a leap of faith ---* (open)

[GEORGIA DARCY MADDOX]

the arena was quiet and the only sounds that were audible were those of a horse's hooves hitting the sand footing as he cantered around, maneuvering through jumps, not ready to go over them just yet. the rider on the horse's back was a small young women, her legs hugged around the dark gelding's sides as her upper body moved along with the movement of her horse. her elbows gently flowed with the light pull of the horses mouth as they turned towards a low vertical that stood at two feet exactly. it was a basic warm up for the pair until they were ready to go over the higher jumps that were from three foot two to three foot six.

the gap between them and the jump was getting smaller and smaller until the gelding leaped over the jump with ease, as if it wereeasy for him. what wasn't easy was getting him to listen in order to control him so he could go over those larger obstacles. the rider, georgia maddox, pulled lightly at the reins, easing the her horse, speck, to a canter that was much easier to control. her eyes looked over at the jumps were up high and led speck to a vertical. with a squeeze of her legs and a bit of lift, speck raised up and jumped over, barely brushing the top pole with his back hooves.

hearing the click of his hooves, upon landing, georgia pulled back on the reins, slowing the gelding to a walk. "got a bit too excited, huh, big guy?" she asked, not expecting an answer. her black leather gloves patted the sides of speck's neck as she leaned forwards, hugging his neck. her long brunette ponytail draped over her shoulder as she sat back up and flipped back over when she turned to head to turn speck away from the ever so inviting patchs of grass next to the arenas fences.

"none of that grass is for you! you ate plenty of food this morning. maybe you should try to eat more of it and avoid spilling it all over your stall, hm?" georgia smirked, feelign so accomplished by telling her horse that he was being a pig he always was. he loved his treats and his carrots, but had a obsession for the grass around the arena. so it was in georgia's best intrest to keep him away from it, or they'd be standing there forever while speck had a buffet.

with a tug of the left rein, georgia moved speck away from the temptation of the lush green grass and pointed him towards the opposite side of the arena. "so, speckly, how about we try a course, eh?" her big brown eyes scoped out a jumping course and her mind raced with scenarios. whenever she looked at jumps, her mind set up a blue print and she didn't dare execute her course idea until she was sure it was right in her head. mumbling distances to herself that she remembered from walking around this morning, she gathered her reins and urged speck to a trot and then to a canter.

the course in her head wasn't too hard and she was sure she had done one similar in appearance like it once in her life so she wasn't too worried. speck may have a problem with the three foot two jump that was set up, but if he were to knock a pole, that didn't bother her too much like it would if he were to refuse it all together. "alright then." georgia said and led him up to the first jump, the three foot vertical. speck cleared it and turned, taking five strides to the two foot vertical. bending to the left again, georgia pulled lightly at the reins so speck would turn towards the three foot two jump. squeezing her calfs and lifting her arms, georgia leaned forward as speck jumped up and ask georgia expected, speck's back hooves gently knocked the top pole down with a loud clank noise. after landing, georgia pulled at the reins and slowed him down to a walk and patted his neck. "good job big guy." she murmured. his effort was all she could ask for, wheather he knocked over a pole or not.

words: 717
tagged: open
notes: blehh.

[AZARIA JAIDEN EASTON]

no rose, no daisy can touch what i got

hey i'm a wildflower, growin' in the sunshine
------------------------------ soakin' up the way of life i was raised in. runnin' barefoot,

Perfection was a single word that didn’t exist in her vocabulary and probably not in any equestrian’s dictionary either. While one could have a ride that was faultless and with no knocked down poles or time penalties, there was always room for improvement. Of course, clearing a course was thrilling and exciting all the same, it didn’t necessarily mean it would become consistent. An exhale was given as the twenty-three year old woman glanced at her horse who was eyeing her with almost anger. Her mare could give stallions what for but even more so, she was a flashy mover and quite a looker. Serenade was dawned in a brilliant gray coat, leaning more towards her Lusitano lineage than anything else. Even though she was a mottled breed, she could compete in the western and English circuit all the same, though the mare excelled primarily under the English saddle.

