.x.too high can't come down||[[chaos, open]]

[akia]

even that silent smile, now makes me happy
even back then, a time we can never go back to

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Something made Aso skip work today. Something made Aso want to see Hiki. Something made the young man tack up the spotted mare and jump on her back, riding her towards the arenas. But, what was that something? Was it due to his lack of riding due to the recent head injury he had sustained? He was fine now, but the doctors told him, when he went back for a second check up, to stay off horses for another month! Were they crazy!? He just fell and he was fine! Why stay off his precious mare for so long? Didn’t they know that horses need exercise and attention too? Plus, Hiki would hate him for never taking her out of the stall…

God, doctors were confusing…

Here he was, opening up the arena gate, without a helmet again, and nudging the joy of his life into the arena. Jumps were set up, spaced a good distance apart, even the oxer combination. Closing the gate, a top Hiki’s back too, Aso glanced over the arena, picking out a couple of jumps and the route he was going to take through them. The mare under him bent her head, still half asleep. Her ears were forward, eyes half open, a quiet and relaxed state that one barely saw the mare in. Aso knew it was dangerous to be on the skiddish mare at any time of the day, but now she was half awake and that just made the danger higher.

Grabbing the reins, he nudged Hiki, the mare responding slowly, and yawning. Aso shook his head and leant forward and patted her neck. “Gomen nasai girl, but try to wake up,” he whispered, the mare’s ears turning back to listen to him. He fingered his pockets for the treat he had brought with him and pulled out the energy boosting sugar cube. He reached forward, standing in the stirrups and brushed the cube against the mare’s muzzle. Hiki lipped up the treat and crunched on it a few times, before she shook her head, as if telling herself to wake up.

Waiting a few more seconds, Aso made sure the mare was awake now, before signaling her to go into a slow trot. Responding much quicker this time, Aso posted as the mare trotted around the arena, still making up the track in his head. Once it was figured out, he sat in the English saddle, gathered up the reins and nudged her into a smooth canter. The mare’s gait flowed smoothly from the trot into the canter, her left foreleg leading. She held her head up, nostrils wide as Aso steered her towards the first jump. Getting into two-point at the right moment, Aso grinned as Hiki soared over the jump, landing lightly on the other side.

The jump wasn’t too big, but he had chosen a route that made the jumps get bigger as they went on. To the right they went, heading for jump number two. Hiki bounced over it, her legs tucked neatly under her as she went over the jump. The mare seemed to wake as she jumped, her body responding amazingly now. The last few jumps were the combination, something Hiki had trouble with at shows, which was why Aso chose it last. They weren’t high, but close to one another to give horses difficulty to get their strides right to jump cleanly over the jumps.

Aso bit his lip as he got up from the saddle again, urging the mare on. As long as he was confident, Hiki would do fine. They approached the first jump, Hiki realizing what was coming, and slowed. Aso nudged her, to keep her pace, and over they went. Success! The second jump was coming up now, and Hiki was getting nervous. Aso counted the strides quickly and gave Hiki the signal when the time was right. Over they went. Hiki’s back hooves hit the top most pole, sending it down. The pole hit the dirt, a thump sounding in the quiet darkness. Hiki, being the scaredy cat she was, heard the thump and bucked a little, making Aso realize they weren’t going to make the last jump.

Sitting back, legs forward, he pulled the reins, making Hiki come to a sliding stop in front of the third jump. Aso soon found himself laying across the spotted mare’s neck, feet still in the stirrups, but at awkward angles. At least he didn’t go flying…

The mare blinked and snorted, not happy with the situation. “God…there just had to be a mishap…” Aso muttered, disappointed, and sat up. He took his feet from the stirrups and let them hang, turning Hiki away from the jumps. Hopefully no one had seen that…

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<----->
tagging ->...
lyric credit ->gackt - birdcage
word count ->791
outfit ->here
muse ->pretty good
notes ->open for anyone else too!

