For the first time since Christmas, something felt like it was falling back into its proper place rather than more becoming more disheveled and disordered.  While in other areas of his life, stray kisses, new residences and the peculiar experience of being grounded seemed to be making things more confusing, watching the trailer back into livery's stable yard seemed to be one thing that was returning to normal.  Or some version of it.  The livery stable wasn't exactly home but, at least for the foreseeable future, it was better than home. 

Sasha glanced at the two men standing with him offering an appreciative nod.  If it weren't for the security restrictions implemented by the Ministry, Sasha could have very easily handled this task on his own.  But, he still wasn't allowed to go anywhere on his own.  At least, Dreogan and Aleron weren't just there out of a security technicality - to Sasha's surprise both had offered to make the afternoon a bit of a pre-return-to-school adventure.  An offer Sasha was immensely grateful for.  "They've got schooling horses," Sasha offered, hoping that didn't sound too ... whatever it might sound like.  To him, the comment would have come across as condescending but, from what he gathered, neither of the other two had much experience in this area.  "You don't want to ride Elfie.  She's ... touchy.  Dieter's probably alright.  Just ... he is a stallion."  A well behaved stallion but a stallion nonetheless.  It'd taken enough negotiation to convince the stable manager to take the two stallions - starting out with ... hormone-based trouble wasn't the best way to express his appreciation. 

Sasha was now very grateful he'd been allowed to keep whatever show winnings he'd earned over the years.  Jacoba had met with their family's lawyers a few times but, as she was no longer legally a member of the family, they'd been reluctant to make any decisions with her.  Sasha simply wasn't ready to discuss what had happened with them.  As far as the family's animals were concerned, some decisions had been easy, such as having the family's groundskeeper and barnhand oversee the auctioning off of the family's herd of cattle.  Baldur had stayed with Sasha since that day and would go with Jacoba once he returned to school.  His two stallions and his mare were being moved to the Mudchute Equestrian Centre in Greenwich.  To help minimize livery costs, tomorrow, Wilhelm would be driving his mother's mare, sister's mare and Sasha's work pony to the stables at the Waldgrave estate in Germany.   

Both Elfie and Dieter had been delivered earlier in the day.  Sasha led the tall Friesian down the trailer's ramp and, without giving it much thought, handed the horse's lead to Dreogan as he pulled off the horse's shipping boots.  "There are apparently some nice hacking trails in the park.  If you're ... really wanting to go.  I mean - with school starting."  He really hoped they did.  He wouldn't be riding again until the summer and, with everything going on, he couldn't go alone.  And, he really didn't want to think about school that much. 

Aleron smiled and gestured towards himself. "I didn't put on this outfit to go kite-flying."

His riding clothes were more suited to West Texas than London, but they were the only ones he owned. To be honest, he was a little worried about today. He knew nothing about dressage, except when he had watched it on Muggle television during the Olympics. True, he had ridden before...though mostly it had been in Egypt and he was more accustomed to camels and even donkeys, than horses. But camels could be temperamental,  and donkeys were notoriously stubborn.  Surely he could manage a horse...

Nevertheless he felt relieved when Sasha handed the big stallion's lead to Dreogan.  "All right," he said. "I'll take one of the horses meant for amateurs."

The gelding the stable manager brought out should certainly be manageable, he thought as the man handed him the reins. He was a bay, maybe 16 hands, plump and somewhat sway-backed. He looked old, and rather drowsy. Aleron felt guilty, as if he had roused somebody's grandpa from his nap.

But he didn't want anything to spoil Sasha's day. The youngster had been through a lot lately, and needed a day to do what he enjoyed, before settling back into school and all that would involve. So...

Mount from the left, Aleron reminded himself. There was no big Western saddle horn to hang onto, like they had in Mexico when he was there to examine a Mayan stela. But the horse stood patiently; and after a bit of awkwardness, Aleron managed to haul himself up.

He took the reins, and looked down at his companions. "So far, so gut."

