Bryan let his tied reins drop lightly on to Jersey's neck as the gelding continued to meander around the small arena behind his house. He quickly readjusted his helmet before picking up his reins again. He smiled slightly as Jersey yawned and then flicked his ears lazily. The gelding was so gentle that sometimes Bryan found it comical.

He gave Jersey a gentle squeeze with his heels and the gelding picked up a simple jog. Bryan was on him bareback today. He used Jersey often for lessons as the gelding was so easy going and bomb proof. He then asked for a lope from the gelding, who responded almost instantly. He steered Jersey around the arena a few times before he slowed the horse to a walk as he heard a car pull up. He cut the horse across the arena directly to the gate and opened it from Jersey's back before guiding the gelding through the gate and shutting it behind him and the horse before he jogged the horse to the front of the house and barn to see who was here.

He hadn't been expecting anyone, but it wasn't like Bryan minded pop-in visits. He was one of those helpful people who was almost always willing to lend a helping hand. He slowed Jersey to a walk as they reached the end of the driveway and didn't dismount the horse as he looked at the car that had pulled up, wondering who it could be.

It was easy to say that Ava's life hadn't been that much fun lately. She worked a lot, so she almost didn't have time for her friends and loved ones, her love life majorly sucked and it seemed that nothing was turning up the way she wanted it to. She was a perfectionist, so she hated being bored; she always wanted more. More fun, more praise, more beauty - which, at times, was impossible to attain.

That was why she decided to take up a new hobby, just like a friend of hers had suggested. And because she loved being active, she decided that an interesting sport was the good choice, one she had never tried before. She had found out from the same friend about a good horse trainer in Miami, so she decided to give it a try. Because she didn't have his phone number, in order to talk to him about it, her friend gave her his home address. She felt a bit silly just showing up at his residence, but she hoped he would understand and wouldn't mind that; at least, not too much.

The blonde pulled up in front of the trainer's house. She only managed to get out of the car, that she already saw him, just the way she had expected: on the back of a gorgeous horse. She smiled slightly and moved a bit closer, so she didn't have to yell in order for him to hear her. "Hello. Umm, I am looking for Bryan Anderson," she said, not knowing exactly how to start.

Bryan smiled and slid off Jersey easily. Jersey just flicked his ears and stood. "Hello, I'm Bryan,"he said, offering a hand to the woman for a handshake. He then glanced back at Jersey to see the gelding giving him what Bryan had always described as a glare. He wanted Bryan to introduce him, too. It took almost every piece of self control that Bryan had not to laugh at his horse. He was so human sometimes and he was almost always hilarious. "And that's Jersey,"he said, nodding to Jersey, who stopped staring at Bryan and nodded his head a bit. He seemed satisfied, for the moment at least. Now Bryan shook his head at his horse and smiled. "He's so human sometimes it's comical,"he said, turning back to the woman. "I don't believe I caught your name? And welcome to the ranch,"he added.

Ava moved a lock of blonde hair behind her ear, smiling as she waited for Bryan to come over. What not many people knew was the fact that she was a bit scared of animals she didn't know, from cute puppies to imposing horses. So she decided to keep a fair distance from the beauty called Jersey, chuckling slightly at the way he seemed to understand what his trainer was saying.
"Yes, he is," she nodded towards the young man when he said exactly what she was thinking, that he seemed very human. "I am Ava, Ava Smith. I, umm... I decided to take up a new hobby, and because I like animals and I have never done it before, I decided to take what you are doing into consideration. A friend of mine told me about you, but umm... Only now do I realize that I don't even know if you are actually teaching this, but I am in front of your house already," she chuckled, slightly raising her shoulders. Maybe she should have done a bit more research on this before coming.

Bryan offered Ava a gentle smile. "It's fine and yes, I offer lessons here,"he said, nodding back to Jersey who was now eyeing him with Ava. Bryan frowned at the way Jersey looked at him. "Jersey, stop it,"he said, waving a hand at the horse who snorted and looked away like he hadn't been looking at them at all, "I just met her, you nosey horse!"Bryan scolded. Jersey just snorted again and didn't look back at him. Bryan sighed and shook his head before he turned back to Ava. "If he keeps up like this, we might want to look at you trying out Roxie for starts,"he said. "Would you like to meet her? She's in her stall now,"Bryan offered with a nod to the barn behind them.

