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Post by Renathan on Sept 9, 2018 11:57:31 GMT -6
Renathan doesn't want to lose the progress that they were beginning to make; so he leans forward and gives the stallion a crisp pink apple slice. Yes, that was very good! Baby steps, for now, Renathan figured. He had really started getting the hang of this training, he thought, even if he had hardly trained any creatures so far. He was at least very used to his beloved equillion here, he hoped to do even better in the future. The stallion eats the crisp pink apple piece quickly, and Renathan takes him by the reins again, leading him around the paddock and then out back into the middle of the grass. There, he starts up again by pulling the reins back, and then he holds them there for a second or two longer, to see if the stallion would stay reared up. The stallion does rear up, and does stay there for as long as the reins are held back, though it was a short amount of time.
[5]
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Post by Renathan on Sept 10, 2018 12:09:10 GMT -6
Renathan could tell, as he watched the stallion equillion takes the newest piece of crisp pink apple slice from his hands, that they had began to communicate a bit, perhaps, via body language a lot more than simply Renathan giving commands. It had been subtle, he felt- he hadn't really noticed it until now. The stallion flicks his ears back, as a bird flies overhead; Renathan is suddenly very narrowed in on this movement. He hadn't really thought previously about the kinds of communication they shared, or the small things he noticed about Shy Guy that made it simpler for him to judge how to react around him. He could even feel the muscles in the sides of the equillion as he rode, in the bottoms of his calves. Renathan feels a soft smile start, beneath his mask. He was quiet for a moment, and then as the stallion finishes his apple slice, he carefully decides to start again, this time for longer.
[6]
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Post by Renathan on Sept 10, 2018 12:15:45 GMT -6
Renathan holds the reins up again, gently within his hands, and then pulled them back carefully, gently coaxing Shy Guy to rear up. The stallion was a quick learner, and Renathan was beginning to realize that. Of course, the verbal component was much less important to the equillion than it was for his avian, but the stallion knew him well, and knew his body language. It also helped that Renathan knew how to ride, and tended to have a good feel for the mounts he worked with. Shy Guy rears up on his hind legs, with Renathan balanced particularly well- making it easier for him. The stallion stayed reared up until Renathan released the pressure, even just a little. This was incredibly desirable- Renathan knew that the stallion would do well in battles. Renathan leans forward yet again, offering another pink apple slice to the bay animal. Shy Guy happily accepted this, with a slight flick of his long tail.
[7]
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Post by Renathan on Sept 10, 2018 12:20:03 GMT -6
The bay equillion chews on the pink apple slice as Renathan sits on his back comfortably, wondering while in the saddle about future mounted training. He hoped that the equillion would make a good water mount as well as a land mount; perhaps so that he could travel along the rivers eventually? He thought it would be a fun and interesting thing to do. Perhaps he'd even fashion a little pouch for his jibiji to ride in; wearing the amulet for avian to breathe underwater with? He hoped that something like that would be possible; that way they could all go exploring... Long ago Renathan would never have thought to actually -swim- in water; Water in his land was often quite dangerous, and had to be carefully purified before being consumed. Even swimming in the water as dangerous. The stallion finishes up his apple piece, and Renathan takes the reins in his hands again.
[8]
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Post by Renathan on Sept 10, 2018 12:24:08 GMT -6
Shy Guy had taken to the mount work quite quickly; Renathan notes. He had indeed started the training once the stallion was more used to him, and that made all the difference. Then again, Shy Guy, though very aggressive, is generally quite even-tempered otherwise. That made for a less spooky, more confident animal. He was also easier to work with than other alpha-like animals, Renathan realized as he thought. Renathan begins to work the stallion out on the other mount tricks they had worked with up to this point. He wanted to make sure that the stallion was going to 'remember' the rearing behavior just as he did the other mount behaviors they had worked on. The stallion leaps easily over the rocks, climbs atop others, and moves forward and to either side at Renathan's gentle touches to the sides or reins as needed. Soon, Renathan moves the reins back again, to get him to rear up.
