Is this really where im m e a n t to be?

[huntersgotstyle]

Hayden stood surrounded by piles of tack, staring at her three large tack trunks. How was she supposed to fit it all in there? They say one tack trunk fits all your stuff nicely, but they lied. Between her blankets, halters, fly masks, sheets, polo’s, boots and everything else she needed one per a horse and that was not including the saddle racks and bridle racks she needed for all the other tack she had. Hayden sighed softly and sat on the ground to start organizing it in piles, she’d decided on doing a box per a horse since the wooden boxes did have each horses name on it. The plates were easily removable for change of horses, which was nice because Hayden went through a lot of horses. She rode them till they could pack somebody over a course and then sold them. She had yet to fall in love with a horse or pony, other then her first few. It probably had something to do with the divorce and telling her parents, a time period she referred to as the explosion. She hadn’t done a lot since then, especially with her heart. She’d went on a few dates, but rarely entered a solid relationship with the guy. Hell she’d even had a few one night stands, but that was something she didn’t advertise. She wasn’t a slut, or a tramp or anything along those lines, she’d just been mad, upset and needed somebody to say they loved her, to want her. It may have been fake, but she got the feeling of love and want which she hated to admit but she needed it. Her mom and sister did love her, but it hurt to see the two of them together. They had such a strong bond, well Hayden had to kind of force herself to trust her mother. She hated it, but it was something she had to put up with.

Hayden found the sorting easy, thanks to her love of colour coating. All of Clu’s stuff was blue, Nolan’s a really nice burgundy shade, and Izzy’s stuff was all purple. She slowly placed the piles of polos, blankets, splint boots, saddle pads and other stuff into the horses assigned trunks. She finally gave in and tossed her straight brown hair into a ponytail as it was persistent with falling onto her face as she looked down into the tack boxes to organize them. Oh well, it wasn’t like she was wearing the latest fashion trends. Her hip hugger jeans and red polo weren’t exactly something she’d brag about, though she did really like the brown Ariat paddock boots she had on. She was planning on riding later, but that would involve changing into breeches or going bareback, and right now she didn’t want to change nor did she want to be limited to smaller fences. So eventually she knew she’d end up changing, though she could almost guarantee she’d be doing it in a stall for really who had the energy to work harder then they had to. She was used to the small thirty stall barn where everybody got along, was down to earth and treated you like family. It was weird not having little kids at your house all the time, or large dinners where you could have burnt the food and people would have told you it was lovely. She missed the support, the cheers that made heads turn because people were screaming at the end of a round. Who was she kidding, she missed home. But she’d get over it eventually, this is where she needed to be. She needed to get noticed. Her career would rise within these walls. It was all so she could be the best, and make good money as a dentist. Yup that’s right, she wanted to ride with the people that hated her and have a career where people hated her. Good thing she didn’t mind being hated. Though a few friends around here would be nice.

time;; 8am
word count;; 671
muse;; mehh, could be better.
open;; yess.

[/blockquote]

[(ALEX)]

SONJA COULDN'T QUITE SAY THAT she had settled in at River's Edge Riding Academy just yet, much less the town itself (however small it may be). Sonja couldn't seem to muster up the courage to talk to anyone, either. In fact, the entire past few days she had been here, the only words exchanged were with the owners of River's Edge and to a couple of friends back home over the phone. Even then, she hadn't held much of a lengthy conversation, and Sonja was really beginning to miss the company of others.

With a sigh, she continued to shuffle down the paved aisles with her saddle resting on her hip and two halters hanging on each shoulder. She decided it was time to get everything organized in the tack room, and why not? Sonja was a rather organized person, and seeing her equipment scattered throughout her apartment for the past few days kept giving her the strongest urge to put it all away in its correct place at the stable. Speaking of which, the place seemed nice. It was definitely an upgrade from her former stable, with its ten stalls and crowded tackroom meant to house over 15 student's belongings. Ha ha, no way. However small, though, it was the barn where she had transformed into the rider she is today. Sonja's progress over the period of time she had taken lessons there was tremendous, her trainer had even said so herself.