Serenade lost interest, glancing away from her rider and giving a huff of withdrawal. Shock rolled into Azaria immediately, stunned that Serenade had given up so quickly and so fast. She brushed her out thoroughly and with ease tacked up her mount before setting off the arena. She wanted to jump today and after having worked on flat-work on her stallion yesterday, she felt the need to be suspended in the air for a few seconds. So, it had been decided that she would do so, naturally, only jumping nothing higher than three feet six with her mare, but her stallion could jump far higher. With a shrug, she firmly tightened her helmet and with purposeful strides, arrived at the arena itself. Another girl was riding, and instead of interrupting, she waited. It was out of respect for there was a look on her face that seemed as though she was mapping out some sort of course. It would be rude to just enter and perhaps screw up her plans. Serenade nickered impatiently, ears going back as she nudged Azaria’s shoulder. She shot her a look and heard the soft noise of a pole being knocked over. Her eyes switched back over to the horse and rider before she announced herself. ”Door!” Her voice carried easily across the arena and she opened the gate and walked directly in.

Putting the reins over, Serr’s head, Azaria mounted her 15.3 hand high mare with successful ease. She felt the tug in her hands, and Azaria gave a tug back before asking for a walk. The mare moved into a trot instead. She rolled her eyes, pulling on her mouth lightly. It was going to be this again, and just when she thought that Serr was going to behave today. Feeling the transition into a walk, Azaria smiled before asking for a trot. She moved away from the obstacles that were set up and stayed on the other end of the ring from the other horse and rider before moving into a canter. The mare had a powerful canter for she stretched her body fairly well to move over the ground quicker than some others. Azaria asked for collection and was once more shocked when the mare did as told the first time around. That was certainly something new but Azaria took this into great consideration as she directed Serr towards a small warm up jump. Upon seeing where they were headed, Serr practically almost charged at it but Azaria regained control over the seven year old again. With ease, Serr cleared it and was prepping for the next one to come. Azaria smiled as she headed for a two foot six jump and moved into her two-point at the right time before settling back down into the saddle. Serr shook her head, a typical thing that happened to the young horses who didn’t exactly know what to do with themselves. As soon as Ria corrected it, her head remained still and her neck arched.

Mentally, Azaria counted the strides towards a three footer jump and grinned broadly as her mare then cleared it. Slowing her to a trot, Azaria patted her neck fondly. ”There’s my good girl!” Her voice was bright and clearly content with Serr who usually would have tossed her towards the ground at least five times by now. She slowed to a walk as she approached the other horse and rider as to not seem rude for “neglecting” them earlier. ”Sorry about that,” she murmured before smiling at the girl. ”I’m Azaria.” It was always easy for Azaria to introduce herself and strike up conversations, so now she could only hope she was meeting someone who could carry a chat as well.

bloomin' in a summer shower, ponytail
dancin', i can't help it, i'm a wild flower. i'm just a
--------------------------------- girl who needs a little sun, a little rain, an open field to play

.tagged. Azaria, Georgia, open
.words. Feh
.notes. Ta da!
.lyrics. wildflower - janedear girls
.credit. <33 @ CAUTION 2.0

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[GEORGIA DARCY MADDOX]

the light breeze blew gently, sweeping over georgia's lightly tanned face and blowing speck's dark mane. georgia looked over at the course again, shading her eyes from the sun with her hand. the jumps that were set out weren't usually what she used in her normal practice sessions and by the way speck had performed going over them, it was obvious, but the attempt wasn't too bad. geo was actually pretty proud of him for not plowing through the jumps like a equine bulldozer. resting the hand that she had been shanding her eyes from on her lap, she looked down at her horse's ears that were swivelling around, listening to the surroundings.

in the distance, heard someone in the barn, probably someone getting a horse out. speck obviously heard them too and was slowly loosing interest in jumping and more towards going to investigate. "not going to happen." georgia said firmly, nudging his sides and asking for a canter. maybe going over a few more jumps would get him focused again, get his mind back to thinking like hers already was.