[.x.chaos.is.R E B E L L I O N|]

if there was ever anything that could keep her heart rate calm and her mind reasonably sound, it was the horses. she had lost her horse a mere matter of three days ago to an enraged black stallion, aptly named hell. she was still grieving over the loss of her dearest companion and had actually gotten close to blowing the larger stallion's brains out, but...that wasn't possible when all you saw when you looked in those brown eyes...was roxxy. so, therefore, the black stallion lived to ruin another day in which he was pure hell and insanity to deal with. so, now jilanna rode roxxy's unridden mare, melody, who seemed rather devestated to have such a wonderful mistress deserting her so early on in the ownership.

and that's where we find her presently: riding western on the beautiful quarter horse mare. she was riding and had been racing around the barrels for a while now, pushing the mare to her limit. their fastest time so far? 10.03 seconds. but they had been working under the hot kentucky sun for about 6 hours now, with breaks dotted around in the time. but melody wasn't one to complain. she loved to run and barrel race. it was for her: 3 barrels, 2 hearts, 1 passion: barrel-racing. but now the working was over, jilanna sliding out of the saddle to take off the heated hunk of leather and then the breathable saddle pad underneath, putting the items on a nearby rail.

c syde melody was blowing hard. she hadn't been worked hard like that in a while. but she enjoyed it, those brown eyes still holding the twinkle of vitality. jilanna looked at her and began to walk her around by the reins with she barely had to hold. melody was eager to see more of the ranch. the pair went by the pastures, hearing the stallions whicker in greeting to the palomino tobiano female. melody always answered. my, my, she was such a charmer. jilanna, having worked up a very noticable sweat was tired of being out in the sun and also curious, so the team headed towards the indoors arena; hopefully there were be people there to watch. jilanna always loved to observe other people's riding, whether there were mistakes or not. it just amazed her how many different ways to communicate with a horse.

opening the wide doors of the cool arena, she shut them and turned to find a pretty appaloosa mare with a lithe looking man upon her spotted back. immediately, melody took an interest. look! another mare! melody watched with keen interest as jilanna took her to the fence, careful to stay out of the actual arena. she had been watching for only a few minutes with aso and hiki pulled to an awkward end. jilanna couldn't help but chuckle aloud. had he not seemed so embarrassed, jilanna would've only been a spectator, but seeing his expression...the chuckles turned into full laughter. something she hadn't had come from herself in a while, it seemed.

then, she began to applaud, her white teeth showing in a vibrant smile. "you guys were doin' great! i'm sorry i laughed though...it was just your expression..." she trailed off, having that very holis-grin on her pretty face. melody, knowing she could make sounds now, nickered warmly at the leopard-spotted mare, her golden ears pricking and her nostrils flaring slightly to catch all the new scents.

[akia]

even that silent smile, now makes me happy
even back then, a time we can never go back to

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Peace and quiet.

Something he had hoped for after that devastating attempt at the combination.

Something he wasn’t going to get.

Laughter echoed throughout the arena, softly at first, but then grew. Aso felt his face redden quickly and located the owner of the laughing. They were to his right, hanging around by the fence near the door of the arena. Luck still not on his side, he sighed, realizing it was a girl who had laughed at him. Not that it drop his self esteem or anything, being laughed at in general was a downer. That was when the girl spoke.

‘You guys were doin’ great!….’

It made Aso feel a tad better, his face lightened up as he took a deep breath. “It’s ok, I thought I was alone, so your laugher caught me off guard,” he called back. Hiki, fully awake now, noticed Melody instantly and heard her soft nicker. For some reason, probably due to the gradient the laughter came with, she didn’t spook when Jilanna laugh, which made Aso question whether his freaky mare was cured of her insanity when it came to loud noises Oh well, better live with it now and question it later. He adjusted his seat, feet still hanging, and clicked his tongue, getting Hiki to go closer to his “audience.”

Why was he always meeting up with girls around here? Wasn’t there ever a cute, bisexual guy just looking for someone else like him around? Ugh, not that Aso didn’t mind, he liked girls too, and the one before him was insanely pretty, even if she looked a tad tired and sweaty. Was the sun really still out? “Well, good evening,” he said, pulling Hiki to a halt in front of the other horse. With that, Hiki stretched out his neck and blew against the other mare’s muzzle, taking in her scent and saying hi at the same time. She loved meeting other horses, and was finally happy to meet a mare. She had already met up with a gelding, and a very handsome stallion, but sometimes a girl just needed to be with her own sex every once in awhile.

