Let's Talk Horses (Matthial)

[Bolden Denusk]

With quiet subtlety, Bolden mirrored Matthial's motions and stood when he stood and sat when he sat. He kept himself at the fringe of the mare's vision so he wouldn't disturb the budding relationship the other man was slowly building. Nightwind followed just as silently, trailing his rider like a large and faithful dog.

He knew that this was the most important part and if Matt could get the mare's curiosity to overcome her distrust, they would heal each others broken souls in the best way possible-with mutual trust and caring. With dark, honey colored eyes, he nearly laughed aloud at the mare's bitchy antics. Oh he'd chosen a horse exactly like him! Matt expected the world to revolve around what he wanted, and the mare was identical in her behavior. Bold couldn't be more pleased with their interaction and her cautious beginning of trust.

When she lowered her head, the young Drykas held his breath. Blade was a biter and the man could lose a finger at the least if the mare was so inclined. One quick or accidental movement on Matt's part and the mare's trust would not only turn to violence, but her attitude would be reinforced--as would Matt's.

"Well done Matt. Feel free to brush her but keep up an elbow near her neck to block her if she tries to get away with biting you now. She might test you to see if you're a dominant enough personality to handle her as she is. Show her that she can trust you, but you're not a pushover either. Speak to her calmly; it doesn't matter the words or the language, just the tone and pitch. When her ears turn to you to listen, but she stops watching you intently, you've made the first important step in earning and returning her trust."

He said these things in a quiet calm voice, that carried softly on the breeze. It was just loud enough to hear, but not invasive enough for Blade to do more than flick her ears at it and return her attention to Matt.

Nightwind nickered quietly, as always interested in nearby females. Out of pure reflex, Bolden rubbed a soothing hand over the strider stallion's chest to calm him.

Blade held one ear forward, and one ear back, very on guard for any pain the stranger might inflict. She turned a cautious eye toward him, taking his measure. She raised her head a bit, trying to make herself taller than Matt, more out of defensive instinct than any malice. Blade stood deceptively quiet, waiting for the man to make his move.

[Matthial]

Matthial watched the mare with an emotionless eye. He waited for a long moment before he brushed a hand along the side of her substantial neck. He let his hand drag lazily, letting her get used to the feel of her touch. As he did, he raised his elbow ever so slowly at Bolden's request. As he did so he spoke quietly, so quietly that Bolden would be hard pressed to hear the words. "What is this world that you see? Do you looked through clouded eyes like myself? Do you see the endless suffering and violence? Does the blood fill your dreams? Or do you see a world filled with possibility? A place for change and hope? Are your eyes free of the curtain of emotion and experience, instead swept clean with the radiant brush of a smiling sun?" Still brushing he watched the mare as she looked down at him. She clearly wasn't sure how she felt about this stranger touching her and whispering vague words at her. The beasts' height gave her an advantage over the warrior as she seemed to debate what to do. "I think you are like me. A wanderer with no place, no family, and no friends. As we've never needed such things have we? No.. this only leads to weakness.. and maybe a certain naivety." Blade snorted at Matthial. Wether she was offering a response to his quandries or simply clearing her nose was up for debate. Her ears slowly turned to the man as she listened. Yet her eye remained on the man clearly doubtful of his intentions. Matthial almost grinned. She wasn't having it. Stubborn was something that she had defined. "Hmm. Maybe your right. Perhaps thinking over such things is a waste of time." Matthial continued to brush as his thoughts ran their course. His life was defined by hatred, lust and depression. Generally in that order. He'd found no peace along the road of vengeance. Simply drawing his next breath had become a bother. The world was endlessly black, free of the childish hopes and dreams he had depended on when he was younger. Once the veil had been removed he'd found himself alone in a world of violence and blood. That wasn't it. While it was true, it wasn't entirely correct. Suffering. That was the only thing he could use to describe it. No matter how hard one tried, in the end, things never got better. This conclusion had been reached after man years of wandering and killing. After she had left him, he'd found himself empty. Perhaps his faith in her and their future had been misplaced? He looked at Blade again, and gave her a smile. "Maybe it wasn't misplaced at all... maybe my desire... my attachment... is what lead to my suffering. Maybe the answers can't be found outside... but where else is there?" It was a whisper now, only able to be heard by Blade. For a long moment the man looked past her with sad eyes. He studied the blue of the sky, the green of the grass, the color of her mane. As he did so, he stopped the patting. Blade's ears twitched as the mare snorted. Obviously waiting for him to continue. "Maybe you are right. Perhaps thats the wrong way of looking at things. Maybe the only answers can be found within." Matthial could have sworn he saw her 'nod' as she looked away content for the moment with the man's administrations.