"let's try this again. she said, sitting back as she turned him to the three foot six jump. her idea was giving him more time to lift may get him over eaiser. so, when he was nearing the jump, she squeezed his sides and asked him to go over. speck's front end lifted and his back end followed in persuit. surprisingly, he didn't knock a pole, he wasn't even a hair near it. a flashy grin appeared on geo's face when she looked back to see the jump that was standing just as it was before. a proud feeling came over her, only to be interrupted by a voice by the gate.

"door! a girl's voice rang like it was a bell next to geo's ear. she quickly slowed speck to a walk and then a halt as the blond and her mare came into the arena, looking like they were already getting to jumping. georgia watched the pair intently, watching the horse's movements and the rider, too. speck didn't seem to care that another horse was a around -- he was too worried about the grass that was now in his reach.

after watching the pair's little performance, georgia raised an eyebrow. the horse she was riding was beautiful and she thought they did well. georgia didn't expect that the girl would talk to her though.

"sorry about that. she said as she and her horse walked closer, i'm azaria.

georgia nodded, "it's fine. she told the other rider, who she know knew was azaria. she looked familar and if she remember correctly she was an instructor. "i'm georgia maddox," she looked down at speck who was munch on a big chuck of grass. "this pig is speck..." she pulled lightly on the reins to get him to stop. she then looked back at ria, giving a face that read "he's embarrassing."

words: A LOT. lol
tagged: azaria, open
notes: interestinggg.

[AZARIA JAIDEN EASTON]

no rose, no daisy can touch what i got

hey i'm a wildflower, growin' in the sunshine
------------------------------ soakin' up the way of life i was raised in. runnin' barefoot,

Calling Azaria mean in the slightest would be like saying she didn’t know who she was. There wasn’t a mean bone in her body unless given a reason to or unless someone provoked her and pushed her over to the edge. Granted, Azaria didn’t find herself getting along with females for numerous, personal reasons, but she was going to try. She had watched the pair do another round of jumping, the rider narrowed in a three foot six jump that her gelding had knocked down. This time, Azaria knew she was going to clear it. She mentally counted the strides the duo had taken before the equine jumped over it with space to spare. Serr snorted then, tugging at the reins as if wanting to show off and show them what she was made of but Azaria tugged right back. Whenever Serr got cocky she became sloppy. The mare was fairly honest, always taking extra precautions to ensure a solid win, but there were the times when she thought she was a hot shot and let it all go to her head. No mount was perfect or even close to it where they consistently placed or won but the color of the ribbons didn’t matter to her, it was just the thrill of competing that won her over every time.

Azaria did feel a tad guilty for having neglected the girl for as long as he did, normally she would stride right up to them and strike up a conversation, but she thought about her horse first. Serenade needed to blow off steam and to calm down seeing as the mare had been going outside for half of the day as she was a threat to the other mares in the pasture. Due to that, Serr had more energy whenever Azaria would decide to work her under saddle and that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing but it couldn’t be a good thing either. She patted Serr’s neck and she listened as she nickered with delight before turning her attention back onto the horse. She pawed the earth, whickering as she tossed her head up into the air. Azaria sighed, shaking her head at her mare’s antics. She would do damn near anything to grasp other people’s attention. Showing off and flaunting herself was one of the ways she accomplished this.