Dismounting, Aso walked around Hiki, tied her to the fence, using the safety knot on the reins, and got closer to Jilanna, not too close, but probably more closer to Melody if anything. “What a pretty…girl you are!” he said, and had to check before insulting the mare. From where he had been in the arena, it was hard to tell whether the horse was male or female. “I’m sure you’ll enjoy Hiki’s company,” he added, tempted to pet the mare, but not sure if he was allowed. Some horses just didn’t like a member of the opposite sex of their riders, and he had already learned that lesson once.

Turning his attention to Jilanna, he smiled. “I’m so rude, excuse me. My name is Aso, and this lovely spotted demon is Hikiukeru, or Hiki,” he said, introducing himself. He was a gentleman, even if he didn’t look it sometimes. “So, what were you two doing that made you guys sweat it out?” he asked. Yeah, he had noticed the sweat on Jilanna earlier, it had given her a tiny glow in the indoor arena lights, but when he got closer to Melody, he noticed it more on her, due to the large patch of darker fur on the horse’s back.

[/color]


<----->
tagging ->jilanna
lyric credit ->gackt - birdcage
word count ->572
outfit ->here
muse ->pretty good
notes ->...

[.x.chaos.is.R E B E L L I O N|]

oh! well, he was different from the normal american, now wasn't he? he looked japanese. jilanna just had that feeling that he wasn't chinese...to those who don't know, there is a big difference between the japanese, the koreans, the chinese, and the viatnamese. and aso was no exception. she immediately found him intriguing. as he came closer, melody whickered again expectantly, in response to hiki's answering call. he had a delicate structure to his lean frame and facial features. they were refined, slightly slanted, with flawless yellow-tinged skin. his eyes were a bright blue. altogether, a very beautiful face that might've totally denied whatever actions could've indentified aso on a much clearer scale.

as they approached, jilanna heard his reply. her laughter had died down not too long ago, so she was able to answer happily. "oh! well, i really am sorry! i didn't mean to cause your mishap." the southern drawl was there, but the vocabulary was rather large for the normal country hick, leading to the conclusion that this holis, like all the others, was very well educated. she gave an apologetic smile, and broke her gaze away to see the smooth and friendly interaction between the two mares. jilanna was listening to aso all the while. as his introduction, her brown eyes were directed back to his blue ones and a wide smile lit her face.

"hiki! that's a pretty name...unique. and so is aso! well, i'm glad to meetcha." she extended her hand, going for her normal vibrancy. "my name's jilanna, jil if you don't feel like sayin' that, and this is my sister's mare, c syde melody. but you can call her melody." that smile softened as she took a glance at the big quarter horse paint. taking back her hand, jilanna listened to his query. a wry grin replaced the warm smile. "melody's a young mare, and she's being worked on the barrels, with cattle, ropin', gymkhana...all of it. she's a quarter horse and was raised to be a good competition horse, raised on a good ranch." she lifted a muscled arm to pat the sinewy shoulder. melody turned her attention from her new acquaintence towards jilanna and blew softly in her face.

then, she went right back to playfully, curiously, poking, prodding, sniffing, and nuzzling hiki. "beautiful mare you have there...and she does have good form when she jumps, but that combination...what got 'er scared?" jilanna asked curiously. she wasn't one to judge or make fun. she just wasn't like that. she always thought about what came out of her mouth before it departed from her mouth. she absent-mindedly stroked the damp coat along her back where the heavy western staddle had been.

[akia]

even that silent smile, now makes me happy
even back then, a time we can never go back to

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Was that shock on her face? Maybe, he didn’t know, or care. Usually one was surprised that a guy was riding, but once they noticed Aso was of the Asian ethnicity they were even more surprised. Weren’t Asians horse eaters? The shock came more when he would mention that he was Japanese, and the horse eating question would come up again. Sadly, he knew his father had eaten horse at least once, but that was probably his only family member. He would never tell anyone though, and not in front of Hiki. For a horse, she seemed to understand what he said every once in awhile, almost like a dog…

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. You didn’t even cause it, stupid rail,” he muttered, sighing lightly again. Gosh, why did he have to buy the most weirdest horse out there? Speaking of her, Hiki sneezed when Melody’s whiskers brushed against her own muzzle, making the spotted mare jump back and shake her head. Aso shook his head, but smiled. She was really amusing, if she he had the tendency to spook. It took him a second to register Jilanna’s accent, but when he heard it, he tried not to smile. It reminded him of his last job, where everyone spoke in the southern drawl. He hadn’t heard it in quite some time, so it was kind of pleasant.

