#Preventative Measures (Not Taken)

[soonsie]

Sam just wanted an excuse to be near Monsoon.

Monsoon and his detachable scalp. Currently comes in one hair style and colour.

Could you imagine if all the WoD brains were in a jar or something and some clutsy scientist accidentally mismatched their brains to their bodies? So Sundowner would be in Mistral's body, Mistral would be in Monsoon's body and Monsoon would be in Sundowner's body? 😂😂

Edit: Actually, no, scratch that. Sundowner's head would be detachable so the brain swap would be a Monsoon and Mistral issue.

#Monsoon's voice in a French accent and Mistral's voice in a Southern accent tho #I'm sure there's some measures taken to prevent things like this from happening like barcodes and sticky labels on their casings #mgr monsoon #jetstream sam #monsoon mgr #samuel rodrigues

[acasualcrossfade]

You Need the Rest

Sicktember Day 5: "Preventative Measures (Not Taken)"

Stranger Things: Steve Harrington/ Eddie Munson

Words: 500 | Rating: T | CW: nosebleeds, mentions of blood

@sicktember | divider art by @saradika

Summary: Steve's a wizard and is physically and magically exhausted after defeating Vecna with El. Eddie tries to get him to rest.

Find me on Ao3!

Eddie descended the stairs to see Steve heavily leaning over the kitchen sink. He was slumped over the basin, and Eddie could see the blood dripping from between his fingers.

 “Shit, Steve, I said to wait,” Eddie scolded, helping the weak man into one of the chairs in the kitchen. “You can’t handle doing anything right now.”

Eddie quickly grabbed a paper towel from the roll above the sink and pressed it to Steve’s nose, and pinched, holding his head down.

“W-water,” Steve rasped, his voice muffled and stuffy against the paper towel. “S-simple.”

“Yeah, but considering you almost died a few days ago, it’s not,” Eddie reminded him. “You shouldn’t be standing, let alone walking.”

He helped Steve sip from a glass of water, his own anxiety calming. Steve was a wizard, born with powers, but it was El that helped him hone and strengthen them. And like hers, his magic took energy. Defeating Vecna, then helping heal El afterwards sapped not only Steve’s magic, but nearly his entire life force. 

Robin had kept them both conscious when they’d found them; Eddie’s stomach had dropped at Steve’s appearance. Steve had been gaunt and pale, and his lips and chin were streaked with fresh blood. His jaw was stained with blood that had dripped from his ears. Steve’s eyes were half-lidded and his head had lolled over to the side, only acknowledging Robin’s touch to his cheek with quiet grunts.

Eddie had offered for Steve to tap into his life force and Steve had, but had broken off seconds later. Eddie had urged him to please, take more, you need it. 

Won’t hurt you to help me, Steve had mumbled.

Eddie begged, but Steve refused.

So instead, Eddie tasked himself with caring for the weakened man instead. That meant both bed rest and sleep were in order, but Steve had seemed to want nothing to do with either. 

“Can do it. ” Steve’s voice was gruff, but annoyed. His skin was still a deathly white, making his moles more prominent, and his frame still trembled.

“I know you can,” Eddie said, his voice softening. “But Stevie, you’ve got to rest.” He reached for the man’s hand to start softly wiping away the blood from Steve's fingers. 

“C-can’t,” Steve quietly moaned. 

“Can’t?”

“R-rest,” Steve whispered, his voice shaking. “N-need to p-protect th-them.”

Some piece of Eddie’s heart shattered. He stroked Steve’s hand before lifting it to kiss the man’s clean knuckles. “But we need you to heal, to rest. That’s how you can protect us,” Eddie assured. 

Steve’s shoulders sagged  in exhaustion or relief, Eddie wasn’t sure. 

“Couch?”

Steve’s single word request made relief wash through Eddie. 

“Yeah, I’ve got ya.” Eddie lifted him into his arms in one smooth motion. “You good there, big boy?”

“M’good,” Steve whispered, head already heavy on Eddie’s shoulder.