Taking a step forward, Serenade went against what Azaria had requested was to stand still next to the others. Giving a light pull on her mouth, Serr stopped and gave a whinny of annoyance. She sighed heavily, hoping that there wouldn’t be some sort of temper tantrum and was relieved when she took more interest at the lush greenery surrounding them. Azaria turned her then, permitting her back to be directed towards where delectable patch was. She looked up at the girl as she began to talk and Azaria smiled slightly. She didn’t seem too bothered that she didn’t approach them at the start. That was good, wasn’t it? She listened as she went on and took in her name. ’Georgia Maddox.’ The name sounded familiar and she looked at her. ”Nice to meet you, Georgia,” she said lightly, pausing a moment before she continued. ”Aren’t you a rider?” Her inquiry was out of complete curiosity. She had heard of the name but wanted to confirm that it was her rather than someone she accidentally got her confused with. Now, that would be bad.

bloomin' in a summer shower, ponytail
dancin', i can't help it, i'm a wild flower. i'm just a
--------------------------------- girl who needs a little sun, a little rain, an open field to play

.tagged. Ria, Geo, Open
.words. Lots? lol
.notes. Haha! =: )
.lyrics. wildflower - janedear girls
.credit. <33 @ CAUTION 2.0

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[GEORGIA DARCY MADDOX]

as shy as she was, georgia was surprised with herself that she actually spoke to this azaria woman. she usually kept to herself, unless of course she had to talk to her instructors, friends and such, but new people -- that hardly ever happened. hearing azaria speak again, geo looked at her from under the brim of her helmet. azaria looked older than her, maybe by a few years and she was sure she wasn't from here. she spoke with a hint of an accent that sounded a bit like a southern accent, so she guessed she was from the southern region of the united states.

when azarai asked if she was a rider, georgia almost wanted to say "well i am riding a horse..." but she figured out she was asking if she was a rider, someone who didn't instruct. with a nod, georgia smirked, "yea, i am." she told her, adjusting her seat as speck leaned a little to the side, and then leaned a little to the opposite side. georgia shook her head and looked back up to azaria and her horse.

"and you teach team penning here." she told her. georgia wasn't exactly sure what the heck it was, but she knew she had seen azaria's name along with that title somewhere. "i've seen your name on papers in the barn and stuff..." she added so she didn't sound so matter-of-factly. she looked at the mare that stood not to far from speck. she was a pretty horse, she had a beautiful jump, too. the mare reminded her of a mare she used to ride when she was younger at a barn in upstate new york.

"your mare has really nice form over those jumps."

georgia looked over at the jumps, her eyes glanced at the few jumps she had jumped and the jumps azaria had jumped. speck looked up from his small brunch of grass and snorted when he realized how close the other horse had gotten. he was obviously being oblivious to what was going on. georgia kinda wished she could be like that, but her mind was always focused on something.

words: enough
tagged: azaria, open
notes:

[AZARIA JAIDEN EASTON]

no rose, no daisy can touch what i got

hey i'm a wildflower, growin' in the sunshine
------------------------------ soakin' up the way of life i was raised in. runnin' barefoot,

Azaria smiled at Georgia slightly. She noted that she was a bit older than her but that didn’t bother her much. She was trying to recall the names signed up for team penning, granted it wasn’t many, but she was sure she hadn’t seen hers on the list. Her eyes frowned but the smile still rested on her lips. Did she need to convince her? Maybe not, she didn’t want to scare her off during their first meeting, or she could. That was a very appealing though but she permitted her mind to drift away from that until later on. Her eyes flicked to her face, listening to speak as she said she was a rider. She nodded, grateful she didn’t look like a fool and thinking she was probably someone else. Serr flicked her ears back and forth, gazing at the jumps she had been eying for the past couple of minutes. Azaria exhaled and shook her head, following the gaze of her mare to a particular jump she often spooked at. The colors were vivid and bold, and though being a stubborn ninny, Serr would attempt to toss Azaria from her seat which didn’t happen as she clung on, but every rider had their moments when their faces would be coated in dirt.