Rubbing the back of his head, Aso was still trying to calm down from such a disappointing attempt. Talking with Jilanna should do the trick. “Well, Aso is…well, I guess it is kind of unique, never really knew another Aso even when I lived in Japan, and Hiki, her fully name means something like ‘Take responsibility’, which totally fits my lifestyle,” he explained. Yeah, the lifestyle of leaving your family behind and trying to prove yourself to him. Sucked, and made him life pay check to pay check, but who was complaining? He had gotten used to it…

“It is a pleasure to meet such a fine lady as yourself Jilanna, and you too Melody,” he said, glancing at the palomino mare and holding his hand out, taking Jilanna’s in his own. Soft skin, expected. He withdrew his hand and reached over to scratch behind Melody’s ears. She was a cute mare, and so was Hiki, who stared at Aso with some jealousy in her eyes. Shaking his head, he also scratched his own spotted mare behind her ears, and Hiki returned to getting to know the other mare. His attention quickly turned back to Jilanna as she explained what Melody was all about. Western. Which would explain the large dark spot on the mare’s back. Too big to be an English saddle with a saddle pad sweat spot.

“Wow, she is a worker isn’t she? I have only seen Western riding probably once, and assumed it wasn’t for me, since I have a hard enough time as it is with turning Hiki into a regular eventer,” he said, laughing lightly. “From what I was told in Tennessee, she was born and bred to be a show jumper. Problem is, she spooks very easily, so the thump of the pole hitting the ground was the cause of our mishap,” Yep. Just a tiny thump sent the mare astray. Sad, but what could you do when the poor mare was already out of stride? Crash into the jump? No, Aso did not need a repeat of his third jumping lesson.

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<----->
tagging ->jilanna
lyric credit ->gackt - birdcage
word count ->578
outfit ->here
muse ->pretty good
notes ->...

[.x.chaos.is.R E B E L L I O N|]

jilanna watched him with eyes that held interest to him. so, he was from another country. well, he did have that voice which sounded masterful of the english language, but it was mellow and fluid, the voice was. it was nice to hear after rhy's yelling, gwen's squealing, and her sisters' crying. that was another reason jilanna was here, to run away from her problems....just for a little while. she looked at aso and grinned as he explained to her what hiki's name meant. "oh, wow....i like it. it's so beautiful and it rolls off my tongue." she said the appaloosa's name again, that pretty smile coming to her fair features again. maybe this day wouldn't be so horrible after all.

melody turned toward jilanna and whinnied softly. her feet stomped impatiently. it obviously didn't matter that she had just been rode hard...she wanted to go for a free run! she didn't wanna go around those barrels anymore! she just wanted to run as fast she possibly could. jilanna looked at the mare and burst into happy laughter. melody whinnied again and looked at hiki, blowing air excitedly into her face. "oh, yes! she's got tons of energy and loves to work, but just like now, don't matter how much she works, she still has the energy and willingness to just play and run afterwards! she amazes me." she stroked the golden cheek and then kissed it. then, she reached out to tentatively touch hiki's cheek.

"and have you ever thought of having hiki schooled with another horse, another mare? it's all psychological. maybe..." she trailed off thoughtfully and then her eyes widened and her mouth made an "o". she sputtered out apologetically, "i'm so sorry! i don't mean to be rude and tell you how to train your horse or anything! that's not how i meant for it." she covered her mouth and a pretty shade of red covered her cheeks. melody snorted loudly and whinnied on the same frequency. she looked at aso, her nares flaring to allow more scent to come in. then, she nudged him playfully with her large head. turning back to jilanna, she did the same as she did with aso.

jilanna's light laughter was heard again. she caught melody's head and held it. the mare didn't mind. "hey, aso....wouuld you like to go for a ride with melody and me?" she appealed to him with hope in her eyes. aso seemed like a nice friend to have. and she was all about some company.

[akia]

even that silent smile, now makes me happy
even back then, a time we can never go back to

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Aso grinned.

