Polo and Dreameh's VERY short RP. For real this time. (Mature)

((I was waitingfor one o fthem to fall off XD Dude, I'm crying at Nabari No Ou. Honestly. I feel so stupid... But it;s so damncute! I've got one more episode to watch, but I don't have the time tonight to watch it... I was so scared that Yukimi blondie had died, but he's okay, so I'm happy Sucks that Reimei died though :/
*pokes piggy* ))

Dane at first was horrified to see that he was losing, but refused to speed up to the limits of the poor quad bike. But when he foud himself shooting past Sloan rather easily he frowned. Had Sloan actually stopped? To let him win?
Nah. Couldn't be.
Dane hit on the brakes rather quickly, then rolled his own quad round to meet his opponent, who was sat rather awkwardly in the mood, beside an upturned quad bike and a leg.
Hold on. What?
Dane stared at the leg in horror, feeling suddenly very sick. How had that happened?
He leapt off his ride, ran towards Sloan as quick as he could, then he realised: there was no blood. If Slaon had lost his leg there and then, there would be blood. A hell of a lot of it, too. Besides a huge patch of mud on his trousers, Sloan was clean.
Dane glanced stupidly and the leg a meter of so away from him, scratching his head. It took him a moment or two to understand what was going on.
Slowly, very slowly, he edged towards the large piece of plastic, leant over and picked it up. It was the strangest thing anyone had ever asked him to do, and he'd been asked to do a lot.
"Yeah, er..." He tossed it back to Sloan, finally taking note of his half-empty jean leg sprawled over the grass. He'd not noticed that before.
How could he have not noticed that?
"You okay?" he asked stupidly, raising an eyebrow. He was still in shock, and words had left him.

((Yeah... About the 'shortness'... ))

((That anime made me cry, too... Love it so much. <3 I have to watch it again! I can barely remember it. O.o

Oh, and there's a link at the bottom of my previous post to see what the leg looks like - it's the weight-bearing kind, not the fake, plastic leg kind.

Link

There is is again for you. ^^ ))

Sloan took the prosthetic limb from Dane, evidently struggling not to laugh at the shocked expression on his face.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He replied, “Bit muddy, but that’s what I get for being so bloody reckless.” He flashed Dane a brief wink, then turned his attention back to fastening his prosthetic leg back onto the stump of his leg.
It was usually pretty secure – he was surprised it had come off…
Once he had it strapped back on, Sloan heaved himself clumsily to his feet, and tested his weight on it. It felt fine, so he shrugged and tweaked his jeans back over it, leaving him looking as ‘whole’ and normal as ever before.
He brushed off some of the mud caked to him, but when he looked over all that remained, all he could do was laugh at himself.
With a shake of his head, he heaved his quad back onto its wheels, climbed on, and started it.
“C’mon, then.” He said, “We’ve still got to get those ponies in before 10.”

((It made me cry when Raiko died, and I will cry again when I watch the last episode with Yoite.He's such a lovely character. I don't suppose he was your inspiration for Kougu, was he? It was so sad though, when he killed the Cheif and started screaming and everyone was just gaping stupidly at him. Seriously, the poor guy didn't need to be 'stopped', he needed a friggin' hug.

Oh, sorry XD In my tired, braindead state I thought it was just a random piece of text It didn't occur to me that it was a link, sorry ))

Dane stared stupidly at Sloan as he rather amusedly sorted his leg out, and finally noticed the stump filling only half of the guy's leg. It looked so normal when the jean covered it up.It looked so... Whole. But still, how could he not have seen it before?
He realised he'd become so transfixed with watching the guy strap the leg back on that he hadn't realised he'd left the engine of his quad running.
Swearing, he ran back and mounted his vehicle, shaking the shock away and lifting his cap off his sweaty head.He twisted it right and left, letting the breeze hit his very short hair before placing it back on again.
"Right, yeah. Come on..." His voice squeaked awkwardly, like a young school boy who's voice had only just broken, and mentally kicked himself for souding so pathetic. He cleared his throat, turned the quad round and headed for the moor, far slower this time, since he'd learned his lesson.
The climb up the hill was a bumpy one, but Dane was used to it by now. He stood up, hovering over his seat and drove carefully over the rocks and tuffets crawling over the road. Eventually, they reached the field.
He parked his quad just by the gate, turned it off and dismounted, grabbing the headcollars and slinging them over his neck.
"I'll leave the shetlands to you,since they don't need headcollars Just round them up in a group - don't worry, they follow each other like a flockofsheep - and I'll put some head collars on the horses. Once you have the shetlands nearby, put some headcollars on a few others." He dumped a pile into Sloan's hand. "Not all of them have them, those ones go in stables. Once we get them together we'll get back on the quads. You go at the back to make sure there's no runaways and I'll lead at the front. Got it?"

