My left arm was numb but I could flex my fingers just fine. I was bruised, but it seemed to be internal in some undefined manner. I didn’t know how you could be hurt but not hurt. But right now I wasn’t being hunted. I was somewhere else, and I didn’t know why. I was standing in water that was soaking through my shoes, though no rain was falling. Footsteps reached me, and I spun to my left with a soundless croak and heard something – no, someone – slow down.

“Hello?” The voice was careful and gentle, accompanying footsteps coming closer through the water in the measured gait of the living.

“Who are you?”

The other person stopped, a shadow among others to my left. “Havvo. I am a guide, and you are in Esbyan.”

Our honeymoon had ended, and the forest was behind us. It hadn’t been bad, really. I liked him. It still felt awkward though. How could it not?

Shadow’s Rest rose before me like a curious haven. I’d never imagined it as a haven, but after two weeks with a new husband, trying to adapt to his ways and absorb the ways of his family, seeing my little boy again, even seeing my family, talking with Susie.. it was really appealing suddenly.

Not to criticize Reiner. He came with me, and he seemed interested in the place. I guess he’ll probably go hunting with Vryce or whatever.

Seeing Witsy was.. it was just incredible. I feel like a good mother when I see his radiant smile.

“Mama, can you play with me? I MISSED YOU!” 

 So we spent a solid hour playing with his carved wooden knights and I got to be the gryphon they were attacking.

It felt so good.

It was much later that uncle came in, smiling warmth to a secret unspoken and the little boy he had raised largely in my absence. “Anweena, sweetling, there’s a gift for you which arrived whilst you were away. Witsy, lad, it is supper time. Come along now.” 

A wail of fury from my little red-haired son, but after threatening to kill everyone on Tyria, he gave in. And went off to the nursery to have his supper after making me promise to come and tuck him in. 

And I wandered to where various wrapped gifts had been set aside for me to open. Bridal wedding present things. So strange. I vaguely wondered if I ought to wait for Reiner.

But no, this one was addressed to me specifically. Opening it, I found myself frowning. A dagger? And that handwriting..

.. peculiar.

I reached to touch the hilt and

SHOCK

It was like a bolt of electricity to my heart, jarring me, leaving me staggering. Flashes of images pouring into my mind like ice cold water, and I wondered if I was going to die to see just WHAT it was that had happened.

I was sinking, engulfed by memories.

I saw him. HIM.

Kristoff. He was laughing and dancing, the vision filtered in violet. Mesmerism. I knew that as if I heard Aiden’s voice say it flatly. Aiden? Aiden.

Seeing him through Aiden’s eyes was disturbing. Because Aiden saw how young the man was. The stolen flesh of Bastion, Kristoff’s descendant, handsome, golden-eyed, bronzed skin. 

I remembered when that was what I’d seen too.

I could feel my heart screaming though to see him. Terror. hatred. And the old frightened lust, the submission, everything he’d broken me into that I despised.

Why was Aiden here?

I had a feeling that I knew.

And the flickers of memory shifted. It wasn’t a cohesive memory. The girl Kristoff had been with was gone as I felt the next roll over me.

Aiden had attacked him, and Kristoff was using Bastion’s elementalist power. If Bastion remained in the body, only Grenth knew, because the forces he was using were horrifying to see even second hand, and I felt my guts knotting in terrified memories of my own. He wasn’t as beautiful now as he’d once been, as I wondered at whether the corruption of Kristoff had altered him.

And Aiden caught the blue flames Kristoff flung contemptuously at him. They sucked up inside those strange runes of his, and flared there before vanishing.

And then Aiden was saying something. 

I felt his voice rumbling in my own chest, as if I WERE him.. “Sorry, muffin, looks like you missed.” He drawled, and Kristoff’s golden eyes flared with rage.

 I felt myself shaking and wondered at Aiden’s calm. I could feel HIS cold rage buried within, but he was taunting, mocking. Sneering at this monster who’d left me shattered in his wake. 

And then he was dodging, leaping aside as the centuries-old spirit within a mortal body exploded into lava and fire, and chased that mocking blue-hot fireball with something considerably worse.

Start by desensitizing the lips and nose by massaging and rolling the skin.

Afterwards progress to the gums and finally the bars of the mouth.

Teach the horse to consistently open their mouth to bar pressure.

Use a bridle with no brow and or noseband so there’s nothing getting in the way.

Consider putting honey or molasses on the bit for a treat and something to do.

Teach the horse to bridle themselves by having both the bit and the treat in your hand at the same time! Remember to eventually wean off the treats though.

Once you put the bit in for the first time, let them wear it for 10 mins to get a feel for it.

A happy mouth is probably the best bit to start with. Metal could bang the teeth and set you back.

Have a halter and lead rope underneath but not tied up

Advise against a full cheek or spoon snaffle. Horse may likely rub their head trying to remove the bit and you don’t want the bit getting caught in something.

A metal bit could be better though because non-metal bits are usually thick and uncomfortable. The metal will also discourage chewing on the bit.

Consider having the bit lower than usual so that the horse learns to carry the bit with their tongue

Watch for wolf teeth. They usually fall out by age 4. They would be an irritant to bits.

Consider letting the horse wear the bit around. Eat. Drink. Learn he can’t spit it out.

Work your horse using a halter and lead underneath before teaching them about pressure.

Introducing Bit Pressure

Make sure the horse has learned to carry the bit first.

Press the horse’s face near the corner of their mouth and wait for them to yield before releasing pressure. This will help the horse transition into direct contact reining.

Press the horse’s poll and wait for them to yield by lowering their head. This will help the horse understand poll pressure.

Make sure horse yields at poll and lips before putting reins on bit.

Teach the horse about bit pressure. Stand by the girth and pull the rein towards the girth until he turns his head. Pull both reins under the neck to teach the horse to put their head on the vertical and to yield to poll pressure.

Put your fingers in the bit rings and pull the bit towards the horse’s ears. Expect their head to go up but don’t release the pressure until they reach into the pressure instead!

Eventually you can teach your horse to back up. Gently wiggle the bit while giving your usual click or voice command to back up.

First Bit: Batman Arkham Knight -

In this inaugural episode of First Bit, Brendon slowly devolves into the “Donald Draper flop sweat” version of himself that he’d always feared while simultaneously BEING the Dark Knight in the latest Rocksteady joint: Batman Arkham Knight. Join him directly after eating a whole pizza, putting on pajamas, and grabbing a trusty rum punch before diving into Gotham’s thug life. Things get weird.…

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