Dreogan had taken a personal day off for this occasion. It was necessary, to show Sasha that he cared and was interested in what Sasha was interested in. Not because he actually was interested--it was evident that Dreogan had no more desire to ride horses than dragons--but because he was interested in Sasha's life. Such things, Dreogan understood very well, were crucial. Drop everything. It was what Tulo had done for him, and Tulo was still someone he could go to at any time.

Dreogan wanted to be that person for Sasha. And so, even if this was a bad idea, he'd come. And yes. It was a bad idea.

For one, Dreogan did not come in "riding attire." He wore jeans and a down jacket. It was cold now, and so he'd also brought some rougher leather gloves, borrowed from Adon, which were made of dragonhide and much too long for him. They bunched at the knuckles.

For two, Dreogan had only done this twice before. And he hadn't liked it. It had been in Lake Elsinore, and he'd been peer-pressured into it by one of his students, Aldwynn, who said it was either that, skydiving, or off-road biking. Dreogan had chosen horseback riding, because it had sounded like, of the three, it was more on the ground. (Off-road, as it turned out, did not mean you were off of the road. It was just on a not-road.) What Dreogan had not known at the time was that, once atop the horse, he would be higher off the ground than he was accustomed to, except perhaps a broom. But Dreogan had never been much of a flyer.

"Hacking trails?" Dreogan repeated, a bit perplexed. That couldn't be good. As Sasha protested, attempting to give a way out, he shook his head vigorously. "Oh, no no no! This is great!" Lie. "Aleron and I have been trying to do something out-of-doors for a bit now." And by that, Dreogan had actually been hinting at cross-country skiiing or somesuch. Not. . .  well, but this was fine, too.

This would be fine.

Aleron was already climbing atop his horse looking, to Dreogan's eye, pretty comfortable on it. Pretty gut, indeed. As Dreogan moved towards the large stallion, which he specifically recalled Sasha calling "probably alright" except that he was a stallion, Dreogan had to agree.

Brown eyes meeting larger brown eyes, Dreogan was a bit unnerved. The horse was sizing him up. And being of a rather small size, it presumably didn't take long. The horse jerked its head away and tossed its mane a bit restlessly.

"Oh," Dreogan let a small sigh escape as he looked up at the horse. Forcing a brightness into his tone, he said, "So I just get on, right?" He would delude himself into thinking it that easy. As he reached for the reins, the horse's ears tucked back and it took two quick steps away. Dreogan, in startled response, also did so, wanting to stand clear of any hooves. "Um. . ."

With a slight grin, Sasha glanced at Aleron, giving his outfit a once over.  "I've never flown a kite," Sasha admitted with a slight grin.  "I'm not sure what one usually wears."  He, himself, was dressed in his usual hacking attire: a pair of fleece pants layered over thermal riding breeches with a polar-tech fleece jacket over a wool sweater. 

"Hacking?" Sasha took his turn to repeat, again, looking back to Dreogan when he heard the man's confusion.  He wasn't sure if the confusion stemmed from a unfamiliarity with the term or that Sasha had taken the initiative to decide on that specific mounted activity.  "That's just, you know, casual riding that doesn't involve any real schooling.  I just assumed you'd prefer that to, you know, worrying about balanced seat or lead changes.  It's like a casual stroll.  Or hiking." 

Sasha was still, admittedly, surprised by this show of support from Dreogan and Aleron.  It had nothing to do with any doubt in the care or support either either men held towards him, especially Dreogan - though what he'd done to deserve it was still a mystery.  It wasn't like Dreogan had much to gain from the arrangement, after all.  He certainly didn't receive any benefits from this and, as far as Sasha knew, Dreogan wasn't the type to take advantage of bragging rights - which had been the primary benefit Sasha had provided to be for his mother and step-father. 