[Bolden Denusk]

Bolden alternately checked over Nightwind for injuries or bites and looked over at Matthial and his equine counterpart. With large hands, he felt over every inch of the strider, checking from poll to pastern and just enjoying time with him. He saw Matt's mouth moving but couldn't hear what he was saying, which made it the perfect pitch.

Blade stood attentively under the swordsman's hands, her ears twitching back and forth to listen to him. He hadn't done anything too sudden or painful, so the mare didn't even turn her head or move a hoof. Admittedly he'd been a little worried that the mercurial horse might've bit him immediately as was her usual greeting.

"Good work." Bold said, just loud enough to carry, but not noisy enough to spook the temperamental horse.

"Congratulations. You are the very first person ever to groom that four year old without getting bitten, kicked or both. We think that's probably why she went for so cheap at the market." He grinned at Matt, hoping he'd appreciate the ugly truth laced with humor.

The young Drykas pulled a Yvas out of Nightwind's saddlebag and walked half way toward Matt with it. Continuing in that careful, soothing voice he suggested,

"Now get the Yvas around her, just behind her elbows, tying it a little loose. She'll hold her breath and blow out her stomach, so adjust the chest piece first. Once that's fit nicely, Blade will be thinking about that and then you can swoop in to tighten the girth strap. Make sure it's tight enough to stay on, but you can still fit your fingers between stomach and girth snugly."

Bold walked back to his strider and retied the bags to the Yvas holds more firmly. The young man had already mentioned for Matt to keep his elbow up earlier to prevent a bite on the hand and he hoped that it was kept strongly in mind. Once someone got their hands under the mare's nose to put on the chest band, he wasn't sure if the mare would bite at such a tempting target. He was fairly sure that Matt would do fine. He wasn't a natural horseman by a long shot, but he was a quick learner.

Blade now had both ears toward Matthial and she switched her tail nervously, bobbing her head up and down. She turned her head sideways for her large brown eye to see the Yvas better. The mare stomped her hoof raising a puff of dust and gave Matt the white of her eye.

[Matthial]

Matthial laughed nervously, then he grasped the Yvas and stood within view of Blade, inspecting the straps and things of a device he had never seen. The Syliras had something similair, but their design was much more ... convoluted. More straps and bits and bobs to make a young squire's life difficult. As he inspected it, he watched the mare out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't be sure, but he almost swore she was suppressing a malicious grin. Stepping closer, he raised the item to eye level, and just let the horse get a good look at it. Then he moved very slowly. Blade acted much as Bolden had said, and Matthial tried to keep within her view, but as he leaned in to firmly secure the chest piece, he felt something move. As a reflex his arm moved up in a smooth motion, and then he felt something touch the limb. Looking up, he found the mare had lowered her head and was resting her rather substantial nose near his forearm. He blinked. She was trying to scare him. Scowling up, he lightly pressed against the mare who snorted down at him, and looked up once more as he finished the chest piece, and then the girth strap. It wasn't long before Matthial was back staring at the horse. Then the would-be-rider scratched at his chin as a thought occured to him. He was still quite irate with the grasslander, yet Bolden had overcome his irritation, and was teaching him the very basics of horse-riding. While this interested him, what was more though-provoking was the younger man's control of his emotions, or if this wasn't the case, the quick acceptance of a situation. Despite Matthial's constant badgering and pessimistic generalizations, along with his refusal to learn, hadn't stopped the Drykas beyond a single moment. Matthial wasn't sure what to think about that. He simply threw a smile at Bolden as he raised a hand behind his head. "Ah... horses. So... what next?"