Before she could decide on whether or not to approach the jump that Serr was observing from afar, Georgia was talking again. Azaria glanced at her and grinned. ”Yeah,” she looked excited as if she had just transformed into a kid entering Disney World. ”You should sign up, y’know, if you haven’t already.” There was her attempt to persuade her and that smile wanted to convince her but she wouldn’t force her to. Serr pawed the earth and Azaria tapped her shoulder slightly. ”Not too good at standin’ still are ya, girl?” The question would never be answered in human speak but Serr gave an enthused whinny as she tossed her head. Laughing, Azaria patted her side and stood up in her stirrups. She stretched a bit before settling back into the saddle. She permitted her feet to slip out of the irons, dangling limply at her side. ”What lessons are planning on taking,” she asked, simply out of curiosity. If she wasn’t taking team penning, she must be taking some other form of lesson.

The compliment reached her ears before she had the chance to look away and Azaria’s face looked bright with the grin that was now stretching across her lips. ”Oh, thanks! Your gelding’s a good jumper, even if he seems more interested in eating.” She laughed again, glancing down at the gelding who now just realized that there was a horse right beside him. He was still munching happily and contentedly on this little feast of his. She sighed, shaking her head, her brown eyes still brimming with laughter. ”My Thoroughbred stallion is a beast when jumping,” her voice stated randomly and she shrugged a bit. Georgia probably didn’t know what horse she owned exactly but Azaria didn’t feel the need to explain it. If she even told her what her horse looked like, she might be looked at funny. Her stallion was a wild and reckless equine who was an angel in the saddle when he wanted to be but for the most part, he was a good boy. Releasing her grasp from the reins so she could rest, she observed the layout of the jumps, tracing numerous patterns to try out later on with her stud.

bloomin' in a summer shower, ponytail
dancin', i can't help it, i'm a wild flower. i'm just a
--------------------------------- girl who needs a little sun, a little rain, an open field to play

.tagged. Ria, Georgia, open
.words. >: D
.notes. Mwhaha!
.lyrics. wildflower - janedear girls
.credit. <33 @ CAUTION 2.0

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[GEORGIA DARCY MADDOX]

georgia almost chuckled when she heard azaria say she sound sign up for team penning. georgia? team penning? what? she could never do that. it looked scary, beyond scary, actually. georgia could see herself doing more western pleasure if she were to do any sort of western activity. but team penning? not a chance. "i could never do that stuff," she told her, "it looks a little scary. georgia frowned and looked at speck, "i don't think speck would do it either." she added, jokingly. speck actually probably wouldn't care. he would give an effort even if he had no clue what it was he was doing.

georgia raised an eyebrow when azaria asked her what lessons she was planning on taking. for a moment she forgot that she was going to take lessons. she had been here at foxtail ridge for a while and hadn't even bothered with an instructor, but now that azaria mentioned it, she could probably use someone with some expert advice. "um. well, since i'm working with speck on jumping, i guess i'll be taking jumping lessons..." she said with a grin, a dorky grin that was slightly unsure if that was the exact way to put it. but it was true that speck needed to be ridden under supervision of a professional. georgia couldn't go much longer going on what she knew.

georgia's hand ran down the side of the big bay's neck and her other hand held the back of her saddle as she leaned back a little. she nodded when ria gave her horse a compliment, "thanks!" she said with a smile. both of her eyebrows arched after hearing ria say her stallion was a 'beast' at jumping. that was one horse she'd love to see jump, then. "i've never seen your stallion before. is he like, grand prix or something?" you could say georgia was quick to assume, but if he was a 'beast' she automatically thought that in a sense that he was jumping four to five feet like a champ. of course ria could of meant like 'oh he's good at jumping but we don't go all out and do shows' but she could have meant it the way geo had thought.

speck took a few steps backwards, sense this mare was so close to him. he felt the need to get more grass, which was predictable. georgia shook her head and sat up from her comfortable stance. she sueezed his sides with legs and asked him to move forward a little. "her horse won't bite you." she assured. ria's mare looked pretty laid back at the moment and speck was just being a jerk. he reluctantly stepped forward again and stood still, swishing his tail back and forth like a toddler being told to stand in the corner for doing someting bad.


words: i never feel like counting
tagged: azaria, open
notes:bleck.