And as Eddie made him comfortable with plush pillows and knitted blankets, Steve, for the first time in a long time, fell into a comfortable, dreamless sleep.

#sicktember 2023 #sicktember2023 #sicktember day 5 #Preventative Measures (Not Taken) #steddie #steddie ficlet #steve harrington whump #steve harrington is a wizard #magic powers #stranger things #tw blood #acasualcrossfade writes #thunderously halo writes

[faofinn]

5. Preventative Measures (Not Taken)

How many times had his Dads told him not to forget his epi pen? Alfie lost track. It had been never ending since he’d been a little kid. He was sixteen now, and he was good at looking after himself. He had to be, really. He always took his epi pen with him wherever he went, always carried safe snacks (mostly for Kieran’s benefit, but his too). There was nothing worse than being starving and there being nothing he could eat. He struggled to remember the epi pen when he’d been younger, but his parents had always been around, and it was easy to keep it in his bag at school.

He had not long finished his GCSEs, and was looking forward to enjoying the long summer. It felt like it would last forever, sixth form and A Levels a distant thought. He’d gone out with Eden that day, into central London to shop and enjoy themselves. He could’ve sworn he’d packed everything he needed. But as they’d sat down to eat, he’d reached into his bag for his water, and hadn’t seen the familiar case. They’d decided to bring a picnic, so Alfie didn’t have to worry about food, and they could find a nice spot to enjoy it. They’d settled in Hyde Park by the water, spread out a blanket, and had settled, enjoying the warm July sunshine. 

They were enjoying themselves when Alfie started coughing, frowning to himself. Eden looked over at him, concerned. 

“You okay?”

“Mm, probably hayfever.” He mumbled, but it quickly got worse, his throat getting tighter and tighter, the wheeze in his chest audible from where Eden was sat. It was harder and harder to breathe, and he couldn’t help the panic that was building. That was when the dizziness hit him, coupled with everything else, and the fear rose. 

He knelt. "Where's your epi? In your bag? Let me see."

He just nodded, trying to breathe the best he could whilst everything felt like it was crashing down around him. 

"Alfie, it's not there. Where is it?" Eden couldn't help his own panic, though he was trying his best to hold it together. 

“Bag.” He wheezed. “Always.”

Eden's eyes were wide. "It's not."

Even confused and dizzy, Alfie realised he was right. He hadn’t seen it, but he’d assumed it had just been tucked out of sight. Maybe not. Shakily he reached for his phone, the panic building and making it even harder to breathe. 

"Here, give it, I'll call. You just breathe, just relax. I'm here, you’re gonna be okay." He moved to sit behind Alfie, holding him upright as he dialled for an ambulance. With his own phone, he rang Tai, his number the most recently contacted. 

He leaned gratefully against Eden, struggling desperately for breath. Everything was blurry and he couldn’t focus on it, the dizziness clouding everything. Every breath seemed harder than the one before, every second dragging by. 

"You're okay, you're okay." Eden promised, rubbing his shoulder to try keep him awake as he frantically answered the operator's questions, in the middle of trying to tell Tai what was happening. 

Eden was far too loud, and Alfie groaned. He hated feeling so shit, having to work so hard to catch his breath, and he knew not having his epi was bad. He always had it, why wasn’t it there? 

"Alfie? Alfie, please, keep your eyes open."

He was doing his best, but it was so hard. Even the fear wasn’t keeping him going, blackness tinging his vision. 

"C'mon, Alfie, please." He begged, sirens starting to sound in the distance. "Don't do this."

Alfie whimpered, pressing into him the best he could, trying to fight the dizziness as it threatened to take him.  

Eden wasn't even sure what he'd been triggered by, the pair both so careful with their foods. He supposed even just being outside and exposed to the public's picnics must have done it, but it didn't fix it, didn't make it better. He could see Alfie fading in front of him, his lips turning blue as he watched. The worst was his breathing, each breath desperate and a fight. He was begging to a god he didn't believe in, praying he'd just hold on a little longer. 

