Getting Tripped Up

Asla watched as the boy carefully sliced through the long stretch of rope. He then looked to her for more guidance. Taking the knife from him, Asla stabbed it into the ground, forgetting about it for now. "Now we do this," the woman began showing him how to crisscross the pieces of rope. "If we braid the rope, it becomes stronger and there's less chance of the rope snapping when the horses run into it." After showing him a few more circuits of the braid, she handed the three pieces over to the boy. With her paws on his, she slowly guided him through the motions of the braid. After a few passes, she released his paws and let him try it on his own. "Left over middle, right over middle, repeat," she instructed.

"Aslatiel"