[9]
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Post by Renathan on Sept 10, 2018 12:31:01 GMT -6
Shy Guy was no stranger to the reins at this point, so he rears up without any difficulty; standing on his hind legs and holding his front limbs up. Renathan could see his form in the shadows at the grass beneath him, showing Renathan that he even had a nice balance about him; which was good for shows if they decided to go that route in the future. Renathan held the reins back for quite a while this time, feeling the Stallion shift his weight beneath him as he stands up carefully, continuing to stand past any normal limit. Then, Renathan is happy with the work. He drops the reins carefully, and the stallion drops down, giving off a soft noise with his mouth as he was able to straighten out to a more natural stance. Renathan gives him a quick treat, and a pat on his shoulder for the hard work. It was getting about time to give him some rest, and perhaps groom him, Renathan thinks. He felt like they had practiced the rearing behavior well enough.
[10] - [END of 'Up!']
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Post by Renathan on Sept 10, 2018 12:47:23 GMT -6
Renathan dismounts the equillion and pets him on the shoulders as he removes the saddle and other pieces of tack quietly. He sits the pieces of tack on the grass nearby, since the area was his anyway, and then carefully pets the equillion's soft shoulder and thick mane. He moves up to the stallion's neck with his hand and then up to his muzzle, giving him soft pets before pushing the forehead of his mask to the stallion's neck. He gives the creature a quick squeeze of a hug, not wanting to make the creature anxious, and then steps away. He quietly opens up his backpack to remove a set of brushes and other equipment for grooming the large equillion. Shy Guy notices this, and with excited flicks of the tail, he settles down in a sitting position that would make a normal horse squirm, most likely. Renathan pulls out the largest brush, and settles down beside the stallion.
[1]
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Post by Renathan on Sept 10, 2018 12:51:49 GMT -6
Renathan gently uses the brush to remove some of the tangles from the mane of the equillion. The large-toothed comb made for an excellent grooming tool, and it seemed comfortable to the split-hooved, bovid creature even to use on the sensitive tail. Renathan takes his time removing the tangles from the mane, and then moves down to the tail, allowing the equillion to watch him so that he was not surprised whenever Renathan began combing the large tangles out of the hair. Shy Guy was blessed with beautiful curly hairs; but it also made for some rather horrible tangles. Renathan, however, had gentle hands and a patient demeanor, caring for the stallion well. Renathan was careful to do this sort of thing for all of his creatures, but Shy Guy made it much easier. The other creatures often fought him whenever he did this sort of care, so he often restrained them, or took them to the vet for this kind of care.
[2]
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Post by Renathan on Sept 10, 2018 13:06:24 GMT -6
Renathan is finally able to get the biggest tangles out; so he chooses a thinner toothed comb to work through the smaller tangles. The stallion was patient with him, even enjoying the thinner toothed comb; which was normally a slight issue for the two. Afterwards, Renathan pulls the bristled brush from the bag; easily the stallion's favorite part of this little ritual. The stallion leans over so that Renathan could brush the stallion's regular fur out, making it shiny and soft, straight as well. The stallion enjoyed this part; and it really showed; he rolls over onto his back to expose his belly to the brushing. Renathan finally leans back, and then puts all the brushes into the satchel. He takes out a small bottle of dust, and puts the dust on the bristles of the brush... Then he does a final brush of the dry shampoo over the stallion to make him smell clean.
[3]
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Post by Renathan on Sept 10, 2018 13:30:47 GMT -6
Renathan had actually had the dry shampoo made just for Shy Guy. He had bought other dry shampoos for his creatures, typically completely unscented just in case the animals tried to lick themselves clean afterwards. However, Shy Guy never licked himself clean, and Renathan had paid the best money to have a shampoo with scent that was perfectly safe, even if it was licked, or lost into the brookwater that Shy Guy swam on. The scent was very ethereal, a strong pink peppercorn accord with a softer confectionery coconut and caramel underneath that. The base was a bed of lotus and orchid, sharp and sensual, with a soft side of cream scent on the dry down. The stallion wouldn't care, of course, but Renathan did; since he had to deal with the scent since the stallion was his main mode of transportation; and horse-like stink is not appreciated to his sensitive nostrils.
