Easter Event 7

Archer woke up early this morning, determined not to oversleep and miss the event, just like he had the previous day. He swung himself out of bed and dressed warmly- he didn’t like the look of the low, dark clouds that had come in overnight, as well as the low temperature. Archer made himself a quick breakfast before heading out to the barn to get his tokotas Foxtrot, Lima, and Mocha ready for the event that day. Thankfully this time they were safe and secure in their stalls, rather than having gotten loose again. Foxtrot, per usual, had managed to undo his halter and it was tossed in the center of the barn, and the large red and white male wagged his tail excitedly as Archer bent to pick the red halter up, sighing with exasperation. He walked over to Foxtrot’s stall and managed to keep his head still for just long enough to put Foxtrot’s halter back on, and the red male immediately shook his head, almost as if he was attempting to get it off again. Archer shot him a look, already deciding that he would be riding Foxtrot today to keep an eye on him, before walking over to Lima’s stall and checking her yellow halter to make sure it was securely fastened around her head. Archer took a few minutes to carefully brush out her fur- Lima’s light coloring made specks of dirt and mud all the more noticeable, and Archer didn’t exactly want to show up with filthy tokotas. After Lima was cleaned up a bit, Archer let her loose into the front yard, before heading over to Mocha’s stall. Her orange halter was checked, before Archer brushed out her coat too, and then sent her out to the front yard to wait with Lima while Archer got Foxtrot ready to head out for the day. He led the red and white tokota into the center of the barn, hooking the cross ties to his halter before retreating into the tack room and returning with Foxtrot’s orange saddle blanket, saddle, and reins for his halter. He made sure to brush out Foxtrot’s coat before tacking him up, and with that task complete Archer swung himself up into the saddle and rode out into the front yard, where Lima and Mocha were waiting for the two. Both females fell into place on either side of Foxtrot, and Archer guided them down the hill in the direction of the beach where the day’s event would be held. Archer was curious to see what the event would be, as the place on the beach where the event was going to be held had some of the more treacherous footing. This area of the beach was lined with large rocks, big slick stones, and overall had quite a few obstacles that the tokotas would have to dodge around if the event was looking for a bit of a complex task. While Archer was musing over the possibilities of what the course would be, Foxtrot had picked up his pace, making his way towards a muddy stream bank, with Lima and Mocha following. Archer luckily caught on to Foxtrot’s plan with just enough time to steer him, Mocha, and Lima out of the direct path of the mud, and Archer decided to shelf his thoughts about what the course would be like until a later time, and focus more on guiding his tokotas to the beach without getting them too mussed up. Moving quickly, it only took the group a half hour to get down to the beach, where Archer saw a line of orange volunteer's tents set up, as well as a fair group of tokotas and handlers milling around them. Archer rode Foxtrot over to one of them, and signed himself, Foxtrot, Lima, and Mocha up for the event, and was handed a flyer that outlined what the tokotas would be doing as well as the rules for the event. There were different brightly colored eggs that had been placed on the top of some of the taller rocks that were scattered across the beach, and Archer and his tokotas had to run around and collect three of the same colored eggs in a certain period of time to win a prize. Archer looked on with interest at a couple of tokotas making their way up one of the rocks, only to have one slide down halfway, turning awkwardly and leaping the rest of the way to the ground while their handler watched on. The tokotas who were carrying their riders didn’t have to climb the rocks, though the handlers were allowed to get off their tokota and climb the rock to retrieve the egg, however, they had to carry the egg down rather than toss it to their tokota waiting below. Once all three eggs had been collected, the tokotas and handler must return to the starting line before the bell sounded, signaling that time was up. If the group of tokotas and their handler were unable to collect all three eggs before time was up or unable to get them past the finish line before the bell rang, then they didn’t win the prize. Interested, Archer figured that while Foxtrot might be a bit of a faster climber than Mocha and Lima, but with his track record he was more liable to lose his footing or fall. He decided to set up a relay of sorts with his tokotas by having himself and Foxtrot find the eggs of the same color, then have Lima climb and get them, and then have Mocha run them to the finish line, giving each tokota a task to do that was well suited to their abilities. Lima was always very motivated and willing to accept new challenges, while Mocha loved to run around and was quite agile. Foxtrot, while motivated, was clumsy, but he was good at finding things, so he’d be more valuable to Archer by helping him to see if there were eggs on top of the rocks, while Archer would be able to tell what color they were before sending Lima up. Just as Archer had finished planning out his strategy, his and Foxtrot’s, Lima’s, and Mocha’s names were called. The group went up to the starting line, and Foxtrot and Mocha were wagging their tails while Lima tilted her head back to look at the top of the stones. Archer was handed a red card- he’d have to find and bring back 3 red eggs for the event. At the sound of the horn, Foxtrot, Lima, and Mocha were off, and Archer kept his head tilted back to look at the tops of the rocks. A few tense minutes passed before he and Foxtrot paused beside one, and Archer saw a hint of red at the top. He instructed Lima to climb up, and she was able to successfully snag one of the red eggs before dropping back to the ground. Archer took the egg from her mouth and passed it off to Mocha, and instructed her to go back to the start point and drop the egg off before returning. Foxtrot and Archer found the second red egg a bit quicker than the first, and Mocha returned just as Lima was climbing down with the red egg in her jaw. Archer sent Mocha off again to drop of the egg, and returned to looking around for the last red egg with Foxtrot. Five tense minutes passed as Archer, Foxtrot, Lima, and Mocha padded around the large boulders looking for the last red egg. Finally, Archer and Foxtrot were able to spot it, and Lima scrambled up the rock and then back down again, and Archer turned Foxtrot as the group raced back towards the starting line.