[Bolden Denusk]

Bolden nodded as if to himself and easily mounted the strider in a smooth motion. He smiled at Matthial with a glint of mischief in his eyes. His tone lost the gentle and soothing pitch he'd used earlier as he addressed the man before him.

"I'm being nice and letting you have the Yvas...to look at. You can mount regular, but once you're up, cross your arms over your chest with a palm on each shoulder. You can use only your legs and weight for guidance." Bold gestured to the leg that Matthial had favored just the slightest.

"A bum leg can give you bad riding habits and make you heavy handed to overcompensate. With your arms in that position, you can learn and keep perfect balance that works -with- your horse. Normally I'd have kids practice on a fence first, but I'm not doing that to an adult."

The young Drykas crossed both arms over his chest, resting a palm on each shoulder. He clucked quietly to Nightwind and gently nudged his knees into the animal's ribs, leaning forward slightly. Once the stallion was in motion, he leaned some weight onto his inside leg and the black beast shifted to leading with his left front leg.

"You don't have to use the Yvas to ride. You do have to use it for storage or rough terrain. This is a nice smooth paddock so you shouldn't have any problems. This is the last leg of the lesson Matthial, and you're doing great. Follow the motions I made with my mount, and apply them to Blade. She'll do better with you riding like this so take comfort in that. I'm not doing this to punish you--she doesn't like the Yvas, so it's best you don't use it yet for riding. Just play follow the leader. If you fall, get right back up again and repeat what I showed you. Make sure you shift her lead so she'll turn smoothly."

Although the lecture was long winded, it was necessary. Now all that was left was action and performance. Matt was stubborn, but not stupid, so Bold had no doubt he'd pick it up quickly.

[Matthial]

Matthial took any and all thoughts of goodwill back as the Drykas continued. It would have been interesting to know exactly how Bolden had spotted Matthial's burnt leg, but he assumed he'd given himself away at some point. He gave Blade a reassuring look, not entirely sure if she could read it, and then mounted her. Surprisingly the horse was like a rock. Considering her temperament this was worrying. Matthial had used the Yvas to mount the mare, but now he removed his hands from the 'nub' rising from the saddle. Yvas was a strange term, and not one that Matthial completely understood, he assumed it was the entire saddle, but Bolden was making it sound like the nub now. Blinking, Matthial looked down at from the beasts' back as he steadied himself for using only his legs. Readjusted, Matthial let go of the Yvas and let his hands drift out to his sides, palms facing the grass below. He didn't know Blade very well after spending only an hour or so with her, but he knew enough to know that she was up to something. She was being docile. Too docile. Pushing his fears aside, the warrior used his knees and feet to sort of 'guide' the horse. He spoke aloud to calm himself as he started to twist a bit more, and to put pressure on the injured thigh. "In Syliras, we use the .. 'Yvas' mainly for steering the beasts. In the midst of combat it is easier to give directions with the reigns and the free arm, then to use the legs. Ive never really used my body to steer the animals unless we are jousting." He shot Bolden a sly grin. Then it occured to him that Bolden might not have a clue what practice jousting was. It was mainly for fun, and that seemed something that the horse-peoples lacked when it came to riding. In his opinion anyway. "So how does a Drykas fight from horseback, you fine fellows seem to have -ah- skill with the sword, but I can't imagine you running down your enemies with swords. Spears? Lances?" Matthial's pause was brought about by a rather intense pain shooting up his leg and into his stomach and groin. The tender flesh hadn't quite healed after what the reimancer had done. The warrior did his best to ignore it as he emphasized the questions with movements imitating using the actual weapons. Swinging his arm like a sword, thrusting with a spear, and then he started to do an underhand thrust for the lance, when Blade made her move. Matthial felt a sort of lurch, and then noticed he was airborne, before smacking into the ground shoulder-first. In the blink of an eye, Matthial had regained his footing and assumed a defensive posture as he tried to figure out what had just happened. Blade gave no answers as she simply batted an eye at him. Thinking, Matthial breathed heavily as he rubbed his sore shoulder and tried to visualize his flight. It seemed that as he leaned forward, the mare had bucked her rear-end up and launched him over her head. The pain in his shoulder seemed to reaffirm this as the warrior blinked rapidly. Then before the mare could savor her victory, he lurched forward, and grabbed the Yvas once more, and pulled himself forward. Forgetting about Bolden entirely, the warrior wrestled himself atop the mare, and then dropped his hands to his sides once more. Blade chose this moment to buck once more, and Matthial found himself jostling about as he tried to force her to do what he wanted. The mare bucked one final time as Matthial leaned in to whisper into the animal's neck. Holding on tightly, Matthial sort of nuzzled her small mane as he berrated her. "Really? Really? Are we done yet?" As if in answer, Blade snorted, shook her head violently, and then started to walk as Matthial spurred her forward with his legs. Turning his body, he directed her to the left, and then to the right as he had her do a 'zig-zag' pattern. He was obviously worried about her pulling anymore funny business, but on the bright-side the adrenaline had completely negated the pain.

