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Post by Lethalia on Jun 9, 2022 12:09:46 GMT -6
Esti's saddle had been sitting on the fence nearest the hen's shed for days now. It'd been knocked over by the hens' curiosity more than once, which was better than fear, certainly. What wasn't better was the row of bite marks on a crisp new fender that the satyr would now have to mend. It had to be done to desensitise her to the new equipment - but urk, marks on a saddle so new the leather hadn't even been broken in to supple yet... Luckily the tanned hide hadn't been found to be the right flavor for continued snacking. A properly dominant adult for years now, Esti was quite set in her ways. She was most used to lording over the hen shed in her lazy way, coddling and scaring hatchlings into minding their manners, putting the young hens in their proper place. For the most part though, days were spent lounging in whatever sunlight she could find, when there weren't any upstart younglings needing tending to. Esti lv|36.1 ly|34.1 tack up|1
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Post by Lethalia on Jun 9, 2022 12:10:10 GMT -6
This whole 'going out to train' sort of thing? Esti was far, far over it. Done. She'd even gone back to the pit in the last year - surely that had been enough work to tide the satyr over for at least another year! Yet here they were, with her owner pointing out the funny-smelling thing that had been sitting out for the last week. The hen hardly cared about it - instead fixing her glowering at the satyr who decided to interrupt her finely-honed daily schedule. "If'it's tha' fine with'ya," Lethalia started, tugging the pink blanket out from beneath the saddle, "then y'won't mind this, righ'?"Leth did mean to flick the saddle blanket right over Esti's shoulders, but seemed to forget this was one of her seasoned hens. The brown dodged out from beneath the initial 'attack', leaving the blanket fluttering to the ground. Only able to chortle at herself in response, Lethalia scooped the blanket back up and asked the hen, "Y'know, y'much smarter'n alla'them boys, righ' girlie?" tack up|2
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Post by Lethalia on Jun 9, 2022 12:10:33 GMT -6
Perhaps one of her new crop of drakes would turn out above the rest in intelligence, but for now, Esti remained the keenest of the dominant sarane. Smart was hard to contend with - but she was also dead lazy. If Leth kept this up long enough, she should be able to manage to wear the hen down into compliance. "Aight - this is what we're doin', so-" The blanket was swung again and scarcely glanced the hen's shoulders before it was snatched up into her jaws, gnashed between them a few times, and thrown upon the ground. "See - rather replace this 'n the saddle, kill this'un all y'like," Lethalia reasoned with Esti, picking the textile and shaking it free from dead grass. It was a good reason to start with the cheaper blanket than the saddle that had hours sunk into crafting it. tack up|3
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Post by Lethalia on Jun 9, 2022 12:11:39 GMT -6
Upon the fabric fluttering onto her back, Esti began to rumble with a deeply disturbed growl, smoke curling from her nostrils. "Oh - hush," Leth told her in a light tone, throwing a bit of meat that hit Esti squarely in the nose and cut off her growl. It was only after years of dealing with a fire-breather did she dare take the hen's anger with any amount of levity, having a pretty good read on how far things could be pushed. Food made that margin of error more generous. Esti licked the myglobin off the tip of her muzzle, shooting another dirty look at the satyr for good measure before she could break eye contact and pick the morsel up. "See? Good! Y'kept it on, even!" Lethalia praised, either in spite of or because of all the sullen looks her girl was throwing around. It was a shame how much the hen loathed fighting, naturally as that nasty glare settled on her brow. tack up|4
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Post by Lethalia on Jun 9, 2022 12:12:12 GMT -6
Lethalia walked over as Esti was grinding down the bone in her treat, casually patting the brown shoulder and adjusting the saddle pad to a better configuration upon her back. It had a funny shape and tented over the hen's spine, but with time and the saddle on it, it would shape up. Were it anybody else the hen would've snapped, but still seethed and hissed at the foreign object moving around. Still, she was losing interest, and another marrow-filled treat was handed her way. So - okay. Fine. Maybe she'd deal with this a little longer. The saddle could've been pushed a little more that day but Leth decided to leave on a good note of Esti's acceptance of the first piece. The satyr knew she was too soft with her creatures, the way she'd sooner appeal to their quirks than fix them. How would she ever deal with a beast bigger than this hen, doing that? There were ways to learn how to deal with monsters, after all. Leth just wasn't sure how to do that with the fire-breathing, and all. Esti lv|37 ly|35 tack up|5
