Shoulders Back (Solo)

[Kalesse]

Timestamp: 66th of Summer, 512 AV
Where: Keerdash Grove
Who: Kalesse
Purpose: Job Thread.

"No no no! Keep your heels down!" It was the first thing anyone was taught when they sat on a horse, and yet it was the thing Kalesse found herself shouting the most. Cupping her hands around her mouth, the young woman shouted after the retreating back of the child. "If you don't, then you won't be able to--!" It was no use. She was out of range, and the heels were still up.

Though they didn't have any kind of formal enclosure, Kalesse was standing in the middle of a large oval, the loose top sand worn away and packed down by countless hooves, exposing the harder, darker sand beneath. It wasn't the perfect training area, but they made due. Just outside the cluster of tents, Kalesse used this space to train the young children of the tribe how to ride properly; many children grew up on the back of one horse or another, but hardly any of them actually knew what they were doing.

Walking in a small circle of her own to keep level with the horse and child, Kalesse watched as Kipashie came back into earshot from the far end of the ring. The small Chaktawe girl was bouncing wildly atop a slender, gray Desertbred, the reins clenched tightly in her fists and her legs slapping wildly against the poor horses sides. Luckily for the girl, Haizea had the patience of a saint and barely flicked an ear at what had to be a very uncomfortable ride.

"Ki, put your heels down!" Raising her voice and carefully emphasizing each word, the little girl nodded her acquiescence and did just so. "Now streeeeeeeeeech your legs down as far as they can go!" Pulling out the word, Kalesse mimed sitting on air and demonstrated with her own leg what she wanted the child to do. "You need to hold yourself down on her back, and the further around her stomach you put your legs, the easier that will be."

Watching as the little girl struggled to do just that, Kalesse noticed her seat sticking better and the bouncing decreasing greatly. "Much better! Can you feel the difference?" As if the mare thought it was she being address, Haizea bobbed her head and let out a loud snort. The sudden sound startled Kipashie and the little girl lost the grip she had been working on; Kalesse could almost hear her horse's sigh.

From atop the mare, the young girl had begun to screw up her face, her cheeks bright red as tears threatened to fall. Taking a deep breath and staving off the urge to scrub her hands across her face in frustration, Kalesse gathered her patience and moved towards the girl and horse. "Pull her up, Ki." Haizea, having heard the command, slowed from her trot. Still trying not to cry, Kipashie yanked at Haizea's head in attempt to stop her. Biting back her initial scold, Kalesse instead stepped infront of the horses path and forced her to stop.

"What's wrong?" Teaching was not among the young woman's natural skill sets; children were tolerable, at most, and having to dumb things down, repeat commands endlessly, deal with crying... It had taught Kalesse patience, if nothing else. Though that didn't mean the whole ordeal didn't fray her very last nerve.

"I...I...I can't do it!" Sucking in deep breaths between words, Kipashie held off her tears for as long as she could. It only took finishing the sentence and glancing down at her teacher for the salty liquid to spill over onto her cheeks, cutting rivulets through the dirt and grime that lay there.

"What makes you say that?" Keeping her voice calm and what she thought was soothing, Kalesse put her hand on the child's leg and patted it somewhat awkwardly.

"B-because I c-can't!" Ah, the logic of a child. With a sigh, Kalesse reached into the sling she kept thrown over her back and pulled out a small scrap of linen. This she offered to the crying child before responding.

"Wipe your face. Enough crying." Waiting for the little girl to respond before she continued, Kalesse crossed her arms across her chest. This coddling thing wasn't for her, so it was time for some tough love. [color=#FFFBF]"You can't expect to get up there and do everything perfectly, right away."[/color]

"B-but..."