Eden had done a good job of explaining exactly where they were, and it thankfully didn’t take long for the crews to reach him. Alfie was still really struggling, enough to have them really rather worried as they saw him. 

As they neared them, Eden glanced at them. "He's not got his epi, I don't know why, I don’t know where it is. I've called his dads too, but they're busy. You've gotta help him."

“You’ve done the right thing. We’ll help him now, okay? What’s his name?”

"It's Alfie, Alfie Cunningham-Cole. He's 16."

“Great, thank you. Things are probably going to get really busy for a bit, and it’ll move fast, but me and my colleagues are going to look after him, okay?”

"Just help him."

His colleagues were already working, and he nodded, turning away to help them. It was obvious this was critical, with much more of a wait having potentially been too long. 

Eden moved away to let them work, thought stretched a hand out to hold Alfie's. He wasn't sure who he was comforting, but he wasn't letting go.

The paramedics were working hard, IVs in and adrenaline given. It had started to make a difference, but Alfie was still very ill, there was no doubt about that. He needed hospital, and quickly. 

As the second crew returned with the stretcher, Eden hesitated. The last time it had happened had been at home, with Tai and Harrison, and they'd gone with him. Tai had driven the kids up after the ambulance, Harrison in charge of the medical side. But now, there was no responsible adult, there was just the two of them. 

"I don't know much, but can I come with him? I don’t want to leave him."

“Of course you can. We’re not about to leave you here in the middle of London all by yourself, and I’m sure he’ll appreciate having you.” 

He nodded, trying to be braver than he felt. "Thank you."

“Did you manage to get a hold of his parents?”

"His dad's at work, he's the big doctor at St Georges, in the A&E. And Tai said he'd meet us there, but he was working too."

“Okay, we’re a bit of a way away from St George’s right now, he needs to be seen sooner than that, so we’re going to take him to St Mary’s. They’ll be able to meet us there when they can, and of course you’ll be able to stay with him.”

"But his dads are there. He always goes there."

“I know that’s scary, but they’ll look after him.”

"Will you take him to St George’s when he's better?"

“That’s for the hospital to decide I’m afraid.”

"O-okay." He nodded. "That's okay."

“We’re going to get him off to hospital now, come and grab a seat.”

"Is he gonna be okay?"

“We’re going to look after him, and they’ll be good in hospital too.”

Eden nodded, no longer trusting himself to speak. As they settled Alfie in the ambulance, he stuck a shaking hand out to hold his, their fingers interlaced as if they could hold each other together.

#sicktember 2023 #sicktember day 5 #preventative measures (not taken) #fic #oc #tai x hars #the cunningham-cole clan #alfie cunningham-cole #eden #does alfie have a bf? #not quite yet ;) #anaphalyaxis #whump of a minor #teenager whump #difficulty breathing #allergies #whump writing #whump prompt #whump #london mention lol

[lesbiansanemi]

Me and everyone I know being confused about breeding kinks is one of my favorite things. Not even in a really kinkshaming way, we are just confused about the potential kids. Like what’s happening there. Any time I see breeding kink in anything it’s all my mind can think about. “Okay but like what are you gonna do with the kids.” It’s not sexy because the threat of responsibility and worry over finances kills it

#LIKE GENUINELY????? ppl who have breeding kinks what IS the thought process there #like obvi I know in the vast majority of cases where kids are even biologically a possibility plenty of preventative contraceptive measures #are probably being taken #but like???? is no part of your brain thinking about potentially ending up with kids???? #like I wanna know what’s happening there I don’t get it #kaz rambles

[newwwwusername]

Fic title : This All Could've Been Prevented

@sicktember 2023 prompt : Preventative Measures (Not Taken)

Rating : Teen & Up Audiences

Fandom : Peter Pan Goes Wrong

Additional tags : Guilt, Actors, Theatre, Minor Injuries, Serious Injuries, Bad Director Chris Bean (The Play That Goes Wrong)

Word count : 213

#fanfiction #fanfic #fanfic challenge #fanfic prompts #sicktember 2023 #sicktember day 5 #preventative measures (not taken) #injuries #the play that goes wrong #tptgw #peter pan goes wrong #chris bean

[halsteadsass]

.

