Prompt Party - Luna and Prada

“You ready to go for a ride, Prada?” Sara asks her rich chocolatey-brown stallion. He throws his head, his fluffy coat rippling with the movement. Sara laughs, and begins tacking him up. Just as Sara tightens the girth on his saddle, the crunch of gravel under tires comes from the driveway. Prada’s ears perk up as a door slams, and running footsteps approach. 

“I was beginning to think you weren’t gonna come.” Sara smiles as her friend Brook Baxter arrives in front of Prada, bending over to catch her breath. 

“Oh my god Sara you wouldn’t BELIEVE the traffic,” Brook says, moving towards Prada and flipping over a twisted strap on his bridle.

“I’ve only lived here for a few months, but I actually would believe the traffic. It’s horrendous, I don’t know why you people go anywhere. I brought Luna in for you, hurry up and get her ready so we can go!” 

The girls and their horses enter the trails to the sounds of bird song and squirrels chattering to each other through the trees. Luna falls into step behind Prada, her swift walk making up for her small legs.

Brooks urges Luna to walk side by side with Prada. “Do you want me and Luna to lead? I know you and Prada are still getting to know each other.”

Sara laughs as Prada looks over at Luna and they brush noses. “Felicity said Prada does well on trails. I think for now we’re okay to lead, but if you and Luna want to then go for it!”

The girls chatter back and forth for another minute, and then Luna falls back into step behind Prada, and the girls settle into silence, enjoying the sights and sounds of the forest.

After some time, the girls look at their watches and decide to stop soon to let the horses graze. Just as they agree on this, a loud crack sounds from just ahead. Prada flinches, and Sara sees her life flash before her eyes- Prada still needs to build trust in her, how would he react to this? Before she has time to finish her thought, Prada has perked his ears up, and jumped into a trot, obviously wanting to go find out what the noise was. Sara laughs, and glances behind to see Luna reluctantly following, Brook laughing at the two. The horses round a bend in the trail, and the trees part, revealing a clearing full of flowers and lush grasses. Spattered throughout the field: deer. All of them turn to look at the horses and their riders, who are staring right back, just as shocked. The two groups take each other in for a moment, and Sara scans the field, trying to see what made the noise. Her eyes settle upon a small tree, snapped at the base of the trunk. It is covered in small gauges, and looks freshly snapped. A buck stands a few feet away, and Sara quickly puts the pieces together in her mind. 

“Brook, look,” Sara whispers, gesturing to the tree. The second she raises her hand, the deer scatter. Prada and Luna look on, ears perked, but unflinching. The deer are quickly out of sight, and the girls laugh, urging the horses into the clearing. 

“What I was saying was that it looks like the buck was rubbing his antlers against that little tree over there, and snapped. That’s what we heard.” Sara kicks her feet out of the stirrups while she says this, sliding to the ground. Brook follows Sara’s finger, and laughs. 

“Looks like he didn’t know his own strength!” Brooks dismounts her mare, sliding her bridle off to allow her to graze comfortably without the bit. Sara unclips Prada’s reins, and the horses drop their heads to graze. The girls regard their horses for a moment, then walk through the field, picking a flower here and there as they go. The horses wander together from grazing patch to grazing patch, enjoying their freedom. Just as Sara crouches down to look at a cool bug, Prada squeals, and he and Luna playfully canter around the field. The girls laugh and take out their phones, taking a few pictures of the horses. Prada decides he’s had enough frolicking, and walks over to Sara, asking for pets. She obliges, and Brook moves to his tail, braiding in the flowers she picked. Sara grins, and moves to help her.

“Luna, do you want some flowers too?”  Brook asks her mare, who trots over, inspecting Prada’s now floral-scented tail.

Sara and Brook braid the rest of the flowers into Luna’s black tail, and as they finish, Sara looks at her watch.

“It’s getting late. We should head back.”

The horses take a moment to inspect each other’s tails, snorting back and forth.

Brook agrees, sliding her bridle back on Luna. She gives Sara a leg up, then leads Luna over to the fallen tree, using it as a step up to hop on her mare’s back. The girls direct their horses back the way they came from, and they start down the trail. The horses decide to walk side by side, and the girls chat, letting the horses decide what route to take home. 

Just as the sun begins to dip beneath the trees, the girls reach the barn. The horses walk right up to their ties, settling in and starting on their hay nets. The girls get them untacked and brushed out, then prepare their dinners. Sara marks down on the chore list that Prada and Luna had been fed, and the girls lead their horses to their stalls. The horses dig into their grain, while the girls put away the tack and tidy up the aisle. After the clean-up chores are done, the girls let the horses out of their stalls, and hop on bareback to walk the horses to their pasture. They reach the gate, let the horses loose, and wish them goodnight. The two horses trot off together into the sunset, tails still full of flowers.