((I watched Nabari after creating Kougu, believe it or not. Kougu just kind of came to me. He started off as a wizard called Kai. XD Haha!

Dude, I can't even remember this. I NEEED to watch that anime again! <3 ))

Sloan smiled tightly at the awkwardness in Dane's voice. Clearly, he hadn't noticed before - so Sloan understood why he'd be shocked - but did he have to look so... Horrified? It was actually slightly insulting.
He sighed and shook off his thoughts, then revved his quad, and followed Dane to the double gate.
Once there, he took the headcollars Dane handed him with a mumbled, 'Got it', and sent to work herding the shetlands.
They were cheeky buggers, but with a few harsh shouts, and authoritative body language, he had them moving forward in a herd. They knew the routine - all he really had to do was follow them...
He cast an anxious glance at his watch. If they didn't hurry, he'd be late for his first lesson of the day... That reminded him...
"Hey, Dane!" He called, as he reached the other man. "Guess I owe you a lesson now, huh?" A wry grin on his face, he raised an eyebrow questioningly, still waiting to hear Dane's plan with his wager - yet climbing back onto the quad and keeping an eye on the ponies at the same time.

((A wizard??? O.o I can't imagine him as a wizard, to be honest XD

You MUST!! And dude, did you know Yoite is actually a hermaphrodite? But he's referred to as a guy for all intents and purposes. I didn't know that. Miharu is more feminine than him sometimes And he's only 15/16, but the Kira means he ages by 3 years, which is why he has such long limbs. The things you learn from reading forums... XD))

Dane quietly and fluently clipped on the headcollars to a handful of the horses, then began leading a couple towards the quads. The rest followed obeiently behind them.
When he heard Sloan's voice wafting through the wind he smiled to himself, mounting his vehicle and shouting back with a grin, "You said it, mate, not me!"
That would hopefully be enough to answer his question.
He revved up the engine, clicked his tongue loudly and began rolling slowly down the hill, whistling every now and then forthe lazy ones to hurry up.
"You also kinda promised to make me cry, although I'm not betting my dinner on that one." He turned his head, flashing Sloan a daring wink.

((Right?! XD It was weird. But now he's 'Kougu'. He could never be a wizard again.

O.O That is fascinating... But VERY weird!!!!!! XD *Hides* ))

“Oh, we’ll see…” Sloan muttered back, grinning darkly – eyebrows drawing together devilishly.
He clucked to the straggling ponies, keeping them moving onward in a tight herd as they ambled placidly down the hill. It was slow progress, but they still reached the stables in time.
Sloan put the quad away, then bid Dane farewell and hurried off to the staff change rooms to get a quick shower and some clean clothes before his first lesson. If the kids saw him all covered in mud, he’d lose all respect – and he just couldn’t work like that.

By the time he was done, he was running late – but just as he was beginning to panic, his first client called with a cancellation. He had to admit, he was relieved. And besides, the free slot in his schedule meant he’d have time to fit Dane in, if his new friend really did want a lesson.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t teach advanced riders… He was actually pretty good at it. It was just that he hadn’t done it for quite some time. He was somewhat surprised Dane thought he was good enough…
He was jerked out of his thoughts when he saw Dane putting away the last of the ponies - and hurried over to him.
"Hey." He said, absentmindedly running his fingers through his wet (but thankfully no longer muddy) hair. "I've had a cancellation. Wanna cash in that lesson now?"