#im just feeling an overwhelming sense of sadness for those children and families #I don’t talk about things like this much because I lived in sandy hook #i know the families who lost their children that day and have taught their siblings #it wasn’t enough then #it has to be enough now #its just unimaginable that this is allowed to keep happening #its been proven over and over what preventative measures need to be taken and yet nothing happens #because money will always be the root of what is important even at the expense of innocent lives

[ralexsol]

oh yeah btw prime defender watchers, i am going to be making an extremely long post about how the death penalty would work in a superhero world at some point in the next day or two, so be prepared for that KEKW. i havent been able to stop thinking about it since i watched the new episode, added onto the fact that a sibling of mine had to go into the first day of a jury duty thing, so we were talking about literally all that only an hour after id had almost the same conversation in grizzcord lmaoooo

#jrwi #jrwi spoilers #whatsupray? #prime defenders #i think it's a really interesting topic #especially since in a superhero world its a regular thing for supervillains to escape jail #so measures have to be taken to prevent that #because if supervillains just escape and do more evil shit #then there's no deterrent to stop others from doing it too #ill save the rest of my thoughts for the actual post tho

[lawrencegarte]

it’s literally crazy having a good landlord bro i told him about mold yesterday, he got someone to come in and check it out today, and then he followed up with me just now about how it went. like what.. other landlords could never

#i’m still kind of very miffed about the second flood but he did still react in good time #just the measures he took after that should have been taken after the first to prevent a second -_-

[gothhabiba]

no ceasefire has been called for.

the court has concluded that there is plausible immediate risk of prejudicial (i.e. significantly harmful) outcome for Gazans if measures are not taken before it reaches its final conclusion, and is calling for immediate interim measures.

some of Israel's acts "fall within the scope" of article 2 of genocide convention (preventing births, denying food and fuel) & court is ruling that Israel must not do these things, must punish incitement of genocide, implement humanitarian aid, ensure preservation of evidence

Israel must submit report about all measures taken to meet these requirements within one month; to be then sent to South Africa for comment

these rulings "create international legal obligations" for Israel (and South Africa)

calling for immedate & unconditional release of all hostages taken by Hamas.

(votes as follows: 15 votes to 2 call for Israel to stop committing acts falling under articles 2 and 3 of genocide convention

16 votes to 1 call for Israel to take measures to prevent, and punish, incitements to genocide

16 votes to 1 call for Israel to take "immediate and effective measures" to improve life in Gaza re: resources

15 votes to 2 call for Israel to preserve evidence, and take measures against destruction of evidence, relating to acts falling under acts 2 and 3 of genocide convention

15 votes to 2 call for Israel to submit a report within 1 month)

session has ended, full text will be available on the website shortly.

[ao3org]

We've temporarily disabled the ability to request a new account invitation as a preventative measure due to a spam attack. If you already have an invitation, you can still use it! However, anyone currently in the queue will not receive an invitation until we turn it back on.

Additionally, we have temporarily disabled the form on the Technical Support & Feedback page and taken the Policy Questions & Abuse Reports page offline. Anyone attempting to access the Policy Questions & Abuse Reports will receive an error page about being blocked from archiveofourown.org, but don't panic -- this is not the case! It's just the default error displayed by Cloudflare. You can continue to access the rest of the site as normal.

Lastly, the Organization for Transformative Works' donation page -- which is hosted by a third party provider -- is currently offline due to a DDoS attack. This is the only donation form the OTW uses, so please be cautious of scammers impersonating AO3 or the OTW to solicit donations. We are unable to take them at this time.

