Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

"I'll have you know I come from a long an' proud line of weird people." Vega's response was simple and largely accurate she considered with a smile. However, his undeniable air of thinking she was going about this all bass ackwards was irksome, so she ignored it. However, Peg was not happy. "Hey, shhh, it's alright. Ok, Peg, we're gonna have to open that mouth. I tell you what, let's just put this down for a mo, a'right. There til. Now, lets have a feel shall we?"

How strange, Vega thought, that there was this place where the horse had no teeth. It was easy to get her finger in there, Vega considered and reckoned that trying to force Peg to open her mouth with actual brute force was going to be an exercise in futility, so she tried tickling the roof of her mouth, or her tongue. If that worked, either one, she'd reward the horse with some food each time. The plan, as far as Vega could see, was to get the stubborn mare used to doing this, and not associating it with the bit necessarily.

If that was successful, then she'd try it again with the bridle and this time Peg lifted her head, pulling up too high. "It's ok, look, here we go, head down Peg. Just there you go." She wasn't going to be able to sit on her neck, so Vega put her hand on the horse's head, trying to find a spot which made her drop her head. Again, she was happy to initially tickle or something, with the aim of Peg associating dropping her head with Vega touching that spot on her head.

And if that worked, then Vega considered that she needed three pairs of arms. But if she got herself to the point of Peg opening her mouth and dropping her head, then Vega would stand and try to put the bit in with one hand, whilst keeping the other on Peg's head. Awkward, she knew, but do-able and as she did so, she would be as quick as she could be without hurting the horse or banging the bit against her teeth.

Should she tell him, she wondered, that she'd read the book on the trial he'd brought her back to camp and gone to deal with the bodies of the bandits? She considered it and then decided that no, all things considered, she probably wasn't going to. Besides, she was running on memory and a fallible one, so she genuinely wasn't sure that she was doing it right. Peg would let her know, she was sure.

"With most horses," Arlo told Vega belatedly when Peg threw her head up, "It's better to tie them off with a loose fitting halter and lead and tie them so they can't wander off or throw their heads up while you're putting on the saddle and bridle." With a loose fitting halter, the bridle could be slipped on under it, he explained, and removed once the thing was in place.

It was what the book had said at any rate, and what he'd done the first time he'd ridden her. "Once she gets accustomed she ought to take the bit easier, any trained horse ought to," he considered, but then wondered if Peg ever would, stubborn as she was. She seemed to have made it her last stand. Nonetheless once Vega was able to get her head down and the bit in her mouth, it was simple enough, relatively, to get the rest of the bridle in place.

"With a horse that takes the bit easier and can't raise her head up," Arlo considered, "You ought to be able to just rest a hand on her crown and pull the bridle on with one hand. Dangle the bit beneath her mouth till she opens up and slide the rest into place."

Arlo was sure that if she bought a horse from a good and honest trader, then she'd get one that was trained, sensible and better trained for it than Peg had been. Which meant she ought to have an easier time and less fuss saddling up. "That's it though," he said when she was done. "All there is to it. Maybe next time you'll have a horse of your own to saddle up and we can ride together."