The surprise stemmed from the extent to which both men were demonstrating this support.  In the past, Jacoba had really been the only one to ever show such gestures and, growing up, their access to each other was limited as much as their parents could get away with.  To his parents, Sasha's riding skills were nothing more or less than bragging rights.  Usually it was Wilhelm that accompanied Sasha on his show circuits; his stepfather generally only came to the final day of larger shows to  see, first hand, the results.  Trouble almost always ensued after those few occasions when Sasha didn't make it to final jump offs or qualifications.  His stepfather disapproved of wasting his time in showing up to jump offs if Sasha hadn't ridden well enough to be in them.

Sasha glanced towards schooling gelding as it was led towards Aleron before turning back towards his own Friesian to saddle him as the stable manager returned to the stable.  The jet black stallion, standing at near 17 hands and with hair and feathering that would make the pickiest hair stylist jealous was Sasha's undeniable pride and joy.  And, under the careful watch of a stepfather who spent years trying to mold Sasha into the commonly accepted image of masculinity, was Sasha's safest and easiest outlet for his vanity.  Any need for preening was usually much more safely satisfied through the stallion.  "Ja, sehr gut," he offered his fellow German with a a grin.

A bright flush blossomed on Sasha's face as he watched Dreogan ... regarding Wobias curiously.  "Oh ... um ..."  Sasha started, suddenly becoming painfully aware of the misunderstanding it seemed he'd fostered.  He looked from Dreogan to Wobias and back before clearing his throat slightly.  He hoped Dreogan wouldn't be offended by the slight change in what it seemed the man had been led to believe the plan was.  "I - the stable manager is getting you another of the schooling mounts.  I was going to ride Wobias.  He's good mannered - easier than Dieter, really, but he's, you know, my-"  Whenever asked, Sasha would insist over and over that he did not have favorites amongst his pets but, at the same time, if he'd had to choose only one horse to keep with him in Britain, the choice would have been easy.

He glanced up, relieved when the stable manager approached with an stocky grey mare and took Wobias from Dreogan as the stallion fidgeted, briefly distracted by the arrival of the mare.  "Yeah - you can just get on.  You can use the mounting block over there if its easier.  And, I can give you a leg up." 

"Oh, no. Hacking sounds wonderful," Dreogan reassured quickly, before Sasha changed plans. "I love hacking. Hacking's good!" Dear heavens, let him make it through this one alive. He smiled a bit at the mention to hiking. He very, very much doubted this would be anything like walking or hiking. But it was a kind gesture all the same. Sasha had picked up on his fondest pastime.

As Sasha stutteringly, blushingly attempted to explain something about Dreogan's horse, Dree's face wrinkled nervously as he squinted, as though restricted sight might help him to hear better. This wasn't his horse? There was some relief in this, which manifested itself in a light sigh, but he considered: would he get worse?

"Oh. Oh, no, no. That's fine!" he tried, once more to ply on the enthusiasm. "Of course. I've heard all about Wobias." And he had. He looked the horse in the eye, nodding his head slightly. "Very nice to meet you, Wobias."

One, of course, didn't address horses as equals. But really, there was little he could do to be any sillier at the moment; it was best to make light of it. "And who might I be riding today, then?" he said, feeling some confidence returning with the humour. So this was why Adon did it.

The stumpy -- by comparison -- mare was a far more welcome sight. Dree really didn't want to have to use either the "leg up" or the block, but he could envision few worse-case scenarios than kicking Sasha in the eye before falling to the ground. Or having his knees collapse as he tried to get up. Best to use the block. Dignity was nothing when you were face-down in the mud.

After a moment, he was able to climb on; really, the logistics of it were not as complicated as it seemed. "Shall we?" he asked, waiting for Sasha to nudge the horses to. . . do something.

"Now what," muttered Aleron. "Do I say, Hut-hut!? No...that's camels."

Thinking back, it seemed like one was supposed to kick a horse in the ribs. But that seemed downright rude, especially when he was already feeling guilty for dragging this horse out of the barn. The animal looked positively sleepy. A kick in the ribs...not a hard one of course...might actually wake the poor beast up.