Upon reaching the tack room, Sonja paused as she heard movement inside. Biting back her lip, she managed the courage to force herself onward, no matter how anxious she felt. The sight of a girl sorting away things in her tack trunks met Sonja's gaze, but not for long as she lowered it to the floor and continued towards a vacant area across the room. She dropped her halters on the floor -- they were pretty dirty and old anyway -- and scooted the saddle onto an open rack before popping off the lid to her spacious, but certainly nowhere near flashy, plastic trunk. Sonja picked up the halters once more and hung them on a peg next to her saddle, then rummaged around in her trunk aimlessly. (She wasn't quite sure why she had opened it, since she hadn't brought anything from the car to store away inside of it anyway.) She straightened her figure, knees groaning in protest, and turned to face the door to the tack room. Her gaze traveled towards the girl once more, and Sonja's cheeks heated due to the fact that she felt as if she had looked in her direction far too many times already. I'm so incredibly awkward. Sonja thought with a sigh, her eyes flickering towards the door again as she advanced towards it. Stepping softly, centuries seemed to pass before she was finally out of sight. She picked up her pace upon reaching the aisle, feeling less uncomfortable immediately. Just a few more trips back and forth. Sonja thought.

Opening the back door to her car and grabbing a stack of saddle pads (mostly purple, her favorite color), she turned and headed towards the tack room again, dreading another awkward silence soon to come. Sonja kicked herself constantly about her social anxiety, it prevented her from becoming more than just acquaintances with what seemed like everybody. Sonja ran her fingers through her curly hair nervously, paddock boots clicking against concrete as she got closer and closer to the tack room. Oh, she was making this out to be a much bigger deal than it had to be. Sonja could tell herself it was stupid to be scared of someone all she wanted to, but she knew it would always be this way and it was just one more thing about herself that she had to deal with.

Word Count: 640
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[huntersgotstyle]

Hayden looked up as the girl entered the tackroom, but looked down quickly. The girl looked normal, no freaky orange hair and her nose wasn’t stuck extremely high up in the air. Hayden felt herself sigh as the girl left and immediately thought get over yourself. She had to speak up and introduce herself, she needed some friends at the moment. She glanced back towards the girls tack trunk, a plastic but big bin. She remembered having those, heck that was just a year ago. It had only been last years show season somebody had paid her to ride there horse into the ring. It was the nice thing about being 17, you could still show ponies. That was why she didn’t own any hunter ponies, as she had had many offers to show them this year for people who’s daughter had outgrown or moved on or wasn’t there yet. Whatever it was, Hayden had rode it. Including riding Medium pony jumpers and even the odd small. Yes she had been a little oversized on the small, but for the price they paid her she’d been willing to ride that thing around the course. That pony was a little devil, and she’d loved the whole course , including the buck after every fence. That’s why she loved Clu, so full of spunk. She sold all the horses she owned once they were easy to ride, she just lost interest in them once they knew how to pack around a course.

Hayden looked at her tack, all polished and sparkling. She’d cleaned it for the move of stables, because first impressions were everything. I looked around me, most of the tack was even nicer then mine that I’d worked so hard for. Well minus that actual horses, which my dad paid for through support. Though most of it was paid for by sales of other horses, but hey it all worked out to being way to expensive. I let my eyes run over a pair of BR front boots as I placed them neatly into Nolan’s tack box. I didn’t have any fancy leather one with sheepskin lining- I simply couldn’t afford to put out that much money for boots especially now that I was here. It was going to suck, as I had a feeling most of the people here were going to be stuck up. And to think I had felt all rich when I got my first personalized cooler- some of these people had personalized everything. I looked up as I heard paddock boots on the cement and as the girl came into view I managed to force a smile and swallow the last bit of shyness as I said, “I’m Hayden”

word count;; 455
muse;; horrid, you can sooo tell im in the middle of writing a report lol

[(ALEX)]

OOC: Don't even worry about it! I totally know what that's like. I'm really tired, so this will more than likely suck. D:

---

SONJA HADN'T TAKEN BUT A few steps into the room before hearing the accompanying girl's voice. She faced her and adjusted the stack of saddle pads cradled in her arms before smiling broadly. Never did Sonja fake a smile, hers were always genuine and sometimes contagious. "Hey! I'm Sonja." Not even a second had passed before anxiety overcame Sonja again. Should she extend her hand? Was that the proper thing to do? Realizing her hands were occupied, anyway, she gestured towards the saddle pads and stepped towards her bin. Yes, Sonja over thought the simplest of situations, including introductions. She then stored away her saddle pads and glanced over the items in her trunk. Maybe she wasn't looking at that many trips back and forth as she had previously thought.

Sonja about-faced and directed her gaze towards Hayden, which she then realized was a rather pretty name, fidgeting with her hands as she took a few tentative steps forward. "I just moved here the other day, actually." Sonja began before quickly adding, "From Nevada. Quite a difference." A smile tugged at her lips as she compared the sparse, desert-like town from where she grew up to her current location, abundant with grasses and trees. It was quite a change, and the plant life actually did fascinate her. At her old barn, trail rides didn't consist of flourishing forests, but instead flat plains and cornfields. It always tended to be cold, too. Riding here would certainly be a big change. Sonja's insides then fluttered with excitement at the idea of riding in such a different location, for she would be very soon.

