Elementary

We've decided that our lovely Serqetta (Kitty) is ready to start doing some more intensive training, such as bareback and/or bridleless riding, basic dressage, and rudimentary jumping. She's progressing nicely, and we plan on entering her in some easy shows over the summer.
Here's her most recent progress report from Charlotte, who is currently doing most of Kitty's training.

Saddle: Spooked
Girth: Reared
Bridle: Hopeless
Lunge line: Chewed through
Gwen: Involuntarily dismounted
Basic steering and gaits commands: Ignored
Flatwork: Steady progress
Cross-rails: Overjumped

Well, perhaps "nicely" was a bit of an overstatement. Kitty is one of those horses who loves to run around the arena clearing every jump in sight. Ever since we started jumping her, she's been a bit out-of-control during training sessions, and Charlotte can only do flatwork with her in the dressage arena, where there aren't any jumps. Needless to say, she's a handful. Charlotte and Gwen discovered (the hard way) that Kitty also has a stomach of steel. She can, and will, eat anything, including garden hoses, lunge lines, and brushes.

Refer to this map for any confusion about where people are in the story.

---

"Charlotte, your horse chewed through the hose!" Gwen shrieked, running for all she was worth down the path to the arena, where Charlotte was watching Courtney and Sprite training.
"She chewed through what?" Charlotte questioned, turning at the sound of Gwen's cries.
"The hose. I'm telling you, she's out of control. Oh, and did I mention that she chewed through the lunge line this morning when Lydia was working with her in the roundpen? I think you'd better go take care of her. I just washed her, so she's drying off outside the main barn, near her stall."
Charlotte sighed, turned around, and headed toward the stable buildings. Serqetta's eating habits were becoming a real problem. Lydia, Mystic Seaside Stables' horse trainer, had been working on the issue and had made some nice progress, but it still wasn't very fast. As Charlotte arrived in the stable yard, she saw Kitty standing by the main barn, tied loosely to the wall. Her chocolate-brown coat was shiny and wet from her bath. As Charlotte walked closer, she saw that Kitty had something in her mouth, and started running toward the mare. As it turned out, Kitty was chewing on one of her brushes, her eyelids drooping contentedly. Charlotte gently removed the brush from the mare's grasp.
"Kitty, you can't eat these things!" she sighed exasperatedly. She brushed a bit of dirt off her deep purple rope halter, which was the only thing Kitty seemed willing to have on her head, and untied her lead rope from the ring on the stall door. Charlotte turned to look at the pastures, stained gold by the sun, which was sinking low in the sky. A warm breeze brushed her face and she turned back to the bay mare, who, at almost 17hh, towered over her. "Do you want to go out on a quick trail ride?" she murmured to the mare. Kitty made a low rumble in her throat and Charlotte giggled. "I'll take that as a yes!"
Since Kitty wouldn't accept a bridle yet, Charlotte dashed into the tack room and retrieved Kitty's reins, which attached handily to her halter. They were a rather simple design- Charlotte had just taken a long lead rope and attached a clip to both ends- but they were effective. Serqetta seemed to know they were going out on a ride, a began prancing in place in excitement. Charlotte quickly clipped on the reins and swung herself up onto the mare's back. As she adjusted her position, Kitty broke into a slow trot towards the main path, which led down between the pastures to the beach, and then along the beach to the meadows in the east. Just as they reached the end of the grassy path and turned onto the soft sand of the beach, Charlotte realized that she was still wearing her slip-on shoes. She shrugged to herself. It didn't really matter. As Kitty walked along next to the water, delighting in its oceany scent, another horse trotted up behind her. Charlotte turned at the sound of hooves in sand, and realized that it was Meredith and her gray mare, London. The 14-year-old girl loved to take her mare out on the beach in the evening, so Charlotte wasn't surprised to see her, and gently pulled Serqetta to a halt.
"Hey Charlotte!" Meredith smiled. "How's Kitty's training coming along?"
"Pretty well... You should've seen her earlier, though. Apparently she chewed through the hose Gwen was using to wash her." Charlotte rolled her eyes, and Meredith chuckled.
"Where are you headed?" she asked.
"We're going up to the meadows up behind Havendale Farm," Charlotte replied.
"Ooh, isn't that the place where we always buy peaches?" Meredith loved peaches.
"The very same. Would you like to come along? I doubt there are any peaches this time of year, but we can always say hi to the owners."
"Sure, I'd love to."
The pair of them fell silent, listening to the gentle crashing of waves onto the beach, and admiring the flaming orange sunset over the horizon, and continued on their way.

Yes. I know the story is lame... oh well. I'll try and write a better one next time.

This artwork is © *Sky-of-Silver and is not to be used in any way, shape, or form without my written permission. Understood?
References are by *venomxbaby and ~GloomWriter