Pony Tales - Clover - Day 25

Hooves. Harness. Armbinder. Fixing of the collar.

"...and finally! The part we know every pony loves the most!" Hayley exclaimed enthusiastically as she dangled the intricate black bridle, trimmed in forest green before Clover's eyes. She couldn't help but giggle a bit as she undid several straps on it and reached out, patting Clover's cheek softly, "You've been a peach today dear Clover. I'll make sure I leave a couple of candies on your stall door this evening ok?"

Clover responded with an excited whinny to which Hayley giggled before she draped the intricate series of leather straps over Clover's head. Each one of them was cinched up neatly, but not too tightly. She had no interest in accidentally cutting off blood flow or choking the poor blonde-haired pony out. As she fitted the bridle properly, Hayley hummed a little bit. It was clear by the way she conducted herself that she truly did enjoy her work.

~I wonder if she's ever spent time in tack, or if she's always been a trainer? She does seem to love to interact with ponies. But then, I didn't realize Miss Aria too had once been in hooves and missed it. Is every trainer here the lingering spirit of the pony they used to be?~ Clover wondered this to herself as Hayley lined up the bridles rings for attaching leashes and rains on either side of her face and then held up the final item. The black silicone bit, which Clover could see the previous chew marks where she'd ground her teeth into two identical ridges on either side of the bit.

Hayley examined the bit for a moment and sighed, "You're going to be one of those ponies, aren't you? Chewing through bits like it's candy." She said this as she ran a finger across each of the identical ridges and then leaned down tapping Clover on the nose, "Best be care. If you go through too many bits, you graduate to a pony ball and I've heard those can make your jaw more than a bit achy." She clipped the bit to one side of the bridle and lifted it up just in front of Clover's lips.

"Any last words Clover?"

~Of course not. I'm not allowed to speak silly!~

"Just kidding. Ponies don't speak."

Hayley then unceremoniously wedged the bit between Clover's teeth and secured it to the other side of the bridle. Clover huffed a little at first, shaking her head about to situate the bit a little better, and when she finally calmed Hayley ran fingers through her hair and patted her head, "There's a good girl." She clapped her hands together suddenly and then reached down, undoing the leather strap that was holding Clover down against the padded bar.

"Now! I think Christoph is just rounding out his lunch break, so I'll drag you over to the blacksmith to get that shoe of yours fixed, and then the rest of the day I believe you've got a basics refresher with Eden for a fair chunk of the day, and I think Victoria has to give you a few long-term pokes too."

Clover snorted at the mention of the pokes.

Hayley flicked Clover's nose, "Oh hush. Surely you can handle a few needles if you can handle walking around on the tips of your toes for hours on end. Quit complaining."

Clover sighed in a playfully dramatic way and it brought a visible smile to Hayley's lips.

~She's really letting herself slip back into it. It'll be nice to see that personality of hers blossom.~

Hayley grabbed a leather lead line off the nearby wall of random bits of tack and clipped it to Clover's bridle, "Alright, off to the barn Clover. Let's go get you re-shod." With an insistent tug, Clover turned and followed Hayley obediently.

The trip however was a little slow. Clover was clearly re-figuring out how to walk in her hooves. Hayley was patient though, taking a few steps and letting Clover catch up. A few times pulling the leather crop from her hit and giving small corrections, "Chin up. Back straight. You'd think you'd been gone for months, Clover. C'mon girl. Where's the graceful stride I enjoyed watching you strut about with?"

Clover huffed a little in frustration, but a sharp crack of the crop across her thigh shoved that noise right back down her throat. Hayley pressed the tip of the crop under Clover's chin and raised her gaze, "Just focus. Pretend it's your first time again. Feel out the hoof, find your center of balance and focus on one step at a time, otherwise like many, you're going to just get frustrated and have to spend an entire day on the whip circle again to re-orient yourself in your hooves. Now just relax. Take a deep breath and just walk."

Clover's frustrated gaze softened and she nodded, stomping once gently and calming down.