"Are you new as well?" Sonja asked inquisitively, perhaps coming off too curious as she always tended to do. Most people took her as being nosy, but Sonja wasn't the type of person to aimlessly ask questions and forget the person's response ten minutes later. Whenever Sonja questioned an individual, she was genuinely interested in her company's response. She figured that was a good personality trait to have, versus not caring at all.

Her eyes lowered to Hayden's trunks, much nicer than her old plastic bin, then to her freshly polished saddle. A reminder for Sonja to soap her own saddle later. She ran her hand through her wavy hair once more and sighed, realizing then how tired she was. The past few weeks she hadn't gotten much sleep; it was probably noticeable to Hayden now. Sonja then glanced down at her outfit -- worn, faded jeans that fit comfortably for riding, and an old T-shirt with a barn's logo across the breast from one of her first shows five years earlier. It still fit, but its age definitely showed. It was streaked with dirt, no telling from what, but not a surprise to anyone considering she was at the barn, after all. Sonja was also sporting her black Ariat half chaps (a great buy at 50% off, by the way) and cheap, scuffed paddock boots. Hayden's well put-together appearance made Sonja feel tremendously unprofessional in comparison. There she went, taking things far too seriously than she needed to again. It was just something to wear to put away her belongings. Come on Sonja, pull yourself together.

Word Count: 538
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[huntersgotstyle]

“Yeah I’m from Canada. It’s a big difference, especially barn wise. It’s weird at my old barn people wore tough ducks. Here so many people seem dressed up, it makes me feel really pressured to dress decently. Heck I felt evil because I was wearing jeans! It’s nice to see somebody dressed normal” I said laughing at the last part and amazed at the amount of words I’d just put out into the world. Good I wasn’t going to be a complete weirdo who couldn’t mutter words. It helped she didn’t seem like the type to think she was the best, mainly because she wore fairly worn out clothes. But Hayden would admit she had those but since she arrived she hadn’t had the gut to take them out of her suitcase. This place was so high class.

I grabbed a pair a blue polos and slipped them into Clu’s box, running a finger over his name. Batteries Not Included, I loved his name. It was so original and cute. I loved all three of the horses names, Forget Me Not and Pick Your Poison, were the other two. I smiled at the thought of them and then remembered about how I should start riding them all harder, Nolan was supposed to show at least four foot six courses next summer and he was being put up for sale next spring as long as he showed potential to be a nice show horse for riders that still needed a confidence boost but needing something to move up quickly with. They never did move up quickly, but their parents thought they would so they bought them so ultra expensive show horse. I wasn’t sure when I was going to put Izzy up on the market, she was doing really well and was an awesome jumper but if I put another half a years work on her and gave her a real show career then she’d price would probably go up five to ten grand, I could always ship her back and have mom sell her but if she went back mom wouldn’t really advance her, she was too busy. Clu was great, he was definitely sticking around for awhile for me to show jumpers with. I loved Clu, he was such a speedy little fellow. He was careful to, great jumper. Hunter not so much, it was a workout getting him ready for hunter courses but as long as I put a few good rides on before a show he could usually pull it off and pin above fourth. Usually.

I looked back up feeling like I’d been in thought for too long. “So do you own a horse? Or do you just ride the lesson horses?” I asked wondering what the lesson horses were like. Some barns had lesson horses that couldn’t keep a nice form over anything, but some had lesson horses that might as well of been show horses. If the lesson horses were decent I might take one out every once in awhile, it’s nice to ride and not worry if the horse is travelling perfectly, jumping straight or having amazing form. It’s nice to just ride. It sounded crazy and stupid but I wanted my own horse. These horses were all great but they’d all be sold and new ones brought in. I was like a walking sales barn, it was great for my career but sometimes I just wanted to be able to know that they would always be there. I forced myself to keep a smile on my face, but turned away. My eyes were watering and I had to blink away tears, I didn’t want to sell Clu. I wanted them all to stay, but mom said until I fell in love with a horse I didn’t get to keep any. It was true though, I really liked Clu but I didn’t really love him.

words; 655
muse; ickk I apologize my thread is all over the place, includign goign from third to first person. if that annoys you I apologize and will go back and fix it but the one part was wrote on a diffrent day, i just ran out of time.