Sloan left Dane to sort the small herd into the barn himself, which didn't bother him much. He did it every day, after all.
He led the trekkers into the barn, tying each of them up in line before herding the shetlands - two of which were shifting suspiciously towards the feed room - to one of the large stables where they happily sat and amused each other. He wandered to the tack room to rack up a few of the schooling ponies, then made his way towards Archie, when Sloan's voice caused him to wheel round in surprise.
"I've had a cancellation. Wanna cash in that lesson now?"
His heart leapt in excitement. He'd not had a single lesson in several years, only some pointers from Claire, or the owner. He'd become pretty much self-taught, using what Archie responded to to give him an idea as to how to ride properly. Books had helped, too, but he'd not had a lesson in what felt like forever.
"Yeah, sure." He said gleefully, a bright smile lighting up his face. "I'll... I'l go get Sasha tacked up then!"
He sprung away to a stable in the corner of the yard, containing a sixteen hands-high grey cob with clipped feathers and mane, giving her a rather warrior-like mohawk. She lifted her fluffy head at the sight of him, whickering and kicking away at the door. Dane forgot how hellish the ride would be and concentrated more on making her look as smart as possible. It was difficult, she wasn't the smartest looking horse in the first place, but her tack was clean enough so it didn't matter. He scooped up his hat from the floor, dumped his cap in the corner, out of the way of any of the horses then, after tacking her up, led her out into the yard. He clipped up thebuckle by his chin, halted her then leapt onto her back without botehring with the mounting block. He slipped his feet into thestirrups and quickly tightened her girth, gathered up his reins and squeezed her forward into a bouncy walk.
He walked over to Sloan, grinning excitedly at him. "Onwards, then?"

“Onwards.” Sloan agreed, nodding toward the arena. “Nice horse.” He added, “Does she jump?”
He followed Dane over to the arena, showing a faint limp in his step from the quadbike incident.
It didn’t seem to bother him, though, and he went about setting up jumps without a care in the world.
He started by adjusting the grid he’d set up earlier in the week, then put up a few other jumps, which he placed to simulate the technical challenges faced in cross country. He was an eventing instructor, after all.
“So what do you want to do?” He called to Dane, leaning on the nearest jump, “I don’t know where you’re at… What’s your comfort height? And for G*d’s sake, come HERE!” Suddenly, his tone gained the usual impatient frustration that always gripped him when instructing, and he stormed over to Dane irritably, “Has nobody ever showed you how to sit on a horse? What the f**k are you doing with your heels?!”

"She does, but she's a bit clumsy with her feet. And she's pretty green. I still haven't been able to get her near any fillers yet."
He walked Sasha calmly into the arena, adjusting his stirrups as he walked. If they were going to be jumping he'd probably need them like a freakin' jockey due to the way the mare cat-leat over pretty much everything. But hey, she always cleared it and seemed to enjoy it, so that was a plus.
He studied the complicated course with vague satisfaction. Jumping was certainly one of his strong points, since he was told todo it often, and he didn't mind about size. But with Sasha as greenand clumsyas she was, he didn't want to go too high, since she was still getting used to jumping small courses.
He was suddenly bombarded with questions from Sloan, and did othing but raise his eyebrows stupidly. Wa the guy purposefully trying to scare him? Because it wasn't working.
"Okay, dude. Dude... Chill. Just tell me what I need to do and I'll do it."
Sasha's walk quickened to a nervous jog asn Sloan stormed towards them, but Dane held his guard. He pushed his heels down and sat up In the saddle. As far as he knew, this was how you were supposed to sit, right? He hoped so, anyway...
"We'll keep the jumps fairly low today. Don't get me wrong, she jumps, but I need to work on her balance and getting her to get within sniffing distance of the fillers first."
He offered a calm smile, aware that it may only irritate Sloan further. Oh well.

Sloan began grumbling venomously under his breath at Dane’s attitude – but after a while he just shrugged it off and let it go. He could forgive the man for being patronizing, just as long as he didn’t start riding like a bloody ballerina again…
“Tell me to ‘chill’, you good for nothing….” He grumbled and muttered under his breath, walking around Dane and viciously prodding and poking him into the correct position.
“Now stay like that.” He instructed, “But don’t let me see you stiffen. If I wanted a block of wood on the horse, I’d put a block of wood on the horse.”
With that, he took a step back and looked over his course, all business now.
“You can work on the fillers in your own time.” He said, “That’s just exposure. For now – these exercises should test her balance. I think you’ll find them more difficult than they look.”
He walked over to the nearest jump, and lowered it a few holes – leaving the majority of the jumps standing around 80cm, with the exception of a 1,10m oxer at the end of the grid, and a little warm-up cross.
“Warm her up, then.” He instructed, “Show me what you usually do with her, but please try to sit like a human being, or I swear I’ll put one of those electric dog collars on you.”