[Bolden Denusk]

Bolden frowned at Matthial, noting he completely ignored his directions.
'Teaching kids is so much easier than teaching adults who think they know it all.' He thought in a flash of irritation.

"Incorrect. Only Drykas use Yvas. -Your- kind uses a saddle which slips and slides to give the horse saddle sores and cause pressure wounds from bad riding. A Yvas is a chest band and just a girth strap for a reason. We don't encumber our horses with too much extra shyke to give bad riders an excuse to keep riding badly. Put your arms across your chest with your palms on your shoulders. Now."

The Drykas stared pointedly at the man to emphasize why Matt was thrown.

"Blade doesn't like a less a than excellent rider because she can't trust them to not throw her off balance--exactly like you're doing. Sit up straight, cross your arms and repeat. She'll drop a shoulder on you again and again until you ride with the correct center of balance directly where her withers and back meet. I didn't tell you to put your hands at your sides for a reason. Then again if you like getting tossed, then carry on the same way as you have been."

Bolden folded Nightwind around his outside leg, doing a wide serpentine pattern. He shifted his weight slightly, encouraging the stallion to extend his stride. Muscles stretched and tautened along the horse's top line and his neck arched gracefully in perfect alignment. Each pastern gave an extra flick and the animal's haunches and shoulders bunched rhythmically in time to his own hoof beats.

"We steer with our legs, so we can use bow or sword with both hands free for combat, instead of jerking around a horse's head needlessly. Proper training of an intelligent mount and competent rider will leave both hands free for whatever needs to be done and the horse's stamina remains stronger with the head and neck unimpeded with bridles."

The young man's eyes gleamed when he saw Matt's body shifted a hair to the side and it confirmed the bad leg once and for all. Until he kept himself exactly centered in the middle of the horses shoulders and withers, Matt's leg would hurt like mad. Bold half smiled, waiting for the reluctant student to find that sweet spot of balance that took most of the pressure off the bum leg.

"Jousting? What is jousting?" Bolden asked, very curious at the prospect of some new riding technique.

He listened to Matt's explanation, fascinated with the idea. When the outsider asked about fighting from horseback, Bolden's face lit into a cheek stretching grin.

"We teach our horses and striders, battle maneuvers while we wield our weapon of choice. To do so, the man and beast must mutually trust each other with their lives and be willing to defend each other to the death. I've only given Nightwind six seasons of battle training so far, but he's doing terrific!" Bolden beamed with pride and slapped his mount's neck in appreciation.

