[Gift] 1.2 Dust Devils - Alistair and Satin

Working with Satin was always a gamble, at least that’s what Alistair thought. Harry somehow made it look so easy but half the time Alistair tried on his own she would refuse or do her own thing. He sighed as he brought the mare back to a stop. She had been doing great so far moving to the left but he knew what was going to happen when he asked for her to turn. She took the cue but before he could even make a motion she was speeding up on him, going from a trot to a canter to nearly starting to gallop.

Before he knew it she was kicking up dust all around him, making him have to lift his arm to cough it out. “Satin, knock it off!” he tried to squint past it as he felt the lunge line dig into his fingers and grow taut. She continued to kick up dust, bucking and throwing her legs up as she burned off energy. “You dust devil! Quit it!” He tried his best to reel her back in but it wasn’t until Harry had entered the arena that she finally slowed down and perked her ears towards him.

“Having some trouble again?” Harry calmly strode over, the doctor was still coughing the dust out of his lungs and had to hand his whip and rope to the other.

“Y-yeah…” he let out another cough, taking his glasses off and cleaning them against his shirt. “I don’t know why she keeps doing this on me when we work alone.” He grumbled. It had been a year now since they got the mare but Alistair had only just begun working with her one on one. Harry had long since progressed his training past the basics but their other horse, Daemon, was a surprising sweetheart of a stallion. He barely put up any fuss unless he was pushed to and Alistair rarely found trouble with him.

Satin on the other hand, or Satan as he sometimes swore under his breath, was supposed to be his main riding horse moving forward. He had been highly against the idea given her condition when they had gotten her. She had been an utter nightmare, stealing, chewing and throwing items all over. He still had never found that pen she took. Rubbing his temple he looked up and watched as Harry cued the mare back into a basic walk to the right.

“You’re letting your nerves get the better of you dear.” Harry spoke softly, his tone was neutral, non-judgemental and it helped soothe the doctor’s nerves. “You need to be firm and stay calm with her, she will read you like an open book and run with it. Right now you’re giving her a lot of mixed signals and she thinks she needs to take over.”

“You can say that again…” Alistair muttered under his breath before taking a deep breath now that the dust had settled. His eyes focused on Harry’s body language and how he cued the mare to pick up a trot now. In comparison she still showed tension, for some reason she was a bit more stiff in this direction but she otherwise took it fine under Harry’s hand.

“I know she scares you, but you need to be brave. I know you can be, you’ve hunted creatures twice her size.” Harry chuckled and gave the other a brief smile and glance before returning his attention on the mare. The two men moved with her, turning to match her as she circled them.

Alistair blew a piece of stray hair out of his face and rolled his eyes. “Yeah but that’s different. I didn’t have to be afraid of hurting them.” He grumbled. “I mean, I know she can hurt me but now I can handle that. You showed me how to stay back, I have better control over my abilities. I just… I don’t get why I can’t do what you’re doing right now.” The doctor crossed his arms, watching how effortlessly Harry moved with her. The way a simple lift of his arm or gentle sway of the lunge whip redirected her back to the left. The way Satin moved in that direction looked flawless, like she was nearly flying across the ground. He wondered if she ever looked like that when they were riding. He hoped so.

“Well let’s try, here.” Harry carefully handed the line and whip back into his partner’s hands. Alistair’s body grew stiff until Harry’s hands gently guided him. Feeling his palms on his shoulders helped him release the tension and then a gentle grip on his wrists guided his hands to give Satin the motion to turn. “Okay so she’s going to speed up like earlier right? What we’re gonna do is beat her to the punch and firmly tell her to slow down. Don’t give her any other options. If she keeps trying to, pull her in closer and give her less space to run off.”

Carefully Alistair followed the cues he was guided through. He had to pull Satin a bit tighter to him but she maintained the trot he was looking for. The dust she kicked up now was minimal, and no longer left him in a coughing fit. Finally he cued her to speed up, leading her into a canter. “Oh there we go!” He grinned as she followed, she started on the wrong lead but as Harry guided them through it she swapped in no time. “That was a left lead wasn’t it?” Harry nodded and gave his partner a gentle squeeze on the shoulder in praise.

“See? You’re getting the hang of this. Pretty soon you won’t need my help lunging her.” Harry guided him through the remainder of the lesson, explaining further how he would manage her if she continued misbehaving. Alistair absorbed it but kept his eyes on the mare throughout. Together the pair continued following her around the circle. Finally he had her slow down and cool off, her exercises done for the night. “Alright, let’s get her back inside and you can brush her down now.” Harry gave the younger man a pat on the shoulder before Alistair brought the mare to a stop and had her walk towards them.

“That’s a good girl, see that wasn’t so bad.” Gently Alistair petted her, giving her a nice scritch in her favorite spot as she blew out air. The mare was now dusted in dirt and would need a quick clean. “My little dust devil, we’ll make a show mare out of you yet.” The two men chuckled and led her back towards their stables.