July 11, 2023 - 23:50 UTC

#ao3 #archive of our own

[wileycap]

Selected Excerpts From The Fire Nation Royal Palace Servants' (Unofficial) Handbook

Or: Revisions To Normal Protocol After The Ascension Of Agni's Exalted Flame, The Dragon Of The Sun, et cetera, Fire Lord Zuko

1. Agni's Exalted Flame, The Dragon Of The Sun, et cetera, Fire Lord Zuko should not be referred to by his full titles and styles, no matter the context. This appears to annoy him. "Fire Lord Zuko" and "Lord Zuko" are acceptable, as well as "your majesty" and "my Lord".

1.1 "Lord Hotman", however, is unacceptable.

1.2. Even if the Avatar specifically requests you to address Fire Lord Zuko as that.

1.3. In fact, any attempts by the Avatar, the Lady Beifong, the honorable Tribesman Sokka or even Master Katara to get you to address Fire Lord Zuko by anything other than his proper title should be disregarded.

1.4. Referring to Ozai of the Fire Nation (titles rmvd, dishon.) as "The Loser Lord", however, is acceptable.

2. Fire Lord Zuko is aware of the concept of mortality, but does not seem to understand how it relates to His Majesty. Following activities should be discouraged: Free climbing, glider usage, contact with exotic animals larger than a turtleduck (or smaller, if the animal is known to be venomous), amateur theatre productions, cooking, sailing, spelunking, botany, please see full list in the Matron's office.

2.1. It should be noted that His Majesty's belief that mortality does not apply to him does not appear to be completely unfounded. After several "close calls", it has been decided that upon his demise, Fire Lord Zuko should lie in state for at least two weeks.

2.1.1. We do not want another incident.

3. The turtleducks in the Western Pond do not need to be fed by the servants any more.

3.1. However, the turtleducks should be rotated out at regular intervals in order to prevent overfeeding.

4. At any official social functions, at least three servants should be vigilant in case His Majesty tries to tell a joke.

4.1. It should be noted that there is no concern for His Majesty's jokes being offensive, crass or otherwise contrary to good taste. They are simply very bad. His Majesty always ends up embarrassed.

5. Any children left unattended in the Royal Palace for more than 15 degrees can be retrieved from the Fire Lord's office.

6. Should His Majesty go missing, the following places should be searched: roofs and any high places, cellars and secret passages, the fur of the Avatar's sky bison (which is surprisingly deep), and every place that an ordinary five-year-old would think to hide in during a game of "Hide and Explode."

6.1. All of the Imperial Firebenders as well as any soldier who wears a mask during the course of their duties should be questioned.

6.1.1. Important note: Some of the soldiers who are especially close to His Majesty can perform a passable imitation of him. Efforts should be made to prevent an uneducated soldier from, say, conducting a meeting with the Minister of Agriculture.

6.2. After the recent incident, that list is expanded to include the Kyoshi Warriors and any other groups that might wear concealing full face paint.

6.3. If all of these measures prove ineffective, a letter should be sent to The Dragon of the West, Prince Iroh, asking His Highness to return His Majesty.

6.4. If a ransom note is delivered, it should be immediately checked against the handwriting samples from the honorable Tribesman Sokka as well as Avatar Aang, before any other actions are taken.

6.4.1. Replying "Good luck, he's your problem now" to a ransom note is absolutely unacceptable.

6.4.1.1. To further drive home the point, the Royal Archives are required by law to preserve every single piece of royal correspondence. That thing will end up in a museum.

This handbook will be updated should it prove necessary.

#atla #atla zuko #atla aang #avatar aang #avatar the last airbender #atla spoilers #zuko #atla fic #crack fic #fire nation #sokka #fire nation palace servants' handbook

[fletcherwilbury]

@sicktember Day 5: Preventative Measures (Not Taken)

Warning for Illness, severe food allergy, allergic reaction, migraine, bullying, physical violence, arguing

#sicktember #sicktember 2023 #sicktember day 5 #preventative measures (not taken) #tmnt #tmnt 2012 #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt 2012 donnie #tmnt 2012 mikey #tmnt 2012 april #tmnt 2012 raph #illness cw #severe food allergy cw #allergic reaction tw #migraine cw #bullying tw #physical violence tw #arguing cw

[fandom-happy]

Sicktember 2023 - Day 5: Preventative measures (not taken)

Summary: Malcolm’s attempt to ignore his way through an injury backfires as spectacular as it was always going to.