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Post by Lethalia on Jun 9, 2022 12:12:33 GMT -6
... Esti needed to be coaxed over with a few additional pieces of encouragement in tangible meat form to be encouraged the final stretch over to where the saddle sat. She 'couldn't' budge unless there was a treat to be had for the steps forward. They both knew it was a ploy to get more treats out of the encounter; if it made the hen feel like she was getting something ilicit then more power to her. Why discourage her creatures when they used their brains? Esti didn't even grumble all that much when the saddle pad was slid onto her back today - at least as long as she was busy gnashing a treat apart when it happened. That was the first skill Leth worked at that morning, whipping the blanket on and off to test the hen's patience with it, especially once her treat had been diminished. tack up|6
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Post by Lethalia on Jun 9, 2022 12:12:56 GMT -6
It had been fun for Esti to tear it off to make more of the satyr's displeased squawking noises, but eventually she tired of the game. Like many other things, the hen quickly came to the realization that she was left alone the longer she, in turn, left the blanket on her back. Leave it alone, suddenly the woman was clamoring less. Huh. It was so much more peaceful that way, the hen could nearly begin to get her napping in for the day. Silence fell for too long, in fact. Esti's eyes fluttered open and she squinted against the sun warming her hide and making her drowsy, coming aware of her owner's conspicuous absence. The satyr stood along the hen's side without making a peep, heavy saddle suspended in her arms over the hen's back. Esti's eye landed on her, and the woman had just enough presence of mind to not drop the saddle directly onto the hen. It wouldn't have been the best introduction to the tack. tack up|7
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Post by Lethalia on Jun 9, 2022 12:13:16 GMT -6
Esti still let out a hateful sound just to make sure Leth knew, skittering out backwards from beneath the suspended saddle. With little hope of clinging onto it, Lethalia finally let her hold give way, dropping the saddle to the dirt gently as she could. Sarane saddles were huge and not great fun to haul atop an unwilling mount. "Esti- c'mon, now. Even gotcha'a new one, ain't even gotta share wit' stinky boys." Not having to use the boys' breaking saddles was an upside. If only Esti realized it. She would've rejected that worn-in tack on smell alone. Appraising what the humanoid was going to do next, Esti kept her distance with lashing tail. How dare!? Hens were easier, and Esti was one of the few outright affectionate sarane Leth owned. But to mash both facts together in order to assume anything would be easy with Esti was a step too far. tack up|8
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Post by Lethalia on Jun 9, 2022 12:15:43 GMT -6
"C'mere, c'mon back Esti baby," Lethalia requested, hand extended towards the offended beast. "Aight. Thas' fine. We keep workin' on it," she continued when the hen didn't budge, only offering a moody snarl when Leth came close enough to retrieve the fallen blanket. Every move the satyr made was punctuated by an annoyed sound from over where Esti huddled, but Leth carried on. Might as well let the lady be angry. Leth wasn't dumb enough to try and bother another woman out of being angry - it didn't work that way. The front end of the saddle was lifted and brushed free of dirt and grass the murpskin lining loved to pick up. Hefting the entirety of the saddle, Lethalia threw it heavily onto the topmost fence board and set about further shaking it free of debris. If there were fits being thrown about the saddle not even touching her back yet, there was bound to be an opinion had over an uncomfortable smattering of dirt rubbing against scales. tack up|9
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Post by Lethalia on Jun 9, 2022 12:16:53 GMT -6
So enveloped in cleaning up the saddle, Leth turned her back to the hen and paid her little mind. They'd get around to the saddle, it wasn't going anywhere. If anything, Lethalia was always grateful for her endless well of patience to dip into. Waiting them out was often the means of less stress for both parties involved. Case in point. "Ah, hullo there girlie. Comin' back?" Lethalia turned and asked; Esti stopped dead where she had been stalking ever-so-gradually closer. The woman wasn't supposed to see that! "Try 'gain, Esti?" Cooperation would've been unlikely if there wasn't still a bag dripping with fresh cuts of meat. That opened up negotiations. As a reward for coming closer, Leth tossed her hen another chunk of meat which was chomped and choked down like she was trying to make a record, before looking up in anticipation of more. Esti lv|38 ly|36 tack up|10
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Post by Lethalia on Jun 9, 2022 12:17:39 GMT -6
