Practice makes Perfect

[Tex]

The young woman was atop a very handsome black stallion, wearing old tack and brushed until he glowed blue in the sunlight. He was a very beautiful horse, and walked about in the High Country as if he'd been born there, which he had been. The stallion was once a wild Brumby of the High Country, and was now Alison's pet horse, which she was teaching to be ridden. Poor Jesse was tired of carting her about the countryside every day, and besides, this stallion was so fast she could have sworn there was racehorse in him. She stroked his neck and gently pulled the rein on the right, turning his head, and he shook his head warily, sidestepping once before actually turning. Alison sighed, and rubbed her heels on his side, and he tossed his head, trotting forward gaily.
The stallion had been caught in a big hunt that happened a season ago, and she was lucky enough to get him. Unfortunately he wasn't tame yet, but the poor thing couldn't help being born wild.
Alison had decided to name the black stallion Echo, after a famous horse ridden by a man that was persistent enough to almost capture the legendary Silver, king of the mountain brumbies. She thought it was fitting, as she wanted to catch many brumbies and sell them off to buy a better saddle, as the one she had now was almost falling apart. Echo sniffed the air in a very brumby-like way, and Alison smiled, rubbing his shoulder.
"Isn't it good to be back out here, boy?" We'll have to go back soon, though," she added, scanning the country about her to figure out the best path back home.

[Ehetere]

Illoura despondently dipped her nose into the chilled water to quench her thirst. The current swirled pleasantly around her muzzle and she left it there for a moment; savouring that feeling. She realised that she was somewhat depressed, but there was nothing she could do about it. She didn’t even feel like leading some dolt of a stallion away from his herd and getting him lost.

Ever since her angry separation from her friend Wilgee; and her outburst at Thalera, she hadn’t felt like doing anything really. It was if all of the qualities that she enjoyed about life had been sapped away; never to return. Illoura thought that perhaps this was what normal mares felt when confined within a herd. But no; even they seemed content with their lives. This wasn’t even life; not really. Because, to Illoura, life was running, and freedom and the wind in her mane with a stallion chasing after her tail. Without these things; what was the point in existing in the first place?

She splashed noisily through the creek to the other side; pausing only to shake the moisture from her coat before continuing on. She was wandering in the very literal sense of the word; she had no destination, and did not know when she was going to stop. She just spent her days grazing, drinking and walking, on and on until her will power to soldier on deserted her and she stopped to rest. But in her subconscious mind she was making her way towards Kosciusko; in hopes of reaching it’s highest peak and having her joy for life renewed.

She broke through the tree line; still brooding, but a scent on the wind caught her attention. She threw up her head in alarm and checked the little clearing she had stepped into, but it was too late. She saw a big black stallion standing there, with a human ‘mare’ on his back. She eyed up the stallion for a split second, before shooting off across the clearing as fast as the river flows after the spring rains. She could tell the stallion had once been a brumby; and everyone knew, both horse and man, that Silvers were prized above all others. And Illoura realised that there was still life left in her. Because the flame that burned bright inside her now was the will for freedom.

[Tex]

Alison's eyes were a bit bleary after staring at hot and bright rocks and bush all day, so the beautiful mare that appeared out of the trees looked like a mirage, defiantly rearing up and rushing away. Her horse, however, knew what the palomino was, and leaped off after her instantly. Alison yelped and lay down on the stallion's neck, to give him more balance, and the great stallion seemed to know she approved, for he lengthened out his stride and slowly caught up on the fleeing silver. His human was already unclasping the lasso from her saddle, struggling to loop it properly in her hands before actually letting it loose, and Echo slowed down slightly to let her finish the loop quickly. Once he thought it was done, Echo really went for it, galloping like a madhorse straight at the silver brumby, his mouth open to pant and tug spiritedly at the reins. Alison laughed and patted his side, then tugged on teh rein to try and go alongside the mare, though she was going way too fast to really catch up with her head.
Echo could see that the mare was very beautiful, and he had already forgotten the old horror of being caught, only thinking now of having the mare at his home and having no competition for her. He whinnied excitedly, and Alison shook her head before raising the lasso to circle in the air above her. Once she was sure it was fully open, and she had an opening at the mare, Alison let the rope fly. It bounced off the back of the mare's head, and Alison swore under her breath. She then navigated her horse to try and head the mare off, to stop her from entering the bush before them. If the mare got into there, all Alison could do was follow until she had a clear shot, and they needed to get home soon. Only now she realized that she was riding a horse that wasn't even fully broken yet, and Alison wondered how she could be stupid enough to not have Jesse along for something like this.

