Pasture meet n greet

Azura stood at the pastures gate. There were acres upon acres before her, from the softly sloping mountainside to straight bits and the higher elevations. So far, she didnt see any of the horses. She called out for a particular one, Scorch. There was little way to know if he was around unless she saw him. He didnt whinny or call out ever. She could hear other horses stir. Some of the stallions, there was Dino calling- out of some bushwork emerged Garbie, nickering happily. The smaller hooded black stallion recognized her voice and came to say hello even though she didnt call his name.

 Then one of the geldings, Nanako, answered from somewhere else. He was probably running at medium speed and hoping to nab a treat, maybe two or best all she had. Azura began walking into the pasture. She pulled a dog whistle from her shirt, where it hung around her neck on a string and blew into it. Scorch knew this was for him solely. 

Meanwhile, Garbie had reached her. She dropped the whistle to say hello. He pushed his muzzle into her hands and she rubbed his cheek. She adored this sweet, loving boy and gave his forehead a kiss. He nuzzled her shirt and found the whistles string, lipping at it for a moment before his ears swiveled back. 

From somewhere up the mountains echoed hoofbeats. Azura's ears perked up, she knew them well. There was no whinny or nicker, no fanfare. Just a tall, silver black splash stallion breaking from a group of trees at a canter. His speed increased on clear ground, he flew over the lush spring pasture and right towards her. His dash cut off Nanako, who was slowly plodding along and snorted in protest, but wasn't bothered enough to even entertain the idea of racing Scorch. 

Scorch came to a stop right in front of Azura. He didnt pay any heed to the other stallion next to her- his social skills were abysmal. He did not entertain any notion of interaction, not out of disdain- it just wasn't something he did or knew. It hadn't been part of his life in formative years and he had a total of two horse friends. One of which was feral and certain to be hiding somewhere in the treeline. 

Garbie knew this. He looked up at the taller stallion and nickered a small, courteous greeting anyways. Azura apprechiated it. She patted Garbies head and used her free hand to reach for Scorch. The latter lowered his head and pressed it against Azuras chest. She wrapped one arm around him and he exhaled. Had Garbie not been there, Scorch would also have rumbled happily.

As it stood, there was also Nanako approaching. He had been able to glean that there were no treats being passed out, but being both a pony and a haflinger cross, he wouldn't just leave like that. 

Not every horse would dare to butt in next to Scorch, who towered above both Garbie and Nanako. 

And Nanako didn't really either. 

He planted himself next to Garbie and curiously sniffed Azura's pockets. Azura lamented not having a third hand. She had to split between Garbie and Nanako, letting go of Scorch who was so comfortable was out of the question. Nanako meanwhile had made out treats in Azura's possession. Hay cubes to be precise. Oh Nanako loved hay cubes. He loved any food item. 

Azura relented and passed some of them out. In order, each horse got their turn. But treats were a finite resource. Once Nanako realized there wasn't more to get, he gave Azura a friendly nudge and meandered back the same way he'd come. 

Garbie and Scorch happily soaked in the now less shared attention. Azura scratched his neck and he returned the favour by nuzzling her hair. Scorch exhaled and placed his head on her shoulder, resting there while she used her other hand to scratch his chin. 

Eventually Garbie had his dose of scritches and he drew back, hanging around the two others before eventually going to find his best friend Dino. 

Now without onlookers, Scorch rumbled contently. Azura ran a hand through his short mane, thinking that she'd need to trim it again sometime soon. She took a hold of some of its strands and looked at his reaction. He snorted and looked at her calmly, perfectly happy to have her sit up. She then swung herself onto his back. It looked easy, but had she been human it wouldn't have been. He stood taller than her, at 18 hands.

She gave him a secretly hidden, previously hand wrapped apple treat and nudged him forward. The plan was to practice some barrel racing, then try to play some games she'd seen online or if Scorch didn't like that, just play.