Dane watched his 'instructor' as he roughly pulled his legs and arms into the correct position - he was surprised how 'off' he'd been sat, just relaxed in the saddle, not really paying attention to his position. By the time Sloan was done with him, he felt...
He felt...
He felt rather stupid, really. His arms were bent at an unnatural angle, his legs were stuck in place around Sasha's broad stomach in a way he knew wouldn't stay there for long, and the effort to keep himself sat like that was almost as tiring as the riding itself, and he hadn't even moved yet!
He resisted thetemptation not to groan when Sloan warned him not to stiffen. How was he supposed to stay in that position otherwise? Still, he knew by experience what happened to an unbalanced horse when he stiffened, and it was fairly uncomfortable, put nicely.
Nodding, he squeezed Sasha forward into a march, letting his hands rock back and forth as her head nodded with each step. His eyes scanned the course, it looked complicated. But he gathered Sloan would tell him where to go. Besides which, the angles seemed pretty straight forward, evenfor Sasha. Unless he was looking at the wrong set of jumps...
"Should I be scared?" He asked brightly with a somewhat nervous laugh, clucking the mare into a bouncy trot. It was hard to keep his legs and feet in the sme position, because Sasha's leg movements were somewhat dramatic compared to what he was used to, and ended up swinging slightly at the motion. He circled her around the track, halting at certain letters, pausing for a moment before trotting again. She whisped smoothly with the twenty-metre circles, but he had to slow her toa walk with the fifteen and ten-metre ones, because her rump swung and she tripped clumsily over herself. He walked her around the track once, deciding to leave any cerpentines out - she'd not learned howtodo those yet - and then squeezed her into a trot again.
Ride like a human, he thought sternly to himself. Ride like a human...
He sat deeply into the saddle and kicked her firmly in the stomach, moving his inside leg by the girth to gesture which leg to canter on, and she was off. He did not circle her at all but simply rode her around the school, trying to keep her from swinging her rump to the inside like she did sometimes. It took several strides to straighten her, but eventually she obeyed him and they rode togetyher in harmony.
It was hard to keep in the position Sloan had put him in, and Dane soon find it slipping as he rode around the corners.
He slowed her back to a walk on the long side, patted her neck, changed the rein at 'E' and did the same on the other rein.
"Worth ditching the dog collar?" He joked, slightly nervous to see Sloan's reaction to his riding. He knew he wasn't brilliant, but he'd not had a proper lesson in a long while. Surely Sloan would take that into account...?

((Must. Stop. Typing... ))

Sloan watched quietly as Dane warmed Sasha up - occasionally reminding him to look up, put his heels down, put his legs on - or any other major problem he noted. But for the most part, he left the man alone.
Until, that is, Dane rode up beside him and asked "Worth ditching the dog collar?"
"Oh, that was it?" Sloan shot back with sarcastic surprise, raising an eyebrow. "I was still waiting for you to start..." He rolled his eyes - a bad habit of his, and said in a slightly disappointed voice, "Her schooling needs attention. She should be cantering her 10m circles, leg yielding and working in a frame all the time to be at the right level for these exercises." He gestured toward the jumps, "But at least she's got a decent rhythm, and obviously a great attitude to put up with you."
Subtle Sloan strikes again...
"Well, can't fix her flatwork in a day, so here's the deal: Kick her up under you, get her trotting on a figure eight - each half 10m. Half halt to change her bend, and ride from your inside leg to your outside hand to flex her. Outside leg keeps her quarters from falling out - then I want you to kick her up into the contact, and when she takes it, soften slightly with your inside hand. With a spot of luck she should come soft and round - and hopefully light in your hand. Once you've got the feeling you can work on getting it permanently." He patted the mare's shoulder absentmindedly, and looked over his course again with a frown. The mare could be fine with the offsets, but the dogs legs could prove a problem with her balance...
"When you're done, warm up over the cross." Sloan finished with a shrug, "We can make something of you yet."