[Ehetere]

The black stallion gained on her, and Illoura saw the human on his back uncoil her rope. Illoura whinnied accusingly at the stallion; because he was actually trying to catch her. Why would any brumby betray another like that? She saw the human let the rope soar through the air, and instantly put on a burst of speed. The rope landed harmlessly on her back, and she propped, swung around the stallion and then off into the bush. She was determined to keep her freedom and was sure that this would be a chase to end all chases.

For a second she thought she saw a pale shadow running beside her, and her thoughts instantly drifted to Wilgee, but no, it seemed as if the ghosts of her ancestors were there to give her strength and courage. For a second, her imagination flashed back to one of Thowra’s wild chases just like this. Every silver brumby was destined to live a hunted life, and now she was going to have to pay for her carelessness. The lack of humans in the High Country had lulled her into a false sense of security; but all the same, she knew how to escape men and their ropes. She had done it before, and escaped the fate that her half sister had been forced to endure; a lifetime in captivity. She knew all about dodging ropes and getting rid of dogs fast. But there was only one human and her horse now, and no dogs. In theory, Illoura should have been able to escape her pursuers easily, so long as she kept her had and thought very carefully.

She realized that it was late afternoon, and that when the light left so would the human. Unless of course her brumby stallion kept on chasing. In which case; Illoura was going to have to lose them both. But this was a different chase to that of teasing stallions; it was an awful lot harder to tease a stallion who had a human on his back. Not impossible, but certainly added another level of difficulty. Normally, stallions didn’t have ropes to stop her from letting them get real close before disappearing either.

But Illoura knew well enough that men could not get a clear shot if she was dodging in between trunks, or charging through thick bush, or even galloping haphazardly across the rockiest ground she could find. She counted herself lucky that she was heading towards several good escape routs – like Dead Horse Ridge and Dead Horse Gap. But both these areas were dangerously open, and Illoura knew that fully grown stallions could gallop faster than her over flat, open spaces. So long as she could reach Dead Horse Ridge; she could go thundering recklessly down the other side and away. Because the other side of Dead Horse Ridge had possibly one of the most dangerous, rocky, pot-holed slopes aside from the Ramshead, and even if the stallion managed to make it down the other side, the lightest, lithest horse would have a massive advantage. And then she could go racing into Yarraman's Valley and be lost in the sea or horses, or even melt away into the scrub, and quietly cross Cascade Creek and head for the steep mountain ash forests to hide away from prying eyes.

[Tex]

Alison looked up at the sky and cursed; it was darkening way too fast, and the brumby mare was smart enough to tree dodge, which meant trouble. It seemed only the stupid pale brumbies were caught, whether they were fast or not. Echo was running well, but he was starting to play up a bit, trying to pull the reins from her hands and jerking a bit off the ground when they slowed to turn. Well, he wasn't even fully broken yet, he shouldn't be running after brumbies like this at this time of day. Alison looked up at the silver mare as she pulled back on the reins firmly, Echo juddering to a stop and bouncing like the rocks were made of coals.
"Calm down, you old teddy bear," she said to him severely, and pulled back on the right rein. He refused to move, still straining forward after the silver mare. "No!" she said sharply, and pulled harder. "We need to get home... and you can have Oats if you want," she added slyly, and he stopped straining, obediently turning and starting off home. Alison let out a sigh; he was still not very responsive to her commands.

[Ehetere]

Illoura pulled up on her haunches and swung around when the hoof beats behind her died away. She crept back through her cover, to find that the human had pulled the black stallion up, and was stopping him from coming after her again. Or at least she was trying to. Illoura smirked; it was obvious that no matter how fast this stallion was, he certainly wasn’t fully trained in the way that some stock horses were.

The human was still battling with the stallion; but finally she managed to get him turned around; in the direction that Illoura guess was the huts. She let out one last mocking call to the stallion; to see whether he would react. Now that she was sure her freedom was not threatened in the dying light; she found herself actually being self satisfied with how the stallion had reacted. He wanted to chase her; even though he was captive. It did not even cross her mind to think that the human and her stallion might now be on the look out for her; Illoura thought herself to be far too smart and swift and cunning to ever be caught by man and his ropes.

She debated for a second whether or not to follow the stallion back to the men’s huts and tease him further, but instead decided against it, creeping away through the bush until she was out of ear shot. And then she cantered away; flinging a joyful whinny to the wind. Freedom was hers to keep, and oh boy, did it feel good! Her spirit had been released of its guilt in that run, and she was free to live again.

She returned to the creek, and crossed it once more. She was going the long way up to the Ramshead, but she was trying to avoid the men’s huts, so there really wasn’t an option. She would end up passing over a ridge just near the huts actually, and she might stay there and have a look to see when the pair returned, and tease that stallion some more.