Success is no Accident

[Sina Aleardi]

Sina groaned as she rolled out of bed and reached out for the snooze button on her alarm clock, half-groggy. As that did nothing, she blinked, opening her eyes to realize that it hadn't been the alarm clock at all - Derecho was on her bed, his nose prodding every inch of skin she had uncovered, "Gerroff, mangy mutt." She pushed herself up and turned on her bedside lamp, grabbing the testing kit that lay nearby and going through the motions in the dim light. As she waited for a reading, she grinned, "At least we don't have a roommate yet, right, Der?"

After she'd gotten her blood sugar back under control for the time being, Sina glanced at the clock. It was almost time to get up anyway, so she turned off the alarm and got up. She went through her morning ablutions and ran a brush over Derecho before she put on his harness and leash, "Let's go get some breakfast."

Since she had a chemistry exam later in the day, Sina brought her notebook along as she and Derecho walked over to the cafeteria for breakfast. Sina had checked the meal plan and was ready to order by the time it was her turn, and before too long she was sitting at a table in the corner, a bowl of oatmeal with fruit and a glass of milk in front of her, her chemistry notebook open as she tried to focus on the figures.

[Marguerite Girardeau]

Meg wasn't a fan of winter, especially after swimming practice. Her hair was still damp from her shower after practice that morning and even the slightest chill made her shiver. She was bundled in a pair of grey sweatpants and a baggy sweatshirt, her wet hair plaited down her back. She rubbed her face tiredly as she strolled into the cafeteria to get a quick breakfast.

She wasn't much of a breakfast person, though her mother insisted breakfast was the most important meal of the day. Grabbing a pastry, a piece of fruit, and a cup of tea, she looked for a place to sit. She noticed a girl sitting by herself, recognizing her from her natural horsemanship class, and walked to the table, smiling, "Mind if I sit here?" she asked politely.

When she was given permission she sat down, nibbling at her pastry quietly. "I like your dog," she commented kindly. "My name is Meg, what is your name?" Though her English had improved during her time at Blue Ridge, her french accent was still thick and she hoped the other girl wouldn't have trouble understand. She hated when that happened!

[Sina Aleardi]

Sina looked up as she heard a voice, smiling at the blonde girl, "Of course not, go for it." She glanced at the table, making sure her stuff wasn't taking up too much space, and then flipped the textbook closed, wanting to focus on the other girl. A compliment to Derecho was a sure way to get her to smile, and smile Sina did, "Thank you. He's a good boy." She recognized the girl now, although they hadn't spoken in Natural Horsemanship, "It's nice to meet you, Meg. I'm Sina." She gestured under the table, "He's Derecho, or Der." She took another spoonful of oatmeal, and swallowed before she spoke again, "So, how's the new term going for you?"

[Marguerite Girardeau]

Meg smiled, tearing off a piece of her pastry and popping it into her mouth. She chewed thoughtfully as she considered Sina's question before swallowing. "It is going well," she replied honestly, "It is much easier now than it was my first year. Less homesick, and better at understanding English. My horse Normy is also a very good boy, which helps learning how to ride."

"What about you? How are your classes going?" she asked curiously, sipping on her tea. The warm drink felt amazing after a hard swim practice and a cold walk to the cafeteria.

[Sina Aleardi]

Sina nodded, listening to the girl talk about how things were going better, "That's good." She paused, picturing the girl's horse, "You have that big chesnut, right? What breed is he? I've never actually seen one like him." She'd been wanting to ask since the first time she saw the horse around, but she'd never actually gotten a chance to talk to Meg before, despite sharing classes.

As she was asked about her own classes, Sina shrugged, "They're going, I suppose." She grinned, "I heard a rumor that we're getting a new natural horsemanship teacher. Do you think it's true? Mr. Speer is leaving?"

[Marguerite Girardeau]

Meg smiled proudly as the conversation shifted to her horse, "Yes, he is a Norman Cob! They are native to the area in France where I grew up. I have not seen any others like him in the United States, I am wondering if he is rare here?"

"What about your horse? He seems nice, he is a very interesting color if I am remembering right," she said. She could vaguely picture the smokey horse in her mind, but wasn't completely sure it was Sina's horse or someone else's. When you went to a school full of horses, it was hard to remember sometimes.

She listened attentively as Sina told her about her classes, then frowned slightly as she was asked about their natural horsemanship teacher. "Seems like there's a new teacher all the time," she finally said, chuckling slightly, "Maybe Monsieur Speer is leaving, but I have not heard that from anyone except you. Where did you hear it?" she asked curiously.

[Sina Aleardi]

Sina raised an eyebrow as Meg told her the name of her horse's breed, "If nothing else, it's rare to me! I hadn't even heard of that breed, that's so cool!" She liked that about this school. She might be a western rider, but she still got to know all sorts of cool horses, and meet some of the breeds from around the world. Even though she was biased to her quarter horses. "His name is Normy, right? Did that just come from his breed or from your home region?" Since it was related to both. "And if you don't mind the question, what else do you do together? I know you don't rein, because I would have seen you in my class."

As Meg asked about her own horse, Sina grinned, "Yeah, Vaxi is a weird color. He's a quarter horse, his color is called smokey grullo." She paused a moment, making sure she had her terms right, "So effectively he's a black horse, with dun markings, and a dilution gene."

She shrugged as Meg asked about her source, "I overheard someone in the barn talking about it. Not a reputable source, anyway. I hope it's not true." She liked the teacher, or at least, he wasn't that bad. Although if something called him away, she was sure there was a good reason for it, "If you're rather not gossip, we can drop it, though." She grinned at the girl.

[Marguerite Girardeau]

Meg smiled, "Yeah, Normy because of his breed. Amour Toujours is pretty for his show name, but he is much too old and plain for such a fancy name every day." She realized that might have sounded mean and quickly stammered to amend it, "Not that I don't appreciate or love Normy, he is very nice and has helped me learn a lot of things. He is special in his own way."

She listened as Sina described her horse's interesting color, happy she'd gotten the right horse matched to the right person in her mind. Meg didn't fully understand horse genetics and colors yet, but still found it fascinating. "I have never seen a horse his color before," she said, "But I have heard quarter horses can come in almost any color you can think of."

"I don't mind gossip," Meg replied, chuckling, "I'm a ballerina, dancers enjoy good gossip very much." She took a thoughtful bite of her pastry before continuing, "I hadn't heard anything in the barn lately, you must be there at better times than me."

[Sina Aleardi]

Sina nodded as Meg talked about her horse's names, "That makes sense." She smiled as the girl hurried to defend her horse, "He looks like a wonderful gentleman in class. Do you do English riding with him?"

She grinned, "He's special, that's for sure. They do come in a lot of colors, everything except pinto patterns." She hurried to add, "So anything with white spotting. Then they're called paints. Effectively the thing, but they're not technically quarter horses because it's against breed standard." She shrugged, "And Vaxi has a fancy name for shows too. He's technically registered as Huckleberry Whizard, but it's a mouthful."

As she realized she hadn't scared Meg away, Sina nodded, "Good. I enjoy it too, but some people don't." She shrugged, "I think it was just a matter of right place, right time. They weren't talking to me, anyway."