(( <3 ))

Dane blushed slightly. He didn't usually spend so little time in warming up, but then again, he didn't usually have a limited amount of time to ride. Generally he used the outdoor school where the pupils rarely went, or headed onto one of the riding trails on his own to give the horse a stretch of it's legs.
But still, he hadn't thought the warm-up was too bad. Then again, he was no expert.
He listened intently to whatever criticism Sloan had to give him, and there was a lot. Most in language he'd never used nor heard be used in the first place, but he nodded and went along with it. The majority of it made sense. So he had to practice more complex movements with her? Granted, he could do some already. But she was certainly a handful to turn. Her long body, unlike Archie's, wasn't used to bending, therefore she always seemed to turn straight, if that makes sense.
Would the whole 'soft and round' thing work on her?
Time to find out.
He nodded, smirking slightly at Sloan's snide comment at the mare needing a good attitude to put up with him, and turned her back to the track. Immediately he clucked her on into a trot, did one lap around the school then turned into a twenty metre circle. He did this once, then just before he finished, turned and shortened it to a fifteen-metre circle. The mare's thick legs flew slightly for a moment, forcing him to slow her down to be able to curve in the right fashion. He repeated this severaly times, then turned into a ten-metre circle.
It ws hard work, keeping her going. She kept trying to turn onto the track, even threatened to rebel and runoff with him, but he kept her in the circle as best he could. He slowed her into a walk, still in the circle, and kept an eye on the curve of her neck.
He could feel her hindquarters swaying slightly, but they were better than they'd been before.
Once he was happy with this, he changed the rein and tried the ten-metre circle on the other rein. Once content, he gave the figure-of-eight a go.
Due to the practice he'd had with the circles thecurvewas much improved. However, it still took a lot of effort to keep her going.
He walked her for one lap,patting her neck gratefully. Once he had caught his breath he sent her back off into a trot, then a canter, and approached the cross-pole at the straightest line hecould possibly plot. Sasha stared at the jump for a moment as if it would morph into a giant monster and eat her for a moment, but at Dane's firm legshe snorted, and popped over it without a second thought. He rode away and slowed her to a trot.
"I suppose you want me to do it again, yeah?" He asked, knowing that for Sloan it was a stupid question. There'd be something he did wrong, no doubt.

Sloan watched Dane's work with a slightly sour expression. He seemed satisfied that there was some improvement, but not with the degree of improvement.
When the man turned the horse toward the jump, however, Sloan's eyebrows raised in surprise. He saw the mare back off, falter in her stride, but the moment she hesitated, Dane was there. He gave the mare confidence, and Sasha popped happily over the little cross, then cantered over toward him at Dane's command.
"I suppose you want me to do it again, yeah?" Dane asked, sounding as if he already knew the answer.
Sloan just frowned thoughtfully at him, gnawing absentmindedly on his knuckle as he replayed the jump in his mind.
"Of course I want you to do it again." He sighed at last, "I'm just dying to see a repeat of your swinging lower leg. Seriously, were you trying to kick your own arse for botching up the flatwork? 'Cause if you were, mate, all you had to do was ask. I'll kick it for you."
He patted the mare's shoulder, then stepped past Dane and raised the cross a few holes.
"I'll tell ya what, loose-leg. Your technique may need some work, but by god, it's been way too long since I've seen such a natural jumper."
He turned back to face Dane, and his expression was deadly serious.
Compliments from Sloan were rare - but he always gave them where they were due.
"You've got feel. You felt the horse back off, and you rode her positively over the jump. If you'd ridden any differently, she'd have stopped."
Again he considered Dane thoughtfully, and the silence dragged on a while, before he finally said,
"I'll probably regret this, but... Do you want to start riding Dart for me? She's fussy about who gets up on her - and frankly, so am I, but she needs work. And I think... You just might be able to handle her."
He pursed his lips.
"We'll see. For now, do the cross three times on each rein, then take her down the line. Impress me."
He grabbed the top of the arena fence, and vaulted onto it, perching on the rail.
"And for f*ck's sake," He added with grinning irritation, "Keep your weight in your heel! If I see your lower leg swing back again, I'll hack it off and bitch-slap you with it."