Most people like Hiki’s full name, and he wasn’t so surprised that Jilanna liked it as well. Most of those people were women…which having a horse really did attract that side of the gender line. Not that he didn’t mind. He glanced at the other mare and shook his head in amazement. Some horses just had the energy to do everything. Hiki was one of them, so he was starting to think the two mares would be perfect pasture mates for one another. “Some horses can do that to you,” he replied and stroked Melody’s forehead, before doing the same to Hiki, who pushed her head into his hand. Attention was something this mare loved, especially from her owner. When Jilanna reached out to touch Hiki, the mare pushed her head against Jilanna’s hand as she did with Aso. She nodded her head and pulled back on the reins, signaling her willingness to follow Melody where ever the other mare was going to go.

Aso thought for a moment before glancing again at the two mares. “That might be a good idea. I’ve been trying to find a good match for the mare to pasture with anyways, since the idea was brought up some time ago by my mother, surprisingly,” he said. Yeah, Aso talked to his mother recently, called her with a calling card. He had been wondering on how to deal with his spookish horse, and his mother told him to treat her as a human female, which meant, let her be with the other female horses for a while. So far, the mare had only contact with a stallion, and a gelding. Plus, the other mares were always out to pasture, leaving Hiki no chance to really socialize.

“Don’t worry about it Jil, it’s always helpful to have tips. I’m a new owner anyways, so I’m grateful for pointers,” he laughed. Aw, the poor girl was blushing now, and she almost looked like a cherry. A cute cherry. Soon, Melody let out a loud snort and whinny, catching Aso’s attention before knocking him in the stomach with her head. Ouch, that hurt. Melody had a hard head. “Ha ha, she’s so energetic,” he said. Hiki arched her neck and flicked her tail, not wanting to stand around either. When Jilanna asked if he wanted to go for a ride with her, he untied Hiki and put his foot in the stirrup. “Sure why no-Hiki!” he screamed, as the mare jumped back and twisted around, making Aso go over her back and land on the ground. He was fine, but Hiki ran off around the arena, neighing happy and held her tail high with pride.

Aso blinked as he stared up at the sky and sighed. “I’d love to go for a ride, as long as that doesn’t happen again,” he said, a grin starting to form on his face. “Care to catch her?” he asked, sitting up.

[/color]


<----->
tagging ->jilanna
lyric credit ->gackt - birdcage
word count ->492
outfit ->same as before
muse ->blah
notes ->...

[.x.chaos.is.R E B E L L I O N|]

jilanna laughed at his response. "oh! well, i'm just glad you're one of those reasonable folks who don't get all mad at my little quirks." she fluttered her eyelashes and then looked at melody. hiki scared her. melody shied away as the appaloosa twisted away from under aso, sending him over her back and into the dirt on the opposite side of where he had been. jilanna didn't laugh. she was instantly worried as hikiukeru trotted away triumphantly. jilanna let go of melody's reins as she rushed over to aso. but she was relieved of her fear when he looked at her and a grin started to appear on his pretty face. a happy smile, once again feeling secure of aso's life, slipped onto her own face.

"oh...we'll teach her! you and i...if you want..oh, never mind!" there she went again. she huffed and then waved dismissively, her upsettedness apparent at herself. but then that white smile was back onto her face. "yes, i would love to! c'mon." she grabbed his hand, picking him up off the ground with less effort than a woman of her size would've thought to have. then, she turned, grabbed melody's reins, put them back over her head, and then hopped onto the mare's back. she gazed down at aso, a devious smile on her lips. she gentle patted the empty space behind her on melody's back. "well, hop on! we have a mare to catch." she continued to grin at him.

melody looked forwards. she knew something was going to happen. hopefully something that had to do with all that training! the beautiful paint mare started to dance on her feet excitedly. she was ready for this new game to begin....wait, was this new acquaintance, this new friend of hers the target?! unsure, she whinnied at hiki, a quizzical note in it. "do you know what we're doing?" she called to her spotted friend. she felt jilanna pat her rump, but she knew she didn't have to charge off yet. her current rider's words were said to the male stallion to the side of her. she turned around and looked at him with curious brown eyes. she whinnied softly at him, inviting him. she could carry two riders!

