Run with the Horses (Niah & Sugo)

[Niah]

Rachel stood in front of her bedroom mirror and pulled her long, brunette locks into a low lying bun. She didn't want it getting in the way, plus it would be easier when putting on her riding hat. The woman, who had just turned twenty-six, had been informed by her boss that she really needed to cash in her holiday time. It had been accumulating all year, however she just hadn't found anywhere in particular that she really wanted to go. She didn't want to waste her days just lazing about the house you see. Rachel wanted to actually go somewhere and be part of something enjoyable. Deciding to have a good long search via the internet, she soon found a website belonging to The Bridley Manor. A beautiful old English estate that was opening their doors for the summer and allowing guests to check in. As well as the opportunity to stay in luxury rooms and dine on delicious food, the Manor also offered daily activities inspired by nineteenth century life. Being a fan of Jane Austen, Rachel couldn't help but book herself in for a few weeks.

One of the activities that she had signed up to do was horse riding. It was something that she had yet to experience, but had always wanted to try. With her dark plum riding leggings on, along with her boots and a long sleeved black t-shirt, Rachel was ready to go. It was a moderately warm day, not cold enough to need a coat, however also not hot enough for short sleeves. So her light skin, with it's smooth and slightly sun kissed complexion, was modestly covered up today. Upon her face was a splash of subtle freckles and her body type could be best described as slender but healthy. Leaving her designated room, she ventured down the magnificent halls which were decorated in warm creams, browns and greens. Grand portraits adorned the walls, along with extravagant sculptures and woodwork. Some of the furniture you could tell were antiques and very costly. At times Rachel felt almost too intimidated to touch anything, just in case she caused an accident like the klutz that she was. She was sure that some of the items in this place were worth more than her entire life savings, home and car combined.

Leaving the grand staircase, she began to walk across the ornate welcoming hall. The receptionist was sat at her desk positioned by the door. "I hope you enjoy your first riding session Miss Daniels." She said politely, her accent one of someone who had clearly been well educated. Rachel was almost certain that she was related to the people who owned this manor somehow and working the reception desk was her way of pulling her weight, so to speak. "Thank you" Rachel replied. The doorman opened the entrance for her and once again the young woman gave her thanks, before skipping down the stone steps and into the manor grounds. Her large brown eyes scanned the horizon, nothing but countryside for miles, everything was remarkably serene and quiet. Taking in a large breath of the mid morning air, Rachel started in the direction of the stables. It didn't take her long to find where she needed to be and she was soon stood by the stable doors, looking inside. "Hello?" She called, unsure about whether she was supposed to go in or wait for her instructor out here.

 

[Sugo]

As she enters the Stable she starts to get a good look at the inside.

It was an old stable seemingly as old as the house was, the wood was dark and well kept and there was multiple stalls running down both sides of the center path which had sparsely laid hay. The stalls had more hay inside of them but barely any of them where populated, there was only a few horses that she could see laying down in the thick hay in their stalls. There was at least 15 stalls but only a couple of horses so it could probably be assumed that there is never really any big groups for this specific activity, other activities she had partaken in before where almost always in larger groups, this one however was seemingly just her as no one else had turned up to this time slot, and at the current moment it was looking like the instructor wasn't even going to arrive.

Fast forward 5 minutes and one of the horses had stood up to greet her, his majestic head popping over his stall to be petted and the main door to the stable flies open gently, a man walks in his immediate appearance was that of khaki coloured pants along with a white t-shirt his shoes smaller but in a similar style to that of her boots. He smiles charmingly as he sees the woman blatantly dressed for horse riding staring back at him, upon closer inspection his had unkempt brown hair at around medium male length as well as a pale complexion with some very prominent pale blue eyes. "Sorry about the tardiness, I don't normally get guests wanting to come down here." he says in his very strong southern English accent.

He looks over to the horse that had stuck his head over the stall and reaches down into a bucket near his stall bringing out a hand brush, the bristles strong and firm, not something a human would want to brush their hair with and then he takes Rachel's hand in his placing the brush into her hand and guiding her to the horses mane where he helps her run one brush over the mane before leaving her to it, the horse now seemingly nuzzling it's head into her arm. "He doesn't get much company other than me, he's excited." He says gently with a smile on his face looking at Rachel's interaction with the horse.

 

[Niah]

When no answer came, Rachel had decided to take a step inside. Although the stable looked aged, it was still very presentable and obviously well tended to. Admittedly she was surprised at how empty it appeared on first glance. Though she supposed that could just be a city girl stereotyping country life. You know how it is; you watch one too many episodes of Countryfile and suddenly you expect to see dozens upon dozens of horses roaming any given country home. When realistically, too many would no doubt be costly and pointless for such a place. Not that it really mattered when the few horses that you did have were as lovely as these. One stood up and appeared to be very friendly, Rachel couldn't help but smile and ventured nearer ever so carefully. She didn't want to spook him and plus she wasn't sure if she was allowed to pet the horses whilst unsupervised. Rachel became lost for a moment as she gazed at the magnificent animal, causing her to jump when the doors were opened. She took a step back from the horse and looked up at the male who came striding in. He was quite handsome and had the most piercing blue eyes that she had ever seen.