((I do love his little pep-talks XD))

Dane rolled his eyes at Sloan's comment about his lower leg, smiling to himself. He knew he couldn't help it. Sasha's gait was just too exaggerated to be able to keep his legs perfectly still all the time. But hey, if that's all he could think of, then maybe that was an improvement.
But what Sloan said next - and he was serious, too - made Dane raise his eyebrows in surprise.
A natural jumper? Him?
He knew he was good at it, but... A natural? His heart warmed at the comment. He'd never really recieved compliments for his riding, mostly because no one ever cared to watch him. But now... He felt far more confident. Not what he'd been exoecting from a man that made little girls cry.
He agreed with a small nod with the 'feeling'. Green and unconfident horses were what he was used to, that was just the way. Bar Archie, of course. It was his job to deal with them and make them gain confidence in riding, especially jumping.
But then, Dart? He'd met her once, and as he'd said before, she looked like a handful. and totally faithful to her owner. No doubt if I got near her back she'd throw her fit. Maybe even for Sloan's own amusement.
Maybe that was why he offered...
He squeezed the mare into a canter again and rode her over the cross once more. She wasn't too bothered by it any more, or by the height difference. Her jump chenged just slightly because of the height, though. The spring front her front legs had far more impact, and her hindquarters sprung with such energy Dane was nearly thrown off-balance. But he composed himself, repeated the jump, changed the rein and jumped it again as instructed.
Trying to concenrate on his heels as Sloan had told him - althought still not brilliantly - he turned her towards the combination on the long side of the school. It only consisted of three jumps: a double bounce, both large enough, then an oxer a stride after. Sasha bounced over the first two jumps with her ears forward, then slowed towards the oxer. Dane could feel her debting on whether or not to jump it, and threw her head down over the poles, maybe to judge how big it was.
Dane pulled her head up, clucked her on and kicked her firmly. She threw her head up and cat-leapt over the jump, clearing it by at least two feet. Dane lost both stirrups, struggled to get them in, but in the heat of the moment decided he couldn't be bothered. Sasha's pace remained steady, and so he turned her around and went over the combination again without. His balance remained intact, and he kicked her half a stride before the jump to keep her from having second thoughts. She still jumped huge, but was no longer hesitant. Panting, Dane slowed her to a trot, then a walk, patting her neck once more. He found his stirrups and sat back in the saddle, wiping his forehead with his arm. "How was that?"

((*hacks off fingers*
HA! Can't type any more now, can you?
...

I'm sorry, I couldn't find any muse at all for the long RP. I'll try and get it done tomorrow ^_^))

(( XD It really is difficult to keep it short, isn't it? ... Maybe we can say longer posts are allowed on weekends or something? ))

"Well ridden." Sloan replied with a slight nod. "Don't get me wrong, it was untidy, but you got the job done. You ride like an eventer. I reckon you'd be a beast around a cross country course... Dressage would need a hell of a lot of work, though - and your jumping technique..." He shrugged, "Well, anyway, you're doing a good job. I'm quite surprised, actually. I expected to be hoarse from yelling at you by now, but godammnit, Dane, you've impressed me." He offered a slight smile, then nodded toward the course.
He ran through a brief explanation of what each jump was, how many strides on the related lines, how to ride it, and so on - then he told Dane to jump it once.
"And make it perfect." He added, "Because we don't have time to do it again. My next lesson starts in ten minutes, and I need another painkiller first." He rolled his eyes, "Every time I swear I'll never drink again, but I never learn..."
Uttering a dramatic sigh, he cast Dane an expectant glance, waiting for him and Sasha to tackle the tricky (if small) course awaiting them.

((It's very hard, yes XD And that sounds like a plan ))

Dane accepted Sloan's compliments with the subtlest joyful smile he could manage. But it was difficult, he felt giddy with warmth. All these years of guessing how good he was, reading books and watching others on TV had actually paid off.
Who would have thought it?
Then he realised: ten minutes. He had ten minutes to complete the course with perfection.
"No pressure, then." He joked, and squeezed Sasha into a slow, short canter. He jumped the course jump by jump as best he could, trying to keep her curving but paying attention to the lines and clearing the jumps. A few came as a shock to her and she cat-leapt over them, the small zig-zag in the middle of the school was a pain for her and Dane could feel her want to run out at the jump close to the corner of the school, but he kept her in and going. It took a lot of work, but he'd got her over every single jump the first time round. It had been a little... 'Messy' was one way to put it. But not a single pole fell, so he was happy.
"It's a good thing I don't drink." Dane panted, walking Sasha around on along rein. "If I was in a state like you right now, I'd probably have passed out doing all that."