#my fic #prodigal son #malcolm bright #gil arroyo #sicktember 2023 #Prompt: preventative measure (not taken) #fever #swearing tw #infected wound tw #graphic description of infected wound tw #hurt comfort

[tutoriage]

#PREVENT WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS #TAKEN TO PREVENT WRONGFUL #TAKEN TO PREVENT #some measures

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

hello and welcome to the uk is a fucking hell country, part 284829494

[alt text:]

Anti-monarchists receive ‘intimidatory’ Home Office letter on new protest laws

Home Office claims timing of new powers, taking effect days before king’s coronation, is coincidental

Ben Quinn, Rajeev Syal and Vikram Dodd

Official warning letters have been sent to anti-monarchists planning peaceful protests at King Charles III’s coronation saying that new criminal offences to prevent disruption have been rushed into law.

Using tactics described by lawyers as “intimidatory”, the Home Office’s Police Powers Unit wrote to the campaign group Republic saying new powers had been brought forward to prevent “disruption at major sporting and cultural events”.

The new law, given royal assent by Charles on Tuesday, means that from Wednesday:

Protesters who block roads, airports and railways could face 12 months behind bars.

Anyone locking on to others, objects or buildings could go to prison for six months and face an unlimited fine.

Police will be able to head off disruption by stopping and searching protesters if they suspect they are setting out to cause chaos.

Jun Pang, a policy and campaigns officer at Liberty, said: “Key measures in the bill will come into force just days before the coronation of King Charles – a significant event in our country’s history that is bound to inspire a wider national conversation and public protests. At the same time, the government are using a statutory instrument to bring draconian measures that the House of Lords threw out of the bill back from the dead, once again evading scrutiny and accountability.

“It’s worrying to see the police handed so many new powers to restrict protest, especially before a major national event. When the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act came into force, the police repeatedly misused them – in part because they simply did not understand them. Similarly, when Queen Elizabeth died, we saw police acting in inappropriate and heavy-handed ways towards protesters that violated their rights.”

Shami Chakrabarti, the former shadow attorney general, said: “During the passage of this illiberal and headline-grabbing legislation, ministers admitted that the new offence of ‘locking on’ is so broad as to catch peaceful protesters who link arms in public.

“Suspicionless stop and search is notorious for racial disparity and it is staggering that more of these provisions have brought into force so soon after Louise Casey’s devastating report [on the Met police]. The home secretary can blast ‘ecowarriors’ but this legislation may be used against anti-poverty and Ukraine solidarity protesters too.”

A statement from the home secretary, Suella Braverman, said: “This legislation is the latest step the government has taken against protesters who use highly disruptive tactics to deliberately delay members of the public, often preventing them from getting to work and hospital, as well as missing loved ones’ funerals.

“The range of new offences and penalties match the seriousness of the threat guerrilla tactics pose to our infrastructure, taxpayers’ money and police time.”

full article here

so just to sum this up, peaceful protesting can now land you in prison for a year and you might face an unlimited fine which i believe is up to £5000, and police can now stop and search you if they believe youre "setting out to cause chaos"

its specifically being put in place right before charles' coronation, but these are now considered criminal offenses so theyre not exclusive to it.

you know, a country where you can be put in prison for a year for peaceful protesting really doesnt sound like a fucking democracy to me.

#hell country #britpol #british politics #britain #king charles #coronation #uk politics #uk #uk police #suella braverman #charles windsor #the guardian #tories #tory government #conservatives #idk what to tag here #but fucking hell

[theprissythumbelina]

So you want to write about horses.

Part 2 now out!

Or you're writing and horses show up. Or its a pre-industrial fantasy and your characters have to get somewhere. Or you have a faint idea of your MC's love interest showing up on a white stallion.