"Well, here goes nothing," said Aleron, looking around with a grin. He'd start by just getting the horse moving. Then he'd worry about where they were going.

Gingerly, he nudged the horse...whose name was Ned... in the ribs. Nothing happened.

So Aleron tried it again, adding a gentle slap on the neck with the reins. Again, nothing happened.

Looking over his shoulder at Sasha and Dree, Aleron felt his cheeks burning. And then he repeated everything he'd tried so far, exclaiming "Hyah!" like he'd seen John Wayne do once, in a Muggle movie.

But it was no use. The horse just stood there, chewing its cud or whatever horses chewed on, looking stupid as only a horse can... when it knows the real Dumkopf is on its back.

Dreogan definitely sounded enthusiastic - perhaps a little too enthusiastic.  It was clear, as Dreogan professed to the love of an activity he didn't seem to know the definition of a few moments before, this wouldn't have been Dreogan's leisure activity of choice and Sasha did very much appreciate the show of support.  "There are some nice trails," he repeated, encouragingly. 

"I ... yes.  I'm sure you have."  Sasha offered Dreogan a slight grin, brushing a hand down the stallion's shoulders.  "I'm sorry."  Chances were, Sasha was the source of the majority of what Dreogan had heard - once the initial wave of shock of the murders had past, Sasha had spent a fair bit of time fretting about the horses.  Who was feeding?  Did they know the feeding amounts were exact measurements and not ball park ranges?  The fretting had been an effective distraction but Dreogan had probably heard about Wobias at least a dozen times a day for the first week. 

The grin grew slightly as Dreogan greeted the stallion.  "He says the feeling's mutual."  He offered, feeling slightly self-conscious about perpetuating the silliness. 

Sasha remained on the ground, hovering nearby until Dreogan had managed to find his way into the saddle.  The supervision proved unnecessary in the end.  The mare didn't budge an inch and Dreogan managed with relative ease.  In a single, easy motion, Sasha followed suit and pulled himself up onto the Friesian's back.  "Yes.  I'm ready."  He leaned forward, almost imperceptibly and the Friesian stepped off. 

But, Sasha had only made it a pace when a glance over his shoulder revealed that Aleron was having some issues with his gelding.  "No.  It's not a camel," Sasha confirmed, trying very hard to say such with a straight face.  But, the corner of his mouth twitched under the strain of not grinning. 

"Shorten your reins," Sasha advised as he nudged Wobias towards Aleron's mount.  "It's counter intuitive, I know, but you want to urge the forward into the pressure.  Hold them about here."  Sasha drew up alongside Ned and reached out, demonstrating where Aleron's hands should be.  "And, lean forward.  The schooling ponies are usually so used to ... novices they usually require rather blatant cues."  He turned Wobias' head and nudged the stallion forward across the stable yard and towards the trailhead.  When in doubt, herd instinct was bound to kick in at some point. 

Dreogan watched the ground moving beneath him a moment. No, that wasn't right. He was not supposed to be moving. He hadn't done anything. But it appeared that his mare and Wobias were, like Dreogan and Wobias, friends now. The horse tottered up to Sasha's mount, pausing only once it stood directly behind it.

The mare sniffed Wobias' tail.

"Stop," Dreogan said, giving the reigns a gentle pull to the side. As Sasha gave his explanation on non-responsiveness, Dreogan gave a light sigh, letting the horse do whatever it pleased itself to do.

Even if Dreogan felt it was a breach of. . . did animals have etiquette?

"So," he said, noting that both he and Aleron were clearly following, but Sasha was not yet, physically leading, "Where do we go hacking"?" He tried the new word out like a child might a new toy.

Aleron tightened the reins as Sascha had suggested, and sure enough his horse started walking. Of course that might have had more to do with Wobias moving ahead a bit, activating the herd instinct, than with anything Aleron was doing. But at least they were getting somewhere, and that was a good thing. At least Aleron hoped so.