"Hah!" Sloan laughed in response, "Screw that, man. I hardly ever competed sober. Hell, I even jumped around Badm-" He caught himself, quickly clearing his throat and uttering a fake cough.
Nobody needed to know about that - especially not Dane. It would only lead to questions Sloan did not want to answer... It always did. "That was okay." He said, going on as if he'd not said anything in the first place, "I don't need to tell you that it looked like something out of a Thelwell comic - but I didn't expect the horse to manage some of those lines, and you got her over, so good job. Ideally I'd like to perfect it, but we're out of time - so you'd best put her away. Toss me another painkiller and meet me back here at 6PM, sharp. I'll have Dart ready for you."
He nodded briefly to Dane, and patted Sasha on her sweaty shoulder.
Now he had to teach useless, snotty kids for the rest of the day. Oh, goodie!
He rolled his eyes at the mere thought.

"You competed?" Dane asked curiously. For some reason, this surprised him. Of course, he was being stupid. Of course Sloan competed. He had to have done something to have all the knowledge he did. But how had he lost his leg? Shouldl he ask?
Another time.
He matted the mare's broad neck, and halted her in the middle of the school, dismounted and led her to the gate. He unbuckled his helmet with one gloved hand and patted her shoulder.
I'm riding Dart... Today? He thought nervously. Had he been that good, or was Sloan in desperate need of a laugh?
He fumbled in his pocket and handed the man another tray of paracetamol. He pulled off his helmet and wiped his sweaty forehead with his arm again.
"Say... Sloan." He asked hesitantly, looking upat the man with a somewhat relaxed expression. "Why don't you ride Dart? I mean..." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "She's your horse. No doubt she'll only respond to you. And besides... You know her far better than I do."

Sloan pretended not to hear Dane's first question, but walked on ahead of him to open the gate.
But then Dane reached him, and the question was repeated - far more directly and unavoidably than before.
Sloan wordlessly took the tablet Dane handed him, and swallowed it dry.
Then he sighed, and replied simply, "I don't ride any more."
He didn't offer any explanation, but there was a sharpness in his tone that warned that this was a sensitive subject.
Usually - though cruel and sarcastic - Sloan was an approachable person. He never refused to answer a question, or turned down a conversation.
Now, however, his tone clearly stated that the subject was not up for discussion.
"See you at six." He said firmly, scratching Sasha under he mane.
"Bring a skull cap, and don't be late."
With that, he turned away and walked off to meet his first pupil of the day.

((Feel free to time skip. ))

Dane frowned slightly at the unhelpful answer he got, but he let it go without offense. He and Sloan weren't best buds, Sloan didn't have to answer him fully. He agreed to meet at the given time, ran his hand through his short, bristley hair and walked Sasha off back to her stable.
The rest of the day droned on, Dane foundhimself becomebored as there was little to do besides clean tack and groom any horse he set his eyes on. Dylan - one of the owner's horses, a huge bay cob with a cropped mane and a thin stripe down his nose - tried to bite him constantly as he ran him over with the curry comb, which was nothing out of the ordinary. He cleaned out a couple of stables and refilled haynets, Led Sasha out to the fied and watched the troublesome stallion he'd tried to study the day before, but to no avail.
He'd have to get the lunge gear on that thing before much longer, although he had no idea how he would manage it...
He spent his lunch break with Archie as usual, and shared the crusts of his sandwich and water from the plastic bottle.
Before he knew it, it was 5.45PM.
He grabbed his riding helmet and scrubbed Archie's fluffy forehead before making his way to the indoor school, nervously awaiting his mount, and Sloan.
He had a feeling he'd be aching like hell after this.

When Sloan led a highly exuberant Dart over to the arena, he was pleased to find Dane already waiting there.
His mare was literally cantering at his side, yet never moving forward faster than his slightly uneven pace. She grunted with excitement, lifting her forelegs higher and higher with each stride, but minding her manners by keeping her head down so she didn't jerk the reins out of Sloan's hand.
Sloan ignored her excitable antics - she'd been acting like an idiot since she saw the saddle - and led her quietly over to Dane.
"Stand." He ordered, and the mare reluctantly shuffled to a halt, every muscle in her body taut with excitement. She watched Sloan with her intelligent gaze, ears strained forward, and snorted demandingly, nodding her head up and down with obvious enthusiasm.
He smiled at his horse, and gave her an affectionate pat on the neck.
"She evented One Star before." Sloan said, "So she's perfectly schooled - but she's not been ridden in two years, and she was a bit of a hothead to begin with. Don't be surprised if she fly leaps and bucks a little. She shouldn't rear, unless you piss her off. Just sit quiet, be soft with your hands, and she should settle eventually. Unfortunately she's not keen on new riders, so you'll have your work cut out for you."
He flashed a devious smile, pulled down the stirrup, and offered the reins to Dane.
"Enjoy." He murmured, one corner of his smile stretching upwards into a smirk, "And don't underestimate this girl. She's got a buck on her."

