That's Mrs. Stablemaster to you.

["Parker!"]

Julia was pleased that the woman figured this was a much better pick of horses. Yes, these were just fine for these little kids. She nodded as she patted Bandit's shoulder and the horse came and lipped her shoulder and Julia grinned. The horses were curious of what was going on... But first there was the talk of money. Julia sighed lightly then pondered with a 'hmmm'.

"Well since you're a good friend of the Queen's I'll give you a bit of a discount. How about 800 Laties a month for the both of them- with lessons once a week?"

That seemed very generous to her. For both the kid's she'd teach them once a week and for each month she got a 800 Laties? Pretty good. Anyways, her horses would get a good exercise.

[Ugh, the money is killing me. I'm not sure if thats wayyy too expensive or wayyy to under-expensive.... grrrr.]

[raihnstar]

(...I'll just say it seems reasonable...)

Marielle nodded, pleased, "Well I'm no special friend of the Queen, but I've done her a few favors." she corrected the other woman, not wanting to seem pretentious. "That seems like a fair price, I'll see if me and my husband can scrounge up enough money. Can they start today?" she asked her eagerly, wanting to spend some of Marie Clarette's energy right off the bat. If she was tired out from horseback riding it was less likely that she'd get into any life threatening accidents, which Clarette seemed to do on a daily basis.

Marielle glanced at her children again and decided to call them over, "Can they choose their own 'orses-- I mean horses--" she paused, flustered. It'd been awhile since she'd slipped back into her french accent, "Or do you have a few picked out?" she asked, before turning to call them, "Marie!! Lauret!!" she said in her clear voice. "Venir ici du, enfants ! Vous pouvez voir les chevaux que nous avons choisis ! !" Come here, children! You can see the horses we've chosen!

["Parker!"]

Oh well. It was still a reasonable price. She nodded, understanding as the latina gave a grin looking at the children for a momment before returning her gaze to the woman,

"Of course they can choose! Out of these three though."

Better safe then sorry, she thought calmly.

A horse snorted and flattened it's ears. It was old Dawn.

What on earth is going on?

The mare demanded as the other two males turned their heads and curiously blinked.

Julia thought back contnent,

We've giving lessons.

The horses seemed happy enough, little kids sure were fun to watch- much more interesting then adults. And atleast they wouldn't be worked as hard with little kids on their back. They seemed to communicate with each other with body language unaware that Julia had turned her attention back to the woman,

"Exscuse me, Mrs. Venom, are you also riding with them?"

Julia asked curiously, willing to let the mother ride too.

[raihnstar]

"Call me Marielle." she told her with a smile, and then shook her head, "No, I'm not riding with them. I allready know how, and I wouldn't want to intimidate them." she joked, and then shook her head teasingly, "Hah, if only. No, it is my husband who can ride...but I've never been very fond of riding, probably because I'm so tall..." she grinned, and tucked a tuft of hair behind her ears, "I choose to remain on solid ground. I wouldn't want to break any horses with my weight."

She wasn't exagerating. It wasn't that Mari was fat or anything-- she was just huge. The two children ran up and Marie Clarette was the first to speak, "They're small." she stated, looking at her mother and pouting. Marielle's eyesbrows rose and she folded her arms. "So are you."
"But I wanted to--"
"You will ride one of these three, and you will be happy about it, or I'll speak to your father about your behavior." she said sternly. Marie Clarette frowned for a moment longer and then shrugged, running up the the stable and eyeing the horses, "Which do you want, Lauret?" she asked her brother.

