. "Hey, Michael," she called out behind her. The young man wasn't too far behind and pulled up beside her.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Wanna race?" she smiled. "It takes a bit to get them up to speed, but once you do, it's like a boulder coming through!"
He smiled big. "Hell yeah I wanna race! Take it to the track?"
She giggled. "Sure, why not."
"Hey boys!" Michael called to the others, who had been leaning against the barn. "Go to the track, we're gonna race!"
After some whooping and hollering, they all found themselves at the track. Michael and Evelyn set up at a starting line John had drawn in the dirt. The others stood at the finish line, a half mile away. "Get ready…" John called out. "Get set… Go!"
Evelyn and Michael got the boys to take off. As Evelyn expected, Aspen was a bit lethargic to get started, and Spruce was spunkier. Once both horses reached top speed it was quite even. Evelyn was a bit lighter than Michael and knew better how to balance and work with such a large horse, and sure enough, inched forward. By the finish line she won by a meter.
They got the horses to slow down, and Evelyn was happy to see they were quite happy with themselves. The duo were dancing around and sniffing each other. It wasn't often they did more than just walk, unless it was at their own pace in the pasture.
Michael was laughing. "That was quite different!" he said. "It feels like sitting on a couch, and the ride is actually pretty smooth."
Evelyn nodded. "I think they're more sure of their footing and have such big feet and muscles that they're more controlled. Good race!"
The rest of the Shelbys strolled over, laughing. "It was a funny thing, watching such fat horses gallop," Arthur commented. The others agreed.
Tommy and Mr. Stanley came walking over to them from the tunnel. "Good race," Tommy said. "Ms. Cox, I have a question for you."
Business always follows him I suppose, she thought. "Yes, sir?" she responded.
"Do you want to train our horses from here on out?" he asked. The rest of the Shelbys stared at her for her answer.
She thought for a moment. The Shelbys are usually full of trouble, but they've been kind, and it's just horse training. Tommy watched her and seemed to know she was weighing her options. "Another consideration for this offer, is I'll pay you twice your carriage rate an hour, and you'll work however much you'd like. It'd be consistent pay. I'd ensure excellent lodgings for your horses as well, of course."
Evelyn liked the sound of that. "Where would the training grounds be?" she asked.
"Here, in Saltley," he said. "If it fits your needs."
She looked around, and looked at Mr. Stanley. He stood expressionless. "I think that sounds just fine. I'll take you up on your offer, Mr. Shelby, once we get it in writing and signed."
He smiled a little. "That can be done. Come back to the Garrison with us so we can finish this business today."