"Ain' gonna get mo' fo' free,[/b]" Leth teased, holding another large section of meat out to the hen, a tempting one with a bone sticking out. "C'mon over - y'on'ly gettin' it for cooperatin'." Esti looked from the meat, to her owner's face to see if the woman was going to pull anything fast, to the inert saddle resting back atop the fence. Well, her owner couldn't try anything too funny. Little did she suspect the lady's next plan. Esti came close enough to reach for the treat, snatching her head back when she realized she had to pass through a floating circle of some kind to get to it. Her head whipped over to the satyr - because it was always the woman's fault - who just chortled, wiggling the new pink reins where they dangled just in front of the intended edible target. "Easier 'an th' saddle," Lethalia offered, somewhat disappointed she couldn't sneak the rope onto the hen. The woman didn't think herself much in the way of brains - but gods-damn, the creatures being quicker-witted than her was going to give her a complex. tack up|11
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Post by Lethalia on Jun 9, 2022 12:17:57 GMT -6
"Get'cha treat," she encouraged, twisting the meat to entice. "Ain' tha' hard - jus' gotta earn it."Naturally, Esti had to bob her head from side to side, seeing if she could snag the meat from either side rather than sticking her neck into that noose. Every feint she made, the bridle was just rotated more in her way with reward juuust past it's open loop. Lacy ears twitching with contemplation, the hen stopped and huffed and stared, stewing over something. Only once she appeared to conclude there was no way around this obstacle did she finally extend her neck forward through the rope. Lethalia drew the meat a bit further away as Esti reached, forcing the hen to shuffle forward and further into the loop. Leth ensured the rope skimmed the hen's spine and rested upon the base of her neck before placing the meat within Esti's reach. "Good!" she made sure to tell, before placing the meat onto Esti's outstretched tongue. As soon as it was in her posession, Esti hauled straight backwards to ensure the rope didn't stay on her. tack up|12
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Post by Lethalia on Jun 9, 2022 12:18:48 GMT -6
Entitled, delicate sensibilities... it was the monster she chose to nurture. Now she was seeing what came of the first spoiled hen. (Yet her later hens managed to be spoiled even with that knowledge.) After a few goes of it, the reins became a non-issue. Leth even dropped them to rest on the base of Esti's neck the last time she reached through to no reaction, much sooner than the satyr imagined. The following morning, Esti handled everything like it was old hat. She accepted her large bone treat through the reins, and allowed her owner to flip the saddle pad on and off her back without a care. Either the bone was a substancial enough offering, or she no longer cared, but she even allowed the saddle to be perched atop her back while she was still busy. When she was able to buckle the straps around Esti's belly to officially affix the saddle, Lethalia cheered to herself so loud in her head she thought someone was bound to hear it. tack up|13 end
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Post by Lethalia on Jun 9, 2022 12:19:21 GMT -6
Putting restrictive gear on Esti was one thing - and they'd gotten through that trial relatively unscathed. But to actually try and direct the big opinionated girl on where to go? It didn't feel like this was going to go well. It didn't matter that hens were 'smaller' than the drakes; Lethalia stood just as little of a chance at brute forcing this mother bear around as she did the boys. Esti donned her tack easily this morning, a bit at odds with how viciously she rejected it all mere days ago. She looked a bit curious when the rope around her neck was moved, to absolutely no reaction when Leth tried to see if she could lead the hen away with a tug of the rope. "C'mon, wanna get goin?" The hen's dead-eyed look suggested there wasn't much time before a boiling point was reached. bridle knowledge|1
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Post by Lethalia on Jun 9, 2022 12:19:49 GMT -6
The idea had been to follow the hen and mime her movements with the bridle, perhaps get her accustomed to directions as told through the simple rope. While it'd seemed like a decent plan, it was made a bit harder by an unwilling participant. Esti was unwilling to budge while tension was on the rein, and even once Leth dropped it. "Really? That's how y'wanna be?" Esti looked unmoved by her owner's speech or furrowed brows - the hen even grumbled as if she was going to give the satyr a talking to, in turn. Leth had to give that one to Esti, after sitting there for near an hour without either of them gaining ground. All of her tack was removed and the moment Leth took a stride towards the house, Esti got up and leisurely walked off as if she hadn't been refusing to move for the past half hour. Esti lv|39 ly|37 bridle knowledge|2
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