The return home from Spring Break did feel good for Abby. It wasn't that she didn't like Mieni. It was a very nice place and she and Samson had a lot of fun there, but Animalia and Lyre felt far more like home to Abby than Mieni did. In that, Mieni made for a nice break from routine, but it was still good to be home. That return also did include the arrival of the new bikes that were specifically built for larger Animalians. Sarah and Malice could still ride normal bikes, but then while both were well muscled and proportionately just as curvy as Abby was, most dogs weighed less than most humans and even the largest dog breeds only brought their weight up to equal that of humans.
Most horses, however, were much bigger and heavier than humans. It wasn't a question of being overweight, as given that horses had been used as beasts of burden for years by humanity, many horses were actually quite muscular in order to pull carts, plow fields, and carry riders. The American Quarter Horse was no exception. It was a strong and sturdy breed, which made it well suited for use by ranchers in the west going over rough terrain other horse breeds probably could handle easily and by the US military for its ability to carry the cavalryman and his gear and still be able to generate enough speed in a charge to be effective. And that meant that even as a mare, Abby had enough muscle mass that standard bikes simply were not strong enough to hold her weight.
But now, the bikes arrived and Clara had said they had been tested and built with the larger Animalians in mind. That gave Abby the want to ride the new bike and she took the first real opportunity that she had at it.
"This will be great!" Abby said with some excitement as she looked at the bike that Clara had delivered and that she and her dad had finished putting together and getting everything properly inflated and fitted.
"It certainly looks sturdy enough," Martin Brown commented, "Just don't get mad and tie it into a bow."
"Dad... I'm not THAT strong," Abby answered, "and I do know how to ride a bike."
"True," Martin gave a small smile, "Though... I think we'll need to do something about your tail. You wouldn't want to get it stuck in the gears when you start..."
That made Abby look back over her shoulder to her tail and then down to the rear wheel gears on the bike. Her dad was probably right in that regard. Most of a horse's tail was really long hairs that grew out from the actual tail-bone. It made for a light weight tail that could easily be used to swat flies and pests that a mundane horse couldn't easily reach, and while Horse Animalians had hands that could easily brush off flies and mosquitoes, that didn't mean that being turned into a Horse Animalian as Abby had been or uplifted into an Animalian, as Samson had been, removed the tail entirely. Abby's tail wasn't super long and that its hairs didn't touch the ground when she was standing, but they were certainly long enough that they could hang down and get caught in the gears of the bike. That was something Abby wished to avoid and she pulled her lips back as she thought of a way to prevent a painful accident.
"The only solutions I think that would work would be to either cut the tail short until after the competition," Martin said slowly, "Or to put it in a bun and hold it in that bun with elastic."
"A bun?" Abby asked raising one eyebrow.
"Yes, as in a woman's hair style," Martin answered, "your grandmother wore her hair in a bun for years."
"Well... yes... I know that, but," Abby began, "Would that really work?"
Neither solution really fit well. Some horses did have their tails cut short, usually for a specific image that the owner or breeder wanted, which mirrored reasons for how humans cut their hair, but her family had never really saw much use or sense in that. Her parents had described that as an "unnatural look" when they talked about seeing pictures or movies that depicted horses with their tails cut short. It wasn't a look that Abby really wanted for her own tail. That left the bun idea, but then, Abby really didn't like that hairstyle, either. She figured she'd have to go with it, as it was the lesser of two evils, so to speak.
"I'd think so," Martin commented and then motioned with hands to simulate folding the hair in her tail up, "You'd just fold up the hair so that the ends are close your spine, and we can hold it with a good sized piece of elastic... like a big rubber band... and then repeat the process as needed. We'd need to make sure that only the hair on your tail is folded and that we don't actually take it to the point where your actual spine is being folded... but it would hold your tail up and away from the bike's gears."
"But it won't slip, right?" Abby asked.
"With the right elastic band, you shouldn't have a problem," Martin commented, "I'll go get your mother. She should have something that would work... or an idea for something that would work."
"Just so long as it isn't a read ribbon tied in a bow," Abby pointed out.
Abby had liked "My Little Pony" as a little kid, and was part of her enjoyment of being able to be Samson and the other horses the Brown family owned. However, as she grew up she did realize that there were certain elements of the cartoon that were a bit silly, and as she learned more about actually raising horses, the real horses became far more interesting to Abby than the cartoon ponies did. As such, some of the "fashion" choices the show used were not things that Abby wanted for herself.
"Right," Martin answered.
Abby didn't have to wait long before her dad returned with her mom. Abby was quick to notice that her mother was holding a pair of scrunchies in her hands. She looked to them with a small bit of puzzlement as her parents got closer.
"Scrunchies?" Abby asked.
"They ARE designed for this sort of thing," Josephine Brown answered, "and would thus be potentially less difficult to remove than a standard rubber band. You'd potentially pull your own hair out that way."
"Okay," Abby said slowly as she turned to let her mother begin to fold the hair in her tail into a sort of bun. It didn't take her mom that long to do the job, but it did result in a visibly shorter looking tail then before. This way, her tail didn't look like it would reach the gears on the bike, even when sitting on the seat. The weight of the scrunchies was something Abby noticed, but that wasn't too bad.
"Okay... let's see how it works," Josephine urged.
Abby nodded and then moved to sit on the bike's seat. And that soon presented some sense of triumph. The bike easily held her weight and Abby could hear no signs of stress on the bike's wheels. At the same time, the bun that her mom had made with her tail presented enough "stiffness" that the bun didn't even droop down to the bike's rear wheel. It did precisely what would be needed to keep her tail safe. The thing to test next was actually riding the bike. She brought her foot up to the pedal and began to slowly ride forward. Riding also proved effective and working.
"It works," Abby spoke as she soon circled around her parents on the bike. Abby then circled to head down the driveway. She eventually looked over her shoulder briefly to call back to her parents, "I'm to go meet up with Durga for today's training session. With the bikes in... I think we may test see who can pedal the fastest!"
"Have fun!" Josephine called after her.
"Be safe and don't get into traffic!" Martin encouraged.