Whatever the cause, you're writing, and a horse appears. But you know nothing about horses. I can help.

This is a horse. Horses come in many sizes.

^ Big Jake, a Belgian Draft horse, and a roughly 5 foot woman for scale.

1 hand = 4 inches = 10.16 cm

Once a horse is smaller than about 14.2hh, it is generally considered a pony. In the modern day, ponies are not considered suitable for adult riders due to weight and height issues. Some pony breeds, such as Welsh, Fjords, ect. are known for being sturdy, and can more easily carry adult sized humans. Miniature horses should never be ridden by adults.

^The only suitable 'riding' a miniature horse should do

The above graphic mentions that horses are measured from the top of the withers, not the top of the head. But, what are withers?

The withers are where the horse's shoulders meet the spine, and the neck becomes the back. Withers are incredibly important for saddle placement, as a badly placed saddle in this area can prevent a horse from moving its legs properly, cause a large amount of pain, and even damage a horse's spine. Speaking of spines, this is a horse skeleton, with the withers pointed out.

Horses have four legs. Horses cannot have any fewer than four legs. They are obligate quadrupeds. This is, in part, due to their weight, as well as the construction of their legs and hooves. This is to say, that while cats, dogs, and other animals can be amputees, a horse, short of some incredible magic solution, cannot. Even a broken leg bone will cause a huge amount of problems, as all of the weight that leg would usually hold must be shifted to the other feet, and this causes a condition called laminitis, where the tissue that holds together the hoof and the toe bone becomes inflamed, and begins to separate. Once this happens, the hoof tissue dies from lack of blood, and the bone begins to rotate. This is extremely painful for the horse, and so often the best solution for a horse with a broken leg is to be spared that pain. Famous American racehorse Barbaro experienced a complex broken bone, which began to heal fine, but complications from laminitis in two of his other legs caused him to be put down. This is why media will almost always show a horse with a broken or injured leg being 'taken care of'.

^Barbaro, in his prime. Even the best veterinary medicine couldn't save him.

Now, racehorses like Barbaro are moving at the fastest speed and the fastest gait of the horse, the gallop. The patterns that horses move their feet are referred to as gaits, with most horses having four, with some breeds having five or more.

The first gait and the slowest is the walk. In the walk, all four feet move independently, which leads it to be called a four-beat gait, as the footfalls make a sort of drumbeat on the ground.

The next gait is the trot, a two beat gait with diagonal pairs of legs moving together.

^Diagonal pairs marked in red and blue

The trot is a very bouncy experience for the rider, and can be uncomfortable. Some riders will rise and fall with a pair of diagonal legs, called a posting trot, some will stand in their stirrups, called a two-point or jump position, and some will sit the trot, which requires a lot of core strength (seriously, if you want a strong core, screw the gym)

The third gait is the canter, a three-beat gait with a single diagonal pair. This gait is ridden sitting, and feels a lot like going over waves on a jetski. There is a rise, a scoop, and a fall feeling. The canter is also called a lope in Western riding, they are the same gait.

^diagonal pair marked in red

A gallop is sometimes considered a variation on canter, as it is similar save for the legs actually moving in a four-beat pattern. As you can see with the image of Barbaro, all four of his feet are moving in different patterns, at different times, even though the gallop is really a four beat version of the canter. Riders in the gallop rise off the horse's back into a raised position, which allows the horse to use the full length of its spine and musculature to get as much reach and speed as possible. It feels like riding on top of a train barreling down the tracks, at least until your horse takes an unexpected turn and the ground is suddenly the only thing you're riding.

^ I've been there. The trick is to push away and hit the ground rolling, it hurts less that way. And don't land on your head.

That's all for this post. I'll have more when I feel like it, and send me questions if you want to know more about specific things or need a writing question answered

Reblogs welcome and encouraged

@jacqueswriteblrlibrary for wider reach

#writing #writing horses #writer advice #how to write #writing advice #writing help #writeblr #creative writing #writers on tumblr #writeblr community #writers #writerscommunity #horses #basic horse things