[4]
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Post by Renathan on Sept 11, 2018 10:29:16 GMT -6
Renathan carefully brushes the dry shampoo into the equillion's fur, until the creature is absolutely shining, and smelling much better than he had. The sun was shining, but it was not overbearingly hot today; Renathan noticed. The air was crisp and dry, it felt like autumn might be coming soon. He knew, of course, that the actual autumn time of year was coming, but sometimes the time did not coincide with the actual weather patterns that were associated with it. After he was finished, Renathan carefully puts all of the grooming items into the pouch. He'd have to clean them out later with water, but for now he figured this would be fine. He puts the grooming pouch up, still sitting on the ground, and the pets the stallion's nose gently. He was glad that the stallion was growing much more easily cared for as time went on. Some of Renathan's creatures were not quite as easily cared for.
[5]
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Post by Renathan on Sept 11, 2018 11:00:02 GMT -6
Renathan figured that they would train at least one more bit of work today, though he wasn't exactly sure what yet. He was carefully considering working on the creature's stamina in running; but then again, they had worked incredibly hard and he didn't want to overwork the poor creature today. No, no, he'd start on the endurance training tomorrow. Instead, he figured that they could work on swimming. However, what about swimming would be important but not too exhausting? Renathan picks himself up off of the soft and slightly drying grass, and then coaxes the stallion equillion into standing as well. Then, he leads the bay creature over to the brook that runs through their little area, so that he could go ahead and get the training started. The idea was to get the stallion to come to the land whenever he was ordered to, whether he was riding the stallion or not.
[1] - [START 'Land']
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Post by Renathan on Sept 11, 2018 11:05:17 GMT -6
Renathan figured that they could do this quite easily; he would start with him being on the land while the stallion was swimming, and then he would work on riding the stallion while in the water; and getting the creature to come to land each time. He figured it would be quite difficult, but didn't know exactly how they were going to do this just yet. Sure, he knew that if he called for the stallion to 'come' that the creature would come out of the water and to the land quite easily; but what about when he was on the stallion in the water? He wouldn't want the creature to be confused, especially not in important situations like this. Renathan did not have the stamina that the equillion did in the water by far. The equillion was, indeed, amphibious, despite the oddity of that. Most equines were not water based, that was for sure.
[2]
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Post by Renathan on Sept 11, 2018 11:19:29 GMT -6
The stallion stands beside the water without fear. Renathan knew that lots of different equines shied around running water, but this equillion seemed to be allured by the sound as if it were siren song instead. Renathan gives the stallion the command to slide down into the water and swim, and the creature slips into it like a snake nearly; as at-home as a fish. He allows the creature to excitedly swim about for a little bit; his mane and tail floating out like feathers; the lotus blossoms floating atop the water in mock-camouflage fashion. Only his bright blue eyes could be seen among the water. Renathan waits for a moment, happily watching the stallion play about like a foal; and then he calls out the command; a long whistle with an alternating pitch. The stallion looks confused and concerned, an ear sliding back. He wasn't sure what that whistle meant; but he knew it had to mean something.
[3]
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Post by Renathan on Sept 11, 2018 11:28:30 GMT -6
Renathan watches as the stallion expresses confusion at first; but then quickly wades up to Renathan out of the water, standing on the bank quickly. Then he sniffs at Renathan's hands and face, wondering perhaps if he was okay? Either way, it did have the desired effect! Renathan happily rewarded the behavior of coming out of the water at that command, with a small piece of pink apple, as was customary at this point. The piece of pink apple did distract the stallion so that he wasn't pestering Renathan anymore, which was good. That meant that the stallion could go back into the water without distraction after he was done eating the apple slice. It only took a moment, and then Renathan gave the stallion a pat, and sent him back into the water with the command to swim. The stallion was, of course, incredibly happy to go for the swim. He loved the water, and Renathan was glad.
[4]
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