Breaking In the Colt

Trudging through the ankle deep snow that had fallen over night Yvette approached the corral next to the pasture where she had put the young colt that she had been permitted to have shipped to the school from home. It was his first winter and he had yet to be broken. Her parents insisted they didn't have the time or the people available so Yvette had him shipped up so she could do it properly and he'd be ready for work by spring.

Her ever present whip was at her side under a thick flannel shirt and an insulated buckskin jacket and she hoped she wouldn't have to use it today. If the colt got out of hand though, she would. Reaching into the pocket of her insulated and lined jeans Yvette wrapped her gloved hand around a small horse totem she had made of wood. It gave her strength when breaking horses.

Taking her lunge line in one hand and the lead line in the other she approached the horse slowly, whispering low soothing nonsense words to calm him. As soon as Yvette got close enough she clipped the long lead line to his halter and backed away to the end of the length before she began to make the colt walk in a circle with a small series of taps with the lunge line on his flank.

Ondrea did a fair bit more wandering than she had before. Something about being indoors for long periods made her uneasy. So, despite the cold and snow, Ondrea ventured outside, warm winter robes over her jeans and sweater.

She cut an aimless path across one of the pastures, careful to avoid the one in which the Abraxans were usually to be found. Abraxans hated her. A lot of animals seemed to, really, but Abraxans were large and highly temperamental. The last one she had encountered had made a good effort to beat her with its wings so it could trample her.

Ondrea avoided Abraxans.

The winter breeze shifted, bringing the werewolf the predictable scent of the stables and various barn animals... along with the subtle hint of something far more exotic. In fact, Ondrea knew of only one person who ever possessed such a smell.

Altering her path, she went in that direction. Coming upon Yvette with the very horse that she so often smelled of, Ondrea slowed to a stop, careful to remain upwind. It was one thing to get herself trampled for being a werewolf, it was far different to cause it to happen to someone else.

The colt suddenly stopped with his front legs spread out in front of him and he snorted, just as the wind began to change. Vette looked warily at the young horse. Something had spooked him, but she wasn't quite sure what it could be. Casting her eyes around she spotted Drea and waved to the girl with the hand holding the lunge line.

"Well, hello there, beautiful," she called blushing slightly when the word beautiful fell from her mouth without her being able to stop it. "Care to come and meet the boy?" She led the horse over to the fence and climbed it to sit on top of it, the lead rope held tightly in her gloved hand.

Damn, Ondrea thought as the wind shifted again, noting the young horse's response. Could have been worse.

"Hello, yourself," Ondrea returned with a smile. She had blushed herself at the appellation, quite flattered, though her dark complexion hid it. The werewolf stepped nearer the fence, but folded her hands behind her back.

"Might not be the best idea," she said, only half-joking. "Horses don't tend to like me very much."

"Aww, come off it," Vette scoffed shaking her head slightly. "You're way to nice to have anything not like you. Well besides those stupid Abraxans." She laughed. "But then again Abraxans don't like anyone. Did you know one of the buggers chased me right out of the corral once? I ended up diving through the spaces between the fence boards so it wouldn't trample me."

She brought the colt up to where Drea was standing on the fence. The sudden scent of something had spooked the young horse at first but know he just seemed curious. He gave a short snort before stepping forward and extending his nose to the new girl to sniff at her. She smelled funny, that was for sure.

"You'd be surprised," Ondrea remarked. "Cats hate me."

She chuckled in amusement at the anecdote. "Abraxans are the ultimate prats of the animal kingdom," she remarked. Ondrea cautiously extended a hand towards the colt, a small smile pulling at her lips. "One day, you'll know better," the girl informed him.

Vette smiled dopily at the other girl. There was just something about her that made Vette's heart flutter and he stomach do flipflops in the best way. How any creature in the world could not like Drea was a mystery to her.

As the colt took a step forward and pressed it's nose into Drea's hand Yvette couldn't help leaning over and inhaling the girl's scent. She reminded the cowgirl of home. The earthy scent mixed with something purely Drea, a sort of muskiness. Vette knew it probably wasn't proper but she had been born and raised on a ranch, she wasn't very learned in proper mannerisms.

Ondrea reached out a hand to Yvette's shoulder as the girl's center of balance shifted. "Easy," she said. "Don't fall."

Withdrawing her hand once she was certain her schoolmate wasn't about to fall, Ondrea gave the colt a final pat.

"I suppose I ought to let you get back to work," Ondrea said. "And there's probably homework I should be doing."

Yvette hid a blush as Drea touched her shoulder. It was all she could do from dropping a kiss onto the girl's hair. That wouldn't be proper though. The cowgirl knew enough to know that. She swallowed hard as she straightened up.

"Uh, yeah, right," she sputtered trying to get the words out. "Colt's not gonna teach himself how to carry a human." She slung herself down off the fence back inside the corral and got the blanket from over her shoulder. Slinging the blanket over the colt's back she tapped steadily with the butt of her whip just behind the colt's left front leg. Yvette brought him back from the fence towards the center of the enclosure and in one seamless move was on his back sitting on the blanket, hands grasping his mane firmly.

The colt froze and his nostrils flared wide. There was something on his back. Something that shouldn't be there. With a mighty bellow he began to buck wildly, trying to get rid of what was on his back.

Yvette held her breath as the colt went rigid under her. Damn, she thought he was ready, he had been doing so well. When he started bucking one hand immediately let go of his mane and went above her head for balance. It had been a long while since she had bare-backed on a horse but her body still knew how to move in order to keep her balance. Her black Stetson was thrown off but Vette kept her eyes firmly on the horses head, looking for small movements to indicate what he was going to do.

Ondrea had turned to go when the colt began to try to dislodge Yvette from his back. She looked on helplessly, eyes wide in alarm, her hands tightly gripping at the top rail of the fence. What should do? Something? Anything?

Her breath caught in her throat as she continued to look on in worry... and a bit of admiration.