[ßlue]

<sub>Lauret smiled as his sister washed away his worries for a moment. He knew he was scared, but she always made him feel better. They imagined, Lauret closing his eyes to help the fantasy ride on as they floated off their horses. He giggle slightly as she hugged him and then he sat up, looking towards his mother and trying to follow the conversation they couldn't quite hear. The woman whistled and three horses trotted out of the group towards them. Lauret's stomach knotted again. Marie was gushing excitment and he watched as his sister got up, skipping over to his mother. He'd better follow. He got up slowly, rubbing his arm as the moth went to rest on his shoulder, antenna vibrating. He took a deep breath, eyeing the three horses. Two male, one female. He watched the female uneasily. She snorted and looked angry for a moment. Ok, not that one. That one was the first to scare him. That left it down to the two males. Someone was talking to him and he looked at his sister. Which one did he want? He eyed the bay. He seemed skinnier. Smaller? Lauret looked abck to his sister.

"I don't know... which one are you going to ride Marie?"

He was scared, nervous, afraid of falling off the high horse saddles. He gulped, looking back at the horses with worry.</sub>

[raihnstar]

Clarette pointed to Dawn, "You." she told the pony with a grin. Dawn was beautiful, and she seemed the strongest. Marie beamed at Julia, "What's her name? She's pretty!" she turned back to the horse and nuzzled its nose with her own nose, laughing when the horse blew air into her face with its nostrils. "Cest belle, non maman?" she asked her mother, stroking the female with a hand friendly hand.

Marielle half smiled, "Oui, petit chat." she replied, her stomach twisting nervously. She didn't want her babies to get hurt! Quietly, she pushed her fears out of her stomach and smiled peacefully, "Lauret, choose your horse. Go pet them, you can get to know them better that way." she assured him with a soft smile.

[ßlue]

<sub>Lauret watched his sister pick out the one that had frightened him with her laid back eared snort. His eyes roamed to the first horse, the brownish one. He looked up at his mom as she told him to go pet them and meet them. He nodded slowly and shuffled up to the first horse, looking curiously at the bay before slowly touching his hand to the brow horse's nose. The horse twitched, smelling him and seeming interested. The horse blinked at him, and struggling slightly Lauret tapped the horse's mind, feeling happy curiosity. Hmmm. But the other bay seemed so sad and old. Lauret smiled a little, patting the brown horse's head and whispering something to him. Maybe the other one would go slower? He smiled at the brown horse before stepping back and going towards the bay. Dodger. He tapped the horses mind, stroking it like he stroked the horse's nose.

It seemed a bit bored, but intruiged, feeling his slight contact as he put up the feeling of 'it's alright, sorry to intrude..' before letting go of the horse's feelings and looking from his mother to Marie and whispering.

"I think... I like this one... thank you..."

He smiled smally at the horse, letting his hand run along the creature's cheek smoothly, feeling it's short sleek coat. The dark mane fell lightly into the horse's dark eyes and they watched each other, Lauret in awe of the still big animal.</sub>

["Parker!"]

Julia expected the girl to be a little dissapointed, but she quickly got over it. She nodded as the girl picked Dawn. Her eyes adverted to the boy as he seemed to take a little more time. But he soon picked Dodger.

"Wonderful picks. Very energenic, but safe, horses. This is Dawn, and this is Dodger."

Julia mused pointing out the horses as she took a low looking Bandit back into the pasture. The horse seemed to shrug it off as he wasn't picked and trotted back to his heaven called the pasture. Meanwhile Julia jogged up to the barn and grabbed the tack. She was a delicate looking woman, although had a strong interior. She grabbed both of the bridals putting them around both shoulders, then both of the saddles and having them held on each arm. She could hardly feel the weight she'd done it so many times.

"Alright then. Let me just tack these guy's up..."

She slung the saddles over both the horses backs- Dawn snorted nosily as Dodger raised his head curiously. She took the girth and wrapped it around their stomachs attachting the saddle. Dawn seemed a bit moody after that- but Dodger didn't mind too much. Next was the bridal. She fitted it for both of them quickly. Sighing she looked at the kids, then the horses.

"Okay, who wants to get on first?"

Her eyes shifted to the girl, guessing the obvious.