"No buts, Ki. It takes a lot of practice and hard work." Though her voice was a bit harsher than was probably necessary, it had gotten Kipashie's attention; she stared wide eyed down at Kalesse, her tears all but stopped. "Do you think our food just runs into the traps?" The little girl sniffed and shook her head slowly. "No, you're right, it doesn't. Do you think water just appears out of no where?" Again, another shake. "No. We have to work for all these things. It's hard"

Crossing her arms over her chest, Kalesse calmly watched the girl, waiting for her to compose herself. Desert living wasn't an easy thing. It never would be. Every Chaktawe knew from a young age that their life would more or less consist of struggle; those that couldn't handle it left and were usually never seen from again. Kalesse felt nothing but disdain and pity for those individuals. Kipashie was going to have to toughen up if she thought to survive. Never once did the thought cross her mind that it also wasn't Kalesse's place to be teaching the girl such lessons.

It took only a few chimes of standing there in silence, Haizea shifting restlessly beneath the child, before Kipashie nodded silently and visibly composed herself. Smiling softly to herself, Kalesse paced back to the middle of their makeshift ring and turned to face the pair.

"Alright, we'll start back out at a walk."

[Kalesse]

Timestamp: 67th Summer, 512 AV

There was little Kalesse could do to help. They had to learn to do it on their own.

"I think.. I think it went through!" Kipashie ducked and tried to get a better look at the girth she was trying to cinch. The children that Kalesse taught to ride didn't have scheduled days for practice. It all just happened when there was time. However, the little girl had just had a lesson yesterday and had shown up at Kalesse's tent before the Syna's light had fully touched the sands. And with friends in tow, nonetheless.

"No, it didn't go through." From Haizea's other side, the little boy ducked his head as well, squinting under the mares barrel and along the strip of leather that held the saddle on to the buckle. Sure enough, Kipashie had missed the hole she was aiming for, leaving the cinch hanging loosely around Haizea's middle.

"Petch!" With a sigh of frustration, the little girl fiddled with the buckle some more. Kalesse's eyes widened in mild shock at the back of the miniature Chaktawe's head. Where had an eight year old learned such language? Ewhii, on the other hand, let out a tinkling laugh and began to repeat the swear in a sing-songy voice. Though of the same age as Kipashie, the boy was quite obviously... less mature.

"Alright alright, enough of that." Keeping her voice firm, Kalesse pushed herself away from the tree she had been lounging against and stepped towards the children; the song immediately stopped and they both turned to look expectantly at her, moving only to swipe pesky flies from buzzing around their faces. Their practice was beneath the shade of a Keerdash tree today, the shade it offered saving them from most of the heat. "Here, let me show you."

Beckoning Ewhii to join them on Haizea's right side, Kalesse knelt down so that she was on their level. Taking Kipashie's hand, the young woman had her take the end of the cinch and thread it through the buckle. "No, when you do this you want to make sure that it's tight enough that the saddle won't tip, but not too tight! You don't want to hurt her." With the little hand in her own, Kalesse showed Kipashie how to run her hand along the leather strip, feeling the holes and counting them out loud. "This is the easiest way to do this is to remember the number hole that works best, and use it each time."

Helping them both pull, count, and buckle the girth a couple times, Kalesse waited until Ewhii had finished his second try before taking over. "Stick your fingers under here like this.." Taking three of her own, Kalesse slipped them between the leather and Haizea's skin and showing the children. "You want to be able to fit your fingers underneath. That's how you tell it's not too tight." Stepping back to allow the kids to do as she had shown, Kalesse stepped to pat her mares muzzle. "The patience of a god, you have." The murmur was accompanied by a kiss to her nose, receiving a gentle nudge to her chest in response.

"Kalesse! What's next?" Ewhii was only a few ticks from tugging at her pant leg when she glanced down at him and he quickly drew away.

"Well, next you tighten the girth."

"But we've already done that!" The pair protested together, their faces darkening with confusion.

"Right, you have. But most horses, Haizea included, suck air in when they know that part is happening. You have to walk them around and then make it tighter once they've let go of their air." Soft "ooooooohs" were emitted from boy and girl both before they began to squabble over who got to lead the mare first.

Kipashie won out, standing before Kalesse with her hands outstretched and waiting the reins, a please smile on her face. Unable to keep from laughing, Kalesse handed the reins over before going back to the tree, crossing her amrs and leaning her shoulder against the strong trunk as she watched the children carefully lead her horse away.