The horseman watched in approval as his student took the important time to actually talk to his mount and demand submission with direct eye contact, and a good instinct. Well, a good instinct after being thrown a few times. When Matthial finally balanced properly on Blade, Bold was eager to demonstrate how Drykas did battle.

"You can dismount or not if you choose; that was a good lesson huh?" Bolden smiled encouragingly over his shoulder as he moved toward the stuffed practice targets at the opposite end of the training paddock. He'd spent many hours training the stallion and he fiercely enjoyed the memories of a well trained mount for battle. Bold didn't give a petch how he himself looked, but any excuse to show how terrific his strider was, was an opportunity too good to pass up.



"Left target because it's tallest!" He called out, taking out his sword and rushing by in a swift canter that made the enormous strider into a flashing black blur. With no discernible signal from the Drykas, Nightwind slid to an abrupt stop and Bold signaled him into a courbette. Nightwind reared and leaped forward on his haunches striking out with his front legs, biting at the stuffed practice dummy, while shielding Bolden. As soon as he was close enough, the Drykas slashed his sword at the tattered target that the stallion had just mangled. A single sword stroke decapitated it and the stallion swiftly cantered away to stop in front of Matthial, blowing and stamping.

"Swords work just fine when you know how to properly use a horse." Bolden smiled.

[Matthial]

Matthial leaned forward at the other man's instructions. As an afterthought he put his palms on his shoulders as the Drykas showed how to properly balance. Matthial kept a stoic face as he tried to further steer the animal. The only indication of his pain was when he cracked his neck. He said nothing, simply listening for a moment as the other warrior continued to teach, and show the various movements. Yet as he did so, his mind wandered on a few questions. It had occured to him that Drykas generally had large horses. Same with the Syliras. Yet he'd never been taught to baby his beast as much as Bolden was going on about. The relationship between beast and man was much closer out here. With a start, he realized he'd let his mind wander until Bolden showed him a rather fine attack with the horse. He'd never been a full knight, or cavalry, so he had no idea what the movement was called, but it sure looked effective. The animal's front hooves must have been absolutely lethal. With another stroke, Bolden pointed out the effectiveness of a sword. For a long moment Matthial sat in contemplation, obviously choosing his words, while doing his best to remember the tactics of the Syliras. Realizing his hands where still on his shoulders, he quickly corrected himself, and scratched at his jaw as he spoke. "Jousting is mostly for fun, or competition. We have blunt-ended lances made specifically for sport. Now, your average lance is roughly ten to twelve feet long. The purpose..." He placed his palms on his shoulders and turned with his legs, Blade took the instructions immediately as she turned to face the other two. With both horses facing each other, Matthial continued to speak. "..is to ride at each other, and dismount the other rider by hitting him full in the chest thus knocking him off the horse. In competition the riders wear heavy armor, and generally as soon as you are knocked off, you are the loser. In actual combat, we have smaller lances that are used in conjunction with a shield for striking at soldiers below. I won't get into the specifics, but our knights ride as a single cohesive unit. In a 'wedge' formation that allows your flanks to be covered at all times." He paused once more, leaning down to look at the back of the horses' neck in thought. "The most veteran of our knights use swords or maces, or even morning-stars in addition to their lance and shield. A single heavily plated knight can ride into a throng of enemy infantry or creatures, and use the mace to strike swiftly at heads as he moves by. The balled end would allow for much greater damage then a sword." He gave Bolden a smile. "In theory anyway." As he spoke his mind wandered to the fact that the Drykas probably didn't have to worry about anything in a military fashion. Survival against the horrors that surrounded them was much more important then preparing for war, or fending off another cities' military forces. Words like 'wedge' and 'formation' probably had little to no meaning to the other man. In a way, Matthial had never realized how good he'd had it back home. Patting the back of Blade's neck, he grinned. Being out here had its perks. He didn't intend to do a slashing movement. Instead, he squeezed his thighs, while holding his shoulders, and used this to 'spur' the horse forward. He'd left his sword on the ground, so instead he tried a simple charge. As his surroundings became a blur, he did his best to stay on the animal as she started to go faster as he kept squeezing. He leaned onto his other thigh, and was surprised to find the beast comply as she turned to the left and tore right past the second dummy. Easing off, he let Blade slow down as he turned back to Bolden with a grin. Something had occured to him. "Archery?"