[akia]

even that silent smile, now makes me happy
even back then, a time we can never go back to

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Aso made sure that his head was okay, thanks to that nasty fall weeks ago, and once it was assured that he was going to be fine he looked up to see Jilanna grabbing his hand and hoisting himself to his feet. Of course, he didn’t let her pick him up fully, that was too mean. He had to admire her strength though. Once she had mounted, he looked towards Hiki, who was walking now, and noticed she was behind one of the striped jumps opposite of them. The mare’s neck was low, sniffing the ground, but keeping an eye on the others. He shook his head and noticed Melody staring at him, as if waiting for him to jump on. He put his hands lightly on Melody’s rump and mounted with ease, adjusting his seat so that he was sitting directly behind Jilanna. Melody’s back was a lot straighter than Hiki’s, since his mare’s had a tiny slope that eventually straightened out.

He grinned at Jilanna. “Alright, let’s go get her,” he said and made sure he could grip Melody’s sides with his legs to stay on. Hiki lifted her head hearing Melody call her. She blinked and noticed the two humans on her back and was curious as to what was going on. ‘I don’t know! Maybe we’re playing tag or something,’ she replied and picked up her pace to a slow trot, trying to put more jumps between her and the others. She loved games, especially when she was the target. This usually happened when she was out at pasture and Aso came to get her. The chases would go on for an hour or so before she gave up and let Aso put the halter on her. It was another attention perk. Maybe she’d get a prize if she avoided them long enough. ‘Melody, I think you’re it! Come get me!’ she neighed, a laugh in her words.

The mare reared up and kicked out, landing to buck and canter off to the other end of the arena, staying away from corners, knowing that Aso would try to tell the other human to get her there. Which, he was doing. “Try to corner her, she’ll probably get scared and not run off due to the fact she’ll be confused, though I have a feeling she already knows that is a plan,” he muttered, watching the mare race towards a corner then curve away from it. He shook his head, trying to figure out how to get her to slow down. “Or, you can try to push her towards a jump, though that might be risky cause she’d either jump it or run it over…” He was forgetting that Melody was a quarter horse and could easily outrun the appaloosa mare. That saying, the arena wasn’t that long so Melody probably had more stamina in such a small area.

Hiki stopped, waiting for the others to come and get her, legs apart, ready to kick off if she needed to.

[/color]


<----->
tagging ->jilanna, melody
lyric credit ->gackt - birdcage
word count ->503
outfit ->same as before
muse ->suckage
notes ->sorry for the wait D:

[.x.chaos.is.R E B E L L I O N|]

jilanna felt him effortless mount the big pain female. that very holis-grin was still on her features. she chuckled and then turned her body almost a complete 180 degrees to look at aso. (ah, yes, she is quite limber.) her brown eyes glinted. "babehdawl. you gon' haveta hold on a lil' more than that." she turned back around and gestured for aso to hold on to her tiny waist by grabbing her own sides. she burst into laughter as she threaded her fingers through her long deep red locks. then, her right had reached back down to grip the reins tightly while her eyes looked for some kind of rope. happy, she found some thick, soft rope under her searching gaze and then reined the excited mare towards the post wall it hanging over.

she made quick work of making the actual lasso. and before one knew it, she had it correctly coiled and the loop in her right hand, the bundle as well as the reins in her left hand. she turned melody around, and pointed her towards the direction of hiki. it was from then on made clear to melody that her newest friend, hikiukeru, was indeed the target. this made the mare crabstep a little ways, but jilanna quick charge of her mount again. melody let out a vibrant whinny. "i'm going to get you!" it was playful: her demeanor was. jilanna looked glanced back at aso, and she announced breathlessly, "you better hold on! this is what melody's trained to do!"

with a swift kick to the bi-colored mare's sides, the quarter horse shot forward like a bat out of hell. jilanna was prepared. her body poised like a cat's, her abs tight and legs are hard as rocks. melody's explosion sent her rocketing forwards at high speeds, and immediately jilanna's right arm was in the air, twirling the lasso high above her head. the flew at the appaloosa, melody herding her towards several jumps that acted much like a chute. but, of course, the chutes were just in case something went wrong. as it were, melody's white legs were making long strides. and then, in a matter of a few seconds, jilanna was close enough to where she could let go. and let go she did! the lasso sliced through the air and sailed towards hiki's neck.