"Oh it's fine..." Rachel replied to his apology. She was quite surprised when he took her hand and began guiding her through how to brush the animal's mane. They did a few strokes together, before he allowed her to carry on alone. "He's beautiful" she said in awe. She had never been this close to such an impressive creature before. "I can't believe you don't get more people down here. They must be mad, no idea what they're missing out on." Rachel knew the type though, people who would rather just enjoy a life of luxury and not actually get their hands dirty. Rachel couldn't care less, high society life wasn't really for her, that's not why she had booked a stay here. She continued to brush his mane with her right hand, as her left reached up and glided along his muzzle affectionately. Her eyes then fluttered back to the stable hand, "I'm Rachel by the way." She introduced herself, realizing that she had yet to know his name.

 

[Sugo]

A smile remains on his face for the whole time that she was talking as he wanders around the stable a little doing a few basic clean up chores, her accent was cute and her voice was soothing she had a voice that he could just sit by an listen to talking about the most monotonous thing for a long period of time. While she spoke he was coiling up some rope that had been left near the door before lifting it up and hanging it from a hook. He looked over to her just in time to see her flicker her eye lashes and introduce herself.

He couldn't help but smile a little wider as she flickered her eyelashes, the long lashes and modest eye makeup made her eyes really pop and he got a good look at them for the first time. "Rachel? eh?" He says softly as she introduces her self he looks up at the rope that he had just hung up and pulls it right. "Adam, is mine, not quite as nice as yours though." he says turning to face her before walking over to her with confident strides he was comfortable in this stable, it was his work place he had worked here for years it was like a second home.

When he reaches her side he smiles to her lifting his hand up onto the side of the horses head before rubbing his hand quickly against the side of his head petting him roughly but not so rough that the majestic beast wouldn't like it but instead he gave a hearty neigh from his sudden petting. "Well Rachel, meet Max" he says before patting Max on the neck, "he loves it when you pet him"

He moves over to the other pen where the White horse was laying down in the hay seemingly sleeping. "and Amethyst" he says looking over the stalls door at the sleeping horse. "We won't be taking her out, she's got a foal on the way." He says happily looking down at the horse. "Hasn't she Max?" He says as he turns from the sleeping horse back over to the beautiful brown stallion running his muscular large hands over and through the horses neck and mane as he smiles happily enjoying his time with his horses.

 

[Niah]

The woman watched as he began to go about his everyday chores. He kept looking back to her, the smile upon his face only succeeded in making him even more handsome. When he pulled upon the rope, his arms flexed slightly and Rachel was willing to guess that he was probably quite strong. He was certainly taller than her, but then again most men were. A slight smile went across her face when he said that her own name was nicer than his. She waved his comment off and gave a soft laugh. "Rachel's hardly anything exotic, I like Adam though."

Adam had an air of confidence about him which definitely suited the male. His strokes upon the horse were a lot rougher than Rachel's own meek ones. The animal didn't seem to mind though and even gave a sound which she guessed was his way of voicing his enjoyment. "Hello Max" Rachel said in a soft manner. The horse moved it's head again towards her and she couldn't help but smile even more. "Yes I can see that" the horse was definitely sociable.

As Adam ventured over to the next stall, Rachel listened. Her eyes then widened and she gave Max one last pat before joining Adam in front of the white horse. "Really? When is she due?" Her eyes glanced back to Max momentarily, she guessed that he was the expectant father. Rachel could tell that Adam really enjoyed his job and it was nice to see. "It must be wonderful coming to work here every day, being so close to horses on a regular basis. How long have you been here?"

 

[Sugo]

Horses

He chucked gently at her comment about their names then introduced her to the horses.

"Soon I'm thinking, any day now really." He says looking down at the White horse as she lays on her hay. "We're going to leave her be though, let her get some rest." He runs his eyes around the stall that Amethyst laid in and then opened a service door just next to the stall going inside the small store closet running a tap and coming out with a large bucket full of clean water he opens the stall and hangs it off of a peg in the stall moving the empty bucket before he did, moving the heavy bucket of water was an arduous task, his arms bulged from lifting the heavy bucket up to his neck height to hang it off of the peg then threw the empty bucket into the service closet locking it up.

"Yer it ain't a bad job that's for sure, ain't nothing luxurious but it's not on the list of bad jobs ye can get roped into." He says closing Amethyst's stall door as the female horse gets up to take a drink from her fresh bucket of water. "Don't really keep track of the years, 4? 5? Something along those lines, started fresh out of school when I was 16 so 5 sounds about right I guess." He says smiling gently his pale blue eyes beaming back at her.

"Come on then Ms. Rachel shall we crack on?" He says walking over to Max's stall open it up and going into it to get him, he had turned from the stall when they'd walked away and was also taking a drink. "I might not have a taxing schedule and could sit around listening to your beautiful voice all day but I'm sure you've got places to be after this so the sooner we get started the better, aye?" He says softly as he grabs a set of basic reins off of the wall in his stall starting to wire his reins up over the horses head.