Increasing the pressure with his knees, he speeded up to a trot, pleased that he didn't bounce up and down too badly. He was marginally better than a sack of meal, at any rate...

When Dree asked, "Where do we go hacking?" it was Aleron's turn to suppress a smile. Dree obviously didn't feel any more comfortable on horseback than he did. He thought nostalgically about how much simpler it might have been to go flying on broomsticks in some out-of the-way place. He had never been much for Quidditch, but at least flying was more familiar. Of course it might not be that comfortable for Sascha, he reminded himself. Though the young man was of age to use magic he might rather have a bit of a break from it, all things considered.

Lost in his thoughts, Aleron failed to notice that good old Ned wasn't exactly following Wobias after all. He looked up at the last minute, and saw the low-hanging branch just in time for it to smack him in the forehead, toppling him from the saddle. 

Given they weren't really moving yet, Dreogan's command to stop was rather out of place.  Sasha pivoted in his saddle just in time to see Dreogan attempt to distract the mare from her curious inspection of Wobias and his subsequent abandonment of the effort.  The boy tried not to laugh; of course, to do so would be rude.  But, he couldn't help grinning broadly and shaking his head. 

"I don't think Wobias minds all that much.  He is-"  There was more than a slight potential for awkwardness in pointing out Wobias was a stallion, after all.  Sasha quickly changed tactics.  "-quite capable of handling himself if he objects too much." 

"There are supposedly some easy trails through the park.  It's not the mountains.  But, it's green."  Given the need for supervision, Sasha's riding had, so far, been restricted to the stable yard and arena. 

If only by herd instinct, both of the older men's horses were moving.  Aleron pushed his horse into a trot and Sasha cast a quick, uncertain glance in Dreogan's direction before pushing Wobias into an easy trot.  "Try to lift yourself up, matching the horse's rhythm," Sasha offered, trying to demonstrate a simple posting trot.  "Almost like bouncing on a trampoline on the balls of your feet.  If, you know, wizards have trampolines." 

A few more strides and Ned trotted up besides Dreogan's mare - but, only Ned.  Sasha pulled Wobias up and looked back down the trial to Aleron.  "Are you alright?  At least there are no piranha," he offered, leading the way back to the man. 

Dreogan gave an awkward sort of smile and nodded at Sasha's assurances. Did he really seem that worried?

"The park sounds great," Dreogan agreed with a nod. "Hopefully you'll get a chance for some real . . . hacking after. Sorry we aren't much of equestrian --" what were those horse-riders called? "--people," he finished awkwardly.

He dutifully followed the instructions. "This is called posting, right?" He'd done a little bit of research. Mostly on how much it cost for a stallion's room and board. But he'd also wanted, if Sasha brought it up, to be able to discuss horses. It was important to relate to a young person's interests. It was, after all, all they wanted to talk about.

"So, like this," Dreogan said, attempting to post but finding it difficult to time the rhythms just right. Sometimes he went up when the horse went up, causing his knees to lock and protest slightly. "Well. . . it's a work in process. And we don't have trampolines," Dreogan informed, "but I've been to the circ--"

There was a groan from behind them. Dreogan shifted in the saddle -- turning his horse in the process -- to notice Aleron on the ground. His eyes widened. Aleron didn't appear to be truly hurt, but how on earth . . .

Dreogan remembered the boxers with their quacking duckies. It really wasn't a mystery. "You alright?" he called, trying to figure out a way to get the horse to double back, rather than wander through the foliage as itw as, presently, doing. "Check on him, will you, Sasha?" he called, not wanting the young man to have to worry about him.

Sasha was already doing so. Patiently, Dreogan watched his mare begin to munch on some shrubbery, struggling to chew around the bit. "She can eat this, right?" he called, realising he ought to have checked.

OOC: So sorry. For some reason, I didn't realise it was my turn.