[Bolden Denusk]

"You can stop riding with your hands on your shoulders, the lesson's done Matt." He sat easily astride the stallion, and watched the outsider with knowing eyes. The swordsman didn't consider horses as truly living creatures. But Bold knew that if you didn't completely trust your mount and vice versa, you'd end up on the ground at some point. Matthial just considered horses like he would a sword or this lance stick he spoke of.

Bolden listened to the explanation and wondered why it would be fun to joust. Learning how to survive against a pack of glassbeaks is important. Knowing how to keep your seat on a frenzied horse in a storm when you were injured is important. Practicing battle movements with mount and sword were important. But smacking people off their horses with a big stick was fun?! Were his people that bored? Did they have so much food and wealth that they didn't need to prepare for winter?

How was riding in a hundred weight of armor, practically immobile, a sport? Bolden couldn't imagine for the life of him trying to bog down himself and his swift horse with clunky armor. Unless his kind were that afraid of getting hurt that they'd hide behind giant shields and sacrifice movement for heavy, armor that slowed down all your reactions, he didn't see any sense to it.

The young Drykas said nothing at Matt's comment of war mount tactics. He'd been talked down to before and he was sure it wouldn't be the last time. The Watch were the finest in formations and battle strategy in all of Cyphrus!

It was clear in Matthial's mind wandering and behavior that he had no intention of ever considering a horse anything more than a lifeless tool to be wielded. Bolden sighed wearily, accepting that not everyone was meant to really know horses.

Bold raised an eyebrow in surprise as Blade responded to Matt's sudden and -proper- leg aid! He did it! Even though the outsider hadn't consciously tried to give the mare a blatant signal, he'd shifted his weight appropriately to show his intent! And more importantly, Blade liked him enough to obey without hesitation! A break through that he was positive Matthial had no clue of the significance! The outsider naturally shifted his weight back and slowed Blade with natural aids instead of forced ones! By the Gods, he could do as he was told as long as he thought it was -his- idea!

He chuckled to himself until Matt brought up archery and answered,

"I don't know a thing about archery. Uh.. the pointy end faces out?" The young Drykas grinned, "Do you know a lot about archery?"

[Matthial]

Matthial grinned back. "Ah... uh... no. I met a fellow who was practicing his archery and he showed me a few things about the bow and arrow. I guess I assumed it was something that the Drykas ALL did. I guess it just popped into my head when you started talking about the sword and all of that..." An uncomfortable silence followed as Matthial looked to the sky. In truth he was having quite a hard time today. It just seemed that everything was a bit more ... off then usual. It wasn't something that worried him too much, but it was grating nonetheless. He'd decided to leave, and now seemed as good a time as any. Maybe tomorrow, catch a caravan on the way out. It wasn't the Drykas that was the problem, it was him. He needed to figure something out, and it would be best if he wasn't fighting for his life out among the savage grasses. Maybe he'd return to Syliras, buckle down and just look at his life, and where he was going with it. Another look to Bolden and he sort of half-smiled. He envied the man. Bolden had just recovered something that had been lost to him, and now knew where to go, and what to do with himself. He might have had his own demons, but at least he could see the path beneath his feet. His family, his strider, his people. Matthial patted Blade's neck. He was certain he wouldn't see the horse again. Leaning forward he whispered into her mane. "I hope the soulless gods look upon you with kindness, but since they won't, I hope you've learned a bit today. I hope you find your hooves along the right path." Then he turned to Bolden. "Well Bolden, what will you do now that you have remembered your past?"