Ava noticed the way the horse was looking at them and, as mentioned before, she decided to stay away from him, at least for the moment. She didn't know him and he definetly didn't know her, so she couldn't be that sure of the way he would react, even though it was obvious that he had a good trainer. However, hearing Bryan's words, she couldn't help laughing. She found it funny how he treated Jersey as if he was a human being, but he found his words even funnier.
She became serious again when he started talking about Roxie, who was probably more gentle the male. "Sure, I would love to," she said, nodding her head. "You know, I have never done it before, so I don't how I'd cope with them."

Bryan offered Ava a slight smile and walked over to Jersey, grabbing his reins to lead the gelding back in to the stables for the moment while still listening to Ava. He nodded when she said she had never rode before. "It's fine,"he told her. "Roxie's a gentle and good girl, you'll like her,"he said, "I usually use either her or Jersey for beginners, but seeing as Jersey's getting his nose in to the water bucket a bit more than he should,"he said, shooting a warning glare at the gelding beside him as he started to lead both Jersey and Ava in to the stables, "We'll start you off with Roxie,"he said, finishing his sentence. Jersey snorted and nudged Bryan's arm. Bryan frowned a bit and lightly shoved the horse's nose away. "Yeah, yeah, yeah...apology accepted,"Bryan muttered, shaking his head. Jersey blew out his nostrils softly, seeming almost as exasperated as Bryan.

Ava couldn't help chuckling and maybe even blushing a little at the things Bryan was making fun of. It was like Jersey was his child and she was seen like a, who knows, possible girl for him? It was a funny situation anyway, and she was glad that the trainer didn't look like one of those selfish, stuck-up men who thought they knew everything and the students were just useless, only because they were not used to horses and they didn't know much about them. He followed him into the stables, waiting for him to put the male in his place, then walk over to Roxie. However, when Jersey nudged his trainer's arm, the blonde smiled, because she found that so adorable. She moved a bit closer and gently stroke his nose, but right then, he softly blew out his nostrils, which made Ava jump behind and accidentally bump into Bryan's chest. Shoot, I shouldn't have done that, she mumbled, taking a deep breath, which made it clear that she was a bit scared of them. Sorry...

Jersey raised his head a bit in surprise as Ava jumped and Bryan looked at her, not taking offense that she bumped in to him or was startled by Jersey. "It's fine,"he told her calmly. He looked at Jersey, who seemed a bit upset that he'd scared their guest. Bryan watched as Jersey carefully reached out his nose to nudge Ava's hand gently. Bryan had to smile, Jersey was so adorable sometimes! "I believe he'd like to apologize,"he said, looking back up at Ava as Jersey still had his nose stretched out at Ava, ears perked forward and an innocent look in his big, brown eyes.

Ava swallowed hard. Sometimes, she wished it was easier for her to cope with animals, because she did love them. But they mostly scared her, especially big ones, like horses or big dogs. When Jersey reached out his nose to nudge her hand, her first instinct was to pull back, but she eventually managed to conquer it and stay in place. She nodded slightly at Bryan's words and reached her hand to stroke Jersey's head, but not before gently grabbing his trainer's hand. "You're going to have a hard time with me, don't ever say I didn't warn you," she told Bryan, even though she didn't turn to look at him.

Bryan nodded and shrugged just slightly. "Alright, I won't,"he said, watching how Jersey relaxed when it seemed Ava had gotten over being scared by what he'd done. "I've had difficult ones in the past, horses and humans, but I try,"he added. He then looked back to her. "Just don't think I'll quit because I have difficulty, I'm a bit too stubborn for that,"he warned her.

When Jersey seemed to relax, Ava felt calm enough to let go of Bryan's hand. It was just an instinctive gesture, like she had to know that if anything happened, someone was there and could help her. She gently stroke the horse for a few seconds, then smiled and pulled away, finally turning to face his trainer. "That's good. I think," she grinned. She wanted to learn to do this, it was a fun, but also elegant activity. But there was no surprise if she would say that she wanted to give up at some point, even though it would be just the panic talking. "Okay, can I see Roxie? Hopefully she will like me, at least a little bit," she joked, moving a lock of blond hair behind her ear.

Bryan smiled and nodded, putting Jersey in his stall and pulling off the horse's bridle before he came out of the stall and closed the door behind him. "Sure,"he said as he hung Jersey's bridle on the stall door for the moment. He'd put it away properly when he got the chance. He then walked across the aisle that split the barn in half, stalls on each side with Bryan's office and the tack room at the back of the small barn, and opened up the stall door to reveal a red roan mare. Roxie pricked her ears and looked up as Bryan opened the stall door and Bryan almost smirked at the sight of the mare chewing on a mouthful of grain as she looked at him. "This is Roxie,"Bryan said as he took ahold of the mare's halter and guided her out of the stall and in to the aisle before using the cross-ties to keep the mare standing in place.

