[Phase 3] The Queen in her maybe castle

Talie unclipped the cross tie ropes from the Silver Queen's halter and removed them. She hung it on a peg in the grooming stall. The mare stood patiently waiting, a hind leg resting on the tip of her hoof. Talie ran her hand along the mare's rump as she moved to the other side of her to retrieve the bridle. The mare moved her head around, dropping it to accept the bit without being asked. Having already saddled her, the woman patted the mare's neck fondly as she backed her out of the stall. 

Talie led the mare through the Gothic-style stable. Her head was up, and her ears were alert. She called out before the other horses saw her. Chardonnay answered her as well as some of the other mares. As they approached the golden palomino Faime's stall, the draft mare put her head over the stall. Talie allowed the two mares to greet each other. She was glad Queen had finally warmed up to Chardonnay and some of the other horses. Since the mare had decided to be part of the herd, she was much happier all around. Talie gave a light cluck to the silver mare. She immediately responded and followed the woman down the stable's path and to the arena's entrance. 

The arena was currently empty, though Cora had mentioned that she planned to work with Strike later in the day. Queen had slowly been weaned off needing another horse in the arena to behave herself. It all came down to a matter of confidence. As she gained more confidence in what was being asked of her, the less she needed another horse to compete against. She still enjoyed the company of another horse in the arena with her, but it wasn't a necessity to get her to work and not act up now. 

Talie led the silver-striped mare over to the mounting block directly to the right of the arena's entrance. She laid the reins across the mare's neck before climbing the mounting block while the mare placed herself in the right position. She stood quietly, looking over her shoulder at Talie. The red/gold-haired woman settled herself in the saddle, taking up the reins. During their early days of training, the mare had shown herself excited to get to work by starting to walk as soon as she felt Talie in the saddle. It had taken a bit of effort to get her to relax and stand still until asked to move. 

"Alright, let's get to work, Your Majesty," Talie told the mare, patting her neck fondly. She touched her heels lightly to her side.

The Silver Queen moved to the left to begin their warmup, but Talie guided her to the right instead. The mare was great at remembering and predicting patterns, so Talie liked to shake it up so she did not get too set in her ways. Talie held her to a walk as they moved along the outside of the arena. After a bit, they walked in figure-eight patterns, one direction and then another. Next, they trotted a bit before Talie decided to take her over some poles laid out on the ground. The mare seemed to enjoy that particular activity immensely. After how she acted with it the first few times, Talie thought maybe she'd like to try jumping. While the mare had met the challenge, it was clear she did not enjoy it. She was reluctant to go even small jumps. They had thought that it might be a matter of confidence as with her other actions, so they bought out Strahnbrad, the stable's best jumper. Even with the spotty stallion to 'compete' against, she still seemed uncomfortable and ill at ease. Once they had taken her away from the jump arena, she relaxed and returned to her normal self. Talie wondered if the mare had experienced some sort of trauma involving jumping. So, the Silver Queen had continued her dressage training. 

Talie now asked her for an extended walk. She transitioned into it smoothly, blowing lightly to express her eagerness to work. Talie considered working the mare in dressage at liberty once she learned more of the moves. As eager as the mare was to do dressage, she thought she'd also enjoy it without a rider or tack. After a moment, she took her into a trot before moving her into trotting circles. As she brought her to a halt, the mare lifted her head and looked toward the entrance to the arena. Her ears moved forward and she whickered. Talie looked up, but from the distance they were at, she couldn't tell who was there since her vision was not the best. The answering whicker told her it was Strike and Cora. Talie patted the mare's neck. 

"She's looking good, Talie," Cora said as she approached with Strike. 

"Thank you. I am very pleased with her progress. She enjoys dressage very much. I believe she will have a lot of fun at actual competitions," Talie said as the two horses were greeting each other. They were now scratching each other's necks, their bridles jingling softly.

"They really like each other," Cora observed. 

"Yes, they do. Know what I'm thinking?" Talie asked, smiling at the other woman.

"We should let them have a foal! I was thinking that too!" Cora burst out. 

"No...I was going to say we should compete them in pas de deux after they have had a few competitions under their belts," Talie laughed. The younger woman always had foals on the brain, despite not having any for a few years. 

"Oh well, that would be fun, too," Cora replied, seeming a little disappointed.

"Perhaps they can have a foal after they've both proven themselves in the competition ring. We only breed the best foals here, right?" Talie asked, reminding her young boss that they didn't just slap two horses together and hope for the best. Talie only bred horses that proved themselves a merit to their breed, something that had taken Cora a bit to wrap her head around when Talie first showed up to help Cora get her stable back up and running after it had almost fallen to ruin before she inherited it. "And, we do not even know if the rescue will allow us to keep her. Their final decision should be coming in a few days."

"You've made a lot of real progress with her. She's a completely different horse. Would you have thought she'd be cuddling up to Strike or making friends with the other mares when she first arrived here?" Cora asked.

"I had hoped so. But you never know. Occasionally, you have a horse that just does not want to be part of the herd for whatever reason. And you know me, I like the difficult-to-train horses. It is always amazing to see their transformation," Talie said.

"Well, let's hope they allow you to keep her. I think we've all gotten used to having her around," Cora replied gently, asking Strike to back away from the mare, which he did reluctantly. 

"Let's get back to work," Talie said, scratching the mare on the neck as she guided her back toward the far end of the arena. She wanted to make sure the mare was as good as could be for the rescue's final evaluation. The mare's success was everything to Talie.