[grr bad post]

[raihnstar]

Marie grinned hugely, "Me!" she said shrilly, running up to the pony from behind. Marielle grabbed her arm and pulled her back, "NEVER go up to a horse from behind." she scolded, and Clarette giggled, "Oui maman!" she squealed, and ran at it from the right side. She glanced at the stirrups, and then shrugged, stumbling onto the horse with difficulty because she was on the wrong side. Marielle sighed and shook her head. "You have to do it from the left side, next time." she said in a weary voice. Marielle glared at her mother, "I /know/ how to do it." she whined.

["Parker!"]

Julia moved to go help the girl up, but the excited girl had already scrambled up there. She gave an amused smile and looked to Dawn,

Don't move--even if she kicks.

Julia warned as the mare snorted in agreement. She turned to Laurent waiting for his ready to go.

[ßlue]

_{Lauret watched, stepping back and watching and observing how the saddle and bridal went on. He could probably do it himself next time. He usually learned very quickly and only needed to see how things were done once. He watched his sister scramble up the horse, looking at his mother and taking mental notes. Dont go up from behind, get on on the left side. etc etc etc. He nodded, patting the horse and trying to be gentle as he moved fluidly into the saddle, blushing and nervous as he looked down from his high place. He put his feet into the stirrups and waited further instruction, looking at the ground so far away and looking a bit pale. Oh dear this was the most horrible idea Marie had ever talked him into... He was soon to be dead he was sure of it...}

["Parker!"]

Dodger turned his head at the boy, curious. The boy seemed nervous- very nervous. The horse had a natural instinct to take over and control- but....

Be good, ponies.

Julia warned before she started her lesson.

"Alright, now that we're on you'll need a few ground rules. First you keep the reins like this:..."

She showed the two kids each how to hold the reins properly.

"You want to keep your hands down by their necks so you don't pull on their mouth. Next- you must keep your heels down. You're wearing sneakers now- but when- and if you buy boots it is nessitary that you keep your heel down to stay on."

She glanced up at the two of them, then spoke again.

"When you turn, you pull the side you want to go on- but not out- you pull back. And if you want to stop, you take both sides and pull back. Remeber- not up."

[raihnstar]

As soon as they were both on horses Mari started kicking like she'd seen in the films and clucking her tongue, "Go! Go! Go go go!" Her feet weren't even in the stirrups. "Gooo!" she moaned, grabbing hold of the reigns and flapping them up and down as if that would help. She rocked herself back and forth. Marielle sighed from behind, "Clarette stop kicking the horse, you'll frighten it." she ordered. The girl didn't comply, getting increasingly frustrated, she turned to Julia, "Make her go!" she said, and thought better of it, "Please."

She hadn't listened to a word that Julia had said, and yanked at her reigns a little to get the horse to /do/ something. She frowned, annoyed, "It's not moving."

[ßlue]

<sub>Lauret nodded, paying close attention and remembering everything she said. He put his hands low on the horse's neck and nodded, making sure his heels were down. The comotion from his sister made him look up and he looked worriedly to his mother, mind snapping out with aggitation to his sister.

Marie! Please! Dont be so rash! You dont even knwo how to ride yet! Calm down! Please!

He frowned, picturing what he had earlier, but with his sister, and there was no excellent riding before the sickening fall, just a lot of flailing and screaming before she toppled off and hit the ground. He flinched, anxious for his sister.</sub>

["Parker!"]

Dawn snorted, her ears pinned back as she resisted to buck the girl off. Ugh- if she did that she'd get work for the rest of her life. In a horseish way she gave a grimance and coped with it.

Dodger on the other hand was satisfied with the boy, he turned his head again and sniffed at the boy's foot before returning to his normal stance.

Julia sighed, moving back to the girl.

"First you'll need these."

She fitted the stirrups to the girl's feet and gave a tiny pat to poor ol' Dawn.

"Alright then, lets get going. Give your horses a tiny tap with your heels and squeeze your legs to their sides."

Carefully she took each horses noseband gently holding them lightly, just in case.