~C'mon. You know how to do this. Why am I getting so frustrated? It's been a while, of course, I'm a tiny bit rusty. Maybe it's because you're worried the head injury did more than just jostle you. Victoria said I'm fine though. Well, then take the stupid steps Clover!~

Clover drew in a deep breath and with a bit of effort, and some more guidance from Hayley, the pair of them were making their way down the lane at a slow-but-steady clip-clop. Clover still stumbled a bit and was unsteady but the farther they got the more her confidence bubbled back up and by the time they made it to the barn she was at least stepping without stopping. Her knees could have come up higher, her posture could have been better, but as far as Hayley was concerned. It was a win.

Just inside the main door of the barn sat Christoph at a small rickety table that looked like it had seen better years. He had a steaming bowl of soup, a mug of something that smelled like strong coffee, and to Clover's delight, several slices of apple. One he immediately scooped up when he saw the pair come in and grinned, "Ah! There's the little Clover!" He pushed the slice of apple past her bit and then patted her on the back with his shovel-sized hand, nearly knocking her from her feet.

"I'm glad t'see yeh on yer feet. She git all cleared n'approved by Mistress Aria fer ponyin'?" He asks Hayley as Clover chews on the piece of apple quite happily.

Hayley nodded, "Yup! Clover here is an official Tall Tails pony now!"

"Oh, so ah can get th' brandin' iron ready?"

Clover whinnied and snorted at the comment. Both Hayley and Christoph shared a laugh.

"Don't worry Clover, the closest we get to a branding iron here is a tattoo which I can't remember if you opted out of or not. Oh! Speaking of which. Christoph, this filly is going to need an achievement board in her stall when you have the time."

Christoph nodded and flopped back into his chair, making a mental note to tend to Clover's stall, "Alrigh'. So where y'headed then? Stallin' her for a bit fer some lunch?"

Hayley shook her head, "No, she'll get lunch a bit later. We were actually just coming to find you. She's got a bit of a loose shoe I was hoping you could fix up before she gets to any sort of real work today? I'd rather her not break her ankle on her first day back AFTER being injured already. Let's not make it a track record."

Christoph chuckled and looked down at his soup for a moment, "How much time d'I got?"

"She's got about an hour and a half until she gets handed off to Eden."

Christoph sighed and glanced at Clover who tilted her head curiously, "If y'weren't so cute. I'd make yeh wait until I was done m'lunch. But c'mon...let's get yeh sorted and maybe you can have a bit o'yer own lunch b'fore Eden kidnaps yeh." He put a lid back on his soup, took a long draw from his cup of what seemed to be coffee, and stood up, holding a hand out towards Hayley for the reins which she relented to Christoph.

Hayley turned to Clover and smiled, "Now you behave, I want to hear all sorts of amazing things about your first day back. Give me an enthusiastic yes!"

Clover whinnied loudly and gave a hard stomp.

"Good girl. See you in a bit Christoph, I need you to do a little bit of repair work, on someone's boots."

Christoph raised a curious eyebrow, "Someone?"

"I'll explain later."

Christoph nodded and waved his hand dismissively before leading Clover off down the main aisle of the barn and taking a left at the first intersection where his blacksmithing area was. It was the same as Clover remembered it from before with exception of the workbench to the side which was now littered with different bits and bobs than it had been last time. It would seem Christoph tended to shuffle his projects and try new things as often as the hay in the stalls of the barn were changed.

"Alrigh' then girlie. Y'know the drill, Lean over th' padded barrel and we will take a look at yer hoof t'see what's goin' on." As Christoph unclipped her lead she trotted over to the padded barrel, leaning over it and waiting as Christoph fasted a strap about her waist to keep her secure while he worked. Sliding over his metal stool, he'd take a seat down beside Clover's back right flank and lift her hoof into his lap, leaving her to balance precariously on one hoof while he inspected her boot, "Yer favorin' this foot. So I'm bettin' this is th'loose one." He said as he gave a small tug on the horseshoe. It wobbled all around.

"Yeh...that's a lot looser than it should be. Well then. We've got a bit of time, might as well fit y'with a fresh pair of hooves. Fresh hooves, fresh start. Righ?"

He gave Clover's backside a sharp slap bringing a surprised squeak out of her. Christoph chuckled, "Get used t'it filly."