Dane watched the mare with a failing smile. He knew just by looking at her that the minute he got on her she'd go balistic. Sure, she was nice for Sloan, but she was Sloan's horse.
Idiot. Of course, hewas going to have a right laugh when Dane face-planted the floor.
Chewing on his tongue in slight annoyance, he hopped onto the mare's back, quickly slipping his feet in the stirrups and bracing himself for what was to come.
He prayed Sloan didn't have a camera on him, otherwise he was screwed.
"She's going to throw me off, then come trotting back to you, isn't she?" He asked knowingly, reacting to Sloan's devious grin with the 'lazy eye'. Honestly, he wasn't stupid. Just a tad slow at working things out. But he knew Sloan hadn't offered for him to ride the bonkers thoroughbred out of thegoodness of his heart. He'd seen Dane's flaws and he was going to enjoy taking advantage of them until he'd broken every bone in his body.
"Alright, let 'er rip..." Dane groaned, shortning his reins slightly. On the bright side, at least he wasn't out in the field, so it's not like Dart would literally dart off miles away, throw him off then run all the way back. At least if she felt like playing 'Grand National' she'd be confined.
He could tell himself this, but it didn't help whatsoever. The look on Sloan's face just proved it.

((In case you weren't already plannignto, you can control Dart. Let poor Danejust be the passenger ))

"Relax, Mate." Sloan consoled Dane, "I'm not a complete asshole - I don't enjoy watching people fall off. Just stick to her, and once she's thrown her little temper tantrum, you're in for the ride of your life. This is a classy animal." He patted Dart's shoulder, "You should feel honoured."
He winked, then unclipped the lead rein, and stepped hurriedly back.

Dart exploded with a high-pitched squeal, leaping straight into the air and arching her back.
The moment she touched down, she bolted, tugging incessantly at the bit and straining her little black ears forward in eagerness. She tried to behave herself, it was obvious, but her powerful body was coiled like a spring, and every other stride she released a bolt of her energy by shoving her pretty head between her legs, and throwing a massive fly-leap.
She uttered adorable little grunts on every other stride, spinning around corners like a motorbike on two feels, then dashing into a flat-out gallop again.

Eventually, the mare began to quieten, and slowed to a slightly tense, bouncy canter. She dropped her head automatically onto the bit, but kept snatching at the reins, or throwing a little buck every now and then.

"Liar." Dane grinned, despite his nerves.
Then Dart set off, and he realised where she got her name. She leapt into the air and he suddenly grabbed the pommel of the saddle, feeling his entire body fly into the air. He lost both stirrups, grabbed her mane and sat up as well as he could. Then, as if he wasn't shaken enough, the mare leapt forward into a flat out gallop and he screamed "Holy sh*t!" and sat as best he could through the phase.
Honored. Ha! He felt like a passenger of a bloody Thelwell cartoon! Just like Sloan had said when he was on Sasha, but this was on a completely new level.
Only out of luck did he stay on her, even after the hours of practicing riding without stirrups and bareback on Archie and several other horses, but he slid around her as if his backside had been smeared with Vasaline. Sloan was right, that bugger had some powerful legs on her.
Once she had calmed down, he tried guiding her into a small circle in hope that would force her to slow down. He was as light as he could be on her mouth when she was yanking the reins out of his hands every other stride. He was out of breath from concentrating on staying on, but once he had found his stirrups, he felt confident he could stay on with a little cooperation with her.
"You could say that was the ride of my life..." Dane called to Sloan, panting. "Since my life kinda just flashed before my eyes."
He made a quiet noise between an 'oh' and 'umf'as she bucked again, trying to sit to the bouncy gait. Her tension showed there was more yet to come, but for now, she had slowed down.
Calmed down? Not likely. But he was still on at least... Although he wasn't keeping his hopes up.