 

[Niah]

"Oh my God..." To witness a fowl being born! She was in no doubt that it would most likely be messy and not exactly an attractive sight. However on the other hand, it must also be just utterly amazing and something people don't witness often. I mean, not when you're someone like her. The most wildlife that she ever saw were urban foxes and pigeons! Although the thought intrigued her, she didn't ask to be present when the birth occurred. She was sure that it was due to be a very private and tiring event. She wouldn't want to get in the way or cause any stress to Amethyst.

"Of course" Rachel gave an understanding nod as Adam explained that the white horse needed rest. She took a step back from the stall and watched as Adam fetched some water for the mare. Rachel swallowed slightly as his strong arms increased in prominence, the muscles constricting against his t-shirt. There was something about watching a man do hard labor, it made them seem... masculine.

She refocused just in time to hear what he had to say about his job. She found his accent charming and it seemed to become thicker the longer that she listened to him. "Oh wow..." She had said, when he told her that it must have been about five years since he began here, as he had been sixteen. That made him twenty-one?! He looked more mature than his actual years. Rachel would have guessed that they were a similar age, not that she was five years older than him.

Rachel began to beam when he said that her voice was beautiful and her cheeks were beginning to hurt from smiling so much. She then gave a shrug. "Not really, horse-riding is the activity I've been looking forward to the most. So I kind of wanted to make sure nothing else got in the way of it." She admitted. Rachel watched as he began to get Max ready for riding. "Is there anything you want me to help with?" She asked eagerly.

 

[Sugo]

Rachel.

He smiles gently at her saying how much she was looking forward to horse riding the smiles a little more at her offer as he guides the male horse from the stall walking him down in the opposite direction to the door Rachel and himself has entered through previously. "I appreciate the offer Ms. Rachel but you know what then health and safety nuts are like, I think it's best if I do it all" he says smiling to her as he turns down her generous request.

He guides the horse out into the field at the back of the stable, it was a large fenced off field, maybe a couple of acres in size, about the size of a soccer pitch. He reaches next to the door on the way out of the stable and ties the ropes of the horses reins to the wall just outside of the stable to stop him from running off.

"If you just wait here with the horse Ms. Rachel I'll go get his saddle." He says before going back into the stable, about a minute or so later he comes out carrying a large leather brown saddle over his shoulder, the metal stirrups clicking together as they swung back and forth as he walks.

He comes up to the horse and throws the saddle over its back, starting to fasten all the straps and click into place the clips that would hold the saddle on the horse, the horse was surprisingly well behaved and stood still waiting for him to be done.

 

[Niah]

Rachel gave a look of disappointment when Adam insisted on doing it all himself. She understood not handling anything dangerous, but she failed to see how passing him a simple saddle would put either of their lives in danger. However it wasn't his fault and she understood that. Healthy and safety had gone mad over the years and if anything, God forbid, did happen, it would be his job on the line.

She followed him outside and into the beautiful, sprawling paddock. The woman gave a nod as he asked her to stay put and then watched as he walked back to the stable. Whilst her and Max waited for Adam's return, she ran a stray hand over his muzzle once more, assuming it was safe to do so even though Adam wasn't here. Max seemed to appreciate it, as he gave a little neigh and pushed his head into her hands so that she wouldn't stop.

Adam soon returned and flipped the saddle onto the back of the horse. Max seemed almost to take no notice, he was obviously used to being ridden and handled. It would seem that her long anticipated moment was finally close. Although she had been wanting to ride for a while, she was still nervous about doing so for the first time. Max was a big creature and she was sure that the activity wasn't as simple as it looked.

 

[Sugo]

After a moment or so he finishes tying the saddle to the horse and then puts one foot in the stirrup swinging himself quickly up onto the large horse who was about 6 foot to his withers, and Adam shakes his hips back and forth in the saddle making sure that it was secure and then patting max's neck gently before quickly hopping off the horse.

"Okay then Miss Rachel." he says moving around to her side pointing to her right foot and then to the stirrup on her side of the horse. "Let's get your right foot in here, and then your hands on here." he says pointing to the horn of the saddle. "Grip on tight and then push off your left foot, pull yerself up and swing your leg over into the other stirrup" he smiles gently looking at her as he holds onto the horses head comforting him to keep him still so it was easier for Rachel to get onto the horse "Easy!" he says gently smiling wide.

In retrospect he knew it wasn't going to be that easy, it takes a lot of strength for him to get up onto a horse of Max's size, especially in the quick way that he does it, he doesn't have the benefit of being tall he was quite a short male, but it was evident that Rachel was even smaller than he was, but with proper technique she should be able to get on no problem, if not he would have to lift her up onto him, it was normally a problem when it came to Max, he was quite a big stallion, getting onto Amethyst would be much easier but Amethyst wasn't an option right now, she was the horse that he'd normally use for female visitors as she was much more gracious and much less powerful than max was, and a lot smaller and easier to get on.