Ava followed Bryan to the other horse. All that was new to her, but she was willing to learn and find out more, because it all seemed interesting. She had always watched horses and their trainers and she saw their worked as an art, because it was in fact not very easy to deal with them.
Seeing Roxie, the blonde put on a warm smile. Jersey was majestic and imposing, true, but the female was absolutely gorgeous.
"She's so beautiful," she said, moving away, in order not to stay in Bryan's way. "Well, when should we start? I mean, I don't think I'm wearing the clothes right now," she chuckled. She had on a pair of tight jeans and a casual shirt, but she had no idea, maybe she had to have something large on.

Bryan nodded and ran a hand down Roxie's neck, finding a little clump of dirt stuck in her fur and gently tugging it out. "We can start now, if you'd so choose,"he said. He looked at her over the top of Roxie's neck. The mare was a bit shorter than most American Quarter Horses, but it was only another reason he used her for lessons. "If we did start today, we'd be doing the basics, nothing like I was trying on Jersey,"he said, "You'd be ok with what you have on for today."

Ava looked over to Bryan, paying attention to every word he was saying. She hadn't expected to start right away, that is why she hadn't picked something more comfortable to wear, but she didn't mind it that much, even though she was still a bit scared. But deep inside, she knew that nothing bad was going to happen, after all.
- Sure, that sounds fun, she smiled, moving aside, so he could take Roxie outside.

Bryan nodded and didn't lead Roxie outside. He headed to the end of the barn, slipping in to the tack room and grabbing Roxie's bridle, saddle, and a pad. He paused for a moment, he hadn't asked if she'd prefer English or Western. Shrugging a bit, he headed back down the aisle to Roxie. He'd throw the Western gear on her today. He first went about putting on the pad, saddle, and checked the cinch one time before he remembered something else. He looked at Ava. "You want a helmet for you first try?"he asked, laying has hands on top of the saddle on Roxie's back.

Ava patiently waited for Bryan to prepare Roxie, already thinking what a disaster she was probably going to be. But no one was great in their first day, right? They all must have made mistakes at first. Hearing his question, she gently shook her head. "No, it's good," she replied, then followed him outside. Now he was going to have many things to explain, since the blonde hadn't even been that close to a horse before.

Bryan nodded and then slipped off Roxie's halter, replacing it with her bridle before he led both horse and human out to the arena. He led Roxie and Ava in to the arena and over to the mounting block before telling Roxie, "Whoa." The mare stopped and patiently waited for him to explain. "So, for today we won't do a lot except for try to get you feeling comfortable on her and with that, I'll tell you a bit about equipment as well, as you're going to need to learn some of that as well, ok?"he asked. He knew it was a lot to teach to someone who'd never really been around horses before, so he wanted to make sure Ava understood everything before trying to explain something else.

Ava followed Bryan outside, to the mounting block. That moment, she wished she had at least got a pair of more casual pants, or at least something to tie her hair with, as it could have been uncomfortable. But, as the trainer had said, they were not going to do a lot that day, so she only had to keep that in mind for the next time she came. She attentively listened to his words, nodding when he was done. "Okay," was all she said. Even though she was tough, sarcastic and totally unapproachable usually, in moments like this she could be nice and attentive.

"Alright then,"Bryan said. "What you're going to need to know, for now at least, is your reins, saddle, stirrups, and bridle. Those are things on the horse that will help you control the horse one way or another,"he told her. He took the reins and slid them over Roxie's head, laying them on her neck, but not letting them go, "These are your reins, which are attached to your bridle. For now, the reins will be what you use to steer."

Ava patiently waited for Bryan to explain. She was a stranger to what he was saying, but she was also a fast learner usually, so she hoped that this ability of hers to remember things was going to show up here as well. If being scared didn't try to take over her body and her senses; but Ava was a strong girl, she doubted that she couldn't keep her head in the game. "Got it," she smiled.

Bryan nodded. "Good. Then the saddle is what you'll be riding in and the stirrups are what you're going to have your feet in, but not all the way, or you'll fall right on your face,"he said. He got up on Roxie using the mounting block and slid his foot in to the stirrup only so much and showed Ava. "The reason we don't want are whole foot in the stirrup is because all of you balance on the horse starts with your position, and if your legs aren't right, nothing else will be. So, when you do ride, you want to keep your heels down, eyes up, and keep your elbows bent slightly with your thumbs "on top" as my father taught me,"he said, taking the reins in his hands and showing her how she should hold the reins.