It wasn't that far a walk to the whip circle for a normal human being in normal shoes. But for a pony in hooves, she'd barely walked in, it seemed a long distance indeed. Her feet were already sore and she winced with each step as Eden cracked into her backside with the whip and grinned a little, "So cute that you think your feet are sore now." She says with a wicked grin. One Clover crossed over onto the dirt path of the whip circle, a rough pull of her ponytail brings her to a stop. Eden points a finger an inch from her nose, "Do. Not. Move." She warns as she walks to the post in the center of the circle, picking up a lead attached to the rotating ring on top of the post, and walks back over, clipping it to the left side of Clover's bridle.
"Now. It seems the breaking in of your hooves and more has fallen to me. How fortunate for you, as I'm the most competent trainer here. Aren't I Clover?"
Clover furrowed her brow. Unsure of how to answer the question. So she simply stayed still.
Eden grinned, "The answer to that question was yes, Clover."
The crop cracked into her backside as Eden spoke, "Now. Walk. Follow the center of the path all the way around the circle and unless I say stop. You WILL NOT STOP. Is that understood Pony?"
As soon as the crop landed she began walking forwards, following the circle and trying to keep from being tugged too much by the lead attached to her bridle. As Eden spoke, Clover managed a stomp mid-stride almost falling over in the process.
Eden chuckled as she stepped out of the circle, flopping into a conveniently located lawn chair and crossing her legs over one another, "Back straight. Chin up. Lift your knees high and focusing on setting each hoof down on the shoe. Eventually, you'll be able to feel when you do it right."
Clover slowed slightly to try and feel her way through each step. But the sound of a whip cracking the air made her squeak and pick her speed back up.
"I did not say to slow down Pony. Keep those knees up! You are a graceful and elegant pony, not some half-cocked mare with broken hooves!" Eden reached into a small cooler next to her chair, pulling out an icy-looking bottle of water and purposely drinking from it each time Clover's lap brought her around in the direction Eden was sitting.
And so it went for several hours. Eden made slight corrections to how Clover walked but never once letting her stop except to clip the lead to the other side of her bridle and making her walk in the opposite direction after an hour. Four hours straight of walking with no breaks.
By the time Eden snapped her whip twice, Clover's legs were shaking and her breath came in ragged gasps. She was lathered with sweat from head-to-toe and her eyes were half-lidded and perhaps she was even slightly dizzy. Eden gave her a slight pat on her flank, opening up another icy bottle of water and tugging Clover down by her bridle. She poured some of the icy cold water on her head, tousling her now soaked hair, and then had her stand up, carefully placing the bottle at the top of Clover's bit and tilting it slightly to allow her to drink greedily at the ice-cold water.
"Just breathe Pony. Take a drink and rest for a minute. You've done extremely well. I imagine you could get most places on the farm now in those hooves with few issues. I'm impressed at how quickly you're getting comfortable in those." Eden did offer a tiny smile then. She was strict, but she also had a softer side when a pony does well at something and works hard.
As Clover drinks greedily at the revitalizing water Eden smiles, "No wonder Mistress Aria has so much vested interest in you. It's been quite some time since she took a personal interest in a pony. You would be wise not to disappoint her."
With her pony watered and warned. She withdrew the bottle of water and stepped back, "Alright Pony. Break time is up! We're going to introduce a bit of a new challenge. You're comfortable on flat ground so let's add a bit of an uneven surface now." Eden walked off to the side and dragged a well-built two-sided wooden ramp. It rose up, went flat for a short time, and then descended to the ground. She dragged it onto the circle and dropped it down.
"Now, you'll have to angle your hooves a bit differently to climb this accurately. Give it a few laps and let's see how you handle it."
She cracked her crop into Clover's backside and stepped back as she watched the pony walk around the circle, her stride slowing a tiny bit as she approached the ramp. Her first few steps had her stumbling forwards, but she made it up, it wasn't until she was on the downwards slope that a hoof slipped from beneath her and she fell to the ground, landing with a hard thud and whimpering slightly. Eden was about to help her up, but Clover, with a determined look on her face forced herself to her hooves and continued walking the circle.
"Good girl..." Eden mumbled under her breath.
Clover made another round and found the ramp again, this time she managed to climb the first half fairly confidently. Going uphill was always easier than down in such restrictive boots. Such was the same with heels. The difference this time was that while she slipped slightly, Clover managed to make it down the other side of the ramp. Eden clapped, "Well done pony! Give me ten more rounds like that, keep your back straight and try not to hunch when coming down."
...And so Clover did. Ten laps came and went, each successive one finding herself significantly more confident as she walked up and down the ramp. As she descended the ramp for the tenth time, Eden cracked her whip twice and smiles, "Beautiful Clover. Tell me in stomps how many minutes you think were late getting to me earlier. One stomp represents a minute."
