Ymiden 19, 718
It wasn't very often that the two of them just stayed around camp, not going anywhere in particular or as a result, as good as looking for trouble. Or going out and about where it could find them. But there was plenty they could do around camp, especially considering it was positioned far enough from the gates of Rharne where there was plenty of open ground around them, and open skies above.
Vega was fiddling around camp, maybe messing with her instruments, and a handful of yards away, Arlo had saddled up Peg and had just come back from a good, lively run that she hadn't gotten in a while, and the exercise had served to get some of the mare's usual spit and vinegar out of her. She'd even tried to throw him once or twice, just because she thought that maybe she could. But by the time they returned, she worn herself down into a favorable state of complacency. Just the way that Arlo had wanted her, for what he had planned.
It had been some time, he'd been thinking of combining his acrobatic skills, his weapon skills and his riding ones into something more interesting. And useful too, he hoped. Some people just rode in the saddle and that was more than enough. Others learned to ride one handed or no handed in order to use or fire their weapons, just as Arlo had learned to do already. But he figured he and Peg could improve on that, so long as the mare was willing to learn and indulge him.
So there, a stone's toss from camp where he and Vega could hear and see each other, he had Peg walking in a large but regular circle. It was a start, the basics, as Arlo slipped his feet out of the stirrups, slid his hands to the ends of the reins to add as much length as was available, and in one fluid motion, hoisted himself up so that he was standing in the saddle rather than sitting.
Of course Peg reacted just as he'd expected her to and lurched forward with ears pinned. But this was the sort of thing that Arlo was able to ride out well enough, and it only took adjusting his balance a little as he got her under control and began to guide her onwards round and round, finally urging the mare back into a slow trot.
Vega was fiddling around camp, maybe messing with her instruments, and a handful of yards away, Arlo had saddled up Peg and had just come back from a good, lively run that she hadn't gotten in a while, and the exercise had served to get some of the mare's usual spit and vinegar out of her. She'd even tried to throw him once or twice, just because she thought that maybe she could. But by the time they returned, she worn herself down into a favorable state of complacency. Just the way that Arlo had wanted her, for what he had planned.
It had been some time, he'd been thinking of combining his acrobatic skills, his weapon skills and his riding ones into something more interesting. And useful too, he hoped. Some people just rode in the saddle and that was more than enough. Others learned to ride one handed or no handed in order to use or fire their weapons, just as Arlo had learned to do already. But he figured he and Peg could improve on that, so long as the mare was willing to learn and indulge him.
So there, a stone's toss from camp where he and Vega could hear and see each other, he had Peg walking in a large but regular circle. It was a start, the basics, as Arlo slipped his feet out of the stirrups, slid his hands to the ends of the reins to add as much length as was available, and in one fluid motion, hoisted himself up so that he was standing in the saddle rather than sitting.
Of course Peg reacted just as he'd expected her to and lurched forward with ears pinned. But this was the sort of thing that Arlo was able to ride out well enough, and it only took adjusting his balance a little as he got her under control and began to guide her onwards round and round, finally urging the mare back into a slow trot.
